Archive for May, 2009

May 29th, 2009

Do You Know a Mom Running on Empty? Nominate Her Today!

We’ve got our Seattle Workshop for Women NEXT weekend! Can you believe it! I’m so excited. In the last week, a bunch of our friends have offered to throw in gifts for the attendees! Listen to this!

1. 1 year Pictage Lite Membership for FREE!

2. Roxie at Pixel 2 Canvas is sending Canvas Certificates our way!

3. Shoot Dot Edit (the rock stars who do color processing–for PORTRAITS AND MOMS NOW!! Woo Hoo!–are sending Shoot Dot Edit Dollars to all the attendees!

And then we’ve got some fun stuff we’re putting together too!

But there is one piece MAJOR piece that we still need to do. We’ve been on the road so much, heads spinning, suitcases flying, that I forgot to start the Running on Empty Contest. Do you think it’s to late? I hope not because our Women Workshops aren’t complete without a Running On Empty Winner.

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives Locally (since we’re so close to the workshop) or has mileage to spend or lives by the seat of her pants and would book a plane ticket last minute :)

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get next weekend free, starting Friday night all the way through Sunday night

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! We’ll close nominations Sunday night (this Sunday night at 6pm PST). Then we can hopefully announce the winner sometime Monday or Tuesday. If you are not familiar with this contest, read below and see what it’s all about!

Here’s how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming Seattle Workshop! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If your a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a surprise giving her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. I’m proud to say that our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah! :)

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner on Monday or Tuesday!

Nominate her today and turn her day around! Oh, wait! Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Sunday, May 30th at 6pm PST. Nominations must be posted as a comment on this blog post. Either your email or the nominees email MUST be included to qualify. Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here. Thanks!

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Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

!

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May 28th, 2009

Photo Coaching: Helping Your Subjects Relax in Front of the Camera!

As we said our goodbyes to the family this weekend, the mother of the groom gave me the most amazing compliment I’ve ever received. She reached out her hands to me and said, “When you were near me with the camera, I felt beautiful. I wanted my picture to be taken because of how you made me feel. You made me feel at such ease. You and Brian were not only the photographers, but you became a part of our family. Thank you for making the experience of being photographed so wonderful.”

This is a woman who has had her picture taken hundreds of times. I was speechless. I was so moved, I couldn’t help but cry. The mother of the groom experienced what we work so hard at. She experienced safety. She experienced herself wanting to be photographed. In the midst of all the craziness a four day event can bring, in the midst of a big black camera pointing at her all the time, she felt beautiful.

It’s one thing to photograph someone, but to make them feel beautiful in front of the camera…that is our goal and a whole different ball game. This is where the term Photo Coaching comes into play.

Day Three of the Discovery Workshop: Photo Coaching: Helping Your Subjects Relax in Front of the Camera!

You ready?

The way I, Rick, Garrett, and Brian built the Discovery Workshop was so every day would build on itself. Day One: was Self Portrait focused. It was abstract and pushed the ladies outside of their comfort zone on many levels. Day Two with Rick became a little more concrete, but Rick and his work still lives in that abstract land. That’s why we love him. :) And, we wanted all the Self Discovery stuff from the first day to simmer as they worked with their Stinson Beach models. Day Three was coming into the end of our time together and focusing on the practical techniques and tips to lighting, branding, but most importantly, helping your clients relax in front of the camera.

Brian and I showed the women how we model our ideas to our clients when we’re working with them. We give them different ideas and then those ideas often evolve into feeling relaxed in front of the camera. To tell our clients “just go ahead, ignore me and be yourself”…that hasn’t ever worked well for us.

We try to take the pressure off them by involving ourselves As you can see below, Brian totally gets into it. He gets so into it that he starts trying to be Mr. Romantic with me, and I start to freak out b/c I feel like he is not staying focused, and so the story goes. He kisses me, I push him away. Our clients laugh, I get embarrassed. I hit him. He says “ouch” when it didn’t hurt…you get the picture. :)

Part of what Brian and I are doing is entertaining our clients, drawing the nervous attention away from them. I think the same entertainment dynamic happened with the women attendees. These next few shots are great! Brian and I especially love making people laugh when we teach, and seeing these shots made my day!

We’ve had a lot of Mother/Daughter teams come through our workshops. It’s an amazing way for them to spend the weekend together. Addie and her daughter, Chelsea, took our first workshop over a year ago. They were back for more!

Here is Addie cracking up. And below Addie is her daughter Chelsea!

FYI, Chelsea missed her Senior Prom to attend this workshop. Is she AMAZING or what! She is going to blow her clients away! Can you imagine being 18 and already dialed into your talent and dreams?

Photography Workshop for Women

Brian and I taught and modeled over twenty of our Photo Coaching Strategies for Weddings and Portrait Shoots. After lunch we brought in seven or eight families with children and half a dozen couples. The attendees had the assignment of working with both a family and a couple and implementing 3-4 of the Photo Coaching Strategies we taught. Their amazing results from Stinson Beach and Photo Coaching goes live in the next couple days!

