I want to introduce you to a very special lady.  Her name is Sreyown Sun.  She lives at the orphanage in Cambodia and was our only female student when Brian and I did a photography workshop/photo shoot around the city.

Sreyown is not a mother from having her own children.  But she is an amazing mothering figure to all the little children at the orphanage.  So that’s enough to qualify her as an Amazing Mom to me.  Not only is she an amazing woman full of love for the orphans, but we all discovered that she has an AMAZING eye for photography too!

She and I talked about what it means to capture someone beyond a “cheese” smile.  What does it mean to capture the essence of what you see in that person—the dimensions of their personality, the subtle characteristics that make that person unique to everyone else around them?

We also discussed using the Third’s Principle to help enhance what we are trying to capture.  When thinking of your scene being split into thirds, what third would you place your Subject in?  How could this decision make all the difference in your image?

I gave her the Copper Brown Sony 330 DSLR and a lens with a low f-stop.  Look at what she captured!

The above image of Blaze, totally and completely, captures the heart of Blaze’s tenderness.   He was leaning on Brian as we were driving this open aired, Tuk-Tuk around the city—looking for places to shoot.  And Sreyown was sitting across from him and saw the moment.  She focused in on Blaze’s eyelashes, allowing his neck and t-shirt to go blurry behind him.  There is NO post processing done to this image.  The color is really that good on the Sony 330.  I will forever be thankful to Sreyown because this is a side of Blaze that I cherish.

Sreyown went after the Third’s Principle—trying all sorts of ideas.  After 30 minutes of really focusing on it, Sreyown was so excited to show me this image.  “Wow!”  That’s all I could say!

I thought it was super creative of her to shoot down on Blaze, as Blaze was looking up at his own camera.  His eyes are so intent on what he’s focusing his camera on.  You feel like you are right there, in the moment.  Again, Sreyown used a low f-stop to get the buttery, blurry background behind Blaze and also in front of Blaze (see how his camera and hands are blurred too?).

I was so inspired by what this young lady captured in her first hour of holding a camera!  I was completely inspired.  I had to share her gift with you too.

If everything else overwhelms you, do what Sreyown did.  Set your camera to the Aperture Priority mode.  Dial down to the lowest f-stop so you get lots of buttery-blurring backgrounds happening.  Then consider the Third’s Principle as you shoot away.  Think of your new sister in photography, Sreyown Sun, and be inspired!

xoxo,

Me Ra

p.s.  Sreyown Sun and a number of others from the orphanage are on Facebook.  If she inspired you today, leave her a note in today’s comments and invite her to be your friend on FB.  You can’t imagine how far a few words of encouragement goes in their pursuit to overcome.  You can also learn more about the orphanage by befriending Randy Fleming, the amazing Director of Water of Life, on Facebook too!  To read more about our time with these amazing people, click on the Cambodia Adventures in the right margin.

p.s.s.  Have you checked out the AWESOMENESS on the SOAR! Blog this week?  Monday started with a great Business Coaching exercise that is all about finding clientele.  And each day, one of the SOAR! Recipients have tackled it and are sharing it on the SOAR! blog. Check it out and cheer those women on too if you have a moment.  They are working their BUTTS off, and that’s no lie!