Archive for April, 2009

April 30th, 2009

Today is IT! Are You Ready to Win a Camera?

Ladies and Gents!

Today is the LAST day to enter the Sony/Women’s World/Me Ra Koh sponsored Camera Contest!!!!! Are you ready to win? Have you entered?

If not, what are you waiting for!!! Enter your email address HERE, and you could be one of three winners to win the Sony DSLR A-350 camera and lens! Here she is! She is a beauty, and we’ve been talking about her for the last two days in this post about Camera Gear, and this post about what Lens to buy.

So call your friends and family, get over to the site, have everyone you know enter their email by midnight!

You may get a new AWESOME camera!

If you are having trouble on finding where to sign up, read the following directions:

1. Click this BUTTON to get to www.refusetosaycheese.com.

2. A flash image will pop up in the top header with Blaze’s frowning face. The hot pink button says “Learn More“. Push that button.

3. Follow the instructions on how to enter your email.

4. You’ll get an email back to confirm we received your info, and you’ll also get a promo code to purchase the DVDs at a cool discount for signing up!

5. Sit back and wait for the winners to be announced in early June!

Can I get a “WHOOP! WHOOP!” :)

*I checked out the new venue for our Seattle Workshop, and WOW, it’s the best location we’ve EVER had!! I’m so excited! We’ll announce registration next week! Is this not the best Mother’s Day gift or what! Husbands, your chance to surprise the heck out of your wife! Details and Registration will be announced early next week!

And we’re off to have an amazing weekend in San Francisco with our DISCOVERY WORKSHOP ladies! Wow, it’s going to be an amazing and intense adventure. Follow the experience on the blog!

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April 29th, 2009

Part 2: What Types of Lenses Do You Need?

We’re back for Day Two on Lenses. Are you all still with me? Thank you so much for all the comments in yesterday’s post. If you haven’t had a chance to read people’s comments from yesterday, I strongly urge you too. A number of people chimed in about their experience with lenses and what types of lenses have made all the difference for them. My vision for this blog is that we would all learn from each other, and I can’t thank you enough for continuing the dialog in the comments!

Someone posted a question in the comments yesterday and asked if we had ever shot with the Canon equipment, and if so, how did the L series lenses compare with the Carl Zeiss lenses. To answer their question, we shot with Canon for years and owned almost every L series lens available. When Sony approached us and said they were coming out with a line of camera bodies and lenses for pros to use, we were really interested. In the pro world you only hear people talk about Canon and Nikon. Sony didn’t put any pressure on us. They sent us the equipment to test out and asked for honest feedback. I wasn’t sure what to expect b/c I loved my L lenses. And I’m a super passionate person by nature, so I really have to LOVE something to get behind it. But oh my gosh, can I just say my jaw dropped open the first time I shot with the DSLR-A900 and Carl Zeiss lenses. We were shooting a wedding in Colorado, and I started freaking out! “Brian, come here, come here now! You have to see this! Look at this color. Look how sharp this is. Look how fast this is for 24.6 megapixels!” He was like “I know! I’ve been trying to tell you!” So yeah, to answer your question the Carl Zeiss glass is freaking amazing. I can honestly say that when we switched to Sony I haven’t looked back once. My Lulu, yes I named her b/c I’m so in love with her, is magic! And the icing on the cake is that Sony wants to continue to design cameras that make sense for women and the way women think. Yeah, I’m pretty much in love with Sony right now.

Yesterday’s blog took almost six hours to piece together with shooting images of the gear and finding shots that I took with specific lenses. At one point, I was starting to fall asleep, and Brian looked at me and said “Just finish it tomorrow. It’ll be fine.” Thus, here we are wrapping the lenses up.

There are two more lenses we brought with us to Thailand. We also bring these lenses to wedding and portrait shoots. Can you guess why?

Hint: They both have my favorite lens characteristic. Can you guess what the characteristic is?

Answer: If you guessed, Low Fstops/Aperture for buttery, blurred backgrounds, you were RIGHT!

If your shooting with a higher end DSLR that has a full frame sensor, you must, without question, rent or buy the Carl Zeiss Planar T 85mm/f1.4. Yes, 1.4! Can you believe how low she goes!

This is the lens that caught the shot of Blaze when I posted about how invisible he feels in America.

The sharpness is from the lens, not Photoshop. I also didn’t make the background lush and blurry in Photoshop. The wide open aperture of 1.4 creates that effect. The vibrant color is straight out of the Sony DSLR-A900.

This 85mm is a fixed lens which means that you can’t turn it to zoom in or out. If you want to get closer to your subject, you’ve got to move your legs and feet forward. But because it’s a fixed lens, the aperture is able to go down so much more. The 85mm is the perfect lens for low lighting, buttery backgrounds, and sharp, crisp candid shots. But think it through. Make an educated purchase.

If your camera isn’t a full frame sensor, this 85mm won’t let you get close to your subject. You may have to stand 6 ft back before you can get the lens to focus. So if you don’t have a full frame sensor camera yet, stick with the 24-70mm that we talked about yesterday. I remember going to a workshop when we were starting our business. Everyone raved about the 85mm lens. I figured this was the thing to buy, but I didn’t think about how limited this lens would be with my camera body at the time. My first camera wasn’t a full frame sensor. When using the 85mm, I had to be 6 feet away from my subject. I felt restriction instead of creative. Needless to say, I put the lens away and was more than happy with my 24-70mm, 2.8 Workhorse lens. It wasn’t until I upgraded to a full frame sensor camera that I understood why people felt inspired when shooting with an 85mm, 1.4 lens. I hope that makes sense. It’s information I wish I would have known when I was first starting.

