Hey all you Posh Mamas! Check out this cool site: Posh Cravings: The Pursuit of Maternal Mojo! The title alone is worth checking out, love the whole “Maternal Mojo” part! I know a lot of you have the maternal mojo going on in your home and businesses!

I’d heard some great stuff about the content and interviews offered on this site a few months back (fun interviews with celebs like Heidi Klum and Julianne Moore). And then when Brian and I were in Thailand, the editor contacted us out of the blue and said, “Can we do a feature on your Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series?”

Heck yes!!! How cool is that!

Refuse to Say Cheese, Capture the Story by Me Ra Koh Tips from a photographer-mama on capturing the essence of childhood with a click of your camera. Read the Entire Article Craving more of the latest buzz? Check out more features on parenting, pregnancy, and all that is posh.

Yesterday afternoon was pretty exciting! We were given the word that Rangefinder’s March issue had gone live!

The reason this is so fun is because Rangefinder did a four page spread on our studio, our blog, DVDs and 101 Kits!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Rangefinder, rumor has it that it’s the #1 trade magazine for pro photographers. We get our copy every month and LOVE to read through the articles and “ooh and ahh” over the featured photographers. Brian and I are pinching ourselves to see our studio among the features! It’s a HUGE honor!

Has anyone received their copy? I’m checking our mailbox every day!

If you don’t receive Rangefinder and want to read our article, you can click on “Rangefinder March 08″.

I have to thank Amber Holritz for writing this awesome article. Amber and I have known each other for a few years, and I was so excited when I heard she was my assigned writer. This girl is always up to something fun. Check out her latest workshops happening ALL over the east coast!

This March 2008 issue spreads the word on all those who have platform speaking sessions (meaning your audience capacity can range from 500-1000!) coming up at WPPI. Brian and I have been working until 3am, sometimes 4am, every morning to get all our ducks in a row and keep the studio’s work flow moving forward for WPPI. The countdown is on with the Vegas convention starting this weekend! AHHHHHH!

We’ll be doing a platform session on Monday, 8:30am-10:30am, but we’ll also be speaking at Pictage’s Conference, Sony’s Booth and Adobe’s Booth. AND, we’ve got super cool door prizes like Cybershot Cameras, Software and 101 Kits galore!

Are any of you coming? If yes, post it up in the comments!

I’m going to try and post our speaking schedule in the next couple days, so we can hopefully connect with some of you in person!

Brian and I want to thank all of you for passing our blog and new product site around to friends and family. Brian is a total stats man, he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES them–looks at them all the time, runs numbers, cross references stuff, pretty much makes me dizzy when he starts giving me the latest reports.

But I got to share this one! He said that for February 2008, we had close to 11,000 UNIQUE people visit the blog! That is unreal! That means close to 11,000 people who have never heard of www.merakohblog.com and www.refusetosaycheese.com, found us in February.

This is a total record breaker and blows my mind. Over 1500 unique people have visited in the first three days of March 08!

We have to say thanks again and again. You’re the reason this crazy number of unique visits goes up each month! When you share our blog, Instructional DVDs, 101 Kits,

Workshops, people totally come check us out, and they stay, they email us, they tell their friends! It’s so exciting!

Brian and I also wanted to give a special thanks to those of you who ordered the DVD series while we were in Thailand. Without us realizing, our system came across a glitch, and a handful of your orders were late to ship. The glitch was fixed several days ago, but Brian’s felt horrible about all this and has been spending the last couple days emailing you each individually. But if this happened to you, and you haven’t heard from Brian, please email (brian@merakoh.com) so we can thank you for your patience and make it up to you.

Okay, check back in today because I think we’ve almost got our scuba diving movie ready to see!

We’ve are LOVING Thailand! I can’t wait to share more when we are home and have better Internet access!

For now, here is Part 2 of my interview with Ron Dawson.

In this interview, I talk about being self employed parents, balancing parenthood with work, and a little on our popular instructional DVD series for parents, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box!

To hear Part 2, follow this link to Ron’s website!

Hope you enjoy!

While Brian and I are exploring the jungles and beaches of Thailand, I thought it would be fun to share an interview I did a few months back with Ron from F-Stop Beyond.

It’s an interview I’ve been meaning to post for a few months…where does the time go!

