Archive for January, 2008

January 31st, 2008

Happy Birthday Brian!

Happy Birthday to my sweetie!

You are the most amazing husband a woman could ever ask for. You are the perfect partner for all our crimes! :) Whether it’s parenting, our business, our marriage, there is no one more giving than you.

People are surprised time and time again with how you don’t need more credit in our business, that you are okay with how much spotlight is put on me, and yet, you never think about it. It doesn’t even occur to you to want more glory or recognition. This among many other things is why I know there is no other husband like you.

You are King Daddy Brian to the kids, and they love you for it. You have been through experiences so hard, I can’t even begin to fathom your survival.

You have loved me back to life. You hold a light of hope when I’m to tired too. And you make me laugh like no one else.

I love you. Happy Birthday sweetie!

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If you have ever experienced Brian, will you post it up today! :)

Your posts would be the coolest birthday surprise!

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January 30th, 2008

Help Me Decide!

I need a new bio shot for upcoming publicity stuff. Brian took a handful the other day.

We narrowed them down to these two.

Which one do you think is better?

Bio #1

Bio #2

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January 29th, 2008

The Sony A700 Shines in Extreme Conditions!

I need to catch you up on a very cool thing that has been unfolding!

Remember my crazy trip to NY back in Oct 07? If you didn’t catch it, you can read the post “Welcome to the Revolution” by clicking the title (be sure to check out all the amazing comments people left!)

As a follow up to the NY trip, Sony contacted us during the holidays. They asked us to consider being a part of their new team of Sony icon photographers for their new line of pro cameras and lenses. We were pretty much speechless…totally speechless. This would mean lots of crazy things which I can’t quite share yet. But even though Brian and I were totally flattered, we wanted to have integrity in the decision. So we asked if Sony could first send us the equipment to try out.

If you can believe it, they FedEx’d the equipment to my brother’s place in LA…Christmas Eve. :) Two of every thing for Brian and I to try!

We did a little shooting before going to Vail. And the more I played with the Sony A700 and all the lenses, the more excited I got. Here are a few shots we did around the neighborhood with the kids. Loving the color!!!

Brian caught Blaze in a close up.

And I took the wider frame shot at the same time.

The clarity and sharpness are AWESOME!

When we went to Vail, Brian and I decided to take only Sony gear. All the photos from last week’s post are with the DSLR-A700. But check these out!

Brian is a phenomenal skier. Bottom line, he is the guy that jumps OFF the chairlift and starts skiing downhill to get an applause from those still on the chairlift suffering from shock. :) Our last full day at Vail, Brian came walking out with all his ski gear, IPOD, and backpack full of Sony gear. He wanted to test the equipment in extreme conditions. (Blaze and I stayed back and walked to the park. :) )

At over 11,000 feet and 16 degrees with cold, cold winds, look at what Brian shot!

(That’s the lodge we had lunch at when we went up to the summit. Brian went ahead and took the chairlifts that go over those mountains for more intense back country skiing.)

And this last one is one of my favorites!

Brian’s only regret is that he didn’t have extreme skiers with him so he could do shots of people doing jumps and flips. (maybe next time honey! :) )

One of the things that excites me most about working with Sony, is how much they seem to value a woman’s perspective on their photography equipment.

We are meeting up with Sony in Vegas, and I have so much to share with them I could burst.

Here’s a favor I have to ask.

Instead of posting your ideas to the blog, will you email me the following at mera@merakoh.com.

……….

Whether you’re a parent, aspiring photographer, or pro, what would your dream camera look like? I’m not in any way saying we can make this happen, but Brian and I have some big ideas for the coming year and your input would be great! :)

If you’ve ever wanted to voice your wishes for a “dream camera” that makes more sense to you (especially women), email me at mera@merakoh.com and tell me what the camera would look and feel like! Tell me what bugs you about the camera you now have. Tell me what you think would make the camera easier. Even tell me what you think sounds silly, but you would LOVE to have in a camera! The more beginner you are the better your feedback because you know first hand what you’re getting stuck on–so don’t hesitate to email me.

