Blaze wanted to get his dad a pair of Vans for Christmas, so they could be twins since he had his own little pair. The funniest part is that on Christmas morning when Brian opened up his new box of Vans, Blaze thought he had stolen his! He didn’t even think about the size difference, he just knew those were his shoes.

Objects of detail help us remember how small our kids are and what they love at this particular time in their life. I’m always trying to shoot photos of their favorite objects because I know these items will change over the years to come.

Here’s a couple shots I took of the Vans.

Recipe: I had great natural light from the French doors, so I set my ISO at 400, I dialed my aperture down to a 2.8, and my shutter speed varied from 1/60 to 1/100 of a second.

I decided to try shooting from above the shoes. But it still wasn’t quite the look and feel I wanted.

So I laid down on my tummy, and I finally felt like this shot was the look I was picturing in my mind.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in taking the best photo of our kids that we forget to take photos of the things they love.

What details do your kids love? A Superman cape? A favorite pet, a blanket, a doll? How about taking a photo of their favorite item without them in the picture.

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Exercise for “Vans Tell the Story Too”!

1. The exercise may seem obvious, but here are a few things to mix it up and challenge you a bit more.

2. Pick one or two favorite items your kids can’t live without. They can be any thing from shoes, to toys, to blankets, to even a favorite snack they insist on eating every day (Blaze’s would be turkey ham! :)).

3. Without thinking about your composition of the shot, just take a photo of the object. After you’ve taken the photo, look at it and think about what you like and don’t like. Then answer the question, “How could I change the angle or perspective I’m shooting from to make this photo more interesting?”

4. Try the shot again, and then ask yourself the same question until you’ve done three or four different shots of the same object from different angles.

5. When you have three of four different shots, pick the photo that best shows how small (or big) your kids are. And then spend a moment reflecting on why the shot you’ve chosen does the best job at telling the story of their age.

6. Try the recipe for the camera settings I’ve got above. The technical focus with this exercise is to go as low as you can in your aperture so that you have a nice blur in your background. If you can go to a 2.8 or lower, go for it! It will help your favorite object stand out that much more.

5. Send me some results! More and more of you are sending me your images, and it’s so great to see! mera@merakoh.com

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So what happens when you Refuse to Say Cheese and see your kids about ready to do something you know you’ll want to remember? Here’s what happened for me!

It was nap time, and Pascaline loves to take her naps in the guest room. Blaze wanted to give her a kiss goodnight, (but we all know he just wants to keep playing) and for whatever reason I had energy to play along with it.

He crawled up on the bed with her and started to cuddle, I was totally surprised at how sweet they were being, so I grabbed the camera.

Recipe: I wanted natural light instead of having to use my flash, so I bumped my ISO to 800 since 400 wasn’t giving me enough light. I dialed my aperture down to a 2.8 and set the shutter speed at 1/60. I knew at 1/60 shutter speed, I’d probably get some blurry shots, but it was okay because I wanted to accentuate their motion.

Two Little Monkeys…

The 2.8 aperture was for shots like this, where his feet are in focus and the rest is a nice, soft blur.

Pascaline tried to amuse Blaze with her amazing, aerial blankie tricks, but he wasn’t to interested.

So without warning, Pascaline attacked Blaze. And the games began!

Momma even started jumping on the bed!

And can you believe it, they actually pooped themselves out!

This was one of the best times shooting the kids playing together, and I never had to say cheese. Can you imagine how the fun would have stopped if I had busted out with a “say cheese!”

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Exercise for “Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”!

1. The next time you see your kids playing well together break out the camera!

2. If you can, steer their play to a room with a lot of light so you don’t have to use your flash. (it gets tricky here b/c trying to do this could totally make you lose the moment).

3. If you don’t want to wait for “the moment”, do what Brian and I do ALL the time with our kids and clients–set up the shot. Pick a good time of day when the natural sunlight is pouring in to your favorite bedroom and let the kids jump on the bed (could I be sued for suggesting this if one of your kids got hurt? keep a close eye on them while they jump and shoot away! :).

4. Try the recipe for the camera settings I’ve got above. If you don’t need that much light and your images are coming out overexposed, bring the ISO down to 400. If you still have overexposed images, speed up your shutter speed until the exposure is right.