This is a 2 part interview, so I’ll post Part 1 today and then Part 2 on Friday. Ron’s main business is being an incredible videographer in CA. His site is Cinematic Studios. Last month, he was awarded as one of the Top 25 Event Videographers in the nation! (He’s also got a great blog for all you blog readers!)

Ron wanted to do these interviews on the side as a personal project. He did a handful of interviews with different photographers, wanting to capture who they are and what makes them tick. If you enjoy listening to podcasts, check out the F-Stop Beyond website for a handful of wonderful interviews!

Okay, here’s Part 1! I hope you enjoy!

F-Stop Beyond

To play, just click the green arrow below and make sure your volume is up. It may take a minute to load and then the audio should come on for you.

So we’re conspiring over here, and we want to know if you’ll help!

I am not exaggerating when I say that every week, I get 3 or more emails of wonderful stories from blog readers who at some point say, “you must be on Oprah.”

But how does one get on Oprah? Their website, I guess! Kari is our living proof that it worked!

So I’ve got a big favor to ask! Will you help us get on Oprah! What do I mean by this?

I have a vision for an Oprah show that is all about empowering women to use their cameras, start their own part time businesses, even going to women with children of different ages and teaching them how this big, black thing works, and also sharing my story of how I literally came from a hopeless place to where I am today. Wouldn’t this be the coolest Mother’s Day show!

A few fun stats to share with you. We started our photography business six years ago as a side hobby for me. In six years it grew to national fame with Brian and I traveling all over the world to shoot weddings at $15K plus. We have been featured on VH1 and recently asked to be icons for Sony’s new camera line. In November 07, our DVD series hit the market like a whirlwind (being the first to speak to women in plain language about how to use their cameras). And the most fun stat of all, our blog has grown in one year from having 200 unique visits a month to 10,000 UNIQUE visits a month! Isn’t that insanely wonderful! Thanks to all of you!

The best part is I get to be myself and share this with all of you. I get to be the woman who was released from a psych ward fifteen years ago (yep, my 15 yr. anniversary is coming up in May 08), who survived being date raped and losing a child, who fought through many storms. And these days I am pinching myself because my heart feels as if it’s a garden ready to explode with new life and color, despite the pain and loss.

“Me Ra Koh Photography” is fresh in the mind of the producers at Oprah after finishing up Kari’s show with them. So will you help us jump on this opportunity and visit this link on their website? By telling them about what you think of me and Brian, our blog, our DVDs, our story, etc. You can help us get on the show! I know they get thousands upon thousands of emails like this, but hey, what do we have to lose–especially in this special window of time we’re in!

One of the producers told me on the phone that this method really does work!

What do you say we overwhelm them with emails! Here’s the link to put your submission in! Click Here!

Thanks so much!

fyi…When you fill out their submission, be sure to include these links too:

our blog address: www.merakohblog.com

our DVDs and Workshp Site: www.refusetosaycheese.com

our portfolio and about me page: www.merakoh.com

FYI #2–All submissions are in, and we will soon be posting the Five Finalists for the “Love Themed Photo Contest”! Tune in to see if you or your friend made it to the top Five Finalists! xoxo!

Today on Oprah, you get to see the amazing show for Kari and Dave Hale that we’ve been waiting for! I’m just dying to see for it to start!! I talked with them this weekend, and they said that Nate Berkus did an AMAZING job remodeling their house–Dave said it is unreal!!! Their little family has definitely been on a crazy whirlwind this month!

I had to share a little fun back story with you because I still can’t get over it! And, I’m secretly hoping Kari reads today’s blog and comments on “her” version of how all this went down!

Meet Kari!

Kari nominated herself for the Running on Empty Award last fall. This award is something Brian and I do where we give a free pass to a mom running on empty. She gets to come to our Workshop for Women-free of charge, and she also receives a free night’s stay in the Villa B&B. It’s all about getting away from the daily grind and taking a minute to breathe and not feel so empty. This is the nomination that Kari posted to our blog for the contest. This is her beautiful story.

As you’ll see today, Kari and her family won their Dream Home Makeover! Can you believe it!! I still can’t believe this all happened to her and Dave!

So without Kari knowing, the Oprah producers contacted us for prints of the family. I had done a photoshoot with them when Ty was only six months old. But Gina Sook, our wonderful Associate Portrait photographer,

had done a session with them after they got the girls. Nate Berkus and his team wanted to display lots of prints, but the coolest part is they made a 4 ft by 5 ft canvas print of a specific shot Gina took!

