If you are one of the people who have emailed, called or posted for a San Francisco Photography Workshop, REGISTRATION OPENS this afternoon. Our City Tour for 2008 is now officially announcing San Francisco!

We’re just getting www.refusetosaycheese.com set up so you can register. Check back at 3:30pm ish’ today!

And just to wet your appetite, part of the workshop involves this image! That’s your only clue!

A few nights back Brian and I had the pleasure of having dinner with Jim Garner and Bambi Cantrell.

But before I talk about Bambi, let’s talk about Jim.

Jim Garner is one of these rare people who is both incredibly talented and incredibly humble. Take a minute and check out Jim’s website and blog. You will be in awe as you look through his photos.

They are all stunning.

We were so sad that Katrina, his wife, couldn’t make it, but I hear that she is fabulous too. Last year, their studio won Best Wedding Album at WPPI! And the best part is they are right here in Seattle with us. Who says all the fun is Southern CA?

Jim and Bambi are working on a new project together, so Bambi was up from San Fransisco. It was such a blessing to grab dinner together.

What an amazing three hours of listening to Bambi talk about her twenty five plus years in the industry; all that she’s learned, what she’s found to be the most important things, and how it worked for her as a wife, mom and “the name” on her business. I soaked in her every word.

The guys at Microsoft’s Pro Photo joke with me about how Bambi is the “empress” and I’m the “princess”. They couldn’t be more right about her being the empress. Bambi was the first woman to really pioneer a path for women in the photography industry. She was breaking ground twenty five years ago! In March 2007, American Photo Magazine awarded her with being one of the 10 Best Wedding Photographers in the World. She deserves all the recognition and so much more.

When I first started photography I went to one of Bambi’s workshops. I will always be in debt to her for how much she inspired me as a woman in the industry. There was no question in my mind that she was one of the woman to dedicate our second dvd to, Beyond the Green Box.

If you haven’t checked Bambi’s books, you must take a look. They are wonderful! And if you are the type of person who has a gift for sending encouraging emails, shoot Bambi an email and thank her for being a pioneer woman in the industry for us. She’ll probably kill me for asking you to do this, but you know what, she is someone that deserves so much thanks.

You can email her through the Contact page on her website.

Take a moment and think of all the things you juggle. Or what about the dozens of errands you run with “this” type of craziness in the backseat…

If you had to list all the many hats you wear, what would your list say? Mine sounds something like, wife, mom, dinner idea comer-upper and cooker :), daughter, big sister to two little brothers, friend, photographer, writer, speaker, producer, and on and on and on. Sometimes I find myself giving out more than I have to give.

I love giving.

Giving is not something I drag my feet over. But I find that when I only give out, when I only exhale, I sometimes forget to breathe in.

Is anyone forgetting to breathe in lately?

Our little family continues to grow, and the business continues to explode. It can all be a bit much sometimes. As I was working on the upcoming 101 Kit, The Mom’s Survival Guide, I remembered my business coach challenging me to carve out daily rituals within my daily and weekly schedules. Daily rituals of breathing in helps us stay filled up and in touch with our own needs so we can keep growing.

These little rituals can be simple. And yet, they are so vital so I can breathe in, especially during this holiday season.

Here are some I’m trying:

-running away to a cafe for 1 hour to spend time writing

-swimming laps (water always speaks so much healing to me, anyone else feel this way?)

-walking to the Yoga studio for a class, instead of driving–even if it’s raining. Here is Pascaline demonstrating her latest Yoga move for all of you.

-reading for 30 minutes before bed

(one of my favorite books these days)

-making my own carrot juice for breakfast and lunch (this is one of my favorite daily rituals when we’re not traveling!)

-lighting a candle on my desk as I begin working (last night Brian and I lit a bunch of candles on the table for dinner and turned out all the other lights except the Christmas tree. it was dreamy to have dinner with the kids by candlelight. I felt my soul breathing in as the conversation spun a web of total surprise.)

What are ways you’re breathing in? I’d love to here, as I’m sure many others would.

