Posts Tagged ‘photo contest’

January 15th, 2009

The Winners of the Photo Contest, Lightroom and Starbucks Gift Cards!

Give a BIG, BIG congrats to the winner of the Most Inspirational Object Contest! The winner with the most votes is Finalist #5, “No Place Like Home” by Yvonne!!!!

Yvonne, you did an AMAZING job with this shot! And as you can see, a ton of people agree! (If you haven’t seen Yvonne’s awesome blog, check it out!)

When Yvonne found out she was one of the Five Finalists she wrote me this great email that talked about shooting the red shoes. Your going to love the set up she describes!

Omg Me Ra!! I can’t believe I made it to the five finalists!! Thank you so much, I really owe it all to you because I have watched the Refuse To Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box dvds so many times!! I don’t know if I should of included a story with the picture because I figured the image should speak for itself and I was hoping it would mean something special to who ever views it. But the set up is a different story – it was seriously by chance that I captured this shot!! I was watching early morning cartoons with the kids one morning and as the morning light fell through the blinds it created a magical feeling in the room. My two little ones kept asking where the sparkles were coming from and when I finally figured it out it was the sliver of light falling on the ruby slippers!! At first I didn’t think to try and photograph it because it was unfavorable circumstances (besides me being tired in the wee morning hours). As the time past and the light changed I felt awful passing up the chance to practice so I gave it a shot. I took lots of pictures of the original clutter of the house trying to capture the magic of the moment but they were just discarded shoes on the floor and I couldn’t get the sparkles that filled the walls. I repositioned the shoes on my ottoman and placed it in direct line of the light… unfortunately I couldn’t get the sparkles on the wall but I noticed the dust in the air was just as pretty and so I had the kids jump on the couch to stir things up!!…

Yvonne, thanks for sharing that great story!! I’m so glad you loved the DVDs! And the story behind your shot is awesome, especially getting the kids involved! I had to share it with everyone here!

I hope you were blessed by all the wonderful comments people made! If you ever needed a few hundred people to confirm your awesome eye for photography, you’ve got it now sister! Now it’s time to claim your prize! Let us know which 101 Kit would be most helpful to take your budding business to the next level! :) It sounds like you’ve got the DVDS, if you have a friend you’d like to bless with the DVDS let us know and we’ll forward the downloads to them in your honor!

AND my dear, which do you prefer? Your own software to speed up your post process (fasten your seatbelt b/c is AWESOME) OR the most unique prize ever, 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 who has years experience in the 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 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.

Pick your favorite prize, and then email my right hand woman, Genie, at genie@merakoh.com. And we will get your prize to you right away!

To all our VOTERS, A HUGE thank you and WOO-HOOOOO!!!!! We had 583 VOTES!! We blew our goal of 500 goal RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER!!! And again, you were all so awesome to give your two cents on why you liked your favorite image. Talk about an AWESOME community! Thanks for spreading the word! You have no idea how much your votes and comments blessed the Five Finalists!

Since we hit our goal of having 500 or more votes, one of our voters gets a free copy of Lightroom!!

The BIG, WINNING RANDOM VOTER who won Lightroom is….(drum roll!) J. T. who wrote;

on 10 Jan 2009 at 8:20 am edit thisJ.T.

I vote #3,
the story is amazing, and the pic is to.

J.T., you didn’t hyperlink your name or leave an email so I’m hoping you check back in to see that you’ve won a copy of Lightroom! Email us at genie@merakoh.com!

But we also want to give two more Random Voters a $25 Gift Certificate to Starbucks!!! :)

The FIRST RANDOM VOTER one is crazy to me because I think I know her from twenty years ago. Merri Van Houte! Merri, are you “Merri Van Houte” from high school youth group!! Merri, this is crazy to see your name here! How the heck are you!! I didn’t even know you followed the blog until I found out you were one of the Random Voter Awards! How crazy is that! Maybe I can buy you a Starbucks in person, and we can catch up! Email Genie at genie@merakoh.com, and we’ll ship you your gift card!

on 11 Jan 2009 at 1:36 pm edit thisMerri Van Houte

My vote is for #5. I think the photograph is enchanting, without even reading the meaning behind the photo, it inspires a smile.

The SECOND RANDOM VOTER is Lisa who wrote;

on 07 Jan 2009 at 4:03 pm edit thislisa wright schreiber

#4
I have to tell you it was very difficult to choose. I was struggling with what am I basing my decision on – the image or the emotion. If it was the image I would have selected 3, because i just love it. But since the topic was emotion I decided to go with the image that stirred the most emotion in me, #4. They were all great, congrats ladies for making it to the finals.