What do I mean by Photo Coaching?

Almost two years ago, Brian and I were having a heart to heart talk with each other about our work. Our work really isn’t “photojournalism”. The ceremony, toasts, cake cutting, etc is photo-journalistic, but the images we showcase on our website aren’t from photojournalism. Even though the word “photojournalism” is a buzz word in the industry, truth be told, we have never been flies on the wall. It just doesn’t fit our personalities. Brian and I talk with our clients, we model ideas for them, we make fools of ourselves, we compete for the best shot, and we even get into little arguments in front of them (and then we reassure them that we’ve been in marriage counseling for 15 years and married for 13 yrs. We have the tools to get this worked out fast. :) ) Our clients love it. As I said above, it takes the nervous attention off them, and they feel more engaged with us.

But here is another piece to helping people relax in front of the camera. This is probably the most important piece of all. Whether you have an assistant, shoot with your spouse or by yourself, everyone can do this.

When Brian and I are shooting an event, we are always smiling. No matter how stressed, no matter how tired or hungry–we are smiling. One of our biggest trademarks is the fact that our clients and their guests feel like we were enjoying ourselves as much as everyone else. We looked happy whenever they noticed us. We look like we are enjoying our work NOT being the “serious” photographer but enjoying our work, in essence, enjoying the process of capturing them. Brian and I are very intentional about this. A stressful face can spread negative energy like wild fire. But if the family and guests see that you are always upbeat and enjoying your time with them, they are drawn to you, feel safe with you. This energy pulls them to you, and they find themselves wanting to be photographed by you. We have yet to leave a wedding where people didn’t share these feelings with us. And I’m not saying that to toot our horn, but to show how hard we work at this one piece throughout the whole event. And how this one piece pays off so much. This, if nothing else, is our signature emotion that we leave them with. And I can’t tell you how many referrals we’ve received b/c this was the emotion former clients communicated to their friends. You could know all the Photo Coaching techniques and tips in the world, but if you don’t look like your enjoying yourself (spider bite or no spider bite :) ), none of it matters. Your clients will not fully relax with you.

Does that make sense? Can you tell I’m passionate about the topic? :) Back to the workshop tie up.

Cavallo Point was an amazing setting for our workshop to begin and end. When we first started publicizing the workshop, we had the image of the line of rocking chairs on the front porch.

But I love looking at this image below even more! The women having lunch together, filling the rocking chairs, laughing and making friendships for a lifetime.

Now, I have a question for the ladies of the Discovery Workshop,

I came across two photos that Garrett took when I wasn’t around. Both of these images are of Brian. Can anyone please tell me what the heck Brian was doing?!

This second one especially gets me. He said he was doing “ballet” for you during the “flash techniques” focus group. That YOU needed him to do this? Is that true! And was this helpful for all of you? :) I don’t think you needed him to do this. I think he willingly jumped at an opportunity to dance for you.

But Brian’s not the only one I caught! Garrett, you are BUSTED! :)

We have TWO SPOTS left for the Seattle Workshop in two weeks! The Early Bird Discount is over, but you can still grab one of the last two seats! Hope to see you there for an AMAZING weekend! For details and registration, CLICK HERE!

***The Women’s World magazine/Sony Camera Contest winners will be announced this Tuesday, JUNE 2nd!!! Don’t miss it! You may have one a beautiful, new, Sony Alpha DSLR camera my friend!!!***

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May 27th, 2009

Sneak Peak at Virginia and David!

Virginia and David’s wedding event was phenomenal. There is so much to share. Your going to hate me for this, but I’m only posting one image for today. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to see more. But this one is a favorite for sure!

Okay, one more! The above shot was mine. This next one was Brian’s perspective point.

Isn’t she stunning?! Virginia, you took everyone’s breath away. (And we’ve got a gazillion images to prove it! :) )

More to come!

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Join us in Seattle for our next women’s workshop! Coming June 09! All details and video trailer are HERE!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

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May 25th, 2009

We’ve Landed!

After five weeks of being gone every Thursday to Monday, we have landed.

We get to not only unpack our suitcase but actually put the suitcase AWAY for three weeks. Ahhhhhhhh. Exhale.

Brian and I just got home from shooting an AMAZING 4-day wedding in Napa. We have been shooting for four days straight at the most premier vineyards Napa has to offer. Breathtaking. It’s been absolutely breathtaking. The event design, the colors, the dress (oh my goodness, the dress!), the big band in white coats, the chandeliers, the croquet brunch, the stunning bride, the every THING was a dream.

I’m headed to bed right now, but since I haven’t posted since Thursday I had to jump on here for a second. I miss you all! I promise that LOTS of wedding photos are coming soon from the last two beautiful weddings.

