Archive for April, 2008

April 16th, 2008

They are Beautiful, They are Heros, They are in Our Community!

In a couple hours we will announce the winner of the Running on Empty Contest, but first I want to honor ALL the women (and one dad :) ) who were nominated. What struck me the most is that even though these women are running on empty, their surrounding world sees them as beautiful, inspiring, and strong. I know each of these women have shared their own dose of pain and loneliness, and in some miraculous, mysterious way the little they have to give is being multiplied and changing the lives around them.

After reading their stories, I’m struck by their beauty. I’m inspired by their heroic commitment to their families. And I’m so blessed to have them as a part of this blog community. Here are a handful of quotes I had to highlight.

Some of these quotes brought me to tears, some made me smile deep inside, but all of them strengthened me.

I realized words weren’t enough because she was the glue that kept everything running in our lives.

She has helped me through so many hard times when i have lost hope, she gave me hope through her own personal stories. She is always open to us, students, whenever we need her, as well as her wonderful family. I don’t know how she does it.

She is a person of strength beyond what I could ever hope to be as a woman of God and as a mother.

Every week she meets, shares, cries, holds, encourages & challenges young women to know who they are and pursue a life worth living.

She is that girl that is so free and fun, who meets new people and within seconds has a new lifetime friend.

So, I have taken on watching other people’s kids to try to bring in the extra money we are short every month. I’m also trying to launch my photography business and have bought both or your DVDs and your business kit.

After welfare and WIC and child-support, she still could not support her fatherless family. She went back to work and had to find a college-aged kid to nanny her children. In return, the girl received her room and board as this is all she could afford.

As I stood in a dark place behind the lens I was able to capture the beauty in life all around me and in others. Photography became a refuge in which I could envision and dream for brighter days ahead.

She has been a source of strength, courage and hope for not only me but for everyone around her.

She is making a real difference in the lives of our children.

I now have a new lease on life and am trying to appreciate all the little things more because you never know when they will be taken away from you.

After we go to bed she is up all night surfing the web learning tutorials on photo shop and finding more inspirations for the next photograph she wishes she could take.

It feels refreshing to share hopes and dreams and some of my sorrows here with other Moms who also know how draining it can feel to let go of our dreams for the people we love.

We only have this one shot at this thing we call life, and we need to make the most of each moment.

I am so thankful for the many people who have prayed for us, and I know that has pulled me through some very dark days these past couple weeks.

It feels refreshing to share hopes and dreams and some of my sorrows here with other Moms who also know how draining it can feel to let go of our dreams for the people we love.

I am learning a lot about photography from your blog but I am also learning a little more about being a mom and being myself.

Honey, if you don’t win this trip, please know that the kids and I are blessed to have you, and thank you for your caring, loving, “everybody else before you” attitude. We wouldn’t have made it this long if you didn’t keep us glued together, and strong through all the hard times. Thank you and I love you.

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April 14th, 2008

Five Steps to Prepping!

Here is where we will start friends!

For me, the first step in suffering (and finding freedom) is knowing the truth and nothing but the truth. That being said, without knowing these Five Steps to Prepping it’s pretty hard to track your progress. You end up relying on the scale and how many pounds you’ve gone up or down. But for me, this isn’t about pounds as much as it is increasing tone, increasing strength, and liking how my clothes fit. Can I get an AMEN! :)

So here’s the homework assignment! Let’s make it due by next Monday! That means you’ve got seven days to face the music and take the first step.

1. Find or buy a journal.

You’ll decide how much “keeping track” you want to do, but it’s good to have it all in one place.

2. Let’s get #2 done and over with.

Pick a scale you can use on a consistent basis and write down in your journal what your current weight and the date. Make sure you step on the scale at the same time every day with the same amount of clothing. I prefer in the morning when I wake up.