A big congrats Lisa!! Check out Lisa’s website while your at it! And Lisa, email Genie at genie@merakoh.com to claim your gift card!

Remember, you still have time to enter your photo for the Simple Gifts photo contest! Look to the top right margin for the active countdown to submit! The rest of the details are as follows!

FAQ #1: Is there a Photo happening right now? And when is the Deadline?

Answer: Yes! We picked the theme Simple Gifts Theme right before the holidays. You must send an image that in some way conveys the theme Simple Gifts. The deadline was January 4th, but since I forgot about the during my “unplugged” time off, we should extend the deadline. Don’t you think? :) Let’s make the Deadline for Simple Gifts, Sunday, January 25th 2009 PST . Send your images as an attached JPG (small in size) to contest@merakoh.com . Prizes will be as good as what you read below!

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To get your own copies of the DVDs that Yvonne, the Winning Finalist, mentioned click here!!!! To see what 101 Kits Yvonne has to choose from, click 101!!

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January 14th, 2009

In Regards to Yesterday’s Post & The Battlefield of My Mind and Heart

Yesterday was a crazy day of dentist appointments, homeschool and a million other things. I didn’t have a chance to read your comments until after 10pm last night. As I sat and read your comments, I was inspired by all the powerful quotes and the rich comparisons to other fields of art whether it be music, writing or painting. And the fearlessness was in your voices. What a beautiful sound that was! I heard such a brave, fearlessness in some of your voices to go forward b/c it is your dream, your passion. Thank you for sharing. I know I’m not the only one who has been inspired by all your comments.

I also want to share something in regards to yesterday’s post.

I was intentional in choosing not to share the photographer’s name b/c the person was never the focus behind my post. The experience of what happened was the focus b/c of how often it happens. Every week, I recieve emails from women who have a dream to pursue their passion for photography and yet, someone has said something hurtful in regards to their dream. Some of these women are professionals in the industry. Some are babies, peaking around the curtain, wondering if they want to venture into this land. The dream can be so new, so fragile, that the slightest negativity or criticism feels devastating. And I truly believe, that some of these dreams die because the dream was too new and vulnerable.

The mistake is that people, myself included, get stuck on the person who hurt us. In our own pain, we feel limited and out of control. And sometimes this translates into trying to limit and control others. Brian and I know what it’s like to be in deep pain, to feel threatened, to feel out of control. And we have done things we are not proud of in our own efforts to gain back some control in our lives. And yet, I’m so glad that those around us did not focus on our faults, but recognized the situation for what it was.

When someone says something hurtful to us, there could be a million and two reasons for why they said this. If we think the battle is with them, we have lost the battle.

The truth is what so many of you echoed yesterday. The person who often hurts us is in the midst of their own battle. They are struggling to find freedom, peace and validation like you are, like I am, and everyone else. So here’s the point I’m trying to get to…

We so often miss it. Truth be known, we are so afraid to believe in our own dreams that when we are criticized we fear the criticism is the confirmation to trash our dream. And so the cycle of people giving up on their dreams perpetuates even more.

But the battle is not with the person who hurt us. The battle is within ourselves to believe in ourselves. This is the battle to focus on.

There can be so much negativity in the world when it comes to pursuing our dreams. It’s in the photography industry and everywhere else. But the battle to fight is the battle for your self confidence. The fight to believe you are worthy of all you were created for. You are worthy of seeing your dreams come true, regardless of what your current state of skill or confidence is. This is the battle to focus on. Honestly, this is one of the few battles worth dying for. Dying to your pride. Dying to your fears. Dying to your list of experiences that prove your dream wrong.

The biggest trick I see many people fall for is that there is no battle. It’s just a problem with them. And oh, this misguided thinking breaks my heart.

Fighting on the battlefield of your dreams is one of the toughest fights you will ever face. Do you want a look at my battlefield?

I stand in the field and see familiar giants on the other side. One of the bigger giants, a bully if you will, goes by the name of Shame. He is a tricky one b/c sometimes he comes over to try and consult with me and pretends to help me. He tries to tell me that if I just surrender, he won’t shame me, won’t embarrass me, won’t make a fool of me. He always thinks it’s much better to give up now.

Selfishness stands right next to Shame–ready to tear me to pieces. She’s nasty. She yells at me from the other side and says I’m selfish to ask for more in my life. I’m selfish to dream as big as I dream. I’m selfish to ask Brian and my kids for support. Why can’t I be thankful for what I have? Who do I think I am?…I told you, she’s nasty.