I know that life can often feel blurry. The moments are so sweet, but they fly away so fast. The kids grow taller when I’m not looking, and the days seem to sprint by instead of walk. I feel tempted to shut down and cry because I want every thing to stop—for just a few moments. Creating daily and weekly rituals has been my way of stopping, slowing down and remembering to breathe.

See if you can find some way to step away today and breathe deep. You give so much that you need to give to yourself.

We’re depending on you to give to yourself for selfish reasons. There is only one you, and you running on empty means the world sees less of your magic. Not an option dear friend. Not an option.

Much Love, Me Ra

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Fun and Quick Announcements!

1. Thank you so much to the many people who posted reviews on our new website this week! Brian and I are totally blessed by your words!

2. The San Francisco Wine Country Workshop is going to open for registration this week! Wait till you see what we’ve got planned! We’re aiming to open registration Wednesday or Thursday!

3. There are only a few spots left in the Seattle/Tacoma Photography Workshop on January 12 &13th! When you register, you can now put in the coupon code: deposit. It will only invoice you for $650, and we’ll settle the rest after the New Year.

4. The San Diego Workshop is half full and it’s not till May 08! We have women flying in from as far as Florida! Be sure to put it on your Christmas list and feel free to use the same coupon code: deposit!

5. Tips on capturing photos of your Christmas Tree and Family by understanding White Balance better…Coming this week!

I have a little favor to ask if this blog post comes across your way this weekend.

The second week of our new website, www.refusetosaycheese.com, was AMAZING, much like the first week.

We’re ramping up to do some fun marketing and exposure to the new site, and it would be so wonderful to show others what our customers say!

So many of you have emailed and posted on forums about how much you are liking the DVD series and the 101 Kits, and we would love it if you were open to doing a quick, 2 sentence, customer review on the new site.

If you have ever bought one of our products, and loved it :), we would be so appreciate your time to to do this.

All you do is go to the Refuse to Say Cheese site, click a product, scroll down to where it has the Customer Review and Customer Comments section, and write away.

Thanks so much! Have a fantastic weekend!

The winner for the “Thankful Photo Contest” is Image #1 by Amy!

So many of you echoed my feelings about this image. The lighting, the repetition, the subject matter: simply takes your breath away. And then to hear Amy’s story behind the shot that she posted in the comments section. Amy, I’m so glad the rain broke for you because you have blessed thousands with this image. It is a honor to send you DVD 2, Beyond the Green Box! Shoot an email to contest@merakoh.com. with your mailing address, and we’ll ship the DVD off to you!

The “Random Voter Award” of DVD 2 goes to Anne Marie! How cool is this! Anne was actually the one who submitted Image #5!

Here is part of her comments on this shot of her lovely grandparents;

The last one is my grandparents and although technically it isn’t anything special (taken with a 2.0 megapixel camera in the evening), it is an inspiration to me. I love the story of how my grandparents met. My grandfather was in WW II and was at Pearl Harbor on the USS Maryland when it was bombed. In the war, he was knocked off of his ship and got caught in the screws of the ships’ propeller. He lost his leg as a result. In the hospital, he met my grandmother because she was the physical therapist who massaged his legs! They were married in 1946. They are still living - just moved into a retirement home - moved out of the home they lived in for 47 years! Anyway, thanks for letting me share and reminisce and honor them.

(How do we pick our random voters? Two ways, one technical and one not so technical. Brian uses Excel b/c they have this cool feature where it will generate a random choice for you by using a formula. Pretty impressive huh! I close my eyes and scroll the mouse down as fast as I can and then I open my eyes to see where the mouse landed! Very technical, huh!)

And I have to do this because…well…you’ll see what I mean. The Pumpkin Contest had a close runner up. And the Thankful contest had a close runner up again. Can you believe it’s the same rock star mama!

Lilianna is her name! Both of these images are AMAZING! Don’t you think Lilianna deserves to win something!

After coming in second with such great shots two different times, well if that doesn’t deserve a prize of some kind I don’t know what does. Lilianna, I’m not sure if you have the DVD series already, so email us and we’ll send you something special! contest@merakoh.com.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the next contest. The last two have been so fun and inspiring, and if you are all liking them too why stop. Let’s keep going with them!