3. Measure your inches.

This 3rd step is so important b/c you may not see pounds come off the scale, but if you’re tracking your inches you could be seeing loss in inches which means more toneness. That’s a great thing! With a simple tape measure, get measurements for these body parts and write them down in your journal along with the date:

a. Upper Right Arm_______ / Upper Left Arm________ (relax your bicep at your side, and have someone help you by wrapping the measure right around your bicep, don’t squeeze to tight but make sure it’s tight enough to not be slipping around)

b. Chest _________________ (wrap the measure across the middle of your breasts)

c. Stomach_______________(go right over the middle of your belly button)

d. Hips__________________(go right over the middle of your rear and wrap around to the front)

e. Right Thigh_________ / Left Thigh __________________ (relax your leg and wrap the measure right around the middle of your thigh)

*record even 1/8 of an inch if that’s what you’re seeing b/c every little 1/8 or 1/4 adds up when you start losing :)

4. Get the Body Comp. This may take some research to find who offers Body Comps. I go to our Nateuropath and they hook up my toe and right hand and then run a current through me (can’t feel a thing) which measure my Muscle Mass, Body Fat and Water Retention. It’s only $18, and I’m going to start doing it every 30 days as we get closer to race season. Why is a Body Comp helpful? For me,it let’s me know if I’m eating enough protein to be gaining muscle instead of body fat. Since I can’t eat eggs or dairy, I struggle with getting protein and this keeps a Body Comp can help keep me on track. It also let’s me know where my Body Fat percentages is in comparison to Muscle. This isn’t necessary, but it can be encouraging when you see your Body Fat go down in percentages. :)

5. If #4 doesn’t seem possible right now, DON’T SKIP #5. Purchase a Heart Rate Monitor. It’s tough, actually almost impossible to know if you’re working hard enough without knowing what your heart rate is doing. The heart rate monitor below is the one Diego and I use. Click here for the specs on it. On the right of their website page, you’ll see the Dealer Directory tab. That’s where you can find out where to purchase one. Why this one over others? Most heart rate monitors force you to buy new ones when the battery dies, but with this one you can switch out the battery and save a ton of money in the long run. And it has great features on it for every level of fitness.

Goals…hmmmm…

Start thinking of your short and long term goals. What do you want to accomplish? Why are you going to start suffering with me? :) If you’ve never done a Sprint Triathlon, that’s a fantastic goal b/c you can go at your own pace. It’s all about finishing, and triathlon people are one of the nicest and most encouraging crowds to hang out with.

Or how about a pair of jeans you fit into before kids or before the wedding day? :)

Maybe it’s a certain amount of body fat that you’d like to exchange for lean muscle?

Maybe it’s about having endurance and energy for shooting a 12 hour wedding and then keeping up with the kids the next day?

They can be as wild and crazy as you want, but make sure you have a few. We can even share them on the blog if you’d like to cheer each other on!

One of my short term goals is to suffer four times a week for the next month. That means I need to boost up my intensity level and just give this a freaking shot. Funny little story…Saturday I went to work out and decided to SUFFER. I got on the elliptical and did what Diego and my chiropractor said. I tried to do intervals of going 210 Strides/Per Minute for 4 minutes and then 2 minute recoveries. I honestly didn’t know my legs could move this fast. It was like this major mental block. But when I focused on fifteen seconds at a time, I totally I did this for 45 minutes! Mind you, I almost puked when I was done, but I did it! Instead of burning my normal 380 calories, I burned 900 (including the weight training)!!

I came home and told Brian I was thinking of us having another more baby. Our window was getting smaller, maybe we should think about it. He looked at me and didn’t say any thing. Then he gave me this little half smile and said, “You are so looking for a way out of suffering this month. If you got pregnant you wouldn’t have to try this suffering thing for at least NINE months. ” (ouch! He knows me so well :) )

Okay, here’s another question! What would be good reward incentives to reaching our short term goals? They can be personal, or something everyone can have access too, small and big, ideas, ideas, ideas!!! :)

As you get your Five Steps to Prepping done, post it up on the blog to encourage others to get it done too!!

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April 14th, 2008

Photo Contest Finalist!!

This was the closest the votes have ever come! We recounted a couple times making sure there wasn’t any double, triple entries from the same people. (sneaky some of you! :) ) The winner won by five votes out of 300 plus! If the winner cannot take advantage of the prize to meet us in Sonoma for half off the regular workshop price, the runner up will be given the offer. And the one who came in Third place was only five votes behind Second Place! Isn’t that amazing!

Okay, drum roll!

The Winning Finalist is Dancing on the Beach by Caron!!!

Yeah for Caron!!! Great, beautiful job!!!

Your image is timeless, and I have loved reading all the comments on why people voted for you!