And then there is the slimy figure of Worry. He’s not even dressed for battle. Instead, he’s dressed in dirtied linen from all the running back and forth between sides of the battlefield–falling down and groping along the ground–worried he’s going to get hit. He trembles in his speech and points out all the things there are to worry about, all the what if’s, all the risks involved, all the threats, all the people who could be disappointed, all the pain of my past that could be worse in the future, all the everything that is nothing but worry.

Over the years, I have come to find that my battles are not with those that say hurtful things to me–and there have been PLENTY of those people. ;) The battle is within myself against these giants that know me so well. But I must also add that I am careful with others when I see them in the midst of their own battle. If a certain person has a history of hurting me, I limit my time with them. When I see them, I make sure that I’m ready for battle b/c I will be facing their giants as well as my own. And this, as we all know, can be very exhausting and even defeating.

And yet, as one wise person said to me a few years back, “Me Ra, all I ask and expect of you is to get up and try again tomorrow morning. You don’t have to win tomorrow, but I expect you to go at it again.”

Losing today, winning tomorrow, they come and go. But as long as we hang in there together, we are that much closer to living our dreams and passions.

Will I see you on the battlefield today? There is a spot open on either side of me! :)

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We are announcing the Finalist for the Photo Contest very soon, along with the Random Voter Awards!! Stay tuned to see if you won a copy of Lightroom or Starbucks Gift Certificate! Also, you still have time to submit a photo for our Photo Contest theme of Simple Gifts! You must send an image that in some way conveys the theme Simple Gifts. The Deadline for Simple Gifts, Sunday, January 25th 2009 PST . Send your images as an attached JPG (small in size) to contest@merakoh.com .

To see our day job, visit www.merakoh.com .

To learn more about upcoming workshops, sign up on our group, MeRa Koh Workshops!

For fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese (see the downloadable version that is now available if you live outside the US!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a in , click on the words of your choice! To read a great review done on our DVDs, click here!

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January 7th, 2009

Time to Vote and Clear 500 on Your Favorite Inspirational Object!

An object. Is it possible for an object to strike emotion in us? Can it move us even though it isn’t alive? If there is no face smiling back at us, can we still feel a deep connection? After seeing the awesome work from our Top Five Finalists for the Inspirational Object contest, you may say yes to all the above!

If you are new to the blog, let me catch you up.

Way back when, we opened a photo contest for the most Inspirational Object. Remember that, feels like years ago! :)

Well, let’s fast forward to today! What better way to start the new year than be inspired by the Top Five Finalists for the Inspirational Object Photo Contest!

You will love these images, but you can only vote for one! See voting guidelines, FAQ, and prize info below.

For now, meet your talented finalists and be inspired!

Finalist #1, 1930′s Piano, by Julie

I wish I could do a post of all the piano images that were submitted b/c they remind me of the baby’s feet images from yesterday’s post. So many of you sent piano images, and each one was different in perspective. Each image was well done! We picked Julie’s as one of the five finalists b/c of the unique angle she shot from.

The piano fills the frame. The keys blur off the bottom corner of the image and you feel like the piano goes on forever and forever. I don’t know about you, but I also felt like I was sitting at the piano. The image composition is that inviting, drawing us in. The post process Julie chose was also well done. The vintage, sepia tones lends to that timeless feeling. But more than the timeless feeling, it makes one feel like the piano is magical, almost weightless. These are just a few things that come to mind when I see Julie’s beautiful image. What comes to your mind? Thank you Julie! Your image is wonderful! Check out Julie’s blog too!

Finalist #2, Asher’s Onsie, by Jennifer

The image alone is striking b/c of the meaning it holds. From a photography perspective, we loved how Jennifer composed this image. There are a couple elements that stick out to us that make her image stand out. I love that the onsie is hanging on the doorknob b/c it adds instant emphasis to how small this little one is. We already know the one who wears this is a baby, but Jennifer helps accentuate that point by hanging the onsie on the doorknob. And what I like even more than the doorknob is the blurred crib in the background. If this was intentional, BRAVO Jennifer! She also shoots down on the onsie to give the effect of it looking smaller and then there is a slight camera tilt which adds a little motion to the image. All these little details combined equal a great image. Jennifer also has a great blog! Be sure to check that out! And now to keep you from suspense, here is the story behind this sweet onsie.

