jan & marco simonelli» Portrait and wedding photographers in Kansas City

We moved!

Marco — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:08:55 +0000

Many may have wondered, some already know, but yes, we are officially moved to downtown Kansas City, by the Plaza, just behind the Nelson Atkins museum. The pic makes it look just a tad too spooky for my tastes, but we love it. It’s a beautifully restored condo with a big loft like open area. The whole first floor is our domain, but there is a rooftop lounge in the making that will sound a lot more appealing as soon as the weather gets a little warmer. Will post pics of the inside soon, just need to stash away few hundred boxes from the move.

A house warming party is also planned for the next future. Stay tuned for more news.

Beat the photographers – ping pong challenge

Marco — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:05:30 +0000

Sunday July 12 we are taking on anybody!

Come to our studio between noon and five and show us what you can bring. If you beat us, you walk home with a $100 gift certificate. They can be used for any of our senior sessions (class of 2010 only, one card per session). Just a good excuse to check us out and see what we have been up to and dust off the good ol’ paddle. The challenge is open to seniors class of 2010 and their parents.

While the ping pong challenge goes on, we are also having a print competition for 2009 seniors. Above is a sample of the entries. We are going to display prints of the contestant seniors and let the 2010 seniors be the judge. They will vote between 12 and 5pm and determine which print is the best. The print that gets the most votes…
WINS AN IPOD!!

WPPI 2009 – Las Vegas

Marco — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:32:27 +0000

WPPI is the largest association of wedding and portrait photographers and they have a huge conference every year. This year about 12,000 photographers from all over the world gathered at the MGM Grand for a 5 days of photography contests, conferences and classes, tradeshow and all sorts of visual stimulation. As if Las Vegas wasn’t overwelming already by itself, we had to make it even more sparkly and flashy.

Needless to say it was a lot of fun. We had a chance to have a drink with old friends and make some new, have a little shop talk, hit the slots, enjoy some of the best food you can have in the USA, lounge in swanky bars and get down on the dance floor like we were 20 again.

But don’t let the Las Vegas lights distract you. It was all about photography, admiring the best work from the best professionals around the world, getting inspired and falling in love with this media all over again. It’s almost a cathartic experience. And it cannot be complete without challenging yourself and letting your work speak for yourself and see how it stacks among others. We entered 5 prints and 2 albums and we were estatic to know that one of our images won an accolade of excellence and the 2 books got even better results, competing head to head with the best of the best.

But, enough with that. The main thing is how excitement and energy we’ve got out of this experience. We are both looking forward for this year as a new opportunity to create even better images and see how high we can push it.

Tea party at Cameron’s

Marco — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:02:53 +0000

The good friends down at Cameron’s furniture downtown Lee’s Summit and us had a little party couple of weeks ago; a tea party. We had snacks and little sandwitches and, of course, tea. We had quite a few people stop by and, as you can see from the images, some of them were real characters! Taking pictures of kids is always fun for us. You can tell a grown up how to pose and what to do, but taking a portrait of a little one, involves a different approach. Somehow is more true and you cannot fake any of it.

2008 seniors specials and prices

Marco — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:33:38 +0000

Summer time is senior photography time. For the class of 2009 this is your summer and these are the options we have created for you.SESSIONSStudio $150It’s your basic option and one of the most versatile sessions. Get the polished look you see on magazines one hour and half of studio time, your choices of clothing changes. We have comfy couches for your entourage (mom? friends?), refreshments and it’s cool inside, even if it’s 110 out there. Bring your iPod and we’ll play your favorite tunes on our 400 watts sound system.ADD-ON SESSIONS – Build your own dream package by adding one or more sessions to your basic studio session.Friends sessionGet your senior pictures taken with your friends to double the fun and save money! Each one of you will have a full individual session plus, you get to pose together if you want. Ad a friend for $100.Location sessionWant to mix it up and go have some fun outside as well? Add 1 hour or location shooting to your studio session. We can stay in Downtown Lees Summit for an urban look, or choose one of the many parks, creeks, lakes nearby. Starts at $100 for Lees Summit area. $150 for photo sessions in the Kansas City metro area.Family sessionWe have found out that a senior portrait session is a good excuse for the whole family to get together and have pictures taken. Add one hour of time to your basic session to play with just family. What a great deal! We can take individual shots and many different group shots. We can stay in the studio or go somewhere else, let’s plan it together. Starts at $100Trash the prom dress sessionFor the more creative ones. Take your prom dress out of the closet for one last spin. Wanna jump in a fountain, play ball in the rain, float on the crystal clear water of a creek, run in high heels through a gritty alley? Started as a photographic adventure for unconventional brides, we soon realized that seniors want to have fun too. Let’s talk about your own session. Starts at $100.PackagesWe have put together different packages that incorporates one ore more sessions and some print credit. Prices start at $500 for one session and will give you $350 of print credit. Give us a call to get together and talk about what we can do for you. It’s a great way to look at some samples of our recent work and start planning your session. Custom sessionsWe believe that you are not really free to choose if you are not given all the options available. So, if you have an idea that requires a specific location, if you want to create artful images of yourself but need help figuring out the details, if you feel that your creativity doesn’t fit in a pre-made session, well, give us a call and let’s get together for a consultation. It’s free and we would put together a session just for you. Call us at 816-554-7582.

