October « 2009 « Me Ra Koh Photography Blog

Archive for October, 2009

October 30th, 2009

Spooky Photo Tips for Halloween!

I don’t know how your house feels today, but my kids are FREAKING OUT about Halloween! They’ve tried their costumes on a dozen times, and I’ve had to bribe them NOT to wear them anymore so they will last for Halloween. I’m not sure if they’re more excited about trick or treating or decorating. Blaze has taped fall leaves to our walls, windows, backs of chairs, kitchen cupboards. At five, he’s more into decorating than I’ve ever seen. The pumpkins finally got carved. The candles are lit. The kids are making the “ooooooh, ooooooh, OOOOOOOH” ghosts howls throughout the house. Blaze also colored black spiders and taped those up. He asked me if our house feels “super spooky” with all these spiders and leaves around. I’m not sure how I even fall asleep with how spooky things are.

So what are my best Spooky Photo Tips for capturing the sweet, creative spirit of your kids this Halloween? How do we freeze Halloween 2009 with our cameras? Do we use our flash and shoot it straight at the kids? Do we take the photos inside the house because it’s so dark outside? But then our lighting at night is often icky when it’s inside. Photo tips? What are they?

I say, forget about taking your Halloween photos right before you go trick or treating. Forget about firing the flash on the kids and blasting their little faces out (unless they are dressing up as ghosts ). Instead, SET YOURSELF UP FOR SPOOKY, FEAKING AMAZINE SUCCESS! Take their pictures early in the day when you have great natural light! Or, let them put on their costumes for a special 30min Photo Shoot!

When our costumes arrived, the kids were so excited to finally BE the heroes they dream about. After they were dressed, I nonchalantly asked if they’d like me to do a Bat Girl/Wolverine Photo Shoot. They whipped around and looked at me with the biggest smiles “REALLY MAMA!” I said, “Sure, I’d love too!” And inside I was thinking, why haven’t I done Halloween photos like this before! Instead of pulling teeth, making them wait to trick or treat, while I take their photos…They struck every favorite pose (on their own!). It was so much fun.

Look out. Wolverine isn’t messing around!

How do you take great Halloween photos if your kids are younger, and they aren’t old enough to be strike a pose in character?

I say, capture the story of the age they are. Just like Pascaline and Blaze, let your little ones wear their costumes during the day today or tomorrow when the available light is still great. Observe their play and look for the specific characteristics that make this age so precious. Are they dressed up for Halloween but still dragging their favorite blanket around? That’s a great image to take. Why? Because you’ve just captured the story of who they were, not who they were necessarily dressed up as, but who they really were for 2009 Halloween–blankie and all. Does that make sense?

Maybe you dress them up, and it just makes them cry. That will be a super sweet picture in years to come. Only the little ones tend to cry when the costume goes on. In fact, I spotted this wonderful Halloween photo on Facebook the other day. I had to email the photographer behind this and ask for her permission to show you. It’s just to good.

That is one of the BEST Halloween photos I’ve ever seen! Tina, you can’t get a better Halloween photo then this, especially when they’re little! (Thank you so much for letting me share this with our blog.)

Photo Recipes/ Camera settings for Halloween Photos?

You know me, I love the buttery, blurred backgrounds. I would suggest shooting in Aperture Priority Mode with the lowest fstop your lens will allow. And then offer to do a free “Photo Shoot” of the kids. You may be surprised with what their Halloween characters give you!

Enjoy! (And if you have time, email me what you get. I’d love to see! Maybe I could post some up for everyone to see. Go ahead and send them to info@merakoh.com!)

Much love,

Me Ra

p.s. We received our first handful of Blur and Background COMFORT entries for the Photo Contest! Wow, they are wonderful! And yes, even if you bought your camera last week, please submit! Have fun with this! I want to see your first attempts as well as the well seasoned attempts. Just the act of attempting is where the beauty and power live. So keep them coming! The prizes for both winners are only getting bigger and crazier! Prize details coming soon!

p.s.s. Wait! I want to know what your dressing up as!!! Kari Hale, are you listening? Brian looked at me the other day and said “Do you want me to be Edward Cullen for you?” (ha! ha!) I told him I wasn’t sure if the neighborhood mothers would be able to contain themselves. So right now, I’m leaning towards Storm from the XMen, after all, Blaze is Wolverine. And Brian was thinking of getting my parents old wheelchair in their garage and being Xavier.