We were so excited but given strict instructions to keep it a secret the last few weeks! I felt horrible b/c I couldn’t return Kari’s call for fear that I may let the secret out. She was probably wondering what a nut I was and why I wouldn’t call her back!

A little more back story on all this, Kari, Dave and I all went to graduate school together. We were in the same teaching program together. Kari and I were each other’s Peer Coaches when we had to do our student teaching in the local junior high and high schools (yes, it was brutal :)). This was years ago, and she and Dave have remained dear friends–always supporting us through their prayers and encouragement.

When we heard what she and Dave were going to do by adopting her nieces, I was speechless. Can you imagine anything more giving?

This all makes me excited for our 2008 Running On Empty Contests–yes, we’re bringing the contest back for the upcoming workshops! We’ll be choosing one winner for the workshop in San Diego and one winner for the workshop in Sonoma! Be thinking of moms you can nominate who need a break because they’re running on empty! In March we’ll announce the contest start date for you to post your submission and all the guidelines! For more info on past contests, click here!

Kari, you and Dave deserve all the goodness the world has to give! We are so excited you were picked by Oprah and Nate! Brian and I love you both!

To all our readers, if you have a minute post a comment to congratulate Kari and Dave!!!

Don’t miss the show! Click here to find your local show time of today’s Oprah!

Tune in tomorrow, we have a special request that we want to bounce off all of you!

Tune in to Oprah TODAY, to see some of our studio’s photos on the show, presented in a way that may make you cry!!!

To find out what time The Oprah Winfrey Show is playing in your city, CLICK HERE!!!

Tomorrow we’ll give you the fun back story on how this all happened!

That’s right! The title is NOT a typo!! Despite bronchitis and crazy travel schedules, we’ve been helping the Oprah Winfrey Show with a very cool surprise!!

Tune in to Oprah this Monday, February 11th 2008, to see some of our studio’s photos on the show, presented in a way that may make you cry!!!

The back story on how our images ended up on her show is so fun–I’ll be sure to tell you more after the show airs!

I would love to share it now, but I don’t want to ruin the show for you!

But I’ll give one hint!

If you were in our October 2007 Beginner’s Workshop for Women in Seattle, and met Kari Hale, one of the attendees AND one of the winners for the Running On Empty Award, YOU WANT TO BE SURE TO WATCH!!!

Be ready with your Kleenex box because the Hale family is the most dear family ever! You won’t want to miss this show!!!

To find out what time The Oprah Winfrey Show is playing in your city, CLICK HERE!!!

There are a handful of wedding photography spotlights that photographers hope to someday be recognized in. Grace Ormonde’s Wedding Style is by far the creme de la creme of wedding magazines. Her publication is known worldwide and trusted by the best in the industry. I remember seeing the Masters of Their Craft feature in Grace Ormonde’s magazine a couple years ago. The photographers featured are not only wonderful people, but phenomenal in their talent.

So you can imagine how overwhelmed Brian and I were when the editors called and said we were picked to be one of the five 2008 Masters of Their Craft.

If you haven’t bought this magazine, you have to check it out. It is the BIGGEST, most extravagant collection of wedding design, flowers, latest fashion trends in dresses, photography, cakes, etc. You will love it whether you were married ten years ago or engaged now.

The features says:

Masters of Their Craft

Two hearts, twin talents, dual perspectives, but one mindset: preserving the enchanted moments of pure bliss that can only be shared by people in love. These husband and wife teams elevate wedding photography to a level of unsurpassed collaborative artistry. Each alone is a master image maker. Together, they are even better.

Joyful. Me Ra Koh and Brian Tausend, Me Ra Koh Photography

Writer and speaker Me Ra Koh embraced a new storytelling tool after a devastating miscarriage. As she photographer her daughter, a gift for capturing life’s precious, joyful moments and the beauty and spirit of individuals emerged. At weddings, she and husband Brian Tausend cry, quibble, mostly laugh; their extraordinary openness earns couples’ trust. They photograph just twelve weddings annually and become incredibly close to clients. “This isn’t just a job for us,” says Koh. “Life is not to be taken for granted,” they’ve learned.

I loved that the editors chose the word “Joyful” to describe Brian and me and our work. I think that’s one of my favorite parts to this whole feature.