Tea Party at Camerons

Marco — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:00:47 +0000

Catch up on some family portraiture and some fine shopping!Join us at Cameron’s April 29th, on the upper floor, for a chance to have your kids photographed by Marco and Jan from PhotoMementos. We will have actually 2 setups: one more girly and one tha’s right for little boys too. There’s room for everybody.We will be scheduling mini sessions (about 15 minutes each) between 2pm and 8pm. Walk ins are welcome but you may have to wait for a while so, we suggest you give us a call at the studio at 816-554-7582 and schedule your slot.Each session requires a sitting fee of $35 and there is no minimum order.See you there!

Opening party at the Cashew

Marco — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:48:21 +0000

Last thursday April the 17th we are at the new event space that The Cashew has just opened right above the restaurant and bar, on the third floor. They had a party/get together and we all had a chance to taste some really good food and experience the cool, lofty atmosphere that this venue offers.Jenna Heillman, our gracious host and event manager at the Cashew, had a drawing for some gift cards. After tasting their food I was really hoping to get one of those but I didn’t get to win one…The space has huge windows overlooking downtown Kansas City and the garage door style windows can be lifted and at that point you can almost feel you are outside. Jason Domingues and Matt Nichols were chit chatting and enjoying the view.Take a look at that view, specially at night is pretty awesome. Jan and Tyler Wirken after a couple of glasses…Holly and Kindra of Simple Elegance with Jeff of Holmes Music World.

Picture of the Year 2008

Marco — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:14:38 +0000

We are so excited. We just got back from the DWF convention (an international group of 5000 wedding photographers that includes the 10 best wedding photographers in the world) in Tampa, where we received awards for the “Best Picture of the Year”. We took home 1st place in the “People” category and 2nd place for “Wedding Day”. That’s a really nice way to start the year and a new exciting season of wedding photography.

Read more about DWF and the competition here:

Bridal Spectacular 2008

Marco — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:37:57 +0000

We had such a great time at the bridal show. It’s the biggest show in the Kansas City area and hosts the best wedding photographers of the area as well as cake decorators, florists and the best venues in town.

Our boudoir book with a cute purse that color coordinates was a hit! Here it is side by side with our new skinny business cards. We also printed more than 500 brochures and end up giving them all away!

Our photography studio has a new logo which we are really excited about. I really liked also how the new plexy frames turned out.

Our both has been pretty busy and brides to be with their moms were asking all kinds of questions. We were really happy with how everything turned out and we are looking forward for the next bridal show.

It’s been 5 years already!

Marco — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:05:19 +0000

It’s been 5 years since PhotoMementos studio has opened the doors in Lees Summit. Lot’s of things have happened. We changed location (couple of times) and we are now on 3rd st in a cool new dig that has the flavor of a modern art gallery and the functionality of a full size digital photography studio.

In January, the Wedding Photo Journalist Associastion (www.wpja.com) has awarded our studio with the 2nd place in their international photo contest. We couldn’t be more happy!

Our destination weddings program has now received 2 more locations. After Italy, we have added Hawaii and Mexico to our list of locations we have and will travel to.

Tamara and Laurel, our 2 new additions to the PhotoMementos team, have rocked this summer with stunning images both in portraits and weddings.

But, mostly, we have been so lucky to have the support and appreciation of many loyal clients/friends and, just to say THANK YOU, we are throwing a party to celebrate 5 years of hard work and uncountable rewards, on both a personal and professional level.

August, Thursday the 23rd, 5pm to 8pm, we are having a party “Italian style”! The doors are open to everybody. Come along and enjoy with us a well deserved treat.

Thanks to everybody, from the bottom of our heart!

Marco & Jan