But then that means I’d have to push BRIAN around the neighborhood. Um, NO! Nice try though Brian! How did we go from Edward Cullen to Xavier?

What do you think we should be? What are you going to be?

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24 Comments »
Tags: Art, Contest, Facebook, Kids, Photo Recipe, Photographer, Recipe

October 28th, 2009

TWO NEW PHOTO CONTESTS START TODAY! This means TWO WAYS to WIN!!!

Are you ready for a new photo contest, OR WHAT!! We had this up for a couple hours today, but the blog crashed along with everything else, so here we go again!

Let’s get this Photo Contest Party started! It’s an all NEW Photo Contest! There is going to be TWO WAYS to win this time! And the theme is going to be great for EVERYONE! I’m so excited!

Jeramy, I have to hand it to you. You are the man. I read over everyone’s Photo Contest ideas, and I kept coming back to your suggestion. COMFORT it is! The official Photo Contest Theme is COMFORT. I was thinking of doing the theme of Fall, but I love how one of our readers commented on
the fact that not everyone has fall leaves and colors right now. But Fall often means COMFORT to everyone, no matter where you live. So
COMFORT it is!

Little Twist though…this is where it gets even more fun!

I want to do TWO CONTESTS at the same time! I think this would be a great exercise! Both Photo Contests will have the THEME of COMFORT,
but they will have a different focus on the skills used. You can enter both, or you can choose one! It’s up to you!

Photo Contest #1 will focus on close, tighter frames with buttery, blurry backgrounds using lower Fstops. You’ll be putting our Depth of Field conversation from yesterday into practice with a COMFORT theme.

What do I mean by “Depth of Field”? Don’t stress. You can do this. (I KNOW you can not only do it but do a beautiful job at it!) All we’re talking about is showing depth in our images-making our one dimensional images have more of a three dimensional feel. So if you have a lens with the low fstops, you can get your depth by blurring the background, using those low fstops. But if you don’t have a lens with a low fstop, you can show depth and dimension in other creative ways-like lining your family up along the curbside with ice cream cones in hand. Focus on the kid in front, get down low so you can shoot from the hip and give the sense of a never ending line of ice cream eaters. I had to use this image again b/c Ice Cream, specifically Slow Churned Jamoca Almond Fudge with whip cream and chopped almonds, is a little bit of a COMFORT to me.

Me Ra Koh Photo Contest

Photo Contest #2 will focus on BACKGROUNDS that enhance your story! You’ll be shooting COMFORT theme images with a BACKGROUND, but the background has to enhance your story. The background is another character in your story. The background adds depth to your overall
story.

This is one of my favorite COMFORT images that Brian took this summer. It has a background with purpose and depth.

Since the theme for both Photo Contests is COMFORT, you can submit images that have to do with people comforting each other, your kids
bundled up in scarves on a Fall day, the big pot of comfort soup your cooking. The ideas are endless!

SIX SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

(PLEASE use these SIX STEPS as a checklist, SO YOUR IMAGE IS NOT
DISQUALIFIED!)

1. SIZE: Size your image(s) so the longest edge is 600 pixels. (Don’t stress. If you don’t know how to resize
your image, send us what you’ve got anyways. But if you do know how, that would be super helpful.)

2. NAME: Title your Images with your Name and a Number (example: KOH1; KOH2; KOH3, ect.)

3. SUBJECT: Here is the MOST important part so we don’t lose your image! In the Subject Title of
your email, type “BLUR” or “BACKGROUND”. This will let us know which contest your submitting your images too.

4. LOCATION: In the email, include your name and the state you live.

5. BUZZ: Please include any website or blog so that if your image is picked as a Top Five Finalist, I can send great
traffic to YOU! Also, feel free to tell me anything you’d like about the image, but you don’t have too.

6. SUBMIT: Send your submissions to contest@merakoh.com before December 1st 2009!

In the past, people have forgotten to give us all their info and thus, we weren’t able to enter their images. Please make sure
you’ve completed ALL Six Submission Steps!

Have at it friends! I can’t wait to see what you all submit!!

DEADLINE for both COMFORT Photo Contest is December 1st! Both winners will be announced before Christmas!