The last lens is another fixed one. It’s the 35mm, f/1.4 G-Series Wide Angle Lens.

Unlike the 85mm, you can get in super close with this little guy.

My little brother had his first baby this year. After the baby was born, he called me and asked me what camera to buy and what lens to buy with it. I told him to get the Sony DSLR-A350. He is a newbie at photography, and as I said yesterday, that’s an incredible camera body to learn on. The color is fantastic. It’s light weight, sharp, fast. For the lens, I told him to bite the bullet, spend the $1300, and get the 1.4/35mm. He wasn’t sure b/c of the price, and it didn’t have a zoom! I’m happy to say that he trusted his sister :) , and wow, you should see the shots he’s getting of the baby. They are awesome! The investment was a commitment, but he is capturing the moments. And he’s loving photography!

With a low fstop, just like the 85 mm above, you can take some great shots in low light. This is one of my favorite Thailand images of Pascaline.

She’s at rest, while we wait for dad. The sun was setting so light was getting harder and harder to find. But with an fstop that goes down to 1.4, I can open up aperture and let a lot of light in. Opening up that fstop also makes everything in the background blurry. I hope I’m not being to repetitive, I just know it helps to hear the same thing a few times with new examples.

The 35mm, f/1.4 G-Series Wide Angle Lens is also great for taking close-up detail shots. Pascaline had a homeschool assignment where she had to take the Sony DSLR-A350 with the 35mm, open the aperture up to a 1.4, and capture an insect, crab or whatever else she chose. But she had to get in close and think about how she was blurring the background to tell the story of the critter.

She chose the mysterious sand crabs on the beach. They spend hours making tiny balls of sand.

In this shot, you can see the little white sand crab to the right. He’s almost smaller than the balls of sand he creates.

Their designs end up being these incredible star-bust patterns spread across the beach,

only to have it all washed away when the tide comes in. It has to be one of the great natural wonders of the world because every design is different. It’s like the crabs have their own fingerprint with each design.

Pascaline is eight years old, and she took the first two images. Not to bad for an eight year old. But a lot of it is the low fstop she had to work with. I basically set the aperture at 1.4, put it on Aperture Priority Mode (the A setting) so the camera would choose her shutter speed for her. And with the low fstop she was able to experience being creative with blur. For the two shots above, she was down on all fours getting super close to the crab’s designs. That’s what I love about this 35mm. You can get in super, super close and still get a sharp focus.

When we are shooting weddings, there are a couple more lenses that we have in our camera bag. I’ll save that info for another post. But if there is any bottom line to all of this info it would be this…everyone, even you, has the potential to be a great photographer. Everyone.

I can’t tell you how many times Brian and I have taught our photography workshops and had women break into tears b/c they realize that their lens and fstop range can really help them capture the images they see and want. All this time, they had been thinking the problem was with them. They weren’t good enough at photography or just didn’t have the eye. The creative artist within us does make a difference, but the right equipment helps too.

If you are thinking about buying a DSLR, my best advice would be to save up some money and buy the camera body WITHOUT the lens that comes with it (if you have the option, if not, don’t worry). BUT, then save up and buy your lens separately, and make sure it’s a lens that has a low fstop range. It will change your whole experience with photography. If you need proof, read yesterday’s comments. :)

I hope this was helpful. I love to talk about all this in plain English. Life is difficult right now with all that is going on around us. Photography is a wonderful outlet, and for many of us it is a lifeline. If you have always been drawn to photography, don’t let your heart be discouraged b/c you can’t seem to capture the shots you see. Try renting some of the equipment we talked about yesterday and today, and give yourself another chance. It is well worth it.

And don’t forget to email me your results! I love to see and hear about how your growing! My email is mera@merakoh.com.

xoxo, Me Ra

*Seattle Workshop Details are coming together! We’re looking at Saturday and Sunday, June 6th and June 7th, with a possible special Meet and Greet at our home on Friday, June 5th. I’ll keep you updated!

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Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 28th, 2009

What is in Our Camera Bag?

Okay, let’s roll up our sleeves and talk CAMERA GEAR! But let me forewarn you, this is not the kind of talk you’d have with the guy at the camera store. This is a no-nonsense kind of talk from one friend to another. No secrets, just the nuts and bolts in plain language. Let’s call it “Me Ra Talk” :) .

As many of you know, our family spent the last couple months living in Thailand’s jungle. If this is news to you, you must check out the Thailand Adventures category on the blog b/c the stories and images are fun for the whole family!

With being gone for a couple months, we had a goal. Pack as little as possible, but pack smart. We did this trip without having to check a thing. Two backpacks, one bag of homeschool materials, and one bag devoted to camera gear.

So what was in that camera bag anyways? I thought about doing the typical shot where every thing is set inside your black camera bag, and you shoot down into the black bag, shooting all your black gear. But it just seemed so…black. So here we go. Let’s lighten things up a bit!

All this was in our camera bag. Much prettier than being inside the camera bag, right!

What’s what?

We brought two Sony camera bodies. We had the A350 and the A900. The A350 is a great camera that is light in weight and easy to use. We’re teaching our kids how to use a DSLR, and the A350 is the BEST teaching camera ever because of the live preview feature on the back. Using this camera to teach women at our workshops has been incredible! Not to be super direct, but this camera is the best for women. I feel like it’s the first camera I’ve ever worked with where the engineers may have had women in mind and how we think. Imagine that! :) For example, with the live preview you can see the room get dark as you speed up your shutter speed or vice versa. The mystery is made clear. Finally! (Thank you Sony!)