I have a ton of ideas, and I would love to hear if your ideas are matching up with mine or better yet, enhancing mine!

With your help, we are pioneering a path for women in the industry!

xoxo-Me Ra

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January 26th, 2008

My Favorite Spot!

It’s so hard to go back to reality when a vacation has been this good. There are countless things I’m going to miss when we leave Vail, and I’m sure I’ll be longing for them all when the craziness of life starts to set in again. But the place I’ll miss the most is this spot–the front living room at the cabin.

At night, Brian and I would tell the kids stories by the big fireplace while it snowed outside. After the kids were in bed, Brian and I would read, talk, eat dessert, and sometimes be quiet and just watch the fire. I love this spot. I think it’s one of my favorite spots in the whole world.

If I had to choose a second spot, it would be the summit at Vail.

I grew up skiing, but after a terrible water ski accident that entailed me hitting a log face on at 30 mph, losing all feeling in my body from the neck down for 24 hours, and having to give up tennis, needless to say, I’ve been afraid of the feeling you get when gliding. Thus, isn’t that pretty much what skiing is? As you’ve already read, Brian is an AMAZING skier, and even though he’s never pressured me, how can you not hope your family will someday ski too? So I decided to get a little farther in tackling my fear and took a lesson the first day.

The lesson was wonderful in confidence building–just what I needed. For the next two days Brian and I skied together. It was far from skiing black diamond runs, but we were skiing together, laughing, me getting sprayed with snow one to many times, and having lunch at the lodge on the summit. The summit is a definite second favorite place because of all that this symbolized for me and my journey to work through a fear I can’t wish away–but is going to eventually fade away if I work at it.

(Brian and I having lunch at the lodge on one of Vail’s beautiful summits)

So I made baby steps. The kids made leaps. And Brian cheered us all on.

What a wonderful family vacation.

Thank you again to the Converse and Galbreath family. Your generosity in sharing this magical place leaves us speechless.

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January 24th, 2008

Try An Empty Background but Make Sure It has Purpose!

Snow is so beautiful. Last night we went sledding with the kids after dark. It wasn’t planned that way, but that’s how long it took us to get them dressed and out the door. :) Yep, it was dark. The cool part is I never noticed how snow sparkles in the dark from window light. For a moment, I was wishing I had my camera and tripod.

But when you’re out in the snow with your friends and family (and there is still daylight because you are much faster at dressing your kids in snow clothes than me and Brian), how the heck do you shoot good photos with all this white stuff around you?

How about trying to use an empty “white” background while making sure it has purpose.

What do I mean?

Here’s a family photo we got yesterday. I’m not trying to pick on the person who shot this–a complete innocent bystander who volunteered.

I was actually happy when I saw the results later that night because it’s such a great example of what so many people do. We let there be to much background. Is background bad? No, I love empty space or background with a purpose. In fact, sometime check out the movie The Brothers Grimm. The producer, Terry Gilliam, is amazing in how he uses wide angle shots all the time and every square inch of the background is pointing to the subject of the frame–always enhancing the story.

But often we don’t think of the background having a purpose and just shoot the photo. What if we moved in a little and filled the frame.

See how much stronger the story of the image is?

Or what if we allowed background but kept it empty to add a quiet effect.

In our workshops for women, we talk about composition and how important this is to your image. With snow surrounding you, experiment with your composition so that the background is totally white. Take advantage of all the white. But make sure you’re in close enough so it doesn’t look like the white is swallowing your child. You want your child to fill the frame keeping the Third’s Principle in mind (see DVD 1 for more on the Third’s Principle).

Brian and I got down the mountain just in time to see Pascaline take her first chairlift! You would have laughed if you saw us! Big cameras, hiding behind trees with our huge lenses. But look at what Brian caught. He was specifically trying to get an all white background.

Then he decided to re-frame and let some of the scenery in. But he made sure the scenery wasn’t icky stuff. He wanted the background to accentuate the story of the image.