I was going to post one image from the weekend, but friends, I can barely keep my eyes open. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll give a sneak peak that was worth waiting for.

Much love to you all! Now to catch up on snuggles with the kids!

Me Ra

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Join us in Seattle for our next women’s workshop! Coming June 09! All details and video trailer are HERE!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! 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 business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

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May 20th, 2009

Discovering the Mystery & Beauty of Your Subject!

Before I share today’s post, I just wanted to let all our readers know that today is the LAST day to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration for our upcoming Seattle Workshop. I think we’ve got 3-4 spots left before it’s sold out. So CLICK HERE to watch a trailer, read the details and get registered!

Day One of the Discovery Workshop was Discovering the Artist Within. If you didn’t get to see the two previous posts about Day One, click on 31 Discoveries and My Self Portrait. But since this was a three day workshop, do you mind if I keep telling you about the other two days?

For Day Two, we all drove the snake curved road to Stinson Beach, Rick’s stomping ground, and learned about Discovering the Mystery and Beauty Within Your Subject.

As the spring rain pinged the windows, the fire kept us warm as Rick walked us through his process when capturing the mystery of his subject.

Rick is known for his striking portraits of celebrity athletes like Lance Armstrong and this cool guy below. :)

It was awesome to listen to Rick share his methods b/c he has the interesting challenge of photographing someone who has had their picture taken hundreds of times. Think of how challenging it would be! So how does Rick make his experience with his subject feel new and fresh? How does he draw them out? This was the gold he shared with all the attendees. It was awesome!

Leslie, a local Stinson Beach resident, agreed to be a model for Rick that day. Aside from being our model, she is also an amazing chef and catered our dinner that night. Rick took all the principles he had talked about in the morning, and he showed us what it looks like in real life. It was awesome to watch him work with Leslie.

Imagine the pressure of not only having your picture taken, but 30 photographers watching! (one of the gals had the fun idea of everyone posing like they are taking a picture behind Leslie. Loved that idea!)

Despite Leslie being nervous, Rick gently drew her out. It was beautiful to watch her blossom in front of us all.

Since cooking is such a part of her life, he asked her to bring a favorite apron to the photo shoot.

This is one of my favorite images that Rick grabbed. Workshop ladies, remember him setting this shot up? Don’t you love how it turned out! So much energy coming out of the image!

Rick also commented on how Leslie has this regal look about her. So he went a different direction and caught this style of image.

After the teaching came the challenging and rewarding part! Before the workshop, we were able to organize a number of local, Stinson Beach people from the guy who has surfed Stinson Beach waves for 30 yrs. to the most amazing gardener you’ve ever met. Since this was an “advanced” workshop, the women attendees were expected to know the basics of using their camera without our help. We then paired them up and assigned them to a local Stinson resident. They were given two hours to try walking through the interview process that Rick shared, and then shoot the image that represents who this person is. Not an easy task, but the women were brave and went for it. Some went to the resident’s homes, others met them at a specific location that the model had requested, and others discovered a place for their shoot with the model together. All kinds of magic happened in that next two hours.

Want to see the attendee’s results? Coming soon! I’m working on that post now. It’s going to be a good one!

That night, when everyone had returned from their photo shoots, we stoked the fire up and had the most AMAZING dinner. (Thank you Leslie! It was AWESOME!)

The dinner was a perfect ending to a rich, full day. Lots of conversation by candlelight.

And when the moon started to rise, a bunch of us walked down to Stinson Beach (rain or no rain!). Being on that foggy beach with these incredible women made me want to run, leap, spin and laugh.

Thanks ladies for joining me! It was so much more fun running and leaping with all of you by my side! (And Sharon, thank you for catching such a memorable moment. love you, Me Ra)

Do foggy beaches at night make you want to run too?

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May 19th, 2009

The Lightroom & Photo Contest Winners Are…YOU?!

Say hello to your winning finalists!

This first prize goes to our Top, Top Finalist. This is the Finalist who received the most votes from all our readers.

The winner is Laura from Grand Rapids, Michigan! A big congrats Laura! And I feel like we should say a “hello” to your dad! If he’s tuning in, he should know that your photo along with his tenderness stole the hearts of hundreds of people who voted!

Laura, you get to choose between three prizes! You can either grab your own copy of Adobe Lightroom 2.0 software, the instructional lighting DVD by Carlos Baez, or a 45 minute mentoring session with me! Email Genie, genie@merakoh.com, and she will get you set up with your prize and/or a time set up on the calendar for you and I to chat. Thanks Laura for sending in your image! As you can see, I’m not the only one who LOVED it!

At midnight on Sunday we were two votes short of 500. We needed 500 votes by midnight to give a Random Voter Lightroom 2.0. But you know what, 498 sounds good to me. And then a ton of people voted after midnight. SO……

The Random Voter Winner for Adobe’s Lightroom 2.0 is Jasen!! His vote was the following;

on 14 May 2009 at 5:46 pm edit thisJasen

I have to go with #3. Evokes an emotional response for me. Wonderful.