If Caron can’t join us in Sonoma, the Runner Up is the beautiful image Birthday Candles by Deb!! I could look at this photo over and over again and never get tired of it. Wonderful image Deb!

Ohhhhh! Brian and I are so excited and hope to meet one of you in person next week!

Email us asap with any questions on Sonoma! We’ll need to know your decision this week!

Random Voters Awards!!!

All you 300 plus voters ROCK!!! It’s our pleasure and honor to give three people their choice of a 101 Kit! You can choose whatever kit best fits your life these days!

If you’d like to check them out, we’ve got the Mom’s Survival Kit, the Portrait 101 Kit, the Wedding 101 Kit, the Associate 101 Kit and the Getting Published 101 Kit. Click on the titles to read all their details.

Here are the three Random Voters! They are Erin, Jeanette and Steve!!

1. Erin voted on 07 Apr 2008 at 4:13 pm

#3. I like how the “light” aspect of the theme is depicted in an unconventional way. When we think of light and dark, we don’t think of color, we think of black and white (usually). I love that the light in this image is a beautiful bold red! Breathtaking image!

2. Jeanette voted on 08 Apr 2008 at 4:00 am
I love #2. This photo reminds me of my dad and I. I love that the only light in the photo comes from the candles.

3. Steve voted on 09 Apr 2008 at 11:41 am

I vote for number 4. That is an amazing picture.

Erin, Jeanette, and Steve! Shoot us an email at mera@merakoh.com and write Random Voter Award in the subject line! We’ll get you a certificate that you can use toward one of the five 101 Kits!! Thanks so much for voting!!!

New Photo Contest Theme Ideas!

Okay friends, what should the theme be for the next photo contest? My garden is starting to bloom with all kinds of life. Should it be something that has to do with Spring? I’m open to other ideas! Post em up and let’s get this new contest going!! I think we may have another Sony camera to give away!! :)

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April 13th, 2008

44 Comments–We’re Going For It!!…and a Disclaimer

Wow, it’s Sunday afternoon! I’m getting a little work done and then we’re off to take the kids swimming. I had to jump on and see how the blog responses were coming from Friday afternoon, and WOW!!!

I’m so excited about how many people posted! I say we go for it!!

But first a bit of disclaimer…

I’ve got to throw this in here because weight and the body’s self image is so skewed in this world. So please don’t hear any message of me trying to propel that issue. These next 30 days are all about breaking through plateaus and feeling better, not focusing on the pounds lost but how we feel. Hope that makes sense.

To all those who commented on Friday’s post!

Thank you so much! There were so many wonderful posts, but the biggest thing I felt was such a sincerity from so many of you. There was such a beautiful honesty. Many of you expressed how you just wanted to feel better and break through the slump you’ve been in. I totally applaud you for that! And I’m with you!

I loved all the suggestions too! I love yoga, and if you haven’t tried it that fantastic! Some of you asked if I’d seen a natueropath. And you’ll laugh b/c we are the total homeopathic family. Our family doctor cracks up with us b/c I usually go to the chiropractor, natueropath and acupuncturist before I see her. :) These three fields have played a HUGE role in me coming to understand my body’s makeup. I’ve had so many mountains to climb in my health since I was little, and I can’t tell you how much my doctor, chiro, nateuropath, and acupuncturist have all been a team in my successes. Someone else mentioned the B shots, and Brian and I both give ourselves B shots once a week for being anemic. These have been so helpful!

The whole post on Friday is not so much about my needing to be healthy b/c I know I’m making good choices. It’s more about wanting to break through a plateau I’ve been at for 3 plus years. I want to go for that triathlon this summer or the 62 mile bike race and feel stronger than last season.

A couple people in the post from Friday said I make them tired, and I had to laugh. Your honestly is treasured! I think my friends agree. But when you’ve lived most your life believing you were a victim and feeling like damaged goods, it’s an amazing thing to step into healing and wholeness. Healing is the most invigorating, energy filling thing I’ve ever known. Sometimes I feel like I just learned how to dream, and I want to learn to dream even bigger!

