Archive for October, 2007

October 17th, 2007

Two Posts Today!! First, Meet Megan, Greer’s Mom! She is BUSTED!!!

You have never met anyone like Megan! I guarantee it! She is the WILDEST and FUNNIEST gal I’ve ever met–not to mention mother of the groom! Actually let me take that back. She is the WILDEST woman I’ve ever met. PERIOD!! This is totally her!!

So I have to tell you that she is BUSTED!!! :) And we’ve got to post it on the blog! Megan has got to be one our biggest cheerleaders in hiding, checking this blog daily, rarely ever posting, but knows every blog I’ve ever posted that I’m truly blown away when we talk at the wedding. I’m telling you, I love this woman. But here is the icing on the cake.

After I posted the photos and slideshow from Greer and Britt’s wedding, Shannon (Britt’s sister) forwards this email Megan had sent out the day before! You’ve got to check this out!! :)

Megan should be a writer!!!

Here is the sadness of my Monday…well for one it’s MONDAY! Then I power up the old Dell and surprise…no pictures, no music…just another workshop of genius photographers, full of creativity, making me ill with their smart pictures full of beauty! So with that I went off to the Buck to get myself a fat free, skim, no whip Pumpkin Spice latte. I went with the skim and no whip b/c their were no pictures to view and I didn’t want to overindulge myself and be fully glutenous with out the pleasure of the pix. I then though about how many more worthless things I was going to have to fill my day googling because there were no pictures of the breathtakingly stunning bride who is now my daughter in law and her oh too handsome groom that is now her husband at their wedding on Kimmer Ranch on that beautiful Labor Day

weekend. As my cup drains of it’s frothy, pumpkiny mirth….I google

yet another meaningless thing to occupy the time until the pictures are posted……well some things I google are not meaningless okay…some things are legit, so legit that I just can’t quit…..yeah 2legit, 2legit to quit that’s a song!

I, of course, would never know she was feeling this way by the comment she posted the very next day after seeing the photos and slideshow!

HOLY COW…are you kidding me!!! That stunningly beautiful bride is now our daughter in law. Britt is seriously beautiful inside and out! That groom, hmm..well he OBVIOUSLY is the newest member of Me Ra Koh Photography’s Boy Band! Brian grab the bags and climb up that mountain and get that shot will ya!! ha Forget the Kleenex, I was blubbering into the sleeve of my jammies! You 2 without a doubt are the best camera wielding pirates in all the land! The bounty of memories and moments you captured on that special day will never be forgotten! Thank you for sharing your gift with our family and friends and thank you for being the funny, talented, generous people you are. Also for being the kind I like to creep up on their blog and stalk…haha!! Someday I hope to take a picture of you all…that will rock your world!!! I can dream can’t I….
Love from all the Cowboys and Cowgirls and wannabees like me! xoxo, Megan & Tim

Megan, you are so busted!! :) I’m dying to share the photo of you on the dance floor, but I’ll hold on to it for future busts on you (as I hope there are more! :) )

love you, love you, love you to pieces Megan!! Now post a comment lady b/c I know you’re out there somewhere!! :)

#2 post is coming in the next couple hours. Gina, our Associate Portrait photographer, is going to offer a crazy Christmas/family portrait special for two upcoming Saturdays. I’ll post the details soon. But she’s doing it for $250 which is crazy, especially when you see what she’s giving you with it. Sooooooo, if you still need a handful of great family photos, check back on the blog later today for Gina’s Christmas Special!!

FYI, if this peaks your interest, here is a recent slideshow she did for clients. This baby is so cute! Enjoy!!

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October 16th, 2007

Get Out a Kleenex Box: Brittany and Greer!

Remember this wonderful couple? To skip right to their wedding slideshow, click here!

And their two sweeties?

Brittany and Greer are two of the most amazing people. They have both been through things that I cannot fathom, and yet they have kept their hearts open and found each other. They are the couple that I wish I could keep in my pocket and introduce to every friend and family member because I know that everyone who meets them walks away a changed person. It only seemed appropriate that their wedding day was magical.

Their wedding was on their mountain property, Kimmer Ranch, in Colorado. Breathtaking! Brittany got dressed out in the open fields! She was simply stunning.

And the guys teased me endlessly as I set them up for this shot, but we all loved the result! :) This is for sure my favorite groomsmen shot to date! Don’t they look like rock stars!

This would be my second favorite groomsmen shot! :)

As Brittany started coming down the aisle with dad, it started to sprinkle. And I was speechless at how stunning she was!