Asher’s onsie is my inspirational object because it reminds me of how big miracles come in small packages. Asher is the son of a friend of mine who has overcome challenges he was born with. He had a heart defect and major open-heart surgery when he was born, and now at almost a year he is free of most of his medication and has a clean bill of health. I myself was born with a heart defect as a preemie twin born at 28 weeks weighing two pounds and two ounces and had life-saving surgery at two weeks old.

Finalist #3, Love and Coffee, by J.P.

J.P.’s image stuck out to us because of how warm his composition was (no pun intended :) ). The story behind why this coffee mug is his Inspirational Object will warm you right up. (pun intended :) )

My wife and I met in our favorite local coffee shop; I was 24, she was 19–far too young for me. I liked her an awful lot, though, and over the next year we spent a lot of time talking over coffee. Eventually, I realized that she was too amazing to keep at a distance, and so, sitting in our coffee shop, I asked her if she’d like to start seeing me romantically. She said yes, and a few years later said yes again when I asked her to marry me at that same table in the same coffee house. This cup and another like it were given to us by the wonderful owner of the coffee shop. They were the last two remaining of the old style of cups that had gradually been replaced by shinier, whiter cups that lacked the character of the old mugs. I love the chips and the stains in our matching coffee cups–they remind me that, although we’re bound to get banged up a little bit, we’re going to continue to bring one another warmth and comfort for years and years to come.

What did I tell you? Isn’t that a great story! But the story isn’t the reason why J.P.’s image was picked. A handful of you sent coffee mug images too, but J.P.’s soft lighting and buttery, blurry background guided my eye into the significance of this one mug. The lighting and blur played hand in hand in making this image give off a warm energy. J.P., was this window light that you used? I only ask b/c of how beautiful and soft the lighting is. There is also background in the image, but the background is intentionally blurred and the blur almost accentuates the solid colored mug. Even the light colored coffee inside the mug adds to the softness of the story behind this image. I don’t know if J.P. meant to, but it feels like he thought of every detail in composing an image of a single coffee mug. Great job J.P.! Thank you for submitting!

Finalist #4, Tic Tacs, by Ashley

The story behind this image reminded me of Brian and the kids, except we always buy little packs of gum. Not only are you going to love Ashley’s story, but don’t you love her composition of this image? It’s awesome. The low F stop with the tic tacs blurred in the foreground, and how Ashley filled the frame. Great job Ashely! You took a simple object and really brought it to life. Thank you for sharing! Here is Ashley’s story in the email she sent me;

The tic tac tradition started when I was a little girl. My mom would put orange tic tac’s in my brother and my Christmas stockings at first. Then she would hide them in my bag when I would go to my dad’s house on the weekend as a kid, go on vacation, or leaving home for college. Now, as a grown woman, she still hides tic tacs in my bag when I leave her house from a visit. Over time, orange tic tacs became a reminder of her love and strength when she wasn’t with me. A month ago, my husband and I went to see her for a visit. When I got home, I found these in my bag.

Finalist #5, No Place Like Home, by Yvonne

Red slippers was another popular image that was submitted by many of you. Yvonne’s image really jumped out at us. The sun flare captured in this image added a magic to the shoes. When we think of red slippers we think of the Wizard of Oz and all the magic of the movie. I remember watching the movie as a little girl and having my own pair of red slippers that I insisted on wearing with my white flower girl dress. :) The shoes were magical to me, and Yvonne has done a great job of capturing a magical element through her use of sun flare. Can’t you almost see those shoes tapping on their own? :) I also like how Yvonne filled the frame with the shoes. The background is free of distraction and all our attention is on the magic of the shoes. Yvonne, I would love to know how you set up this shot! If you are comfortable with sharing that would be great! Thank you for submitting your image, and congrats on becoming one of the Top Five Finalists!

There you have em’! The Top Five Finalists for the Inspirational Object Photo Contest! Each on is truly inspiring. 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 only one time for one image. Thanks!

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

Answer: Yes! We picked the theme Simple Gifts Theme right before the holidays. You must send an image that in some way conveys the theme Simple Gifts. The deadline was January 4th, but since I forgot about the contest during my “unplugged” time off, we should extend the deadline. Don’t you think? :) Let’s make the Deadline for Simple Gifts, Sunday, January 25th 2009 PST . Send your images as an attached JPG (small in size) to contest@merakoh.com . Prizes will be as good as what you read below!

FAQ #3: What are the prizes?

Answer: Scroll on down!!

Click here for Seven Quick Photo Tips to photographing your own Inspirational Object!