The kids had homeschool assingments of shooting insects, flowers and crabs in the jungle, and the A350 camera body was perfect for our family to grow as photographers.

Meet my Lulu! The A900 camera body is our #1 lady, and she has got style. She’s got EVERY THING! And yes, I name our cameras. (but your not really suprised, right? :) ) Lulu shoots 24.6 megapixels at lightning speed. It’s pretty awesome. And the color processing within the camera, wow, it’s breath taking! I barely did any touch up to most the photos we took b/c the A900 captured the color so well within the camera. It’s a beautiful thing. Watch out Canon and Nikon!

We had an array of lenses, but I want to break each one down. So let’s come back to those.

The orange/silver box you see was our external harddrive. It’s built for travel in case it gets bumped around in the backpack. This thing is made of superman strength. If you don’t want to dump all your images on your laptop (or you want to store backup copiesof all your images), you can buy one of these external harddrives for around $100 and store your images there. Trivia question, “How many external harddrives do you think we use in our studio?” :)

The white gadget on top of the external harddrive was our GPS Devise image tracker. This is a fun gadget that Sony just released on April 15th! It records the date, time and exact locaiton of where you took your pictures from. It’s the perfect gadgets gift for Father’s Day.

We also brought extra camera batteries and battery chargers. (Don’t forget to pack converters so you can plug things in.)

The little black box that says Lexar is one of our card readers. For those of you who don’t have one, card readers are great. You can put your flash card into the card reader and transfer your images to your computer with good speed. At weddings, we’ll have three of those card readers stacked on top of eachother so they are all transferring images at the same time. It’s pretty slick.

What kind of cards to use? Lexar cards are great. SanDisk are awesome too.

And no, we aren’t total geeks. We brought a point and shoot too. Reality is that sometimes Lulu is to much, and a point and shoot is plenty. The little blue guy is our Sony Cybershot. I can put it in my back pocket and go! It’s got this real cool face recognition software, and I can also manipulate the settings like aperture and ISO. But another favorite component on this camera is the video feature. For being such a little guy, this point and shoot kicks booty on video footage!

This leaves us with the line up of these Bad Boys!

Sony Carl Zeiss Lenses

How do you know what lens to bring on vacation? How do you know which lens makes the most sense for portrait photography, weddings or monkey watching? Shall we break it down?

Starting from the right! It’s the tall, sexy 70-200mm lens, G-Series, Telephoto Zoom.

70-200mm lens, G-Series, Telephoto Zoom

This lens goes down to a 2.8 fstop (which gives you that buttery blur in the background). Most people use this zoom for capturing things that are at a distance. This is Brian’s favorite lens, and he uses it for the opposite reason. He gets in super close to people with the lens and captures tight, intimate shots.

For Thailand, we used this lens to capture a subject that wasn’t as romantic, but super fun! Monkeys!

Langer Monkeys in Railay Thailand

We had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of wildlife, but we did not expect 30-40 monkeys at once every morning. This lens is also ideal for capturing the kids on the beach from a distance. It allows you to stay farther back, sometimes unnoticed, but still zoom in for a tight shot.

The next lens is what I call my “Work Horse”. She is the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T, 24-70mm and also has a 2.8 fstop.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T, 24-70mm and also has a 2.8 fstop

I call her my Work Horse b/c if I only had enough money to buy one lens, and one lens only, for shooting weddings and portraits, this would be my lens. She can go pretty wide at 24 mm for group shots or scenery/landscape oriented shots, whether it’s horizontal

Kids playing with canoes on Pranang Beach Thailand

or vertical

Pascaline swinging on Pranang Beach Thailand

but she can also get in tight at 70mm for portrait like images.

Since it isn’t a big zoom, I can also get in close to my subject instead of having to stand six feet back with a big zoom.

If you had enough money to buy two lenses, I would suggest these first two lenses. The 24-70mm, 2.8 and the 70-200mm, 2.8. These two would have you covered at a range of shooting that goes as wide as 24mm but can zoom in as far as 200mm. Does that make sense? I would stay away from the type of lens that is 18-300mm. That’s two much zoom for ONE lens. With a range that big in one lens, the aperture can’t go down to a 2.8. So if you love buttery, blurred backgrounds go with these two lenses to cover the range of distance.

The third lens is the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T135mm, f1.8 Telephoto.

Carl Zeiss Sonnar T135mm, f1.8 Telephoto

The 1.8fstop is so low combined with the 135mm focal length, so I can stand 25 ft away, open my aperture all the way up to a 1.8, and capture shots of Blaze on Monkey Patrol, and he doesn’t even notice me. The 1.8fstop also enables me to have the dramatic soft and quiet background.

Blaze on Monkey Patrol in Thailand

People often ask me why I have lenses that can’t zoom in or zoom out. Why move your body if you don’t have too with a zoom? The key to a lens that has no zoom, a Prime or Fixed Lens, is that the aperture/fstop can go even LOWER! If you are the type of photographer that uses a lot of background blur to help create your story, then you want to go as low as you can in aperture.

What do all the numbers mean?

See how all these lenses have the same numbering system on the side? This one above says 1.8/135 ZA. That means the aperture/fstop goes all the way down to 1.8 (that’s AWESOME!), and it’s focal length is 135mm. The Z stands for Carl Zeiss glass. Almost all of these lenses are Zeiss glass which is top of the line.