Jasen also has a blog too! Check it out! The image of his son standing next to the bathtub is priceless! Jasen, a big congrats to you for being our Random Lightroom Winner! Email Genie at genie@merakoh.com and let us know if you’d like to claim your prize! If you already have Lightroom, we’d love to offer you a 45 min. mentoring session with either me or Brian. Just let us know! And most of all, thanks so much for participating in the voting and leaving feedback!

We have one more prize for a Random Voter. This prize is a $25 Gift Certificate to Starbucks! This winner for this prize is Ceci! Her vote was the following;

on 16 May 2009 at 10:55 am edit thisCeci

They are all great, but I vote for #1.

Check out Ceci’s blog! The first image is just beautiful! A big congrats to you Ceci. Thanks so much for voting for a Finalist, and leaving your feedback. Be blessed my dear, and keep up the beautiful, beautiful photography! Genie will set you up with your Starbucks card so don’t forget to email her too!

I want to give a BIG thank you to ALL the people who sent us their Simple Photo images, special thanks to our Five Finalists (hats off to all five of you!), last but very important, all 509 voters. You make this community the safe and encouraging place that it is. Thanks for sharing yourself with us!

Now I have a question for everyone. It’s the middle of May. What do you say we start a new Photo Contest? What should the theme be? Something more concrete this time like family vacations or summer fun, etc. But what do you think?

And what do you think the GRAND Prize should be? Lightroom again or something else! Just curious what your thoughts are! Post em up today, and we’ll start a new photo contest asap!

Also, if you didn’t see yesterday’s post about the new Sony camera (our colors–pink and brown!), you MUST read it! It’s pretty amazing stuff!

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*Tomorrow is the LAST Day to get the Early Bird Registration Fee! We’ve got 3-4 spots left! Join us in Seattle for our next women’s workshop this coming June09! All details and video trailer are HERE!

Our Award Winning Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series is continuing to grow, faster than we know what to do with! 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 business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

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May 18th, 2009

Announcing Sony’s Alpha a230, a330 and a380, History Making Interface, plus Brown and Pink!!

This quote was recently posted in the news;

“Our new alpha cameras (Sony 230, 330, and 380), lenses and accessories make it easier for new users to get the great photos they expect without the steep learning curve that DSLRs have traditionally required,” said Kristen Elder, senior manager for the alpha business at Sony Electronics Inc. “By overcoming the obstacles, we’ve made it much easier for newcomers to take great pictures with DSLRs.”

Last Thursday, Kristen Elder flew up from Sony’s headquarters in San Diego, CA. She wanted to personally show me and Brian something exciting. Brian and I knew it had something to do with the new Alphas coming out. But all we knew was that it was Sony’s new camera; the details were still unclear.

We had NO IDEA what we were in for. But let me back up…

Over a year ago, Brian and I were at the Sony Headquarters. We were talking with some of the head people about ways to change camera technology so that women can grasp it with more ease. Brian and I had ideas that had never been done before in a camera–things that had to do with getting rid of numbers and using sliding scales so numbers no longer scared women off. The Sony team was super kind and listened to every thing we said. I even asked, in joking–but half serious, if they could make a brown and pink Me Ra Koh camera someday. Why does it always have to be black? Right ladies?!

Well on Thursday, Kristen started her presentation of the new Alphas, and I about fell out of my chair.

The new Sony Alpha DSLR-330 is going to come in a beautiful, pristine, Dark Copper Brown color with an option to have a PINK interface! Yes, BROWN and PINK !!!

Can you picture me falling out of my chair b/c I seriously felt like I was going to faint! To see more images of this beauty, CLICK HERE!

That is not even the half of it!

Sony also heard the ideas Brian and I had about making camera technology more intuitive for women, and well, they went WAY BEYOND our ideas and blew them out of the water. They came up with ideas that are so amazing, I was speechless!

Here is one of many examples! The numbers and fractions often intimidate women and get in the way. Couldn’t there be another way to communicate the same principles of aperture/fstops and shutter speed without having to deal with fractions? Yes! Yes! Yes! And, Sony has DONE IT!!! They have created sliding scales for aperture and shutter speed! You don’t even need to know the fstops or shutter speed settings if you don’t want to! You can just look at the sliding scale. Watch this display change color. Can you guess which color is my favorite? :)

Sony Alpha 330 Display Colors

The top sliding scale is for Shutter Speed. The one below it is for aperture (blurriness in your background). If you go to the left, the background becomes more blurry (see how they made the mountain gray behind the person to symbolize blur?). The more you go to the right, the mountain is in more detail (your fstop is getting higher and higher). Ladies, if you don’t want to look at the numbers, for the first time in the history of camera technology, you can now own a DSLR camera and not have to worry with numbers!

So ladies, you can make the interface PINK on your Copper Brown CAMERA!! The interface is so pretty! As soon as I have the Copper Brown camera, I’ll shoot some images so you can see the brown and pink for yourself!