I thought about doing a theme contest for December, but I decided against it because I wasn’t sure I could pull it off with how full life is around the holidays. Instead, we’re going to do a contest around the theme of New Beginnings as 2008 is fast approaching. This means you have all month to submit your photos to contest@merakoh.com. After the new year, we’ll post up the five finalists and let you vote.

Won’t it be wonderful to start the first week of 2008 with incredible, inspiring photos around the theme of New Beginnings! I can’t wait!

In the next week I’ll make a more official announcement about this contest, but for those of you who have been waiting for this announcement, start sending your submissions in! I couldn’t bear to make you wait any longer!

Oh! I almost forgot! The winner of the contest will get $100 off toward a 2008 workshop! The Random Voter will get the same!

I normally don’t post over the weekend, but I have a fun little favor type post for tomorrow if you’re around and surfing the net. You’ll see!

I’m so glad that so many of you liked yesterday’s post! How fun! All your comments and emails got me thinking about another photography tip!

Let me ask you this…Are any of you experiencing blur as you try to grab the perfect Christmas photo of the kids? If the answer is a frustrating “YES”, read on!

In DVD 2, Beyond the Green Box, Brian and I do a lot of teaching on what we refer to as The Big Three: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.

If your taking photos of the kids and one child is in focus but the other three are not, start thinking of an Imaginary Glass Wall–the name of this photo tip. And then after thinking the words “imaginary glass wall” think Aperture.

Brian and I love low F-stops (2.8. 2.0, 1.8 and even 1.4 at times). What does this mean? The lower we go in our F-stop, or Aperture, the more blur we have in our background. A lot of old school photography will say you should have an F-stop of 8.0 to 16. This means that every thing in the picture is in focus. But we think the creativity and story telling comes from what we choose to focus on and not focus on.

See the image below. Mom and baby’s hands are in focus, but the baby nursing is way out of focus because it was a very low F-stop, or in other words, low Aperture. The F-Stop was a 2.8 at least. The story of this image is about the intimate, touching points and connections between a nursing baby and their mother.

But when you are trying to take a great family picture, and you want nice blur in your background with everyone in focus, you have to think “Imaginary Glass Wall”.

This is what I mean. I often tell my portrait clients to pretend like there is an Imaginary Glass Wall in front of them. Their mission is to have the tips of their noses touching the same imaginary glass wall as their brother or sister next to them. By saying this, I’m trying to get them all on the same plane. With all their noses touching the same glass wall, they are perfectly lined up, all on the same plane, and I can have a low F-stop, get my blur in the background and everyone stays in focus. I have to add that I’m always amazed at how the youngest of kids will understand this request and do it in a heartbeat.

But the moment one of the people in the shot moves closer to me or moves farther back, the group is no longer ALL in focus.

In this above shot, I was shooting at a 2.8 F-stop/Aperture, focused on the oldest son, and this blurred the dad and younger brother in the background. But if all three had put their noses up to the Imaginary Glass Wall, they’d all be in focus.

Is this making any sense? My fingers are crossed.

So if you want a shot of your chicklens with all of them in focus, you’ve got to make sure your camera has the aperture/F-stop to at least a 4.0, maybe even 5.6. (If these numbers don’t make any sense to you, try DVD 2, and it will all be clear! Promise!)

When we do the group bridal party shots or family shots at weddings, I bump my aperture up to a 5.0 or 5.6 to make sure everyone is in focus, just in case someone moves on me and doesn’t have their nose up against that Imaginary Glass Wall.

Try it out and let me know if this helps with your blurred kids!

I’m also working on a new exercise for next week that is all about White Balance (don’t freak out–White Balance is WAY easier than “they” make it sound). We’re going to try an exercise on using our White Balance settings to make the Christmas tree photos look great in color! It’ll be fun!

A big thanks to the Welk Family and Jessica for letting me share their portrait photos as examples! You guys are the BEST!