Out of curiosity, which composition makes you feel like Pascaline is higher?

So before I leave this post, I have to show you a couple more shots of the kids. If you remember how traumatic ski school was from the last post, you’ll cheer at how far they kids have come in three days! Pascaline’s moved up from being a Never Ever to a Mogul Mouse! ;)

Pascaline is the last one in her class coming down the slope!

And Blazie took a couple runs with dad on TWO skis! He told us he’s not interested in learning how to stop, only going fast. :)

Yeah for the Mogul Mice! :)

Let us know how the background exercise goes!

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Couple more recipe notes…

I am staying at a 100 ISO because of how bright the snow makes every thing.

Our aperture is a 2.8 for a nice blurred background.

We were shooting with the 70-200 mm lense.

For color in the shots…

In Adobe’s Lightroom, I created my own preset for snow images that helps add a bit of contrast to the colors. I named it Vail Color. We announced at our last workshop that we’re in the process of packaging our custom presets so you can buy them and use them on your own images. When we have our custom presets ready to sale on our website, I’ll make sure to include the Vail Color preset so you guys can play with it on your own snow images!

Ohhh, that reminds me! The theme for the current photo contest is any thing that represents love to you–February is fast approaching! Send your images to contest@merakoh.com. The winner is going to get their own Adobe Lightroom software (value of $400)!

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January 22nd, 2008

Ski Lessons for Kids and PhotoTips for Parents!

The kids were BEGGING us for skis! They wanted to rent their skis the moment we got to Vail. But Brian ended up getting altitude sickness the first night. It was brutal! The elevation in Vail is 9,000 feet. If you don’t drink a ton of water when you get here, you can get pretty sick. And even if you do drink a lot of water, you can still get sick like Brian did.

His head was pounding, he was throwing up throughout the whole first night, it was so sad. Instead of hitting the slopes the first day, Brian recovered and the girls took the kids sledding.

By Day Two, we were ready to hit the slopes. Clear blue skies. Sunshine. Fresh powder. It was what you picture Vail to be.

Brian headed out early with the guys while Shannon helped me get the kids ready and checked in to their first day of ski school. It was a bit chaotic to say the least with dozens and dozens of kids getting checked in and half of them crying. Things were going okay, until the school said I had to pass them through the rainbow and let the teachers take over. But we still needed to get their boots and skis fitted! “We’ll take care of them, just pass them through the rainbow tunnel and we’ll take it from here. No parents allowed past this point. Be back in three hours.”

Panic started to rise inside me because I knew this was to abrupt of a goodbye for the kids. But we tried it and once Pascaline was on the other side of the rainbow, I heard her SCREAMING which of course made Blaze cry, and I said to hell with the rainbow!

I would not have been able to leave the ski school without the kids if it wasn’t for Shannon. She took my arm with a firm grasp and said, “Me Ra, they are only as strong as you are strong. Don’t lose it.” I’m on the brink of tears at this point and cursing Brian for making me do this without him. But Shannon was right, I needed to pull it together b/c this is one of the best ski schools in the world. They would be fine after ten minutes, but to leave, oh my goodness, it was horrible! Like I said, Shannon and only Shannon got me through it. (Shan-you know I’m eternally grateful for that one!)

Without the kids seeing me, I came back 45 minutes early to see if I could grab some shots. The school didn’t call so things must have been going okay. I hid on the other side of the window and tried to find them without being seen.

I spotted Pascaline first.

I was so proud of her! She wasn’t screaming anymore!

And then I saw Blaze. He looked good at first.

He’s the little guy on the far right. I didn’t know his teacher was wiping off his tears. :( The scoop is Blaze did great, UNTIL they put skis on him. From that point on he didn’t stop crying. These teachers are amazing with how patient and caring they were to Blaze.

(and I mean seriously think about this, he’s been crying for two hours and they are still trying to help him move forward and down the hill with a great attitude–amazing!)

This last one is my favorite shot. At dinner I asked Pascaline why the teacher had moved her over to Blaze, and why were they both squatting together for so long.