That’s not all!

At lunch, before Kristen showed us her good news, I brought up the lens issue again. Brian and I know that women want the low fstop lens to create the blurry backgrounds. But to have a lens that goes low in fstop means that you often have to spend $600-$1500. I asked Kristen if Sony would be open to making a more affordable lens with a low fstop. She just smiled and said, “Wait and see Me Ra. Your going to really be happy with what I show you.”

Well ladies and gents! Sony has DONE IT!!! Since our first meetings over a year ago, they have created two lenses with low fstops! One is a fixed 50mm that will go down to 1.8! The other is a MACRO! For all of you who love getting beautiful, buttery, blurred background shots, you are going to love these two lenses! And instead of being $600 and up, both lenses will be SIGNIFICANTLY less! AND, if you own the Sony Alpha 300 or 350, these lenses will work with them!

Brian and I are always bouncing the flash off the walls behind us or above us. We never fire the flash straight at someone. You guessed it! Sony has made a LIGHTWEIGHT flash that can pop onto the camera and bounce off the ceiling!

Instead of costing hundreds of dollars, the HVL-F20AM flash is going to be $130! These price points are going to blow their competitors out of the water!

The new Sony Alphas will still have the beautiful, tiltable Live View on the back,

and they have also added a spot for SD cards! Now you have dual memory slots! (how about it Ziv! :) )

But seriously, aside from all the bells and whistles…

The tears came.

Brian and I left the meeting on Thursday, and for the rest of the night tears kept filling my eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking of all the women who have come to our photography workshops over the last few years. I thought of all the women who emailed us what they want in a dream camera. All the women who are so incredibly creative but feel intimidated by the technology. Or even the women who feel like the color black for every DSLR camera makes them feel as if this is a hobby or profession for men, not them.

Ladies, we shared your ideas and our ideas of a dream camera for women. We shared our dreams. And Sony not only listened, they acted! Maybe they were already planning on doing these ideas before we talked with them. Who knows, the amazing part is that they did it!

Sony has changed camera technology so moms could capture the great photos of their kids without the steep learning curve, as Kristen stated so well. They changed camera technology for YOU! Do you know how huge that is? There isn’t a camera maker who has cared so much about women before to change the camera technology. And they did it! The “official” press will have their say on Sony’s new cameras. But ladies, Brian and I met with them a number of times. And I can tell you firsthand, they care about women. They care about moms.

And here’s the amazing part. We are a part of it all! We are a part of changing history!

The Sony Alpha DSLR-330 camera is the one that will come in Copper Brown w/the Pink Interface. You can start pre-ordering this week for a Fall delivery. I told Kristen that I’m calling it the Me Ra Koh camera! :) And seriously, I’m buying a few of these because this is the camera that defied all tradition and changed history! This is the camera that Pascaline will hold someday. And she will know that history shifted and women were validated when this camera hit the market. For no other reason, women will want this camera!

Basically Sony is saying, no more steep learning curve. Women don’t have to prove they are good photographers by knowing all the fractions and fstops. They believe you are good, and you deserve technology that is intuitive to how you think.

What master art will we create women? How will our images change the world, now that we have technology that is made for us?

I know Sony is excited to hear what you think. If you have a minute, please post a comment. You can even thank Kristen for taking a stand on women creating a camera that isn’t the color black! (love you Kristen!)

Sony has done something incredibly brave. Some may praise them, others in the industry may criticize them.

What do you say?

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May 15th, 2009

Our DVDS are Keeping Good Company with Baby Einstein!

Our meetings with Sony yesterday were unreal. I am so overwhelmed with how AMAZING it was that I’ve been in and out of tears. Every thing will be officially announced on Monday to the press. So you better believe that I’ll be sharing the good news on Monday morning with all of you, right here!

In the midst of an unforgettable day, we have even more crazy news to share!

This is actually another DREAM come true for me and Brian! It’s one of those dreams that your almost afraid to wish for, but you hold your breath and go for it anyway. (What do you have to lose, right?!)

Here it is…Our instructional, photography DVD series, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box , has won one of the most prestigious parenting awards ever! The National Parenting Publication GOLD Award! To give you an idea of who else submits their products for this award…Last year, the 10th Anniversary Edition of Baby Einstein won! Can you believe that! Our DVDs are keeping good company!!!

We submitted each DVD on its own to be judged and scored independently, and I can’t tell you how excited we are that they BOTH won the GOLD award!

On June ST, NAPPA and their partner, Parenthood, will have our DVDS and the other winners appear in over THIRTY magazines! Brian and I are so excited to see what this will be like to have that much exposure at once! Check out the list of magazines! It’s going to be crazy! Do any of you receive these magazines already? If you see our DVDS in them, will you cut it out and send it to me? My grandma and I would LOVE to have a copy of the features!