Wait! We didn’t talk about prizes! Don’t worry, we’re cooking up some SERIOUS prizes. Think “big, bundle of goodies showing up at your front door”! I mean Christmas is around the corner right? You need UPS to bring you something too! More details to come!

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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 Beyond the Green Box , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography , click on the titles of your choice!

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Contest, Exercise, Kids, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese, Speaking

October 27th, 2009

Photo Tips on Depth of Field: Answering Your “Unexpected Image” Questions!

Last week a number of you posted some great questions regarding the Unexpected Image. The biggest theme I noticed in the main questions from Kelly, Carrie and Alejandra was understanding Depth of Field. In essence, many of you asked, “How could I use a 1.7 fstop and have the dog in focus and the couple so sharp?” Let’s give you a few good Photo Tips to make this yours!

Photo Shoot in Virginia w/Me Ra Koh Photography, Inc

There are all kinds of scientific explanations around Depth of Field, but if you know me, you know I don’t enjoy the scientific route as much. Instead I like to use my pointer finger! Here we go! It’s a kinesthetic exercise in Depth of Field. Ready!

1. Hold your pointer finger in front of your nose so that it’s close to your nose but you’re not going cross eyed.

2. As you look at your pointer, notice how all your vision around your pointer naturally blurs. Your eyes have focused on the pointer and that’s the only thing that’s in sharp focus.

3. Now slowly move your pointer finger away from you, and you’ll notice how your surrounding vision starts to become less and less blurred. e

This is Depth of Field!

Our eyes are constantly readjusting our Depth of Field based on how close an object is to us. Our cameras simulate the same practice. When we take our 50mm lens and get super close to our subject, like a baby’s eyes, our lens often makes one eye sharp and the other one soft. This will never work for a client. But why is this happening? Isn’t that the purpose of having a low fstop lens?

Has anyone ever had this happen?

The answer to the problem is that you’re too close to the subject. The more you back up, the more you can put into focus. Just like your finger, the farther you move your finger from your eyes, the more in focus you have surrounding your finger.

The closer you get to your subject with a low fstop, the less depth of field you have to work with. Think of the word depth. Closer you get, less depth. The farther you are from your subject, the more depth you have. It’s like the depth stretches–widens. And this is why I can shoot Shachar and Jason walking toward me, both in focus, at a low 1.4 fstop.

Aperture blur blog on Shachar and Jason at the Sagamore

If you love the close up images, and you can’t frame your image tight enough to get both eyes in focus, you may want to consider investing in a Macro Lens. Photographers often use Macro Lenses for filling the frame with baby feet, hands, eyes, etc.

Some of you asked if I cropped the image in Post Process. We NEVER crop anything. I learned early on that cropping after a shoot was killing way to much time. With thousands of images from a wedding, I didn’t have time to crop half of them. So Brian and I work extra hard to frame an image the way we want it. Frame it, crop it, in the moment of shooting it.

I hope this helps Depth of Field seem a little more accessible and less scientific. Bottom line, when using a low fstop, the closer you get to your subject the less you can have in focus. The farther you get, the more you can have in focus.

Tell me your thoughts. Questions? Is it making sense? Is this helpful? Let me know b/c I want you to see that you CAN DO THIS!

xoxo, Me Ra

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24 Comments »
Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Exercise, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese, Sony

October 26th, 2009

The Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

We are back from an amazing trip with Sony at Photo Plus Expo. Brian posted some fun images on Saturday from the Sony World Photography Awards. One of my favorite highlights was when my publicist from Random House and Sony met and started forming what they are calling “Team Me Ra” . Those two women are crazy awesome. It’s going to be wonderful to work with them as a team. I love that I have such incredible, strong women surrounding our business. Click here to see our photo!

I can’t imagine what we’d do without the resilient, creative, passionate spirit of women. I learn so much about the vast beauty of femininity from my clients. Whether it’s Caroline’s fierce, committed love to her baby or one our Amazing Moms taking a risk and starting her own photography business, I am inspired.

The month of October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And I have to tell you, I’ve never seen so much effort put toward this cause. Having traveled a lot this month, I was super encouraged to see all the different efforts that the airlines are making from Jet Blue’s counter being surrounded by pink balloons to Delta flight attendants wearing pink shirts.