But I promise, I’m not high energy in all areas of my life. One example, when the kids were babies, sometimes at bedtime I’d dress them in the clothes I wanted them to wear the next day b/c I didn’t want to change their clothes again!! How is that for confessions! ;)

So here’s the deal…

On Monday afternoon, I’ll post the First Five Things To Do as we embark on this new journey together. Let’s call the post our Five Steps to Prepping! A couple of the things will be easy, some will take a little work and research. Bottom line, each one is all about prepping to feel and look better! And FYI, we’re calling this category Suffering with Me Ra! So glad I’m not alone!!! I love you guys!

Off to the pool with the kids!

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p.s. I’ll post the winning Finalist of the Photo Contest Monday morning! And we think we may be able to post the winner of the Running on Empty Contest on Wednesday!

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April 11th, 2008

He Tells Me I’m Not Suffering!

It’s spring, and I’m frustrated.

But before I go any further, this is a little personal rant of mine and has nothing to do with photography. Feel free to skip this post. :) I think I’m looking for camaraderie in this battle I’m in and just wondering if anyone else is interested in doing this with me.

Okay, I’ve been trying this new workout regiment for the last six months. It’s focused on weight training at a cardio level. In six months, I haven’t dropped any thing! I’ve actually gone up in weight. My friends are sweet and say, “You’ve totally gained muscle weight!” So I told myself, WOAH, I must be gaining some serious weight in lean muscle mass. Better go do a body comp and find out HOW MUCH muscle I’ve gained.

Good news, I’ve gained 2.5 lbs of lean muscle.

But, BUT, FREAKING BUT, I’ve gained 8.5 lbs of fat!!! Can you hear because I’m crying and pulling my HAIR OUT!

I look at these results and feel so frustrated. Little background on me. I was in a horrible water ski accident when I was in high school. Before this I played and trained with a tennis coach for sometimes 4 hours a day. After the accident my back wouldn’t last more than 45 minutes on the tennis court. Went to college and quit working out. But after graduate school, I decided to get serious again and get the weight off that I had been gaining over the last nine years.

Went to Weight Watchers for a year. Lost 25 lbs. But then I seemed to plateau. I couldn’t get down in my weight any more. I had about 12 lbs to go to hit my Lifetime Goal and nothing was working.

Around this time we started shooting weddings, and after a 12 hour day, I was EXHAUSTED physically. So I started getting into the pool to swim laps and build up my back muscles. Eventually, I started working out with the triathlon group to build endurance. And in all this, I’m hoping I’ll lose weight and body fat as a biproduct. But NOTHING…N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

So I look back to my diet. I go to an endocrinologist to see if I have a thyroid problem–checks out okay. I get my food allergies tested. That was fun. I find out I’m allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy, and caffeine. So what can I eat? :)

My diet changes radically and I start eating a lot more protein to sustain my workouts with lots of veggies. I’m a total juicer and love it. But still, I’m only gaining, not losing.

This has gone on for three years. Six months ago, I try this new workout and six months later I’m here on the blog dumping out all my frustration with all of you.

My chiropractor is a body builder and trainer so he comes to the gym the other morning and watches my weight training routine. When I get to the cardio he says I’m not doing a high enough intensity. I’m looking at him, hard of breath, and thinking “what are you talking about!” He says get up to 190-200 on the elliptical in Strides Per Minute AND work up to staying there for 45 minutes. I’m dying after 12 minutes at that pace.

Then I sit down with my cycling instructor this morning after class and he says, “Look Me Ra, you’re not suffering in class. I know you’re working hard and breaking a sweat, but you’re not suffering. Your intensity has to double.”

Being that he’s shorter than me, I wanted to punch him. I’m thinking, ‘Do you know how exhausted I am after class!” (whatever Diego!…you *%&!# is what I’m thinking)

But it appears this plateau I’ve been at for the last few years is mental and for some reason I’ve convinced myself I’m working out hard but it’s not suffering. :)

Okay, are you still with me or sick of all this?

So, I’m not pessimistic about much in life. But when it comes to my desired fitness level and the last three years of hard work, I’m feeling like no hope is out there.

There is this slim thread that my cycling coach and chiro. are challenging me with. They both want me to double my exertion for the next month. Not workout longer but harder. Suffer. Burn twice the calories. I’m feeling like this isn’t possible, they’re saying I’m wrong.