They both waited to see each other until after the wedding. We were running short on time, and instead of Brian and I getting our normal 60-90 minutes with the couple, we had about…twenty five…:)

But wow, we went crazy with every minute and shot away!

And when it was time to head back to the tent for dinner, the lighting and mood of the tent was surreal!

The perfect outside match to the tent was the amazing inside that Nancy Chase Weddings designed!

But one of the best parts of the night is when Greer started to do a dance for Brittany to Michael Jackson’s Thriller song. That was Hilarious and AWESOME!! :)

Their are so many amazing photos. You have to see the slideshow!! And yes, you will need kleenex because the words to their song are totally them.

***Click Here to See Brittany and Greer’s Wedding Slideshow***

Brittany and Greer, we love and adore you with all our hearts!!! We can’t wait to spend time with you at the cabin this winter. We are counting the days!

All Our Love and Deep Respect, Me Ra and Brian

p.s. Can’t forget your babies! They were looking so handsome! I’ve never seen two dogs so well behaved. They were like guests at the wedding, just hanging out. You’ll see on the slideshow how they ran circles around Brit and Greer during their first dance. It was…perfect!

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October 15th, 2007

Wonderful Workshop!

Saturday was one of our Beginner Workshops for Women, and we had a BLAST!!! Brian and I loved every minute and every woman.

Here’s some of the feedback we’ve already received from them. Brian and I are simply overwhelmed at what they’ve shared.

“I’ve had the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO lecture more times than I can count. This was the first time I’d heard it from a woman’s perspective, and the first time it really made sense!”

“I feel like I’m not just a better “photographer” but a better person! Thank you!”

“I loved the analogies as they weren’t technical but instead practical.”

“Me Ra has a gift in being able to teach technical material in a learnable way.”

“I love how you took the stress and anxiety that I came with (lack of knowledge of my camera) and now I am leaving with more confidence!”

“This is going to sound corny, and I promise you I am not a stalker, but just getting to hang out with Me Ra and Brian. I just wanted to soak them in as much as as possible!”

“This was the BEST day I’ve had in a long time…it was so nice to wade through and be challenged, laugh along the way, conquer a fear, and leave wanting more. What a day! I can’t thank you enough!”

Here’s one that Kari already sent me! Kari you are AMAZING!! I love how you framed this with the leaves!

Here’s one I caught of Melissa. Melissa looked so beautiful. Can you believe she flew out from Vermont! We’re going to see if we can find a way to do a workshop on the East Coast in the Vermont area! Anyone interested? :)

Here’s one of the great shots Melissa caught while I was taking a picture of her!

This is a shot I took of the women during the inside photo shoot of baby Lily and big brother Dalton. You probably think I’m silly for saying this, but I love this shot b/c of how enthusiastic and excited they were while we practiced the techniques we’d been learning all morning. Wait till you see what they captured!!

Same light, same window, but it’s so cool to see the different images women took.

This one is so beautiful. Carol took this and the lighting is so clean, white and soft. It’s just stunning. Great job Carol!

This one was by Marianne. Isn’t this amazing!!! I love mom’s eyes and how soft the whole thing is!

This one is by Judy. Judy doesn’t even own an SLR yet. She came and borrowed one of ours and look at what she was capturing! You’re AWESOME Judy! The composition on this is so wonderful!

This next image is by Kari! I just die over the expression Kari caught!

Kari was also one of the winners for the “Running on Empty” contest! It was so wonderful to have her join us, and Brian and I got the special treat of having dinner with her after the workshop. We laughed so much my side hurt! (love you Kari!)

Beautiful shot of mom and baby by Heidi. And Heidi also does AMAZING still life of flowers! Heidi, it was so fun having you in the group!

This is a beautiful sibling shot that Jenny captured.

Jenny was so much fun! She bought one of our Me Ra Koh Photography, designer shirts, and I made her model for me! :) But how could I not, she’s so beautiful!

There was a bunch of fun shots that women took of Dalton and Lily’s feet, I think we even got Dalton’s dad to take off his shoes and socks. I thought I’d show you a few b/c I loved how every woman had such a different eye and point of view.

This was a great one by Leslie. It was especially fun to hear that Leslie had hear about our blog from a friend of mine in graduate school (Michelle-one of the nicest, sweetest women you’ll ever meet!). And so Leslie decided to fly out from Indiana for the workshop! (Leslie, you are so sweet and I can’t thank you enough for the beautiful cards you brought. I LOVE the colors and design on them!)