On Saturday night, our last night in NYC, we finally got to see Wicked. Amazing…really no words to describe how amazing Wicked is. After the Wicked the actors took their bow to a roaring standing applause, they made an announcement on behalf of Breast and Ovarian Cancer, as well as HIV, for donations. I don’t know about you, but when corporations and artists come together for a good cause, it encourages my soul.

This was an image that I shot of Pascaline this summer. The timing was crazy!

A friend said the shape of the ribbon reminded her of the pink Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon. I’d love for this image to be another visual reminder that fighting breast cancer is not only about helping all those who have it, but the generations to follow.

To find a National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Facility, CLICK HERE!

If you have breast cancer and feel alone, CLICK HERE to find support in your local area. No one can know what your going through, but maybe this link can help you find friendship and comfort.

Photo Recipe for Pascaline’s Pink Ribbon: Aperture was low at 2.8, Shutter Speed was 1/200th of a second and the ISO was 100.

xoxo, Me Ra

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ONE Special Spot left! Who is this special woman going to be!!! So excited! CLICK HERE !

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Artist, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Photo Recipe, Photographer, Photography, Recipe, Refuse to Say Cheese, Sony, Travel

October 23rd, 2009

What a night at the Sony World Photography Awards!

Quick Highlights from the Best Night!

Sony Artisans of Imagery experience how it feels on the otherside of the camera

Sony Artisans of Imagery have fun being on the otherside of the camera.

Sony Publicist and Random House Publicist meet to form "Team Me Ra!"

Sony Publicist and Random House Publicist meet to form “Team Me Ra!”

Can I just say “WOW!”? I tried writing this last night, but after I uploaded images and figured out how to get online in our hotel, it was late and I was spent. But it was so worth it.

Me Ra and I had no idea what to expect when we showed up at the Sony World Photography Awards / One Year anniversary of Sony’s Atisans of Imagery, who my beautiful wife, I’m proud to say is one of the six. Like I was saying, we had no idea what to expect. This is New York. It was in the prestigious Aperture Gallery. The World Photography Awards? A Sony party? My mind was swirling. A Big Deal or Big Hype?

The truth is, it was a lot of things. There were an extremely diverse group of people. Everyone from the NY Times to photographers from every walk of life to agents, editors and publicists to searching patrons of the arts. The photography on exhibit was moving…powerful. Interesting conversations at every turn. A cool vibe. Shoot, we were at a crowded, invite only Gallery event in Manhattan and our work was featured!!! I would have thought that that alone would be a lot, which it was, but something special happened which I was honored to be part of.

I didn’t realize how special this event was until a conversation I had with Jim Collins, the CEO of Pictage, later in the evening lead me to this discovery. Of all the things Sony could have spent the time and resources on, the Sony executives chose this event to celebrate their Artisans’ passions. Sony could easily have chosen to celebrate their Artisans of Imagery “Best Work” or even to have celebrated themselves or a new product, (what I think most companies would have done).

Instead, Sony chose to celebrate these photographers’ passions!

When this realization sunk in, I was so proud of my wife and our choice to partner with Sony. I felt so fortunate to be in a relationship with people at a large corporation that actually care. And not only care, but they take the time to celebrate the passions of those they care about.

What an amazing night! I’m super proud of you honey!

Me Ra Koh beside her exhibit at Aperture Gallery in New York for Sony World Photography Awards

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ONE Spot left! CLICK HERE !

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese, Sony, Writing

October 21st, 2009

Come See Us in NYC the next FOUR DAYS at PDN’s International Photo Plus Expo!

I was up at 4am this morning for the third time this week. For those of you who get up at that time every morning, I don’t know how you do it! We’ve packed this little family up, and we are in flight to NYC for a BIG week! It’s PDN’s International Photo Plus Expo this week at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center!

I love this photography conference because every type of photography is represented here from editorial to fashion to wedding to National Geographic to portrait, you name it! AND, if your looking to buy new gear or accessories, these expos always have some of the BEST deals!

I’ll be doing a handful of different things, so it would be GREAT to meet you if you can make it. On Saturday, I’m doing a two hour session for ALL levels. The title is Keep the Memories Alive with Visual Storytelling. I’m really looking forward to this talk b/c I’ll be sharing a lot of Thailand images and talking about working with kids, whether your a parent or portrait photographer. I’ve purposely made this session open to ALL LEVELS. Even if you only own a Point and Shoot, come and be inspired! Good News: The cost is minimal, and you can sign up online or at the door.