5. Send me some results! More and more of you are sending me your images, and it’s so great to see! mera@merakoh.com

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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

For information on Me Ra’s popular photography workshops, visit “Documenting a Child’s Life.”

To see our day job, visit our website.

These last couple weeks have been CRAZY here! With the workshops happening, Brian’s start-up, Blue Steel Archives, getting closer and closer to launching, and the DVD series in production…ahhhhhhh! I’ve sort of been freaking out! Our plate is not only full, it’s spilling every where and making a HUGE mess!

You know how it goes. You don’t get enough sleep, you wake up a bit cranky, you’re under stress of deadlines (I swear, these scripts for the DVD series will be the end of me!), you’ve got two kids who would have you making them meals all day long if they could, and your husband…well it’s all his fault of course!

Our tickets to see Bill Cosby live at the Benaroya Hall Saturday night couldn’t have come at a better time. For two and a half hours, this amazing 69 year old comedian, sat on a stage with a bottle of water telling us story after story of his family. I laughed so hard my face hurt. And the best part of all, it was stories of fights and arguments he and his wife had that Brian and I had been having all week! Don’t you love that! It felt so good to know we weren’t the only ones! Click on his name to see where else he’s appearing. It’s worth every penny!

And since I’m sharing about stuff that made me laugh, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but you have to see this photo of my cat from yesterday. He’s SO WEIRD! Prince Phillip, our cat, always sits on his rear. Yesterday, I turned the corner, and the cat and Pascaline were sitting together having a little conversation. I couldn’t help but crack up and take this shot. Does any one else have a cat that sits like this? Sometimes he even in the chair, just sitting there! It’s weird!

Okay, enough about cats! Let’s talk about this week and the blog! I’ve got high goals for the week! I’ve already started working on two or three different blogs with exercises and tips for moms (so excited to share these!). I may have a video podcast to share from our photography meeting last week when Steve Makofsky of www.furrygoat.com came and shared his successful blogging secrets! And a blog with a very cool tip for my local Seattle brides! Fun stuff!

Angela and Mark had the most beautiful winter wedding I have ever seen. Not only did they look stunning together, but the sun came out in a way you rarely see in the Northwest. On top of all this, Angela’s mom has been a high end event planner for years, so you can imagine the decor of their ceremony and reception! Just breath taking!

The reception at the Union Train Station in Seattle.

With six foot centerpieces on each table! Patricia, you are amazing!

The best part of the day is when we walked into Pike Place Market with them. Here’s the funny story I promised you on the last post about Angela and Mark. I was taking these two shots of them when I heard people clapping behind me.

I’ve never seen a group of strangers so excited for a bride and groom. Before we knew it, they were jumping in the photos and I overhead one guy say, “I’m going to put this on my website!” (This is one of the many reasons I love to shoot with Brian. We were both shooting our own perspectives, and we just laughed when we put all the images together!)

We finally escaped to the alley and did some other fun shots.

And the gorgeous light of the sun was there the whole time.

Angela and Mark, you know Brian and I both adore you! We had the BEST time working with you on your wedding day! And what an amazing day to photograph. Each and every detail sparkled! The slideshow of your whole wedding is here at Angela and Mark’s Slideshow! Enjoy!

All our love! Me Ra and Brian

Thanks for all the comments you guys are posting today in regards to the upcoming DVD series!! Since I’m getting a lot of emails asking the same questions as what others are posted, I thought I’d add some answers to the blog today.

As far as how much the DVD’s will cost, we’re not sure yet. Still working on that detail, but rest assured, we will definitely be offering some cool price breaks for our bloggers!

Brandon, thanks so much for posting your comment in representation of the “dads” who follow our blog. We actually have quite a few of you that email me off the radar! I’m keeping you in mind (and Brian is too :)). I promise to make this DVD great for you too b/c when it comes down to it, all moms want their husbands to be able to shoot great pictures of them with their kids!! Dad being in every shot is not cool! My goal is to make sure this is a DVD series that dads, aspiring photographers, moms and professional photographers can all gleam new things from!

If anyone else has a “special request” for this DVD series, post them up. I’m still hammering out the scripts (as I type this!), so I’m totally open! I want this to be something that helps as many of you as possible! I can’t wait!!