How important is glass quality? If you want to get more serious with your photography, glass is every thing. The price difference can be hard to swallow since the Zeiss glass is often a thousand dollars more. However, it really does make a difference. The quality of your glass affects light, color and so much more. The more expensive lenses, whether they be Sony’s Zeiss collection or Canon’s L series, are worth the every penny. I didn’t believe it at first, so I rented a top of the line lens. When I tried the expensive lens, I experienced the color difference and sharpness with my own eyes. I finally believed. In fact, when Brian and I were building our business we held off on upgrading our camera bodies and put every cent into our lenses. The difference shows with the lens you use. Try it out on a weekend by renting a couple of these nicer lenses. You will go CRAZY! In fact, chime in former workshop attendees. Many of you have finished our workshop and bought one of these $1200 lenses. Was it worth it?

I know we haven’t finished talking about the five lenses, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. For today, I’m going to stop here. Let’s pick up where we left off tomorrow. For now, is all this making sense? Any questions that I can help with?

If your a Sony shooter or thinking of becoming one, I linked all the names so you can see more of the details/specs on Sony’s site. I hope this was helpful, and tomorrow we’ll finish up!

Quick update on the Seattle June Workshop! I think we’ve found a super cool location for the workshop. I’m going to do a walk through of it today. It looks like we’re leaning towards the first weekend of June. So mark your calendars b/c we’ll be starting the Early Bird Registration next week! If this lens stuff is kind of making sense but you still have questions, consider the workshop. We talk about the lens issues in depth.

TWO MORE DAYS to sign up for a chance to win the Sony A350! It’s a nationwide contest! We’ve joined forces with Women’s World magazine and Sony to do a drawing for three people to win their own DSLR A350! To sign up, visit www.refusetosaycheese.com!

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Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 27th, 2009

Meet Baby Hudson!

Last October, I wrote a blog post titled: Wedding Clients Becoming Life Long Friends. It is one of my favorite blog posts because it shows how rewarding it is to be a photographer. What is the best part about our work? Hands down…the relationships we build and capture.

This family illustrates the point like no other. If your one of those people who loves back story, read on. But if you are chomping at the bit to see the baby photos, scroll down my friend! :)

Almost three years ago, Shannon came across our photography ad in Grace Ormonde’s Wedding Style magazine. Shannon already had a wedding photographer, paid the deposit and had her engagement shoot over and done with. But when she saw our ad, she felt like I would understand her and know what she needed and wanted from her wedding photography. She called me, and a friendship began. Who would have ever thought how much the connection would grow.

Needless to say, Shannon canceled her wedding photographer, forfeited the deposit and flew me and Brian out to Napa to shoot her and Rob’s wedding. Not only did we shoot their wedding, but we became friends with her sister and fiance at the time. A year later, we flew out to Denver, Colorado and shot Brittany and Greer’s wedding. When winter came, we all went skiing together in Vail. The only problem we need to figure out is how to live closer to each other!

You can imagine how excited we were when we got an email in Thailand that Baby Hudson, Brittany and Greer’s first, was due around the same time we were coming home. Could we come to Colorado and do a newborn shoot? Absolutely!

One of the most powerful transformations we get to witness and capture is when the stunning bride

becomes a beautiful mother.

I can’t think of many transformations that can compete with a mother’s love.

And let’s not forget about the new dad, who was strong before but now seems even stronger with how gentle he holds his baby.

He is captivated in his own way. To see this captivation alive on a father’s face…it makes you feel like all is well in the world.

Greer has a tattoo on his back. It’s his family crest. We had to do something about that!

Shannon, having come to our photography workshop, caught some great shots of me getting the shots! You did great Shannon! I love these!

And this is by far the best “in action” shot ever! Look what, or who, is in between my legs! Is that funny or what! You never know what your shooting conditions will be. :)

Their even attentive when the baby cries. It’s pretty sweet.

Since the dogs are such a part of their life, we cleared out the basket of dog toys and put Baby Hudson in there.

Quick Photography Tip: When doing a newborn shoot, try to find objects that you can incorporate to show the scale of how small the baby is compared to the world around them.

We can’t forget the precious hair swirl.

This one is for Grandma! :) Love you Megan!

Another favorite.

But if I had to choose the image I love the most, it would be this last one. I feel like this image tells the story of a newborn; life is quiet, mom is there with arms wrapped around baby. Their body heat creates the perfect temperature, as it has the last nine months. You can hear mom and baby’s breath intertwine, the rise and fall of their connection. The day steps out of being a 24 hour day, time itself is fluid with no beginning or end.

All that is important is this. All that exists is this.

Brittany and Greer, Brian and I love you both. We are so happy for you. Thank you for inviting us to capture this incredible moment of time.

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Tomorrow’s blog is going to be all about the camera gear we took to Thailand! Why we took what we did, what we needed outside of cameras and lenses. What we would do differently the next time, and much more! Stay tuned!

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**The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 23rd, 2009

How Did I Miss the Elephants and the Freaky Spider!

I’m slowly making my way through all our Thailand photos, and I don’t think I ever showed you the elephants! Is that possible!

When Brian and I went to Thailand last year, we came home with lots of elephant stories. A seed was planted in Blaze and ever since he has dreamed of riding elephants in the jungle. Doesn’t his face say it all?

The elephants at this spot were all treated with such care. Each elephant is connected to one trainer. Our trainer had been with his elephant for over twenty years.

They spend all day with their elephants whether they are hanging out and talking with friends,

bathing them (Yep, he rides the elephant into the river. The elephant goes under and then back up and back under and back up. It’s something else to watch. The trainer stays dry the whole time!),

or feeding them.