Prizes for the Winning Finalist and the Random Voter Winners!!______________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to vote before you leave! You could be picked as a Random Voter and win a gift card to Starbucks or a copy of ‘s ! :) Yep, that’s right! You heard me say it correct! (but FYI, remember to check back when I post the Random Voter Winners so you know that you’ve won and can claim your prize! :) )

In our last photo , we had over 487 votes by the cut off time! It was amazing! You all spread the word, and the votes came rolling in! If we clear 500 votes (that’s only 13 more than last time) 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 two more Random Voters who win a $25 customized, cool looking Starbucks card! So that’s one Random Winner of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and TWO more random winners of $25 customized Starbucks cards, if we clear 500!

Deadline for all voting is this Monday night, 5 days from now, 1/12, 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 Software

2. Or the most unique prize ever, 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.

Enjoy! VOTE AWAY!!!

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To see our day job , visit here.

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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December 9th, 2008

Catching Up!

Today is more like a Monday since I took the day off to be with the kiddos yesterday. So much to blog about, but I feel like we should play catch up first on a few things. What do you say? :)

Seattle Workshop Ladies!

Sunday night came to soon Seattle Workshop Ladies! Brian and I miss laughing with all of you! Yesterday we talked about the workshop, and how we feel blessed once again to have had such a wonderful group of women attend. The Seattle Workshop was the last workshop for 2008, and what a great way to wrap up the year! A big hug and thanks to all of you who attended. It was a honor to spend the time with you that we had. As soon as Kevin emails me our group photo, I’ll email it out to the rest of you!

Did You Have Issues Getting the Anniversary Sale Discount????

If you had issues using your coupon code and emailed Brian, we will still honor your discount. For the most part, it looks like a majority of the people didn’t have any issues with the BIG Anniversary Sale that we did. We’re so sorry that a handful of you did. If you ran into problems and haven’t heard from Brian yet, he will be getting back to you shortly. He is working his way through the list of emails he received. We appreciate your patience! AND, we are more than happy to still honor the discount without question!

New Photo Contest!

I love, love, love the idea of “Simple Gifts” being the new theme for the Photo Contest! Let’s go for it!

Submit a photo of something that has to do with Simple Gifts (see Submission Guidelines below). Your photo can be as “out of the box” as you’d like!

As far as prizes, I’ve got a great idea for what the finalist should get, but I have to talk with someone and okay it first. :) I’ll keep you posted!

I know I said last Monday that we’d post the Five Finalists for the Inspirational Object Photo Contest last week. But last week was insane. One of my best friend’s from college emailed and said she was driving two hours to come see me (her surprise visit was water to my soul!). We also finished putting our house back together and then the workshop started. Can I just say that I’m so glad the holidays are here? I feel like the next few weeks is going to be the first down time we’ve had in a long, long while, and it will feel so good to get caught up, rest and celebrate the magic of the season. Inspirational Object Finalists coming soon! :)

Submission Guidelines and Deadline for the “Simple Gifts” Photo Contest:

1. Email your Simple Gifts image to contest@merakoh.com.

2. Make sure you’ve attached your image as a small JPG. Do NOT put your image in the text of your email. Attach it to make it easier for us.

3. Since this is a Simple Gift that connects to you personally, we invite you to write a couple sentences on why you chose the photo you are sending.

4.SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, January 4th 2009 at Midnight PST.

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For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese (see the downloadable version that is now available if you live outside the US!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the words of your choice! To read a great review done on our DVDs, click here!

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December 1st, 2008

Celebrating Our First Full Year and the Story Behind Our Last 7 Days!

First things first, today is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of having our www.refusetosaycheese.com website!

To celebrate, we are offering these CRAZY!!

We’ll run these discounts until this Wed., December 3rd, midnight PST. If you’re planning on getting any of our products as gifts for Christmas, the next three days are the days to do it!

The Crazy Discounts are…drum roll….

DVDs (hard copies shipped to you) are 30% off! Coupon Code: thirty

DVDs that are the downloadable version are also 30% off! Coupon Code: download

All 101 Kits are 40% off! Coupon Code: forty

The upcoming Atlanta Workshop in January is 20% off! (We’re going to continue the Early Bird Registration Price until Wed, no coupon code needed!)

Enjoy! And thank you for making our first year of having the Refuse site so AWESOME!

Now, here’s some catching up we must do! You won’t believe our last seven days.

If you follow me on Facebook (MeRa Koh) or Twitter (merakoh), you’ve heard me mention our hardwood floors project this last week. Brian and I are home for five weeks straight! (YEAH!) We thought, ‘Hey, let’s get our hardwoods refinished on the whole main floor of our house! Why not! That will be a fun little project before the holidays start!’ Are we stupid or are we just STUPID putting “fun little project” with “refinishing hardwood floors” in the same thought?! Yes, the answer is we are STUPID!