At the same time, I’m going to start writing down what I eat and keeping track again. I think the traveling is killing me. That’s a big part of the 8.5 lbs of fat gained. Ugh. But reality is that our life involves consistent travel, and I have to figure this one out.

So, does anyone want to do this with me? I’m not sure what all of this looks like, but I’d love to do a second post every couple days where we share our eating or workout goals that we are meeting every couple days. We share long term and short term goals by posting them as comments, and we totally encourage each other to get fit before summer. Whether you want to fit in your bathing suit and feel good by this summer or you are training for a triathlon, the end feels overwhelming for all of us. I’m thinking that no matter what level we are at and no matter how much our goals differ we could still draw encouragement and camaraderie from each other. What do you think? Am I totally in left field and needing more sleep? ;)

If this is at all interesting to any of you, post a comment and let me know. If there is a big response, I’ll post up the first things “to do” so we can start working toward our goals sooner than later!

There are five things we need to do that will help us find success (if success is to be found! :) ). Let me know if you’re interested in what those five things are.

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April 11th, 2008

Backpacks for Kids!

What can I say? A backpack doesn’t get much cheaper than this!

Blaze insists on this being his backpack right now. He wears it EVERYWHERE we go. And as you can see, he’s not joking around–this is serious stuff. You may spot him in Cosco, Trader Joe’s or Ikea. He’s the soon to be 4 year old with the plastic Safeway bag hanging off his back. :)

The red folder inside his “backpack” is his laptop–of course.

Kids are hilarious! You can’t make this stuff up!

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Recipe…

Lens: 85mm, fixed lens (this means it’s not a zoom lens so I’ve got to move my body to get in closer :) , but the fixed lens will often give me the lower Aperture)

Aperture: 1.8 (went super low to blur the background behind him and create a nice green background for contrast with the grass)

Shutter Speed: 125th of a second

ISO: as low as I can go, 100 ISO, the lower you go the more rich your colors are

To learn more about aperture, shutter speed, iso or how to frame your photos, check out our DVD series!

Have a great weekend friends, and look for the kid with the Safeway grocery bag hanging off his back. Yep, that’s my kid! :)

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April 10th, 2008

Ex BMX Racer Turned Photographer!

Julie Watts is a fabulous photographer and woman. Brian and I met her when she attended one of our workshops last year. She sent me this image in regards to the Darkness and Light Photo Contest, and I had to share it with you!

Isn’t this image AMAZING! The story is that she was doing some portrait work for belly dancers in her studio and WOW! Julie wasn’t trying to enter the contest but wanted to share her idea of Darkness and Light, and I couldn’t help but not share it with all of you!

Julie is so sweet! Her life is so dynamic! Can you believe she was a BMX racer?! I mean that alone makes her a “Cool Cat!” because I don’t know anyone else that has done BMX racing!

She also has two little ones and is now a full time photographer! Check out her blog and read the About Me part, it’s awesome! I totally laughed out loud!

Julie can we convince you to tell us a little about yourself? :)

How did you take this photo? What was the recipe behind it? How did you get the color so vibrant? And for those of us reading who are parents wanting to go full time, what’s one piece of advice you’d share? Or two pieces! :)

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April 10th, 2008

Last Day!

Today is the last day to vote for the winner of the Darkness and Light Photo Contest!!

It all ends at 12pm PT (3pm ET). If you haven’t voted and told your friends to vote, better do it now, or you may end up in his situation!

(had to get the image in one more time for this contest! :) )

Click on HERE to post a comment and submit your vote! If we get over 300 votes, we’ll give out two more Random Voter Prizes! Why not! Right!

AND…check back today around 2pm! I’m working on a post about a woman is was a BMX racer turned mom of two and recently became a full time photographer! She is super cute! Totally inspiring! And she doesn’t even know I’m spotlighting her! :)

(don’t you love surprises!)

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April 9th, 2008

Looking for a Community of Photographers?

Every month we have a special meeting for photographers. If you’re in the neighborhood, join us!

People have come from Idaho, Oregon and of course, Washington. But if your visiting from out of town and want to jump in on the fun, we’d love to have you!

What do we do?

We start with wine and appetizers, everyone brings a little something. Then we have a focused topic for the night. Sometimes the topic has to do with growing your business, marketing, or shooting techniques, or the nuts and bolts to your business.