From a mom who posted this comment yesterday in regards to our Documenting a Child’s Life workshop;

Looks like it was a blast! Wish I could get away and travel to one of the workshops, –won’t you PLEASE consider doing an online class (or series) by video like that!:) For some of us it’s all about that special time after the kids are in bed and we can learn things in our PJ’s at the computer! Love all the helpful tips, thanks bunches, Amanda

Great news Amanda, and all you other moms who visit our blog! Not only will we consider doing a DVD, we are in process of producing a DVD series just for you!!! YEAH!! I get close to a 100 emails a day from moms, photographers and clients who want to know more about taking better photos, and even though I wish I could have coffee with each of you, I just want you to know I’m listening, and this DVD series is for you!

I know some of you can’t travel the miles to attend one of our workshops, and with our speaking engagements, destination weddings, and life with two little ones, I can’t teach a workshop every month (as much as I’d love too!). So Brian and I thought it would be cool to put this information in a DVD series that would be created with a layout catering to moms/aspiring photographers and their busy schedules. So it’s really happening! I talked with the film guy and producer this week, and every thing keeps falling in place.

Release date will be April 1st 2007!!! (no fooling :))

(Few hints at what this first series will be like; the first DVD will be focused on framing/composition and my philosophy on documenting your children with photos, filled with sample shots and tons of exercises (we’ve got to have exercises since I used to be a high school English teacher! It’s for the woman who wants to take better photos whether they have a point and shoot or digital SLR. The second DVD (releasing at the same time) is for the woman who owns a digital SLR and wants to get off Automatic! It will focus on technical strategies made simple, explained from one mom to another. That’s all I can say for now! But I’m SUPER excited! Stay tuned for more details!)

Here it is! Our first weekly video pod-cast from Me Ra Koh Photography, and it’s all highlights from the Saturday workshop!

I had the BEST time with these women! Everyone came so open and ready to learn. The morning was focused on understanding your camera, and by the time our models showed up every woman was adjusting their own aperture, shutter speed and ISO! It was awesome to see! I included a couple in the video for you to see (so impressed!)!

My favorite word of the day was “shutterture”. One of the moms was asking a question in the middle of us talking about aperture and shutter speed and ended up combining the two! Hilarious!

Hope you enjoy the video, remember it’s pretty organic and I’m not a video editor, but I think you’ll still have fun! Little disclaimer, I was freaking out the night before.

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To learn more about Me Ra visit About Me Ra.

For information on Me Ra’s popular photography workshops, visit “Documenting a Child’s Life.” (I’m thinking of holding a fourth one so let me know if you’d be interested.)

To see Me Ra’s day job, visit her website.

I wanted to post a new blog with a new tip for today, but with our first workshop this Saturday (tomorrow) I’m up to my eyeballs in last minute things to do! But I wanted to at least make a quick post and say, we’ve got the COOLEST stuff coming to this blog in the next week. Our sledding video inspired me, and I’m going to try and give you a video podcast each week (yikes!). I told our Associate Video man, Joshua Smith, at Cinematic Bride to watch out b/c video might be my next venture.

Keep the look out for Monday’s blog b/c hopefully it will be our first video with clips from Saturday’s workshop! Dreaming big here! Fingers crossed.

One of the best parts of wedding photography and specifically our brides is how much attention they pay to detail. A lot of brides have contacted us in the last couple weeks, so I thought I’d put up a post showing you some of the incredible ideas former brides have done for their wedding. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me!

Erica and Shae wanted every guest to be greeted with a beach bucket of goodies upon arrival in Maui! The goodies included; bottled water with their names and wedding date, a schedule of events for the week mounted on bamboo, a hot pink matchstick book with their names and dates (hot pink was one of her colors), a bottle of Hot Sauce with their photo on the front, and a canister of Mexican Cookies designed by their friends at The El Paso Chile Company. Their wedding will be on VH1’s Fabulous Weddings this year. These favors for guests were only a small part of the endless details Erica made for their wedding. It’s no wonder her business, Posh Hong Events, has taken off!