Andy, took this, and I love how she centered Dalton’s feet and blurred his little legs and arms out. Perfect!

We all oo’ed and awed when this shot came up during the Critique Session. Debbie, you nailed it for sure! Who says we need both their feet, why not one of each! I love your eye on this!

Jen captured this shot, and I loved the circular motion in it with his feet up front and his body blurred as he stretches out on the cough. Wonderful Jen!

Here’s one Brian snuck in while dad was tickling Dalton.

And here’s one I grabbed of big brother.

Now for the “sexy” shots of the day–caught by yours truly!!!! (drum roll…)

Sorry ladies, he’s totally taken. :)

Okay, we are SERIOUSLY going to offer more Beginner and Advanced Workshops in 2008! I’m getting the details figured out for a couple in January, so keep checking the blog in the next couple weeks!!

And to all our Advanced people coming in two weeks, we can’t wait to start!!!!! Keep your eyes out this week for emails from me with questionnaires, details and photography exercises to do before you come!

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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

To order our new dvd, Refuse to Say Cheese: Capture the Story, click the title!!

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

To see our day job, visit our website. :)

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October 12th, 2007

Free Shootsac!!!

If you haven’t discovered her, you must! Jessica Claire is amazing! Her work with color is stunning, her blog is addicting! You just have to see it for yourself, and I promise you will be a better person and photographer for it. I could seriously go on and on about all the things I admire about Jessica. Even this week, she totally blessed me. We’ve been looking for a few things to finish off our products and new site www.refusetosaycheese.com, and her connections saved me so, so, so much time!

AND in the midst of her crazy schedule, she has created something that women are going nuts over! The first fashionable, hip camera bag: Shootsac! Check it out!

She has several different shootsac covers on her site! You must see them ALL b/c they are just too great! And the coolest part is that she loves the moms here! Jessica and I talked in Vegas last March, and she was so excited about moms getting into photography.

She has generously shipped us a box of her beautiful Shootsacs for giveaways at the workshops!

That’s right ladies! For all of you coming tomorrow to the Beginner Workshop, we’ll have the bag in the top right corner to give away!

And there is going to be a BIG discount for attendees! Just one of the surprises for the workshops! If you’re not a workshop attendee and want a BIG discount too, she hinted for people to be checking her blog next week! :)

Thank you Jess! You’re AWESOME!! We love you!

To see a fun video on her Shootsac that Dane Sanders, Jessica and Mike Colon did, go here!

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October 11th, 2007

Survey Says!!!

86% of you visiting this blog are WOMEN!! :) You are made up of moms, brides and professional women photographers!

68% of you are MOMS!

Since you moms are a huge part of the visitors, this video is for you!! :) Get ready to laugh out loud! I have no idea who this mom is b/c the video was a forward, but she is AMAZING!!!

But, but, but, there is a growing audience of dads too!! This is so cool!!! This last week I’ve received a few emails from dads on how much they are loving the first DVD, and wow, I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to hear! Keep the dads coming…maybe we’ll do a Dad’s Beginner Workshop in 2008!

67% requested “More Photography Tips for Parents”. All I can say is “YIPPEE! You got it!!” I know I love posting them, but it’s so great to hear that so many of you love reading them.

The next two big groups said they wanted more personal posts on our family and more business tips to starting your own photography business.

This feedback is so valuable! You have no idea!!! My mind is flooded with things to post in the coming weeks! Expect a few more quick surveys in the next couple weeks. We are in the midst of building out our new product site www.refusetosaycheese.com (tentatively going live in November with lots of surprises!).

Instead of trying to guess what you all want, you can just tell us!

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October 10th, 2007

I’m a Cowgirl, and I’m not Taking No for an Answer!

Guess what Gigi Ma (great grandma) bought for Pascaline this weekend?

Yep, a holster and gun. And someone is taking it very seriously!

I have to share this series with you! It just kills me! Pascaline tells people she’s going to be a cowgirl-photographer. She’s not messing around!

She totally wasn’t posing, just playing out her cowgirl-photographer character while I was exercising on the deck. So when she wasn’t looking I grabbed the camera and my 70-200 zoom and shot away. It’s the whole “Refuse to Say Cheese” capturing the many sides of her.

Then Blaze made us both laugh!

“I’m Spiderman-Cowboy!”

And this is one of my favorites, love the whole cat element. Prince Philip is always the designated horsey. :)

The wind started to pick up and blew her hat off. And you won’t believe this next shot. Pascaline is too much. Brian said her life is like one long photo shoot. :)

If you dream of being a cowgirl, you have to check out this fantastic blog called Pioneer Woman. I love Ree’s posts, and her photos are great!!