Right now I have a series of people coming who help photographers with the “business” side of their business. Last month our wonderful banker, Dani Collins from Columbia Bank, came and talked to us about becoming bankable, when to consider commercial financing, tax benefits and so forth.

This month our meeting is on Wednesday, April 23rd (two days before our Sonoma Workshop starts! Yeah!). It starts at 6:30pm.

For this month, I’ve asked our lawyer, Jennifer Huddleston Wing, to come and talk about the differences between having an LLC, Corporations and being a Sole Proprietor. Airika also had a great idea of asking Jennifer to discuss the Top Ten Pitfalls of a Small Business. If you are in need of lawyer type input, I got Jennifer to join Facebook. :) You can find her as Jennifer Huddleston Wing or just go to my page Me Ra Koh and you’ll see her as a friend there too. But seriously, I’ve known her for years–she’s amazing. For those of you who have bought and loved our 101 Kits, particularly the Wedding, Portrait and Associate Kits, Jennifer has been the legal mastermind behind all those contracts. She’s a contract queen!

If you are a veteran in the industry or considering starting a business, you are totally welcome. The appetizer/wine part is 30 minutes or so, the formal part of the meeting lasts about 1 hr. This officially ends our group around 9pm. Then we eventually have to kick people out at 1am.

We love this night and everyone who comes! Sometimes there are 12 of us, sometimes there are 40 of us! Each year we also do a Martini Garden Party every summer and a Christmas Party.

But I’m also super excited to have new leaders for the group. Brian and I starting leading it a couple of years ago, but our schedule has become to crazy to do the job justice. We are still going to be hosting, but Gerald and Airika Pope have volunteered to take over the leadership side of things, and they are so cool! I can’t wait to see how their leadership will take this group to another level!

This is Airika (the one sticking her tongue out). As you can see, she’s very unapproachable. :)

If your interested on info and details to the meetings, shoot Airika an email and she’ll hook you up! (airika@geraldpope.com)

And most of all, be encouraged to find a community of photographers that are safe and encouraging. If you are feeling looked down upon by other photographers, get out of that situation and find a new group where people love you, cheer you on, and believe in you. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but there are more of these types of wonderful photographers than the Negative Nellie’s. :) Just got to hang in there and find them.

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April 7th, 2008

Let the Voting Begin!!

Happy Monday friends!

It’s time to roll out the Top Five Finalists for the Darkness and Light Photo Contest!

We went from having maybe a dozen entries to dozens and dozens and DOZENS of entries!! I think it took Brian and I almost two hours to go through every photo, study them, read the stories that accompanied them and just be in awe of your fabulous work. What a honor you give us every time we hold these contests. To all of you who submitted, thank you so much for trusting us with your photos. Please keep shooting, keep submitting, they were ALL amazing!

Voting and How You Can Win as a Voter!

Post a comment and vote for your favorite image. Tell us why you liked it so the artist that took the image will be blessed (this is by far the best part of these contests). And don’t forget, we always pick a random voter to win something too. Prizes and future prizes are listed below. Let’s get to the photos!

Finalist #1, Dancing on the Beach, by Caron (mama to this little girl)

This image feels timeless. It’s beautiful, freeing, inspiring, and makes me want to run down to our beach and dance away. I can almost hear the little girl singing. The sunset colors are gorgeous, but what struck me most about this photo is the timing of the picture. If you’ve ever tried to capture photos of your little girl dancing, it’s not easy. But Caron almost makes it look like a piece of cake in this image.

The placement of arms, feet, and seeing her stand on her tippy toes while knowing this moment only lasted for a second, wow Caron, AMAZING JOB! I also love the composition of this image. Her daughter being off centered adds even more motion to her dancing. I can’t say it enough, great job Caron!


Finalist #2, Birthday Candles, by Deb (mama and wife to these hands)

This is what Deb wrote in her photo submission: “This is a celebration for my husband’s 45th birthday (4 candles on one cupcake, 5 on the other). My 11 year old daughter is lighting the birthday candles for him. I didn’t even realize I had captured the moment between them until I was looking through the pictures. I absolutely love how his hand is gently guiding hers to light the candles.”

When Brian and I opened the image after reading her email, we gasped.