This is a favorite one that Brian shot. Part of our trek was through a rubber tree plantation. Talk about homeschool topics that day! I love how Brian framed the image of us girls on the elephant with the rubber trees swaying around us.

Have you ever done an elephant trek? One hour was plenty for us. Man, talk about whiplash. But my favorite part was when the elephant stopped and lifted his trunk to the tree branches. I thought, ‘Oh, this guy is hungry. He’s going to snack on some leaves.’ And then KABOOM! The elephant wraps his trunk around the whole stinking branch and rips it right of the rubber tree! The WHOLE BRANCH! chew, chew, chew…speechless, we were perched on his back and totally speechless.

And for those of you who need to sit it to believe it…check out the legs on this spider! This bad boy was on the ceiling at the elephant trek. Yuck, yuck, YUCK!!

It still gives me the creeps!

Question for all of you…would it be helpful if I took pictures of what we brought in our camera bag to pull these shots off? We used certain lenses for some shots and not for others. Would a blog post about the reasoning behind our camera gear be good?

And thanks for all the feedback on a Seattle June Workshop! We will keep you updated as the details unfold! So excited! And feel free to tell us what cities you’d like us to come to in 2009! It’s always helpful!

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**SEVEN MORE DAYS LEFT!!! The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Your tax refund is here! What about spending it on yourself? Nurturing your creative spirit. Discovering the artist within you. Enhancing your photography!

We’ve only got a small number of spots left for the upcoming Discovery Workshop? Make sure you don’t miss this one! Register for our Upcoming Discovery Workshop ! Ladies Only! :) CLICK HERE to get your spot!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 22nd, 2009

Winners Announced, Someone’s Dream Photo and a June Workshop!

Yes, you heard me! There are WINNERsssssss (more than one!). Don’t you think we need more than one winner! The guessing game and creative ideas were to fun to only give one prize!

Misty gets the first prize! She guessed that Cross Fit was a part of it. Girl, you know me so well! ;) Check out Misty’s blog!

Kim guessed that the puppy ran me into a wall. I think Kim was close enough, don’t you! But does anyone know who Kim is? She didn’t hyperlink her name. If you know her, let her know she won too!

And we need one more winner for the one that made me laugh the hardest. :) Lizzybee, I laughed so hard at your guess I almost peed my pants! Lizzybee wrote, “Did you hit your head on the tampon dispenser in the ladies restroom?” Girl, did that really happen to you in high school! No way. Check out Lizzybee’s blog too, especially the recipes page!

Misty, Kim and Lizzybee, CONGRATS, HUGS, KISSES!!! Send an email to Genie@merakoh.com with your contact info. Let her know if you’d like a Gift Certificate to Starbucks or iTunes! Your choice! Voila! Good job ladies!

Remember the Dream-Like Photo post I did last week? Well, a blog reader named Michelle Thornton sent me a Dream-Like result from the exercise. Check it out! It’s a shot of her friend getting a cab in San Francisco.

I think the image does a great job of capturing the dreamy style! Don’t you? Great job Michelle! Thanks for sharing!

Did anyone else try the Dream-Like Photo exercise? Send them over, and include your blog/website if you’d like. You may just see your photo on the blog!

Now that we’re back from Thailand, Brian and I are mapping out the rest of the year. We have so many fun ideas! Some of them have to do with more workshops! We’re thinking about what cities to visit this year, and right now, we’re looking into holding a workshop in our Seattle area during the first half of June. This way, all you women can have the whole summer to practice what you learn!

Ww would love to hear your thoughts! Our popular beginner/intermediate photography workshop for women–women learning how to use their cameras, taking better photos of their kids, following their dream of learning photography, be inspired, get out of the box, discover yourself, laugh, cry, all held in our hometown, any interest for June? :)

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**The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 21st, 2009

It All Started at the Dog Park!

Brian and the kids were still in bed. The morning rain was sharp and cold. I had a lot on my mind and this was my opportunity to get some alone time. I put Rosie (our Golden Retriever) on the leash, grabbed my IPOD and left my phone behind. I didn’t want any texts, emails or calls. A morning run seemed like the perfect remedy.

We headed for the dog park. After a few laps, I decided to do one of my favorite Cross Fit workouts that I did in Thailand. After your warmed up, you run as fast as you can for two minutes. Then you do 25 lunges. And last but not least, you do 25 push ups. (anyone see where this is going? Push ups at a dog park?) You cycle this routine through four or five times for the whole workout.

Well, the first three times Rosie was next to me when I did my push ups. I told her to “SIT”, and she did every time. The last set…that time she was playing with another dog out in the field.

I dropped and started my last set of 25 push ups. I saw Rosie in the distance. She spotted me. I saw her running toward me, tongue hanging out, big old grin that only Goldens give. I figured she’d stop and wait for me to finish. I just kept doing my push ups, listening to my tunes when KABLAM! WHAM! BAM!

Rosie body slams my head!

She hit my head so hard that I flip from a push up position to landing straight on my back. Everything goes black. A slowly open my eyes to find her sitting next to me, tongue hanging out, panting, breathing hard, looking like she’s wondering when I’m going to get the heck up and keep playing.

My earphones…HELLO…my earphones are four feet away in the grass. She hit me so hard my earphones came flying out of my ears and IPOD and flew through the air!

But my favorite part is the fellow jogger. Oh yeah, a regular Einstein. Apparently, he had his back to me when the whole thing happened. But he had his two cents to give. I’m trying to get my balance and he says, “Well, that is what dogs do!” Really. Thanks.