Oh, oh, oh!!! I almost forgot! As I’ve been typing this blog post, Brian has been working on something for the new website! I told him how much I love “Better Together” features on shopping carts, where if you buy these two or three products together, you can get an even better deal! Of course, he found a software and is finishing up so that it’s now a feature on our website! Check it out at Refuse To Say Cheese. The man is amazing!

I promise, tomorrow and no later, we will post the winner of the November “Thankful” Photo Contest and the Random Winner who Voted for the Winner.

I wrote this post a year ago, and I thought I would repost since so many of you liked it last year! Enjoy! And good luck with those family Christmas card photos! lots of bribing, lots of bribing…

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Once a year, I take about 45 minutes with my kids, and I become this biggest “Bribing Bartering Momma” you’ve ever seen. My mission: The Family Christmas Card Photo.

My first decision, nix the “family” dynamic of the photo. Way too hard to get the kids, Brian and I all looking “naturally good” in one shot. Maybe when they’re twelve we’ll try it again. But I don’t dare attempt this when I still have one under three.

Next move, I line up three different snacks for my bribes.

Bribe Number One: Cheerios. I start with the cheerios to loosen them up. Cheerios are familiar, relaxing, the sure thing. I take a couple shots of them playing together while snacking on their cheerios as they get reacquainted with the camera.

But, the shot I want for Christmas this year is not of them playing with their backs to me. Instead I want a photo of them together….sitting together. They are NOT impressed with this change in direction!

Next move, getting them to sit in a chair together. They don’t like being touched by the other one so this is a small challenge.

In less than 30 seconds, we go from “Don’t touch me!” to I want to kiss you and bite you…

This Calls for Bribe Number Two…their gummy vitamins! You know the ones I’m talking about. Supposedly these things are vitamins even though they’re covered with sugar. Our kids love them, so it works for me!

I take a few shots of them in the chair together, but I can’t seem to get them both looking good at the same time.

All I want is for them to be looking in the camera together. ‘Is this too much for a mother to ask?’ This is where my desperation grows, and I get a bit Nazi/Freak like.

This calls for Bribe Number Three…eggnog. I look Blaze right in the eyes, and I say, “Blazey, do you want some yummy eggnog?” He lights up for a second, and I shoot. Now he’s mad because I asked him a question and left him hanging while I shot more photos. “Blazey, momma will give you some yummy eggnog if you sit with sissy for five more photos. Can you do that? It’s the “yummy” eggnog.” His sister is salivating next to him, and she’s sold. “C’mon Blaze! Have a good attitude so we can get back inside and drink eggnog,” argues Pascaline. And for whatever reason he buys it!

In the end, I decide against this shot for our Christmas card. Brian asks me why. “They look too perfect. Too cutsie looking.” He shakes his head and makes a wise move…leaves the room.

After our Christmas cards go out I’ll post what this Nazi/freak momma ended up going with for our final pick! You’ll get a kick out of it since you witnessed the whole process!

BTW, Blazey got his eggnog!

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Exercise for “Bribing Your Kids for a Christmas Photo!”

1. Dress the kids up warm and get outside. I love the wool coats, hats, gloves, scarves, you name it for the Christmas Family Photo. The kids are probably cabin feverish with this crazy weather so load them up with a cheerio snack, and let them get some cold air in their lungs (seems to calm them down). Plus, you can’t go wrong with the natural lighting!

2. After a couple shots, move the kids to a chair. Whenever I’m taking shots of a couple children at one time, I like to have them sit. Keeping their bottoms stationary keeps all their wiggles at bay.

3. Be prepared for them to hate this whole thing. That’s when you break out Bribe Number Two! Pick a simple bribe that isn’t messy (stay away from cookies or granola bars that get sticky). Keep it a simple, novel snack item, something they can’t have every day or any time of day. Vitamin gummy bears twice in one day was a HIT with these two. (It’s always the little things!)

4. Focus on trying to get them both looking in the direction of the camera. Have a friend or spouse snap their fingers or jingle their keys right above the hood of your lense. Here are some more tips on having someone help you!