Title: Keep the Memories Alive with Visual Storytelling

Date: Saturday: 1:15pm-3:15pm

Location: Jacob Javitz Convention Center, Room SB2

I’ll also be doing four 1 hour long sessions on the trade show floor at the Sony Booth #618 with a live model shoot. I would LOVE to meet you if you can make it to the trade show floor.

Here are the times I’ll be speaking on the trade show floor;

Friday: 9:45am, 12:45pm, and 3:45pm

Saturday: 11am

I encourage you whole heartedly to also see the other Sony Artisans of Imagery. All six of us will be presenting at the Sony booth, including Matthew Jordan Smith talking about his celebrity fashion shoots! A couple of the Artisans are also National Geographic photographers and FASCINATING to listen to. Christina Mittermier shoots all over the world with a focus on environment projects. She will be wonderful to hear. Seriously, you could just camp out at the Sony booth all day. I won’t be speaking on Thursday, but we’ll be there to hang out and meet some of you if can make it.

As you walk up the cement steps that lead into the Jacob Javitz Convention Center, see if you spot a Sony banner of Blaze with his slingshot.

But the week doesn’t end with speaking.

Thursday night, Sony is hosting a huge event with American Photo. They are throwing an invitation only party for 800 people at the Aperture Gallery. PDN’s International Photo Plus Expo is one of the main annual events where new cameras, lenses, accessories (you name it) are announced to the market. This year Sony has decided to do something different, and they are going ALL out with Sony Style! First, they are hosting the Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour.

Two, Photo Plus Expo marks the one year anniversary for the Sony Artisans of Imagery program. Instead of making the hype only around products, they are highlighting the six of us Artisans!

We were invited to send them six images that had a theme from a personal project we’ve worked on this year, specifically using the Alpha 900. All our photography projects are different and going to be on exhibit for two weeks at the prestigious Aperture Gallery. They will be revealed to the press and 800 guests Thursday night. My stomach is FULL of butterflies over this event. I’m so excited to see our images on exhibit. My project is called Dreaming. It’s based on the gifts I learned from our Thailand trip. I even got to include an essay with it that will be posted alongside the images. After the event, I’ll post the images and essay up so you can all experience it.

Sony has also made behind the scenes videos of each Artisan, so they’ll be revealing those to the public too. Brian and I are so excited! And did I mention that Brian is the best husband in the world. He bought me a beautiful, black, sparkly necklace and matching bracelet to wear Thursday night with my dress.

As I type this on the plane, guess who is sitting next to me? You’d never guess, so I’ll just tell you. My lawyer! Jennifer Wing has been the most phenomenal lawyer for our business the last several years. And in the midst of all our work together, she has also become a dear friend. We invited her to come join us Thursday night to see what her hard work helps us do. I feel like a little slice of home is coming with us.

If you can make it, post a comment, ping me on Facebook or shoot us an email. I would love to meet!

Wish us luck! We will keep you posted!

Me Ra

p.s. As I race the clock with my laptop battery, I’m working a blog for tomorrow that answers ALL your questions regarding the Unexpected Image from yesterday and how I captured it. Great questions. I think we need to talk about Depth of Field, and then how I got the image will make much more sense. So hopefully I have enough juice in this battery to make it happen for tomorrow.

p.s.s. For those of you who have been following the blog for a few years, remember when I did the post about flying to NY on a whim to meet Sony? Isn’t it crazy how much has happened?! Thanks for supporting me all the way. I bring you all in my hearts to the awards night. xoxoxo

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ONE Spot left! CLICK HERE !

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Facebook, fashion, Kids, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese, Sony, Speaking, Thailand

October 20th, 2009

The Unexpected Image!

Yeah! The blog is back up and working again. Thanks for shooting us emails or pinging us on Facebook and letting us know things weren’t working right!

This weekend I had a wonderful reminder in how much joy the unexpected image can bring.

It started with flying to a place I’ve never been, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Anne, one of our beautiful brides, wanted to do her engagement photo shoot at her old horse farm. I totally understand why. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL, pastoral romance oozing everywhere, especially with the fall foliage.