Crazy part is that I didn’t bring my phone, so I couldn’t call Brian. Rosie and I still had to walk home, or fumble home, as the neighborhood spun in circles around me. Is that craziness or what?!

That is the full story folks! So yeah, when the doctor asked me what I was doing I got to say, “Push ups at the dog park.” You can imagine the look I got back. Can you blame him? :)

If you haven’t met Rosie yet, you MUST read this post from when we first got her.

She is much bigger now, mind you. Tack on 60 lbs to that photos. But the cat’s response is my favorite part of that whole post. It still makes me laugh! ;)

Thanks for playing yesterday! When I went to bed we had 74 comments! Your all getting warmed up to vote on a photo contest! I can just feel it! :)

Even though no one guessed the exact scenario people came close.

Who do you think should win? Your ideas were to good not to have a winner! What do you think (of the winner not me doing push ups in a dog park)?

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**The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Your tax refund is here! What about spending it on yourself? Nurturing your creative spirit. Discovering the artist within you. Enhancing your photography!

We’ve only got a small number of spots left for the upcoming Discovery Workshop? Make sure you don’t miss this one! Register for our Upcoming Discovery Workshop ! Ladies Only! :) CLICK HERE to get your spot!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

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April 20th, 2009

Guess the Answer and WIN!

First, thank you so much for all your comments on my Thailand post. Your thoughts, responses, reflections have been life-giving to read. What a wonderful community you are.

It’s Monday morning, and since Monday mornings can feel so “ugh”…I thought we could start the week with a fun contest.

This last Friday morning I was knocked unconscious. Total black out. An official concussion. I’m totally fine now, but the story is…well, it’s a story for sure. I can hear you thinking, “Your doing a contest around having a concussion?” But trust me friends, the story is crazy. It will make you smile, some will laugh.

Can you guess how it happened? My chiropractor said that the main way people get concussions is by playing football, boxing or a car accident. I wasn’t doing any of those things. :)

If you post your guess, and it’s right…we’ll give you a $15 Gift Certificate to Starbucks or iTunes! Your choice! I’ll post the answer tomorrow. Let the games begin, and Happy Monday morning!

p.s. To the four people who know how this happened…your not allowed to play! :)

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**The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Your tax refund is here! What about spending it on yourself? Nurturing your creative spirit. Discovering the artist within you. Enhancing your photography!

We’ve only got a small number of spots left for the upcoming Discovery Workshop? Make sure you don’t miss this one! Register for our Upcoming Discovery Workshop ! Ladies Only! :) CLICK HERE to get your spot!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

read more
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April 16th, 2009

In Process: Letter to a Friend with a Thousand Faces

So much to process after living in the jungle. How does one come home from a journey like ours and assimilate back?

The Langur monkeys did not show up our last morning to say goodbye. They had come almost every day until our last week. They were either entertainment or headache. And yet, they were always one step ahead of me, even when it came to saying goodbye.

In the beginning, we thought we were observing them, watching them eat, watching them care for their babies. Our ears became tuned to the sound of breaking branches and a distant squeal as the mother swings with her baby holding tight. In the beginning, we thought we were observing them. In the end, they were observing us. The monkeys knew when we left, when we ate, when we showered. As I sit at my second story window, looking out over my neighborhood, it’s amazing to think I often had an audience of monkeys when I showered.

I think we were all equally fascinated with each other. But after they’d ransacked our kitchen for the second time, the locals said we needed to leave. We needed to break up our routine, our pattern. We needed to eat out for the next few days b/c the monkeys had figured us out. Figured us out? They were ahead of us from Day One. We thought we were breaking the pattern for them. All along, they were changing us. Our habits, our mode of familiarity, our sense of control–it was all being broken up. And then when it came time to say goodbye, again, they were ahead of me. For the time being, however temporary or lasting, they have taken their babies and moved on. They have set a path for me. On the last morning, no matter how much I wanted to stay in our jungle house, tucked under the limestone cliff, hidden under the palm trees; it was time to take my babies and leave.

I miss waking up under our mosquito net, feeling the cool morning air. Pascaline, my morning girl, would already be sitting on the deck with binoculars, watching the monkeys’ activity while we were sleeping. I’d crawl out from under the net, tiptoe to her, and try to rub the morning fog away so I could pinpoint what she was watching. She would look at me and smile. “Do you see them mama? They are being so silly this morning.”

I miss showering in the rain,

seeing the Tokay lizard crawl down my bathroom mirror. I named her Dori. She was half the size of my mirror in length and took it upon herself to eat the flying termites on my behalf. Her dedication and focus gave me the luxury of uninterrupted bugless showers. Did I ever think it was possible to be a kindred spirit with a lizard?

Since I’ve been home, I’ve seen one bug. One. Isn’t that funny. In the jungle, I had hundreds of bugs around me all the time. Before Thailand, I’d scrunch my face in disgust if I crossed a bug’s path. Yesterday, I knelt down. I wanted to see what kind of bug it was. And instead of scrunching my face, I smiled. Instead of the bug being a nuisance, it was a gift. A gift that reminded me of all the amazing bugs we’d been living with.

Instead of hearing the King Fisher bird’s creative songs, I hear the buzzing of the telephone wires.

Instead of hearing the Gibbon apes morning call to their mates, I hear the deep exhausted exhale of a city bus as it closes its doors.

I smell the approaching Northwest rain and miss the tantalizing smells of the honeysuckles and wild jasmine.