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Okay friends, here’s the recipe on all these shots!!

Aperture: 3.5 (I wanted it lower to get some nice blur in the background. But since she was moving so much I didn’t go as low as 2.0 so she’d stay sharp and in focus.)

Shutter Speed: 1/160th of a second

ISO: 100 (my favorite ISO setting b/c the lower you go the more color saturation you have)

Lense: Canon L 70-200 mm

Try it out!! We almost didn’t go outside b/c the weather has been getting colder and raining, but I’m so glad we did. Who says you need sunshine every time?!
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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

To order our new dvd, Refuse to Say Cheese: Capture the Story, click the title!!

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

To see our day job, visit our website. :)

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October 8th, 2007

Uh Oh!

It’s 1am in the morning, and how does this happen. You sit down to get a “few” things done, and five hours later, you’re writing emails that don’t make any sense! What do you do? Post a blog! :) Yikes!

As I’ve been working, emails have been coming for the DVD 2 photo submissions! How fun is that! Thanks for sending them to us, we’re going to look at each and every one! The deadline is now here, so thanks a million for sending us so many!!

I’m also going to leave the survey up and running for all this week. Your feedback has been SUPER helpful that I would love to keep collecting people’s thoughts. I was going to do a photography tip, but I can’t see straight. Off to bed!

Oh! Here’s a quick question! A large percentage in the survey said they’d like to see more personal posts on our life. This kills me b/c half the time I think the world must think Brian and I are nuts (or at least he is :) ). Can you give us feedback on what kinds of posts you’d like to see? What comes to mind when you think of more personal posts on the two of us?

If you haven’t already, **Click Here** to fill out our 4 question survey!!

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October 5th, 2007

Your Input Some More!

I’m so thrilled with all your feedback on the subtitled for yesterday’s blog post!!! I had a shoot in Seattle yesterday, so I just read your posts today, and I’m loving the feedback!!! Super helpful!!!

Seeing your posts made me wonder more about all of you. :)

I’m curious to know who you are and a couple other things. I’ve got a 4 question, quick-quick survey. Would you mind taking a second to click on the link to take the survey?

You’re AWESOME!!!

Click Here the “I Am…” Survey

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October 4th, 2007

Thoughts on a Subtitle?

For DVD 2, the title is Beyond the Green Box. I’ve had the working subtitle be Understanding Your Digital SLR.

Just wondering, do you think the term “SLR” is confusing for parents and aspiring photographers who are new to their cameras? If it is I’d rather scrap it.

Would it be better to have the subtitle read Understanding Your Digital Camera?

Thanks!

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October 4th, 2007

Overwhelmed!

There is no other word to describe how I feel as your emails arrive with your beautiful photos. I am truly overwhelmed.

When we started working on the dvd project, I really had no idea how people would like it. I hoped and prayed it would connect with parents, but you never know if something is going to fly until you jump.

As you’ve been sending your photos the last 48 hours, I’m also moved by the stories you are emailing. It’s amazing to read about how you’ve connected with a certain chapter on DVD 1, and it inspired you to catch something breathtaking like this. This little guy will have this photo forever, and what an amazing thing that one of his parents spotted it and knew what to capture.

The mom that took the image below said she was experimenting with aperture, and I’m in love with how she blurred the background to add softness to her daughter’s quiet moment.

The hands, the rope swing, the blurred smile are all amazing in composition, detail and aperture. Talk about a breath taking detail shot. This mom nailed it! A lot of people have sent detail images, and it’s fun to see how that specific chapter really connected with so many parents.

There are so many more that are being emailed. Thank you for sharing your stories with me. I treasure each one. You have no idea how encouraging they are to read.

So good news! We’re extending the deadline to send in photos b/c the ones you are sending are way more amazing than we ever imagined. We want to give you the weekend if you’d like to send more or haven’t had a chance to send one yet. Don’t forget to put “DVD 2 photo submission” in the subject line and the title of the exercise or dvd chapter that inspired the idea for your images.

And for those of you who post comments on the daily blog posts, YOU have no idea how much you make our day. Our stats tell us that sometimes 1000 people will hit our blog, but when you only see 1 comment you feel like only 1 visited. It’s hard to visualize another 999 readers behind that comment.

Your comments help me believe that the blog really is leaving my studio and going out to people. :) Thanks so much for posting, I don’t tell you enough how much it means.

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