The weather was crazy cold, but the rain never came (yeah!). And when the shoot and dinner were all said and done, Anne and Preston collapsed with their dog, Tennyson, on the couch at 11pm.

This unexpected image has to be one of my favorites from the whole day.

For all my Photo Recipe lovers, I shot this with my 85mm lens. The ISO was 800. My aperture was all the way down to a 1.7. And because of the fantastic image stabilizer built inside the Sony camera bodies, I was able to be at 1/50th of a second for my Shutter Speed and still have a great, sharp image. Why is Tennyson in such great focus with an aperture as low as 1.7? I know many of you have the 50mm lens for the low aperture, but you feel like the lens will focus on the eyebrow and blur the rest of the face out. Tennyson’s whole face is sharp because I backed up which gave me a wider space for sharpness. If I scooted closer to Tennyson, the low fstop would have focused only on his nose or the eye closest to me. But because I was sitting 5-6 ft. away, I could make his whole face sharp. Does that make sense? If not, ask away in the comments.

Anne, thanks for inviting me to stay at your adorable home! I’m so glad I did because this shot would have never happened. I got to the airport just fine the next morning with time to take the kids pumpkin shopping when I got home. And Preston, your history on Thomas Jefferson and the Dave Matthews Band was awesome!

To our blog readers, Great ideas on the new Photo Contest theme. We’ll let you know the final word soon! If you have an idea that you haven’t shared for the new Photo Contest theme, post it in Friday’s comments!

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What about putting CONFIDENCE on your Christmas Wish List this year!!! We are down to TWO spots in the January 2010 Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop! The November Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop is sold out! CLICK HERE to get one of the last spots!

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Contest, Facebook, Kids, Photo Recipe, Photography, Recipe, Refuse to Say Cheese, Sony

October 16th, 2009

New Photo Contest Anyone? :)

This morning I head to Charlottesville, Virginia for an engagement shoot tomorrow. I’m hoping the weather turns around because the fall leaves are in full splendor and the forecast is saying rain, rain, rain. So we’ll see what happens. Nonetheless, I’m excited to see Charlottesville. I’ve never been, and yet I’ve heard such great things about how sweet Charlottesville is. And who knows, maybe we’ll get a sun break so we can see this kind of scenery! I found this photographer’s blog last night, and I also loved the Mists of Autumn shot. Check it out!

Speaking of the fall, I was thinking it’s time to start a new photo contest. Any takers!

We need a theme for starters. What types of things have you all been shooting? What ideas come to mind for a theme? Should it be seasonal? Should it have a technical challenge? Should it have a story telling challenge?

Post your ideas, and let’s get a new Photo Contest going this coming week!

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What about putting CONFIDENCE on your Christmas Wish List this year!!! We are down to THREE spots in the January 2010 Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop! The November Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop is sold out! CLICK HERE to get one of the last spots!

18 Comments »
Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Contest, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese, Speaking

October 14th, 2009

Meet Baby Lila: A Miracle Angel

The power of photography amazes me. Not only am I given the opportunity to capture someone’s story, but I become captured by their story. And in some mysterious way, healing flows.

Meet Baby Lila from NYC. She is a miracle angel. (I love her sweet, little hands.)

Baby Lila, Me Ra Koh Photography, Baby Portraits

I was given the honor of doing a photo shoot with baby Lila and her mom, Caroline. But this wasn’t any portrait shoot. This was an incredibly moving experience that captured my spirit.

When Lila was a four week old infant, she and her mom were in a horrific car accident. A truck diver fell asleep behind the wheel, and the collision caused Lila and Caroline’s car to flip seven times. Seven times. Lila was tucked in her newborn car seat and came away from the accident with hardly a scratch. Caroline was a different story. She was torn from her baby and helicoptered to the nearest trauma center. She had broken her neck in several places and was taken right into surgery.

After the surgery, Caroline had to undergo an intense recovery process. Part of the process has been wearing a constricting neck brace 24 hrs a day.

So much happened all at once. Her long beautiful, black hair was shaved in surgery. Her vision of being able to rock Lila in her arms would be put off for months. I cannot imagine the pain her heart has endured. And yet, she is still full of love. And her love washes over Lila.