NAPPA Editorial Partners

Coverage of NAPPA winners is featured in these trusted, local parenting magazines:

Akron Family – Akron, OH
Albemarle Family – Charlottesville, VA
Bay Area Parent: East Bay – San Mateo, CA
Bay Area Parent: SF & Peninsula – San Francisco, CA
Bay Area Parent: Silicon Valley – Los Gates, CA
The Boston Parents’ Paper – Boston, MA
Brevard County Moms (formerly Space Coast Parent) – Melbourne, FL
Carolina Parent – Durham, NC
Central California Parent – Fresno, CA
Central Penn Parent – Harrisburg, PA
Charlotte Parent – Charlotte, NC
Chicago Parent – Chicago, IL
Child Guide – Berryville, VA
Cincinnati Parent – Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland Family – Cleveland, OH
Colorado Parent – Denver, CO
Family Life – Mendocino, CA
Family Times – Syracuse, NY
Family Magazine NJ: Morris County Family – Morris County, NJ
Family Magazine NJ: Union County Family – Union County, NJ
Indy’s Child – IN
Kids VT – Shelburne, VT
L.A. Parent – Los Angeles, CA
Lake/Geauga Family – Eastlake, OH
Lowcountry Parent – Charleston, SC
Metro Augusta Parent – Augusta, GA
Metroparent – Milwaukee, WI
Neopolitan Family Magazine – Naples, FL
Newsday’s Parents & Children – Long Island, NY
Our Kids San Antonio – San Antonio, TX
Palmetto Parent – Columbia, SC
Parenting New Hampshire – Manchester, NH
Piedmont Parent – Winston-Salem, NC
The Parent Paper – Paterson, NJ
Sacramento Parent- Sacramento, CA
Saginaw Valley Family- Saginaw Valley, MI
South Florida Parenting – Tamarac, FL
Tidewater/Peninsula Parent – Norfolk, VA
Upstate Parent – Greenville, SC
Washington Parent – Washington, DC / Bethesda, MD
Westchester Family – Mamaroneck, NY
Your Child Today – NJ

For those of you who are unfamiliar with NAPPA, here is a quick summary. (Check out NAPPA’s website to learn more! They carry a big influence on what is hot for parents!)

NAPPA is one of the oldest and most prestigious Children’s Products and Parenting Resources competitions. Expert judges and family testers select from hundreds of products that embody innovative design, quality construction, and make parenting easier.

In regards to the DVD winners, Judges evaluated programs for their overall appeal, production value, quality of content and benefits – which may be pro-social role models, educational content or pure entertainment. Every winning title is one that you could happily add to your collection and enjoy sharing with the children in your life.

Is that AWESOME or what!

If you haven’t seen our DVDS, or should I say “Award Winning DVDS” :) , you can check them out and purchase them at our product site, Refuse to Say Cheese! If you are a friend that lives abroad, Downloadable Versions are available too!

Okay, keep voting for your favorite Finalist! We are almost to 300 votes, and we only need 500 total by Sunday night for a Random Voter to win Adobe Lightroom 2! Click HERE to vote today!

We will be back Monday for the most amazing news ever on what Sony has done to change our world! Hint: some of you helped inspire it!

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We only have FIVE SPOTS left for the Seattle June workshop. The enthusiasm, nervousness, willingness, and openness of the attendees so far is going to make this a fantastic workshop! If you are looking to take our workshop on the West Coast, this is your best bet before the summer ends! To see all the details, check out THIS BLOG post. To grab a spot and get the early bird special, GO HERE! The Early Bird price ends this coming Wednesday, so make sure you get signed up before the special is over!

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May 14th, 2009

Top Secret Meetings Going On!

Brian and I are having “Top Secret” meetings with Sony all day today. They actually flew up here to meet with us! Isn’t that cool!

We can’t share the secret yet, but ladies, it has to do with helping you and your picture taking!! I’m so excited! Sony is the BEST!

p.s. Have you voted yet for one of the Top Five Finalists? If not, CLICK HERE or see below!!

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The Seattle June workshop is now MORE than half full, and we are so excited. The enthusiasm, nervousness, willingness, and openness of the attendees so far is going to make this a fantastic workshop! If you are looking to take our workshop on the West Coast, this is your best bet before the summer ends! But if you want to fly out, your in good company. Other women are flying in too! To see all the details, check out THIS BLOG post. To grab a spot and get the early bird special, GO HERE !

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May 13th, 2009

Vote and Win! Top FIVE FINALISTS for the Simple Gift Photo Contest!

We’ve got a Photo Contest for you to vote on today, AND the winner of the Mother’s Day story!

A big thanks to all the moms who shared their Mother’s Day stories. I loved reading them all! Some had me laughing so hard and others made me cry! Some were down right inspiring, and wow, some of you need to take a day off after working so hard on YOUR day! Do you know how amazing and beautiful you all are?