She said Blaze didn’t want to stand up and go down the hill again. He told her he didn’t like skiing and wanted mom and dad to come back. Pascaline looked at me and said, “I was trying to make him feel better and let him know I wanted mom and dad to come back too. And then these three other kids turned around and said they wanted their moms and dads too. We all started crying mom.”

Day 1 was tough, but Brian and I are crossing our fingers that Day 2 or 3 of lessons will be better. We’ll see!

One thing I know for sure, Brian is doing morning drop off from here on out! :)

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Recipes for the above Ski Lesson Photos

ISO 100–the snow reflects light at such intense degree so I’m able to keep my ISO low for better color saturation.

Aperture–2.8 when the kids weren’t moving and 4.0 when they were in motion. I liked the low 2.8 aperture because it does a beautiful job at blurring all the trees, lodge and mountains behind the kids. But when the kids were in motion, I had to bump my Aperture up to a 4.0 to give me a better chance at getting a focused image.

Shutter Speed–1000 (1/1000 of a second) when the aperture was 2.8. The lower you go in your Fstop, the bigger your opening is for light to come through. When I have my aperture wide open at a 2.8, I need a faster shutter speed so the image isn’t overexposed. When I up’d my aperture to a 4.0, the whole got smaller so I needed to keep my shutter speed open longer (1/500 of a second) to let more light in so I wouldn’t get an underexposed image.

Your Turn!
Try playing around with this effect of Aperture. Take a photo of your kids holding still at a 2.8 (or as low as you can go) and notice how blurred the background is. You may have to put it on your computer to see the blurred background. Now try to take a photo of your kids running, skipping, playing at a 2.8. You’ll notice it’s a little tougher to keep them from being blurred. What happens if you forfeit some of your blurred background and go up in your aperture to a 4.0.

Reflect on these questions?

Q: How does going up in your aperture to a 4.0 or 5.6 affect the image in sharpness and exposure (overexposed or underexposed)?

Q: How does going up in aperture effect the focus of your kids?

There isn’t one right answer to these questions. This exercise is to provide a way for you to play with light and the degrees of light. Remember, the best part of photography is trial and error and learning from our mistakes. Tell me what you learn from this! Would love to hear!

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January 21st, 2008

Trip of a Lifetime!

Think about a time when you met someone(s) in your life, and they blew you away with their unexpected generosity.

These are the type of people who invited us to their cabin in Vail, Colorado for a week. Words cannot express how honored Brian and I are to call them our dear friends.

Without embarrassing Shannon, Rob, Brittany and their dad Jim, I have to tell you what they’ve done. This family is AMAZING! To see their generosity in detail is unreal. Many of you remember Shannon and Brittany, two beautiful sisters, we had the privilege of photographing their weddings. Needless to say, we fell in love with their family. So you can imagine how blown away we were when they called several months ago with an unexpected invitation.

Shannon and Rob said they wanted to get airfare for Pascaline and Blaze to come to their cabin in Vail. Would we be open to taking care of our airfare and spending some a week together? We were in shock. Are people really this generous!

Not only did they invite us to their breathtaking place, but they picked us up on Friday at the airport, gave us their SUV to drive while we’re here, brought us up to the cabin, spent the weekend with us laughing,

and skiing the best snow Vail has had in years!

plus, sledding with us,

and then last night they taught us how to make “Rocky Mountain Pizza”,

and can you believe they have left us this beautiful 6 bedroom log cabin all to ourselves for the rest of the week! Brian and I are literally sitting here stunned as we look around. We can’t believe we are here for a week to play with the kids and rest. Seriously stunned.

It’s only Day Three, but it’s feeling like a trip of a lifetime!

Being that our day job is what it is we’ve been snapping away. Here are some more of my favorites.

The kids eating their pizza! Pascaline, Blaze and Cade (the kids’ new buddy!)

Pascaline making her way through the snow. 16 feet of new snow this season!

Cara (Cade’s mom) giving her tired little guy a piggy back ride back to the cabin after a full morning of sledding. She is quite the mom, especially when she’s teaching kids to make pizza dough! (xoxo Cara!)