We had no idea until 2-3 nights prior of all this starting that we would have to move every thing out of the main floor of the house. I mean that makes total sense, but for some reason it never occurred to us. The common sense of it all wasn’t there at ALL! We rented a Uhaul and moved everything into the Uhaul. Then we find out that we can’t stay at the house because of our dog and cat. We need to relocate for 7-8 days. I was totally stumped. But then my friend, Karen, says she is off to Cabo with her family the morning we have to move out. Talk about a total gift to us! We get to move into her place as they leave for Cabo, and in turn they have a house sitter for their dog.

Now let me ask you this. Who do you think had the best week of all? Us, the cat, or the dogs? :)

And who do you think had the worst week of all? If you guessed Prince Philip, the cat, you are right!!!

All in all, it’s been wonderful to be at Karen’s house. Aside from their dog having OCD and licking every inch of this house only to throw it up, and our dog having a bacterial infection in her colon that causes her to @#$% everywhere, it’s been so awesome (emphasis on “so”). I can’t imagine all this happening inside a hotel room. Wow, that would have been insane!

But today, today we get to start moving back in. I’ll try to post a photo of the NEW floors so you can get a peak of them! I can’t wait to slide across them in my socks!!!

How was your Thanksgiving week? :)

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Upcoming Blog Posts for This Week!

Do you know a Running on Empty Mom who lives in Seattle area? We’ve had such a crazy schedule that I forgot to post this nomination. If you have someone you know, that is local, we have saved a spot for her this coming weekend. Go ahead and nominate her in today’s comments.

If you attended the Chicago workshop, I’ll try and get that post up this week so you can see your shots and shooting conditions! And then everyone can sing your praises b/c of how amazing you all did!

We need to run a new Photo Contest. And yes, we need to post the Five Finalists for the Inspirational Object Contest. You are all so good to me for being patient. What do you think our new Photo Contest Theme should be?

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October 26th, 2008

Photo Contest Deadline is Tonight!

Hey there! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Just wanted to post a quick reminder that the Inspirational Object Photo Contest ends tonight at midnight PST. This means you have to email us your submissions to contest@merakoh.com by tonight. For tips to shooting objects, check out this post.

xoxo, Me Ra

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October 20th, 2008

Seven Photo Tips for Shooting Objects!

If you haven’t heard, our current photo contest theme is an “Inspirational Object“. This means your picture has to be an object that inspires you. It cannot be a picture of any living things; flowers, pets or people. The image must be a picture of a non breathing object that gives you life in some way.

I know this is not an easy task, but such a good photo exercise to try. Objects, or should we say Details, are important to being a Story Telling Photographer. Whether you are capturing the objects in one’s home that describes who they are, or the details at a wedding, you are telling their story.

We’ve had a handful of photo submissions for this contest. But I’ve noticed there aren’t as many as we usually have. I think it’s because the theme is a bit more challenging.

So I thought I would post some tips on how to photograph objects. See if this gets your creative juices flowing!

Here are Seven Photo Tips for Shooting an Object when trying to bring still life to life!

1. Get up as close as you can to the object so that you’re filling the frame. Have as little background as possible. And if you do have any background that is recognizable, make sure it strengths your object.

Pascaline and I had our own little date yesterday and went to a local ceramic painting studio. What a blast! On a side note, while we were painting she looked at me and said, “So how is it going being a mom?” You have to love it!

Little did I know, it was the perfect place for taking pictures of objects! In regards to this first tip, I could have shot the paintbrushes even tighter, but I kind of liked clipping the side of a paint bottle to make the paintbrushes that much more powerful.

2. Set the object (depending on size) on a light colored surface. For example, if you have a white or marble cutting board try that as a background.

Or go the opposite direction and use a piece of black velvet. Black velvet is a great backdrop material because velvet soaks up all the light and creates a rich, deep black background.

3. Where is your light? Set your cutting board or black velvet next to a window for natural light. Keep that flash off. And don’t forget to play with shadows too. Sometimes shadows can enhance the drama of your object. Notice the shadows in the fork above.

4. Go as low as you can in your Fstop/Aperture to get the most buttery, blurry background possible. Low Fstops would be 3.5, 2.8, 2.0, or even 1.4.

5. If you are not comfortable shooting in Manuel, put your camera in AV or A mode (Aperture Priority). This way you get to decide how low that aperture is and your camera decides how fast your shutter speed needs to open and close.