The one story I still can’t get over is by Katie Jordan . Did you read her story about how they had to take the oven apart to get their artichoke frittata out of it? It’s HILARIOUS! The woman needs to take her, her hubbie and mom out for a latte after that craziness! Katie, thanks for sharing! Email Genie, at genie@merakoh.com, with your address, and we’ll get the Starbucks card off to you! To read Katie’s whole story (and it’s so worth it for a good laugh), check out yesterday’s blog post.

On to the Photo Contest Finalists! Time to VOTE!!

Some of you forgot. Some of have been waiting. Some of you have no idea what I’m talking about! But here we are! It’s time to start doing our Photo Contests again!

Your about to see the TOP FIVE FINALISTS for the Simple Gifts Photo Contest!!

Does everyone remember how to do this?

You have a couple ways to win! If your a finalist, you can win be receiving the most votes. You will have THREE, not two, (I added a new prize) but THREE prizes to choose from! See details below!

If your a Voter, you can win by voting! It’s that simple. Because we cherish our voters and their feedback, we will pick TWO Random Voters to win prizes too! AND, if we CLEAR 500 VOTES, one of those Random Voters gets to claim Lightroom 2.0 as a prize! Nice huh! All you have to do is post your vote and give the photographer some positive feedback on why you liked their photo the best.

You can check by this Monday to see if you were one of the TWO Random Voters!)

But for now, let’s welcome these talented photographers and their inspiring work.

The theme was Simple Gifts. You were invited to submit an image that somehow conveys the theme of Simple Gifts. A theme that is this open can be good and tough at the same time. Check out what our finalists submitted!

Finalist #1, The Wedding Gift, by Laura from Grand Rapids, Michigan

Laura submitted an image of an incredibly touching Simple Gift. When she and her husband were married, Laura’s dad gave her this heart shaped box. For a dad to “make” a gift for his kids, wow, that alone is moving. Her father took the time to cut out images of his favorite father/daughter moments throughout the years. He cut each image out in the shape of this heart box and wrote notes on the back. Not only did Laura receive one of the most amazing wedding presents in the world, she did a wonderful job at capturing the heart shaped box.

I love how her dad’s inscription is lit on the heart shaped box. The sepia tone adds to the timeless that the gift possesses. And I love how she created drama with the blurred background of the bottom half of the heart shaped box. Laura, thank you so much for sharing such a special part of your life with us. The gift and the image you captured are both beautiful!

Finalist #2, “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!” by Michelle Sidles, Washington

Michelle and her family were headed to California for Christmas when the Blizzard of 08 hit. Their flight was canceled last minute, and they had zero food in the refrigerator and zero gifts for under the tree. That night she and her husband scrambeled to find something they could wrap and put under the tree. She said her son would have never dreamed of asking for his own BB gun b/c of the whole thing “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out”, but they decided to surprise him. I can’t imagine how surprised he must have been. Some of my younger brother’s best memories are when they would hike with our grandpa through the trees in Eastern WA practicing their aim with the BB guns.

The image can be a bit startling at first if you didn’t grow up with BB guns. But I love how striking it is. It is so obvious that this boy is in love with his BB gun. It may have been the only thing under the tree, but I think he’s okay with it. I love how the target practice is set up behind him. I love how the image is horizontal, almost square shaped, and every thing in the image adds to the story. There isn’t any thing we see in the image that shouldn’t be there. Michelle, great job! Thanks so much for submitting! Check out Michelle’s blog too!

Finalist #3, Siblings, by Denise from Arizona!

Denise said her Simple Gift was siblings. She has recently been reflecting on how much her brother means to her. In her submission, she wrote; “No one on earth lived my childhood with me, and saw things that I saw at that time–except my brother.” It’s so simple, and yet so true. Her submission is perfect for the Simple Gift Photo Contest. Denise also said that since she wasn’t able to take a picture with her brother, she decided to submit this image. Here are four brothers with their dogs in the back of the truck. And I want to add, “without a care in the world”.

Denise, I LOVE how all four brothers have different focal points. What a great story you have captured! Yes, they are brothers and growing up together, but they all have different views of their childhood. I also love how you composed the shot with the different places they are each sitting, standing, leaning, etc. The dogs are a great touch. Way to go. Adding pets isn’t always easy! And Denise has her own beautiful website! Check it out! There are two shots of mom pregnant and then holding baby that are priceless. Beautiful work Denise!

Finalist #4, F 2.8, by Michelle from Wisconsin!

Michelle said that her Simple Gift idea is photography. And the way she has created this message is incredibly simple but striking. In her email she wrote that she wanted to portray the gift of photography “simply but with a little whimsy”. I think she pulled it off beautifully!

She used her daughter’s blocks to spell out her favorite aperture: F 2.8. (Can I get an AMEN everyone!) The lighting is great on this image with the white tile floor and the blurred wall color behind. Both of these elements add to the clean feeling this image gives. Michelle, did you shoot this image at a 2.8? :) Thanks so much Michelle for submitting your image! Your gift was one that so many of us can appreciate, but your idea of how to portray this was so original! I just love it! Michelle also has an awesome website and blog that you must see, especially her Public Enemies gallery. That is super fun to look through!