Isn’t this image amazing?! I love the composition of how she framed their hands and centered the cupcakes. The hands and their touch is so tender. Deb, you must share with people how you shot this image! Do you remember your settings? It looks like the candle light was your only light for the image. What an incredible example of darkness and light. Amazing job Deb!

Finalist #3, Red Sky of India, by Ms. Denu

If you’re having a hard time on trying to decide on the finalist after seeing the first two, wait till we add #3 into the mix! Ms. Denu emailed us from India. Her email was precious and explained how she follows our blog and has never entered a photo contest before. Don’t you think she should enter more?!

Can a sky be any more red? I love the dramatic effect of darkness and light in this image–it leaves so much for the imagination to wonder. Are these children playing, are they walking home as a family, is that the mom off to the side, is she holding another child, is the dad comforting the other child? This image is a wonderful example of using darkness and light to inspire stories and creativity. What do I mean by this? Photos can often show us the story, but every once in a while you come across an image that leaves you with more mystery than knowledge. And yet, even in the mystery of this image we still feel warmth, tenderness, family, and what else? Ms. Denu, thank you so much for sharing and taking a chance on submitting to your first photo contest! Wonderful job!

Finalist #4, Ballerina Silhouette, by Susanne (mama to this little one)

Let’s go a different direction in our finalist images and take a look at this beautiful example in capturing darkness and light while inside your home. Susanne said her little girl had just learned to sit up. She set her far enough away from the blinds so her baby couldn’t reach them and took the shot as fast as she could before her baby fell over. :) Don’t we all remember those tender days?

I love the amount of darkness Susanne used in this image.

What strikes you the most when you see this?

For me, it’s the ruffles on the skirt and the bow around her head. Sometimes I take a silhouette and make the subject completely dark, but sometimes it’s fun to not go completely dark and leave more detail. Susanne has done this wonderfully b/c the detail is in essence the story of the image. The choice to make this a silhouette shot draws out the detail of her ruffled skirt, bows and chubby arms that much more. Would we have had the same effect if this image was in color and/or if her daughter was fully lit? Susanne, this is beautiful. It reminds me of the photo effects I taught on the Beyond the Green Box DVD with Pascaline sitting in front of the window. Thank you so much! You should be so proud of what you captured!!

Finalist #5, Hannah Kate Swinging, by Melissa (mama)

It’s hard to put into words what I think of this image. The soft color, the leaves in the trees above, the darkness and light, the motion of the swing, the old fence, the composition that leaves only a partial profile of her face, the composition that has not wasted a single inch of this image–everything you see lends to the power of the final result. Did Melissa mean to do that? Or was she lucky? Melissa you have to tell us!

The image feels like we’ve stepped back in time, and I love what Melissa writes. “When I think back to my childhood, most of my memories are visually all washed out with light, similar to this photograph. It makes me wonder if my children might remember this exact moment, swinging in the sunlight, as one of their distant memories one day too.”

One more powerful thing to mention about this image. The lack of sound I hear when I look at it. It’s as if the image itself is quiet. I can almost hear the quiet sound of leaves rustling in the wind–her daughter’s breath as she swings higher and higher. Stunning Melissa, just stunning.
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These are the Top Five Finalists for the Darkness and Light Photo Contest! Brian and I debated on allowing ten finalists or fifteen finalists because it was so hard to choose, but I think less is more. These five do a great job at representing the diversity in creativity when it comes to capturing both darkness and light.

It’s always a bit vulnerable for people to send their photo submissions in. So be sure to post your vote and comment below. Let the finalist you choose know why you love their work so much. The winning finalist will receive 50% off to our Sonoma Workshop at the end of this month (April 25th-27th)!!! If the winner is unable to come to the workshop, the runner up will be given the opportunity and so forth. Brian and I can’t wait to meet one of you this month!!

Don’t forget there is always a Random Voter Winner too!! When the contest has ended, we’ll plug the votes in and have excel pick a random voter. The Random Voter Winner will get to choose from one of our five fun 101 Kits (Mom’s Survival 101, Portrait 101, Wedding 101, Getting Published 101 and Associates 101)!

The Deadline for voting on these finalists is this Thursday at 12 noon PT (3pm ET). If your a finalist, be sure to spread the word and get your family and friends voting for you!

Vote Away and Make the Finalists’ Day!! (hey, that TOTALLY rhymed! :) )

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