Angela had a winter wonderland wedding–romantic, dreamy, lots of candles, and incredible feeling of renaissance every where. It was one of those weddings that feels like it came out of a story book. In fact, her mom has been a high end event planner for years and decided to not only wow the adults with her centerpieces but make coloring books for the kids too! Her mom is AMAZING in every sense of the word! The coloring books are an actual story of how Angela and Mark fell in love!

At every table setting was a white box with ribbon, and inside, well see for yourself! A beautiful Christmas tree ornament!

Sugie and Frank had an eight course dinner at their reception in the Hampton’s. They wanted every one to have a beautiful menu listing their choices of entrees and vegetable.

And we can’t forget a personalized sweet box of truffles from La Fleur Chocolat to clear the palate in between courses.

There are so many ideas out there, so how do you choose details for your wedding? Whatever details you choose, make sure they reflect the beauty of who you are and the things you love. This is what makes a wedding come alive–seeing the bride’s beauty reflected in countless ways!

What we do with our photos after we get done shooting is the other half of our work. I was so resistant to switch to digital two years ago, but I can’t believe how the creative process has become so much richer. My creativity no longer has to stop with the framing and shooting. Brian and I even find ourselves shooting for Photoshop b/c we know exactly what we’re going to do with it in post process!

As you can imagine, we’ve found lots of wonderful tricks and plug-in’s along the way. I thought I’d share one of my favorite with you. Barb Uil in Australia is one of the most wonderful children photographers I’ve seen. Her website is www.jinkyart.com. Her blog is http://blog.jinkyart.com.au/index.php. She puts out a wonderful set of plug-in’s for photoshop to enhance your color in a beautiful, funky, saturated type way. I just wished she lived in the states!

Below is a good example of how I used her actions during post process. Here is the shot straight out of the camera. To dark, and I wanted to boost the color more b/c of how cute it was to have Blaze in Pascaline’s old pink/red snow suit and boots.

Here’s the shot after I used Barb’s actions! I upped the color but didn’t use the action to its full capacity, then I drew more focus to Blaze, and most important, faded out the random man walking in the background. We use Photoshop for our post process work. It’s a beast of a program, but if you want to learn it you can (believe me, if I can, you totally can!!). Check out Photoshop TV for Photoshop tips made easy! You won’t regret it!

Whatever software you have for post process, I encourage you to spend even 1 hour a week getting more familiar with it. The post process of color saturation, toning, brightness and contrast can awaken a whole different side to your creativity!

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Exercise for “Make Post Process Count”!

Defining the term “Action” (in my own words): Actions are what we use in Photoshop when we want to change the image in some way. Instead of having to first change the color, then the saturation, then the opacity, there are hundreds and hundreds of actions you can use to give you a look all at once when the Action is applied. It’s pretty amazing, and you can always modify the action to what you’re wanting. Hope this helps, and I didn’t want to leave those out of the conversation who aren’t familiar with the term Actions. On to our exercise!

1. Pencil an hour to yourself when the kids are at school or in bed and pick one photo that needs some color adjusting (to dark, to bright, you’d rather have it be black and white, etc).

2. If you are somewhat comfortable with Photoshop, try Barb’s actions at www.jinkyart.com. I rarely ever play actions and leave it as is. The actions often make the image a little more intense then I like, so I’ll click on the top background layer and adjust the opacity to calm the action down a bit. Experiment with the opacity and see what type of color saturation stands out to you.

3. If you don’t have Photoshop, commit to spending an hour this week on getting to know your post process software a bit better. Try removing the saturation from your image to make it black and white. Play with the contrast and brightness to add more drama to the image. Be careful not to burn out the faces when doing this. The “brighter” you make your whites the more information you lose on that image and it can look like you have a literal hot spot on the face. Not good, especially for printing quality.

4. If you have a Color Balance option, move the reds up a bit and the yellows down and create your own version of Sepia (brown toned black and white). I’ll usually move the red up to a +10 and the yellow to a -10 depending on the lighting of the shot. Play around with your own settings, discovering what brown tones you like best. Then add some contrast to make it more dramatic!

5. Send me some results and don’t forget to send the Before shot too! I’d love to see what you come up with! mera@merakoh.com

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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

For information on Me Ra’s popular photography workshops, visit “Documenting a Child’s Life.”

To see our day job, visit our website.