Saturday, April 20, 2013

Voting Open for the Miss Vinepark Brewery Spokesmodel Contest

Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please…

Our twelve pack of finalists have been chosen from over 40 entries in our initial contest.

VOTE ! Vine Park Brewing Company Spokesmodel Contest

Thank you so much for the enthusiastic response.  Remember, these are NOT the photos that will be used for our advertisements, but that a professional photo shoot with the always fantastic Christi Williams at Grinkie Girls Photography is part of the prize package.

You can only vote once, so if you want to win, share with your friends, on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, and get the vote out. Official rules for the contest are here.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Grinkie Photography Teams Up with Keen Modeling Agency


In the days of film and SLRs, photographers would, out of necessity, work tirelessly to set up their shots and conserve film for only the best images. Having spent more than two decades in the publishing and design industry, I find that I often run into people who express their opinion that "anyone with a decent camera & equipment can be a professional photographer". The advent of digital cameras has only served to perpetuate this myth.  The truth is, anyone can learn technique, or throw money at fancy equipment - but you can't fake raw talent and artistic vision and (in my not-so-humble-opinion) the photographers listed below have that raw talent that will only serve to make the photographs they take into unique works of art that can be the very foundation of our ability to celebrate the milestones in our lives.   --Girl Friday

New and Exciting Partnerships

Recently, Christi (and her Girl Friday) had the pleasure of working with Deborah Keen of Keen Modeling Agency  to photograph aspiring local models represented by the Keen Agency.

Christi of Grinkie Photography and Emily of Emily Theisen Photography (both Studio 210 photographers) worked with these fresh new faces to create preliminary portfolios for them to use on upcoming modeling and talent call-outs.

Model: Kasha (Keen Agency)  Photo: Christi Williams
Historically, aspiring models can find it challenging to know what to do or who to trust with regards to having a professional portfolio  Many times they can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, and pay big money for photos, only to find that they didn't get what they needed (and even sometimes got more than they bargained for.)  Haven't we all heard stories of some creep approaching a friend or acquaintance with the line "would you like to be a model?" and how they narrowly avoided the unthinkable?

While a professionally styled portfolio is not an absolute must, it can be a great help for new talent to feel more confident on casting calls.


We had SO much fun working with Keen's local talent, that we've offered to team up for future shoots at the studio. We will be working in conjunction with Keen in advertising upcoming casting calls in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

Grinkie Photography and Studio 210 will be working to create affordable, professional starter portfolios for the models. Future plans include Amy of Amy Wurdock Photography contributing her considerable experience and talent with children to the effort,

Model: Soleil (Keen Agency)   Photo: Christi Williams

One advantage to this partnership is that we can utilize our experience with fashion and senior portraits to give aspiring talent of all ages high quality images to help them on their career paths. And our senior portraits get the advantage of our partnership with people who are on the cutting edge of the fashion business.

We'll be posting updates to this story when we have more information about casting calls. Until then, we'll keep a Keen eye out for our model friends!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

You've Come A Long Way, Baby

Baby Photos As Unique Art


It's that time again. The time of year when we all gather together to celebrate the holidays with family. You can bet that there will be lots of family photos taken, and, traditionally, many families take this opportunity to get "Family Portraits".

Everyone has probably had the opportunity to enjoy some Awkward Family Photo moments. Many of us can relate to the frustration of trying to get the perfect family photo, or even more ambitious, a perfect picture of a new addition to the family, the elusive "sleeping baby".

Wrap: KnitNJules, Stick:Emily Pike Photo:Christi William
Successful baby photography is really all about patience and timing. And luck (a little anyway).

Gone are the days of  the 8 x 10 glossy photo taken at some Mall store.

We've come a long way, baby. Baby pictures don't have to be "cutsie" or "stuffy". They can be unique, personal, interesting art.

Don't your baby photos deserve to be works of art in themselves? Can't you just see this printed on acrylic and hanging over your fireplace or the entry of your home?

At Grinkie Photography, we look at every portrait session as an opportunity to celebrate milestones by creating one-of-a-kind artwork, with you as the subject. Book a session (we still have openings on November 17th for a mini shoot - just $50 for a half-hour and one digital image - more products available), get yourself and your little angel a nap, and let's make some art. And memories.

Photo: Christi Williams



Welcome Our New Team Member

Grinkie Girls LLC & Grinkie Photography LLC are happy to welcome our newest Team Member, Dawnfelice Warneke, our Girl Friday. Watch the blog for more from Dawnfelice, who will be updating our blog and website with news of all things Grinkie.

Photo: Christi Williams, Hair & Makeup: Dawnfelice

As you can see from this picture, our resident Girl Friday is plotting wild success for all things Grinkie and we are so excited to see what 2013 holds. Stay tuned. Great things are afoot.....

Meet Christi

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Christi Williams, and I love photography.


Christi Williams and her amazing family.


I was born and raised in Rochester, MN. I have a husband, two kids and camera. I quilt, paint faces, carve watermelons and take pictures when I'm not spending time with the previously-mentioned family.

I've lived in Redmond, Washington; Dover, Delaware; Nice, France; and Radomsko, Poland. As an extreme extrovert I get a lot of joy being around weddings, birthdays, and family gatherings even if they are not my own family's. It turns out photography is a great excuse to get invited to fun events.

After realizing how much I liked taking pictures and being a part of people's special moments and life milestones, I ventured forth to find a name for my photography business and happened upon the idea "Grinkie"


Grinkie is what my husband called his blankie growing up, and I loosely translate that to mean "thing I love". Photography and making people feel wonderful are two things that I love. A lot.