Rob took this one of his baby, Ruby! Good job Rob! To see baby Ruby as a newborn, click here!

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking a photo exercise(s) on how to shoot in the snow might be an appropriate thing for the blog this week! What do you think!

Tomorrow I’m going to show you the “not so dreamy” part of the trip. :) Helping your kids learn to ski is a cool thing, but if you’ve done this you feel our pain. If you haven’t done this you can see it tomorrow for yourself and then feel our pain. :)

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January 17th, 2008

Results from Seattle Photography Wkshp for Women!

So before I say anything about this workshop, after everyone’s comments to yesterday’s post, it looks like we’re making you a Banking 101 Kit! More on that later!

Now for the workshop!

I’m always excited to see what group of women will come together for each workshop; how the women will mesh, what new friendships they’ll find with each other, what things we’ll laugh about. This last weekend far exceeded my expectations! It was simply amazing.

The majority of the group was made up of women who didn’t even own a SLR camera yet. I have to underline this because wait till you see what these women captured!! You are going to be blown away. By the end of the first day, these women were shooting in Manuel and adjusting their own shutter speeds like nobody’s business! That’s pretty awesome when more than half of the group borrowed one of our cameras because they didn’t have their own yet. As I said, they were simply amazing women! Talk about going for it–they totally did!

One of the most moving parts to the workshop for Brian and me is when we do the critique of their images. Taking their favorite images from the baby shoot, we ask each woman to share one or two. Seeing the diversity in each woman’s eye is proof alone that each is a unique artist.

The image above and below was taken by Judith. I was struck by how specific her framing was. Notice how she unintentionally framed the image by using the mom. What I mean by this is see how the mom’s arm is framing the photo. And below, again, the mom’s hair is framing the baby. I love how Judith decided to focus on their hands.

Addie and her 16 year old daughter made this workshop a special weekend. They flew all the way from Maryland. Both these ladies had such different eyes in how they took in the mom and baby. This was especially fun for me to see how the mom’s eye differed from her daughter’s eye.

Here is Addie’s image (the mom).

Isn’t the simplicity of this breathtaking. Again, I love how Addie focused on the intimacy of the hands and blurred the baby. Same concept as Judith above, but totally different images.

Now check out Chelsea’s image, Addie’s 16 year old daughter.

Is this amazing or what! Many of us are afraid to get in this tight. Brian is so good at this, while I often shoot the wider frame shots. I love how Chelsea took the mindset that less is more and filled the frame. We don’t even see the full eye of the mom, but we know she adores her baby. Here’s another one by Chelsea. Again, beautiful in it’s simplicity. Can you believe those eyes! Great job Chelsea! (Wouldn’t you agree that Chelsea has a SERIOUS future in photography! :) )

This next image is super special to me because of the story behind it. Julie came up to me at the end of the first day and said that she couldn’t believe how changing her shutter speed helped her make the BBQ disappear.

Above is one of Julie’s beautiful shots. See the window in the background? If you were to look out the window with the naked eye, you’d notice a big BBQ. During the workshop we were teaching how creative you can be by manipulating your light with the shutter speed. You can make things disappear even by adjusting your settings! And Julie totally got it and captured it! Great job Julie! Here’s one more by Julie! I love how she caught mom holding the baby–those hands! Love those hands!!

When we went around the room and introduced ourselves, Sarah said this workshop was for her to give something special to herself–a weekend just for her. Sarah and I met during the Microsoft Small Business Show, and I was thrilled when I heard she was going to take the workshop. Now look at what she captured! This expression is timeless!

We all said our favorite part of this shot is the two orange lights in the empty space to the left. Guess what these lights were? A lamp!! Sarah brought her Fstop low so the lamp would blur in the background and the effect is wonderful!