It’s amazing how you can go away, leave all that is familiar, and somehow find yourself with more clarity than ever before. I always thought I was an A-type personality. High energy, go-go-go, focus, focus, focus–multi-task at insane decibel levels. After living in the jungle, I found that I was a product of my environment.

In the jungle, I was like a sponge. I soaked in every smell, every sound. After two weeks, I surrendered to the sticky heat and let myself sweat without disdain. I woke to the Gibbon’s whooping sounds. I fell asleep to the buzzing of Cicada beetles–a humming that was so loud and fierce, I thought we had a lumber yard working at night the first week.

I didn’t cry once in Thailand. At home, everyone knows me for being a crier. My assumption that tears were my only release proved to be unnecessary there. Instead, my release was the daily 4 mile walk through the roadless, carless jungle…or rock climbing with a single focus to find one place to set my balance b/c all I needed was one place-not dozens of options. Instead of 45 minutes in the gym, I woke, walked to the beach and swam laps in the ocean, swimming against the tide’s pull, letting the salt dry my hair and body.

I never once used a hair dryer. I never once wore deodorant, a bra, makeup or perfume. And I never once missed any of it.

My mind was free. Despite the intense heat, I could sit and write for hours on end. My fingers, often soar and tired, but still trying to keep up with my creative thought.

Most importantly, I was connected with myself.

I wore a two piece for the first time since I was 8 years old. But I didn’t just wear it, I wore it with a type of confidence that is wrapped in ease. Why is it so hard to be at ease with oneself, to let others see your imperfections, and be ok.

I have never loved myself so much as I did in the jungle. And now I know there is a place in this world, where I’m not hiding from myself. There is a place where I am able to breathe deep and not worry about how I look, how bloated I am, how up to date my clothes are, how nice my home is. It’s me and only me. And me is good.

I realized that my home is not on a well manicured neighborhood in the Northwest.

My home is where Brian, Pascaline and Blaze are.

I realized I didn’t miss a single item from home. I was able to not only live without, but thrive. When we left for Thailand I was sure we didn’t pack enough in our two backpacks. I’m now convinced we needed even less.

I found great reward in taking pictures of people who don’t own a mirror and have never seen a photo of themselves. I found fulfillment in making soap with village women who were trying to make up for the money their husband’s once made, before the Tsunami took their lives.

I found that I wasn’t the only sponge. My kids were too. Blaze felt recognized. And neither Blaze nor us, ever realized how invisible he had felt before. Pascaline found a deeper trust for humanity. She is the type that assumes you are making fun of her, laughing at her instead of with her. But when the Thai people couldn’t say “Pascaline” and thought her name was Gasoline, she let her guard down and laughed with them. She decided to trust the people, and they proved to not hurt her. And Brian, Brian slept through the night. After two years of struggling with insomnia, having the slightest sound wake him for the rest of the night, he slept like a baby. He slept soundly under the mosquito net with wild cats roaring, big boa snakes slithering overhead through the trees, and owls cooing.

As a family we found a passion for going back. I know we will take many more adventures. We are now determined to create a life that is simpler and supports such excursions. Brian and I have a feeling the adventures will grow from six weeks to six months. How this will happen, we don’t know. But the vision is all that matters. This is what we found-the surprising desire and strength as a family to make our life an adventure. Julia Cameron talks about how it is one thing to validate you as an artist, but to aspire to live artistically–this is another matter. “We hunger for what might be called creative living–an expanded sense of creativity in our business lives, in sharing with our children, our spouse, our friend.” It took coming home to know that our hunger for creative living is real, true and necessary.

A Hawksbill Sea Turtle glided alongside of me on one of my last dives. He showed me his favorite food-bubble algae-and all the places it hides-under coral, tucked in rock crevices, behind electric sea anemones. He can eat many things, but finding the bubble algae is what he wants most–even if this means, I’m tagging along with him, interrupting his solitary search. His eyes are deep and old. His motion is fluid, soft, and slow. He has lived longer than my great grandparents. His lessons and wisdom come slowly to me as he intermittently visits my dreams. He is my hope that the jungle was too complex for me to solve in an email to you and writings in my journal. It is too complex to solve in one trip.

The mysteries of how the jungle transformed us continue to unwind, seeping into my sleep, shadowing me on my walks, slowly bringing clarity.

T. S. Eliot wrote, “You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance. In order to possess what you do not possess. You must go by the way of dispossession. In order to arrive at what you are not. You must go through the way in which you are not. And what you do not know is the only thing you know. And what you own is what you do not own. And where you are is where you are not.”

I close my eyes and picture the white mosquito net around me. It is a thin film that covers me. Yet it is thick enough to keep all the distractions at arm’s length. It is warm here. quiet. I can see all the needs around me, but I still have a place of rest. I am able to be carefree–care wholeheartedly but remain free. When I’m standing in line at the grocery store, and all the options are sliding over the scanner with a constant beep that starts to overwhelm me, I close my eyes and try to visualize that white blanket that covered me.

See why I couldn’t call you? You would have asked how my trip was. And because I feel so safe with you, so understood…I would have wanted to share all this.

But you can’t say this over the phone.

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April 15th, 2009

Photography Exercise for Dream-Like Photos!

I want to thank all of you for sharing your rich wisdom with me on how to deal with the culture shock of being home. Your tips are not only brilliant, but they validate the part of me that is longing for our jungle home and curious monkeys.