Baby Lila, Me Ra Koh Photography, Baby Portraits

When we did the photo shoot, Caroline had just been told by her doctor that she could take off her neck brace for small increments of time–maybe 7-10 minutes. A couple weeks before the shoot, she was given permission to hold her Lila for small amounts of time. And as you can imagine, with all the trauma, they had not had photos taken of Lila.

Having heard their story before I arrived in NY, my heart was filled with a desire to capture the beautiful connection between Caroline and her baby girl. I wanted to capture the story of their intimacy. Even though the first four months of Lila’s life had been very different than what Caroline had expected, I wanted the images to prove that their love and connection was deeper than either could fathom. That Caroline’s neck brace wasn’t a distraction but a part of the miracle. That the scar on Caroline’s neck didn’t distract because Caroline’s inner strength glowed–filling the home.

Baby Lila, Me Ra Koh Photography, Baby Portraits

As photographers, these are the amazing stories we get to be a part of. We get to meet miracles. We get to be reminded that all hope is not lost, even when everything is not what we expected. We get to be inspired by the depth of love, despite the circumstances that threatened to break it apart.

Dear Caroline, thank you for allowing me into your home to capture you and Lila. It was a honor to hear your story and capture the beautiful connection you have with Lila. She is an angel Caroline. She is a miracle in the purest form. And so are you. My experience and time with you has forever changed me. My spirit shall never forget it. Much love, Me Ra

To watch Baby Lila’s Slideshow, CLICK HERE!

One last favorite: the classic, precious mullet.

Baby Lila, Me Ra Koh Photography, Baby Portraits

The slideshow music was another great piece I found at Triple Scoop Music. We were able to pay for a license of the music. The title alone, Angel Eyes, seemed to be the perfect fit for Baby Lila.

Enjoy! And get your Kleenex out. The words of the song combined with the images had me tearing up as I created the slideshow. You will see how wide and deep the beauty reaches between this mother and daughter.

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese

October 13th, 2009

Featuring an Amazing Mom! Meet San Diego, Portrait Photographer, Carey Schumacher of Barefoot Memories!

If you’ve attended our CONFIDENCE workshops, you’ve probably heard me talk about Carey Schumacher. Without question, she is not only an AMAZING mom, but an AMAZING photographer and AMAZING friend. Her business is designed in such a way that fits her lifestyle of being wife, mom, photographer, beautiful woman.

Carey is bold and doesn’t let the industry push her around. She and her business don’t fit into a box. She is who she is–take it or leave it. Her clients jump at the chance to “take it”. Throughout our friendship, Carey has given me so much encouragement. Even though our personalities and businesses are different, I can’t tell you how much it means to know that I can pick up the phone and ask her to pray for me. I can cry into the phone, and she will have an encouraging word for me. Even though she teases me for being so deep at times, she encourages me to go for it. Her life alone is a symbol of “going for it”. And let’s not forget that Carey is also one of the BEST at outwitting and teasing Brian! That is saying SOMETHING!

Meet Carey Schumacher, San Diego Portrait Photographer, owner of the well known Barefoot Memories!

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

1. Carey, when did you start your business and what was the turning point of taking it from a hobby to a business of charging people and putting up a website?

I started in 2002. I’d been taking pictures for friends & family, but when my husband was laid off from his job, I needed to start charging for photography. I needed to help the family, so it was either 1) make a photography business profitable 2) get a job teaching college Math or 3) sell the house & move. A bunch of friends had been telling me, “you could totally charge money for your photography,” so it was time to find out if they were right!

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

2. What inspires your photography?

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

The people in front of my camera at the time (each family is so unique & beautifully made) AND the stories I hear back about how families have happily & proudly filled their homes with my photos — that’s awesome to me.

3. What inspires you as a person, artist?

Man, you get deep with these questions. I didn’t go to your touchee feely “find the artist within” workshop, so I’m neither qualified nor certified to answer this question. (There she goes, teasing me again. )

I’ll take a crack at it anyway… I feel really inspired by my family.

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

They’re divine (made by God).

5. What are the classes/workshops/DVDs you’ve watched to teach yourself photography? Were they helpful?

I’ve never been to a photography class, and the first workshop I attended was the one I hosted with some spazzy chick from Seattle. (who is she talking about? ) I LOVE attending WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) in Vegas. Spending a few days around other photographers is great for my photography & my business.