Sarah also took this image below, and we went crazy over how beautiful the mom’s eyes were. Again, wonderful framing of the mom surrounding the baby, filling the whole frame, and the focus is on mom’s soft eyes. (Sarah, I think you’ll do great taking photos of your hubby mountain biking! :) )

Okay, before I show you any more photos, can you believe that Sarah, Addie, Chelsea and Julie all borrowed cameras because they don’t have their own yet!! These women, with point and shoot cameras, picked up SLRs and shot on Manuel! Can you see why Brian and I were so excited! :)

Tracy has the sweetest spirit. At the Wine/Meet and Greet, I could tell it was hard for her to leave her 10 year old son and hubby, and make the trip to Seattle from Santa Cruz, CA. But we’re so glad she did because she is the sweetest woman. Her husband had actually called me right before Christmas and asked about what camera to get her, so it was fun to see her show up with all her new gear! Look at her results!

Her lighting is darker than some of the others. This is based on shutter speed and white balance. I love these images being a bit on the darker side. I feel like the darkness really lends to how quiet the shots are and the simplicity of mom’s hands. Tracy you are wonderful!

Arlene flew out from Florida. The workshop was a Christmas present from her sisters! Arlene is not only one of the easiest people to laugh with, but she’s also got this FANTASTIC English accent!! :) Arlene has seen much in life, and I know that all these things lend to the emotion in her images.

This was one of the first images Arlene took. But then she came to me and said that it was a bit cold for her. Beautiful image of mom and baby, but she wanted the image to be warmer.

We took a look at her White Balance and changed it from Auto White Balance to Cloudy. Brian and I especially like to use Cloudy or Shade White Balancing when we are shooting in the Northwest because of how many blue and green tones are in our daylight, as opposed to Southern CA’s warm light. Look at what happened in skin tone when Arlene made the switch in her White Balance! Again Arlene, way to go on capturing the perfect faces on mom and baby!

Dorian was another lady in our workshop. Dorian actually took our one day workshop earlier in the year, and she decided to come back and soak it all in again since the workshops are now two day. I don’t know if someone can give us a better compliment.

Like Arlene, Dorian was in a similar spot and captured the above shot with a bit of a twist on it. Her shutter speed was a tid bit slower than Arlene’s which is why the image is a little darker. But look at how light and the amount of light can change an image. I absolutely love how the design of the fabric, lighting, and mom’s hair adds to this image. And then you can’t beat how cute the baby’s face is!

Here is another one of Dorian’s. She did a wonderful job of filling the frame with baby! Look at those eyes and see the blurred kiss of mom in the background. What mom wouldn’t love this for their memories?

Brian and I really wanted to teach the concept of manipulating light and how our camera is a tool to doing this. Below is an image I took where I wanted mom to be hidden in the background, but I wanted enough of mom for the story of the image.

So many of us see these beautiful moments that we want to capture but because we have a point and shoot camera or we’re on the Green Box (auto mode), the camera decides the lighting for us and the depth can’t be captured. If I had shot this image on Auto, the camera would have made sure my shutter speed lit up both mom and baby. More on these concepts on Beyond the Green Box.

These concepts may sound overwhelming, but these wonderful women are proof that all of us can capture the concepts as well as the images we so desperately want (no matter how beginner you are).

Okay, I know this blog is long, but I’ve got two more great stories to share about this workshop!

In the middle of the workshop, one of the moms gets a call that her sister is in labor and having a baby! So she heads out half way through with her camera, pumps up the ISO, turns off her flash, and VOILA! Look at what she captures in the hospital right after her nephew is born!

Can you beat those newborn wrinkly feet! I’m dying!! Michelle, you did an amazing job–especially with dad and baby Jack! The images make me want to cry. Check out Michelle’s website!

Crazy story #2! Remember this baby, the winner of the “New Beginnings” contest?

Turns out the winner is Judith–who attended the workshop!! I try hard not to notice names on the contest submissions, so I didn’t even put the two together! AND, here’s the even crazier part! The baby model for the workshop is the little baby in Judith’s winning photo! Benjamin is Judith’s nephew!

He was two weeks old when Auntie Judith took the winning photo of her nephew. And now he’s two months! Can you believe the difference!