I’ve been looking at the images from our last night in Thailand. It was wonderful, vibrant and yet blurry. The kids and I were sitting on a bamboo mat watching the sunset together. Any minute Brian was going to return from his last scuba dive. I slowed my shutter speed down and took a shot of the kids so they wouldn’t be sharp. We were all in the midst of this in-between time. We all knew we were leaving the next day. And even though we were still sitting on a beach in Southern Thailand, our bodies, minds and spirits were starting to make the transition of going home. Everything felt blurry in my head. It only made sense to capture images that were not sharp in focus but instead captured the mood of our last night.

Blaze and Pascaline - Last day in Railei Thailand

Pascaline was filling up a Frisbee with wet sand then chasing Blaze with it. This image has not been processed. It is straight out of the camera. Can you believe that? I love the color saturation, the green waters, the blurred waves, the long tail boats in stretched motion, and Ms. Mischievous Pascaline with her Frisbee.

Pascaline in Railei Thailand by Me Ra Koh Photography

When I caught this image of her, I was inspired to do something different for Brian. I wanted to get some shots of him returning. We had thought he’d be back by sunset, but when sunset had come and gone I had to rethink my lighting situation. My initial desire was to capture Brian getting off the boat after his last scuba dive, or capture him coming out of the water. After I took this image of Pascaline with the Frisbee, I decided I wanted to capture a dream-like and somewhat magical image of Brian. I wanted him to be able to look back on this image and always know that there was a place he had found, where days and nights moved with fluidity–where the exotic was real and alive.

Since the sun was long gone, I decided to push the limits of the Image Stabilizer feature in my Sony A900. Have you heard about this cool feature with the Sony cameras? Instead of spending tons of money on Image Stabilizer (IS) lenses, Sony put the IS inside the camera body. It’s truly brilliant.

I bumped my ISO to 800, set my Aperture/F stop to a 5.6. Why a 5.6? We often shoot everything at lower Fstops, 2.8 and lower. But see the blue clouds? I didn’t want to take away the definition of their form and shape. A 5.6 Aperture/Fstop would help capture this detail better than a 2.8. And then I slowed my Shutter Speed ALL the way down to 1.3 seconds. I hand held the camera for 1.3 seconds! That’s a long time to hold your camera and hope for some clarity if not any.

I wanted to capture Brian and the long tail boats in motion, so I didn’t need the image to be real sharp. The blur was going to help tell the story. But too much blur would lose the story.

I pushed the Image Stabilizer feature to see if I could still capture the magic in the motion of Brian returning from his last dive. This is one of my favorite shots of Brian, hands down. Why? Because the story of this image is so powerful to our family.

Brian's Last day in Railei Thailand by Me Ra Koh Photography

Brian happened to be the last guy off the long tail boat. The long tail boat driver to the left of him had turned on his lantern for the night. And here Brian was, coming home, struggling to say goodbye as we all were to this amazing place. The image result couldn’t have been closer to the story I wanted for Brian.

I didn’t do one single thing of post process to this image. This image is straight out of the Sony A900. Isn’t that amazing! The vibrant color is not processed, it’s what the camera captured. And that’s exactly how it looked to my naked eye.

All these images give me a sense of Dream-Like imagery. Don’t you think? Especially the last one of Brian coming home. I look at that image and feel like I’ve dreamed it.

Have you experienced with capturing Dream-Like photos before? If not, I encourage you to give it a try. But first, you have to tell the Focused-Sharp Critic in our brain to take a coffee break. Dream-Like imagery doesn’t have to be sharp. In fact, the blurred motion can be a stronger message than clarity.

Want a photography exercise for taking Dream-Like Photos?

1. Before you decide what day your going to try this exercise, start thinking about what story you’d like to tell. Whose story would you like to tell? What’s the focus of the story? What makes it a Dream-Like story?

2. Fifteen to Twenty minutes after sunset, set your camera to a higher ISO of 800 (or higher depending on your camera–the nicer cameras that cost a little more tend to give you better images at higher ISO’s then the cheaper cameras. So play around with what you have.)

3. Have your kids, pets, a friend be your subject.

4. Decide if your subject is going to be in motion or your subject’s surroundings. For the image of Pascaline with the Frisbee, her surroundings of long tail boats coming and going were in much more motion than her.

5. Set your aperture to a 5.6 or little higher, maybe 8.0. This will give you detail in the background. But if you don’t want any detail of your background, set your aperture to a lower setting of 2.8.

6. To top off the blur in the background, slow your shutter speed way down. If you have an IS lens, use it for this. If you have a Sony Camera, even better b/c the IS is in the camera body. If you don’t have either, time to pull out the tripod.

7. Bracket your Shutter Speeds. Take a photo of your moving subject with a Shutter Speed of 1 second. Look at what you got. Is it to blurry, to dark, to bright? Make your adjustments as needed until you like what you’ve got.

8. Have fun and let things blur. Capture the story on this exercise, not the detail.

9. Email me what you get! I always love to see your results! mera@merakoh.com

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**The BIG SONY/Woman’s World magazine contest ends April 30th! Have you signed up yet? Make sure you, your family and friends get registered! For details, CLICK HERE !

Your tax refund is here! What about spending it on yourself? Nurturing your creative spirit. Discovering the artist within you. Enhancing your photography!

We’ve only got a small number of spots left for the upcoming Discovery Workshop? Make sure you don’t miss this one! Register for our Upcoming Discovery Workshop ! Ladies Only! :) CLICK HERE to get your spot!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! In the midst of unpacking luggage, I jumped on a radio interview this weekend and talked about our DVDS for 30-40 minutes! It was wonderful!! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the titles of your choice!

read more
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