6. What was your first “paid” shoot like? How did you feel on the way, during and after?

I was VERY nervous. I felt nauseous. I prayed for peace, and I prayed that the family I was meeting would feel peace and joy as well. Then I prayed that I would get nervous on my way to my next shoot, so I’d remember to pray. Hundreds of shoots later, I still get nervous on the way to photoshoots. (Isn’t it nice to know that someone as talented as Carey still gets nervous before a shoot? Kind of freeing, huh.)

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

7. What is the best and toughest part about doing this while being a mom and wife at the same time?

The best is being able to make my own schedule.
The toughest is trying to NOT WORK when I should be focusing on MOM duties.

(I have to add something here because one of the things I admire most about Carey is her ability to be present as a mom and present as a business woman. And sometimes she is able to magically combine the two. For instance, she did the coolest soccer team photos I’ve ever seen for her son’s team. I mean this soccer image redefines “soccer team photos” for me. What about you?

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

That image won Matt’s soccer team a trip to the David Beckham Academy. And they ended up being in Soccer America magazine! Is she the coolest mom EVER or what!)

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

8. What is one piece of advice you’d give to newbies?

Don’t stay up til all hours of the night looking at other photographers’ websites convincing yourself that you suck. Give yourself a little bit of “I SUCK!” time, but not too much! And use that time to convince yourself to PRACTICE MORE and try harder instead of getting bogged down with “I Suck-itis”

9. What else would you like to add that I’m missing? Feel free, free, free!

I’m excited about two things coming up:

1) my trip to NYC in a few weeks, where I’m teaching a myFUNcamera workshop in Central Park. I’ll also be in the Mpix booth at the PhotoPlus tradeshow if anyone wants to come by and say HI

2) WPPI should be opening up registration for next year’s Master’s Classes soon! They were supposed to be open at the beginning of October, but I don’t think they’ve opened up registration yet. Here are the details:

Program Title: Go BIG or go home? I’ll take HOME! Solutions and strategies for home-based photographers (that is my favorite title ever Carey!)
Program Day: Sunday 3/07 Time: 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Program Room: Room #201
The folks from WPPI told me to give people this link to “stay tuned”
http://www.wppionline.com/lasvegas/intro.html

Carey Schumacher, Barefoot Memories

I had to end with this sweet image of her dog (otherwise, I’d be in BIG trouble!).

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Carey just revamped her whole blog, and it’s pretty cool! http://barefoot-memories.com/blog Go check it out and tell her what you think!

If you have any questions for her, feel free to post them up in today’s comments. Also, be sure to check out her Pocket Guides! They are awesome!

And if you want to read more about Carey, she recently did an interview with a friend of ours, Davina Fear. Davina is another beautiful woman in the industry. She has been doing these awesome “Women and Business” interviews on her blog. Carey had a ton of great (and funny) things to say. Check it our here! http://davina.squarespace.com/journal/2009/10/1/women-and-business-carey-schumacher.html I’ll be doing one for Davina this November. If you want to see Carey live and in action during a portrait shoot, check out her video on her main Barefoot Memories website!

p.s. Did you see the last four Amazing Mom features? If so, check them out here!

1. Interview w/ Leslie Webber from Indianapolis, Indiana!

2. Interview w/ Michelle Riddle from Santa Cruz, CA!

3. Interview w/Tracie Stier-Johnson from Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

4. Interview w/Lora Ayers from Atlanta, Georgia!

A new one to come next week!

p.s.s. AND, would you like to be featured on our blog too?

If you have attended our workshop, purchased one of our five 101 Kits , or watched our DVDs, and feel like your life has taken a new and wonderful turn for the better, then please send me an email at mera@merakoh.com . I will send you directions on how to be featured. We can’t promise to feature everyone, but I want to do this type of blog post more and more. Hundreds of people have sent us the most amazing emails regarding our workshops and DVDs impacting their life, their before and after photos, their revived passion; I would love for all of you to hear those stories!

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What about putting CONFIDENCE on your Christmas Wish List this year!!! We are down to THREE spots in the January Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop! The November Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop is already sold out! CLICK HERE to get one of the last spots!

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Tags: 101 Kit, Art, Artist, Beyond the Green Box, Business, Photographer, Photography, Refuse to Say Cheese