Finalist #5, Daily Treat, by Katie from Mississippi!

Katie submitted this image of her son feeding his horse a carrot. She said that every day her horse gets to look forward to this Simple Gift. What a great idea for a photo submission. I love a number of things about this image. I love how the little boy is centered in the bottom half. I don’t often center my subjects, but for this image it works so well because of how it shows us perspective. What do I mean by perspective? I love how we see the size difference between the horse gate and the big horse itself! I love how the little boy is reaching up. I picture him being on his tip toes, even though I don’t see his feet. The energy is still moving upward enough for me to fill in the blanks. And the black and white toning helps add focus to the little boy and horse. Wonderful job Katie! You caught a great moment, and I love that you shared it with us! Thank you so much!

All five of these women are so talented AND totally going for it with their cameras and creative eyes! We applaud them all.

There you have em’! The Top Five Finalists for the Simple Gift Photo Contest! Now you have the tough job of voting for ONE!

FAQ #1: How do you vote?

Answer: Just click on the pink word “Comments” at the end of this blog post. Put the # of photo your voting for first (it makes counting the votes way faster), and then add a few words about why you like their image the most. Remember, your comments and feedback give to the Five Finalists more than any prize from us. Please be kind, encouraging, and share all that you can with these wonderful Five Finalists! Your feedback on their images is priceless! That’s why we do the Random Voter Awards, because we appreciate your voting and feedback so much. So spread the word to family and friends! And ask them to vote!

Please vote one time for one image. Thanks!

FAQ #2: Is there a new Photo Contest happening right now? And when is the Deadline?

Answer: After we announce the Winners for this contest, we’ll start a new one! And it won’t take me four months to post the finalists! :)

FAQ #3: What are the prizes for the Random Voters and the Finalist?

Answer: Scroll on down!!

Prizes for the Winning Finalist and the Random Voter Winners!

In our last photo , we had over 586! We broke our record again! It was amazing! You all spread the word, and the votes came rolling in! If we clear 500 votes AGAIN on this , we are going to pick a Random Voter (not necessarily #500, but a RANDOM Voter) to win a copy of ‘s software again!! And then we’ll keep going and pick one more Random Voters to win a $25 customized, cool looking Starbucks card! So that’s one Random Winner of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and one MORE random winner of $25 customized Starbucks cards, if we clear 500!

Deadline for all voting is this Sunday night, 4 days from now, 5/16, at midnight PST!! That means we have to clear 500 votes by that time for two Random Voters to be picked and win !

Prize for being the Winner of the Five Finalists!!!

Now what about the finalist’s prize! What will they get?

Great question! The finalist will get their choice of one of our 101 Kits or the downloadable version of our Refuse to Say Cheese/Beyond the Green Box DVD series. And then, and THEN (we’re hooking our Finalists up for 2009! :) ), they also get to choose between one of two MORE things!

1. Their own copy of Adobe’s Lightroom 2.0 Software

2. Or a copy of the newly released DVD “See the Light” by Carlos Baez! Watch the trailer by clicking the title. Carlos is not only a dear friend, but he is also a PHENOMENAL photographer who has years experience in the fashion and wedding industry and is now sharing his knowledge on lighting with the wedding and portrait world. This guy is loaded with tips and strategies on lighting. We just got our own copy of his DVD, and I can’t wait to watch it. Carlos is a master with lighting, and on top of that he has a HUGE heart for teaching people. Just watching him work with his clients is amazing. Your business can’t help but go to the next level with this new DVD. Check out his blog! To purchase Carlos’s new DVD, check out the Photography Mentor store. Retail Price for “See the Light” is $175.

3. Or, a NEW PRIZE !!! Since so many of our finalists have their own websites and/or blogs, I’d like to offer a third choice. As I was looking at the Finalists websites/blogs, I had so much feedback to give. I’d like to offer a 45 minute, private, consultation phone call to the winner to talk about how to strengthen their websites/blog for their business! Please understand that ALL their websites and blogs are AWESOME. I’ve just learned a few tricks over the years that I’d love to share with them. It’s a fun option if the winner already has prizes 1 and 2! And best of all, I would love to chat with the winner on the phone! (If you choose this prize and find it would be more helpful to talk about photography, juggling business/family as a mother, going to Thailand :) , your business strategy, marketing tips, etc. You let me know! I’m yours for 45 minutes!) Value: Private 1 hr. Consultations are $500.

So get all your friends and family to jump on here and vote before Sunday at midnight!

Enjoy! VOTE AWAY!!!

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Sony Camera Contest Winners will be Announced NEXT WEEK !!! Stay tuned!!! (boy, is this contest week or what!)

For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese , our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the words of your choice!

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