6. Since this object doesn’t smile back at us, we need to create as much movement and energy as possible. Sometimes a simple tilt to your camera will do this. Push the lines in your image to evoke emotion. Make the lines of your teacup smile back at you. :)

7. If you process your images in Lightroom, try your vignette feature (under Lens Correction) so the four corners are a bit darker then the rest of your image. To get to this feature, put one of your images in Develop mode and you’ll see the Vignettes feature on the right hand side toward the bottom. Experiment by moving your “Amount” into the negative numbers, and then try moving your “Midpoint” into the negative numbers too.

Vignetting highlights the subject of your image even more. The slight vignetting that I did on the image below helps give the illusion that the paint bottles go on and on as they fade into the distance. The vignetting also brings more focus to the center of the frame.

One more challenge that I hope doesn’t offend anyone. A lot of the submissions have been of Bibles or crosses. There isn’t any thing wrong with these two objects being your Inspirational Object. But if you’d allow me, I’d like to challenge you to submit a second photo of a second object. We usually ask that you submit one photo only, but if you’ve submitted a photo of the Bible or cross we are making an exception.

Why? I want you to challenge yourself to think of an object that is out of the box. An everyday thing you pass everyday, or maybe something hidden away. When you first thought of what your Inspirational Object would be, an idea popped into your mind. Now put that idea on the back burner and try to think of something else. Trust me on this, you’ll get much more out of this photo exercise if you push yourself to get out of the box on what the second object could be.

The deadline for the Inspiration Object Photo Contest is this Sunday, October 26th at midnight, PST.

Have fun with this exercise. When we were shooting in Cape Cod last weekend, Brian looked at me and said, “So much of getting better at photography is just trying new things and be willing to experiment.” He is so right.

Try something new.

Experiment with light, shadows and unusual objects.

And enjoy!

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For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese (see the downloadable version that is now available if you live outside the US!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the words of your choice! To read a great review done on our DVDs, click here!

Upcoming Workshops: The Seattle December Workshop is open for registration with only a few seats left!! Click HERE to register!

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October 17th, 2008

The Winner of the Pet Photo Contest is Dog Gone GREAT!

Give up a BIG congrats to Baxter, Lucy and their wonderful owner/camera lady, Beth Berry!!!

Beth, you did a fantastic job with capturing Baxter and Lucy in the yellow chair! I’m a big fan of how you got out of the box, pulled a bright, yellow chair into the lawn and shot away. And even though you say these two are mischievous, boy, they seriously have me fooled!

I hope you were blessed by all the wonderful comments people left in regards to your photo. Thank you for submitting! Now it’s time to claim your prize! Which do you prefer? Your own Adobe Lightroom software to speed up your post process (fasten your seatbelt b/c Lightroom is AWESOME)…In fact, I have to tell you that Michelle, winner of our LOVE photo contest, recently emailed and said;

This email is months late (I had won the Love contest), but I finally had a chance to download Lightroom and use it on my last photo session! OH MY GOODNESS how I am impressed!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! This has made post-session modifications so easy to do! My turnaround time is expedited because of it! A THOUSAND THANK YOU’s!!!!!

OR forget about all that and beef up your dogie treats and dogie sweater collection by choosing a $100 Gift Certificate to the online pet store of your choice. :)

Pick your favorite prize, and then email my right hand woman, Genie, at genie@merakoh.com. And we will get your prize shipped off!

p.s. I LOVE the slide image you captured from this recent photoshoot you did. Great job!

A HUGE thank you to all the voters. You all had the BEST feedback for each of the five contestants. Thank you for taking the time to let them know your thoughts and votes. You make our community amazing!

We have a Random Voter Award too! We had 425 votes by the cut off date and time! Shoot! We barely missed 500! Almost friends, almost! We’ll try it again sometime in the near future!

But even so, we want to give two Random Voters a $25 Gift Certificate to Starbucks!!! Think pumpkin lattes! :)

Will Ryan please stand up!

Ryan posted;

on 03 Oct 2008 at 9:44 am Ryan

I choose #5 because it is well composed, has great color (black and white is too easy), and has a high fun/originality factor.

Our Second Random Voter is Jane Button!
Jane, are you here? Jane posted her vote and said;
on 07 Oct 2008 at 12:28 pm Jane Button

My vote is for #5 – I can relate to the whole “fill in the blank profession” by day, aspiring photographer by night. And I love the photo as well! I hope to be able to create photographs like that with my new puppy soon!