5. Shoot away! When they start to meltdown, bring out the last attempt, Bribe Number Three! My kids don’t usually buy a fourth bribe, so I make that last one count. And I tell them “five more shots” but of course I have my camera setting on multiple shots, so with every time I hold the shutter down I get at least five shots. (i guess that makes it more like 25 more shots :)…so bad!)

6. Be okay with not having all of you in the shot if your little ones are under four. I’ve done so many family portrait sessions, and it’s so hard for children to look right in the camera when every one else is. I think it’s better to capture them, keep them from getting super stressed, and let go of people seeing you in the shot for a few more years (just my opinion).

7. Last, but most important, hang in there. Look for those quick moments of joy. Even though the kids were NOT into this photo session with mom, there was this brief moment where they got really goofy. I ended up picking one of those for our Christmas photo. The silly joy on their faces makes me think of this season in their life. Yes, they fight. Yes, they throw tantrums. But they’re also REALLY silly at times, and these moments make me smile. As they grow their humor will change, and I love that our Christmas card photo totally represents the silliness of the age they are. The silly moments come and go fast so be ready and if you miss it, no worries, you’ll be that much better at catching it the next time.

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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

To find out more information on our photography workshops for women and our DVD series “Refuse to Say Cheese”, CLICK HERE!!!!

To see our day job, visit our website.

Brian and I are working on the details for more workshops in more cities in 2008!

I know many of you have been wanting an update. Here is where things are at as of today!

A Photography Workshop in the Wine Country outside of San Francisco is shaping up for the end of April 2008.

I can’t wait to share the details on this amazing weekend! We’re confirming a bunch of fun details this week. Registration may open early next week! (Fingers crossed–start spreading the word!)

We are also looking at October 2008 for holding a workshop in the BIG STATE of TEXAS! Trying to decide on location still. We’ll keep you updated!

And the big question for you women in the south: are there really 45 women who want a workshop in Georgia! This is the card that took Brian and I by surprise! Let us know you’re out there, and what city you would suggest, and what time of year.

FYI, if you emailed us offering to be a workshop hostess for your city, you may be getting a call from me in the next week.

Cities and states that we are still planning to tackle with more details and research are; Arizona, Cape Cod/Boston area, NY, Indiana and maybe Tokyo!

2008 is going to be such an adventure! We can’t wait to meet many of you in person!

And later today, I’m going to repost my Tips for Parents on taking the family Christmas Picture. This was a post I did last year that so many of you loved, so I’ll brush it up and put it back up today! Check back after 3:30pm today!

Much love! Me Ra

Carey has done it again! Every December, award winning portrait photographer, Carey Schumacher (owner of Barefoot Memories), takes her website down and puts up a Christmas movie of photos. The movie is incredible on so many levels: sharing her clients photos, marketing to new clients, bringing a sense of beautiful reflection to this time of year, the list goes on and on.

If you haven’t already, you must watch Carey’s 2007 Christmas movie. It went live this weekend, and it’s wonderful! I think I’ve watched it three times already!

You can view the movie at Carey’s website, www.barefoot-memories.com.

For those of you who haven’t heard the news, Carey will be teaming up with us for a jam packed workshop in San Diego, May 2008. Yep, San Diego is one of the “8 in 2008″ cities Brian and I will be touring too. I’m so excited for Carey to do a special segment on beach photography and share all her tips on how this works for her images. After you see her movie, you’ll agree that we’re going to be hearing from one of the best!

We have women signing up every day from all over the country. And yes, we do have spots left. I’ve also been trying to figure out how women can make a deposit of $650 if they’d rather not pay the workshop amount in full at this time (with it being Christmas right now). This is what we came up with this weekend.

If you’d like to reserve your spot by only paying the deposit of $650, go ahead and type the coupon code word: deposit. This will change your total price to $650, and then we will invoice you for the remaining $349 amount in April 2008. Please note, the special Business and Marketing Day Add-On has no deposit option and is first reserved for those attending the workshop.

***Click Here to Register for the San Diego Workshop!***

Great Job Carey! You’re amazing! You’re an awesome mom, awesome wife, awesome photographer, awesome friend…you are a star!

p.s. The November Contest Winner for the Best Thankful Image will be Announced This Week!