It is a honor to be able to host such great photography contests! Your photo entries, your emails, your votes, your comments are life changing for some of the readers. Thank you.
I’m also working on a special post for Monday. It’s all about Photography Tips When Shooting Objects. Our current photo contest theme is “Inspirational Objects”. Some of you have expressed this theme being a bit tougher than other themes we’ve done. So I’ve come up with a bunch of tips that will make this exercise/photo contest even more fun and helpful. I’ll finish the post and have the photography tips go live Monday morning.
FYI, the cut off date for submitting an image to the Inspirational Objects contest is Sunday, October 26th at midnight PST !
Send your images to contest@merakoh.com .
One more big congrats to Beth, Ryan and Jane!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
xoxo, Me Ra
p.s. Your Fall ideas from yesterday’s post were amazing! The kids and I read them together and just loved them!!! If you love the Fall, check out yesterday’s comments!

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To see our day job , visit here.

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

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October 16th, 2008

Share Your Fall Ideas!

I’m inspired by how New England celebrates the fall. In Chatham, they bring in trucks of pumpkins and the whole town comes out to help unload the pumpkins. Their bookstores are also filled with favorite ghost stories from old Inns and Lighthouses. I took a peak at one of the books and read about how a certain Inn owner was shutting his restaurant down for the night, blew out all the candles and locked up. Then he looked in the window and ALL the candles were relit! Spooky!

On Monday morning, we did a photoshoot in Boston for Stacy Debroff, CEO of Mom Central. We got the full tour of her private garden and the Maple trees were showing off all their fall splendor. I loved how Stacey had four or five candles lit on her kitchen counter all day. Each candle was a favorite fall scent and made you want to cozy up on her couch with a good book.

Brian and I also like to take walks with the kids and collect our favorite leaves. Then we sit by the fire as we string the leaves to hang in the windows.

Last week I took advantage of the last yummy peaches and made us peach cobbler one morning for breakfast. It’s kind of a Fall’ish thing to do right?! (Any excuse to have cobbler for breakfast works for our family. :) ) But my favorite…my absolute favorite is pumpkin pie with a big dollop of whip cream!

Yep, it’s safe to say that Fall is my favorite season.

What are your Fall traditions? Fall recipes, candle scents, favorite books, decorating traditions of any and all kind! What do you do for Thanksgiving? What do you do for Halloween? Tell all!

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Wondering who won the Pet Photo Contest? Announcing the winner TOMORROW!!

For fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese (see the downloadable version available if you live outside the US!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the words of your choice! To read a great review done on our DVDs, click here!

Workshops: The Seattle December Workshop is open for registration with a few seats left!! Click HERE to register!

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October 8th, 2008

Brian’s Video and People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive Contest!

Yesterday’s comments and feedback in regards to the post, A Woman’s Power During Uncertain Financial Times, were amazing. Thank you for all the beautiful things you shared from your own experiences to quotes to songs lyrics to your own fears and vulnerabilities. What a gift you each gave.

Today is a much more serious topic. :)

This touches on an ongoing topic in our house: Why Brian thinks he could win the People magazine award for Sexiest Man Alive. Before I get myself in trouble as his wife, he is totally the SEXIEST MAN ALIVE! I mean if you don’t think so, just check out my baby here! And Brian’s theory on why the world would agree is interesting to say the least.

Check out the video! The end is my favorite!

Cast your vote below by answering the question: Do you think Brian could win Sexiest Man Alive if he only had more exposure? :)

I know the video was really about a new term we’ve come up with called Photo Coaching. This was the topic of our talk at Partnercon, plus the upcoming WPPI conference in 2009. Pictage has asked us to spend some time on the forums tonight to follow up with any questions you might have from the talk, or questions you have for Brian about being the sexiest many alive!

If your a Pictage member, Brian and I will be on the Pictage forum live today from 4pm-6pm PST to answer as many questions as possible. Hope to see you there!

P.S. Last I looked, we only need 119 more votes to hit 500 for the Pet Photo Contest! If you haven’t voted, get over to this post and post your vote as a comment! If we hit 500 votes by MIDNIGHT TONIGHT PST, we are going to give some copies of Adobe’s Lightroom Software away to RANDOM VOTERS!! Don’t miss out! Get over there and vote, and you may win Adobe software!!

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For fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese (see the downloadable version that is now available if you live outside the US!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the words of your choice! To read a great review done on our DVDs, click here!

Upcoming Workshops: The Seattle December Workshop is open for registration with only a few seats left!! Click HERE to register!

read more
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