Well, when Brian and I realized how small the world is, and that this was Judith’s sister and her nephew, we had to bust out our cameras and capture some images of the sisters together.

We had such a great time together! The group even wanted to take their own CD cover group shot! :) We couldn’t stop laughing. Doesn’t Brian look intense up front! (his moment of fame :) )

And the second day, the group totally surprised Brian and I with a gift of Vera Wang’s Wedding Book. They each signed the book and had it wrapped and everything!

I have to give a special, special thanks to all the women who attended this workshop. Brian and I fell in love with all of you! Thanks for being a part of this workshop! It was incredible to be with all of you and watch you grow and gain confidence in just a weekend together! And thanks especially for laughing so much with us. Those coconut martinis are calling us to a reunion somehow! :)

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Interested in Future Workshops?

We still have some spots left in the next two 2008 workshops. One is in Sonoma, CA and the other is going to be in San Diego. If you’d like more details, click on the cities and you’ll be redirected to more info and the registration instructions.

Can’t wait to meet many of you!!

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Have you attended a previous workshop?

If yes, guess what!!! We are almost done with building a forum so all of you can stay in touch with each other! Time and time again, we see how beautiful friendships are started at our workshops, and we’re so excited to provide a forum for all of you to stay in contact and keep growing together, despite the miles that separate us all! Stay tuned for the forum’s release in the next couple months! (or sooner-fingers crossed!)

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Unable to Attend a 2008 Workshop?

Next best thing for the photo enthusiast is our popular DVD series! Check them out and watch your whole experience of picture taking change overnight!

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January 16th, 2008

There’s No Crying in Banking!

After getting some R&R, I had a three hour appointment with one of my favorite people–Dani.

Dani is the VP at Columbia Bank and handles all of our business banking. She is simply amazing! I never thought bankers could play this role; a role of helping you build vision, challenging you to think bigger, and then helping you make it all happen. Dani is this and so much more.

2008 for Me Ra Koh Photography is going to be crazy! We’ve had some big opportunities come knocking in the last few weeks, and as soon as I can spill the beans I will. But one of the first people I called is Dani. I want her to help me project in every way possible so we can maximize every bit of investment we make whether it’s our time or dollar. So yesterday, I brought every thing to the meeting from our personal budget to our business budget. We looked over every dollar that is spent and how it is spent.

Building a business is not only exciting but takes a ton of discipline and a team of people helping you. Our team is made up of our banker, Dani, our lawyer, our CPA and our bookkeeper. Dani challenged Brian and I with a couple of things and gave us both homework, and when I looked sad, she said “Me Ra, there’s no crying in banking!” :) Your right Dani! There is no crying in banking! These are good challenges, challenges that help you grow!

The truth is I need a third party, someone that is not emotionally involved, to take a hard look at our numbers and make sure we are maximizing all our efforts. If I don’t do this, I’m spinning my wheels and losing time with Brian and the kids as well as money.

At the end of our time together, Dani told me that 66% of small businesses fail in the first two years. She sees this happen time and time again, and it’s for the same three reasons;

1. They don’t have a plan for their business.

2. They don’t understand cash flow.

3. OR, they have a plan for their business but they don’t work it out or have accountability to make that plan happen. (aka, someone like Dani to kick you in the rear if you aren’t maximizing your efforts)

One thing I challenged the women this weekend with was a five year plan. We laughed a little because some of them are just getting into taking portrait photos, but in all seriousness, you need a five year plan for your business. You need a five year plan where you dream big and out of the box. You need a banker that can support you either with good, sound counsel and/or direct capital. Maybe at first the banker can only give counsel and support, but it’s so good to build relationship with a banker so that when and if the times comes that you need to borrow money, you have a bank that believes in you and wants to help you succeed.

Dani and I tossed the idea around of putting our heads together and creating a Banking 101 Kit for people starting a small business. There is so much to know, and it’s not rocket science, but if you don’t know where to go for the info or how to get it, you can just feel lost. Anyone interested in a kit like this?

We have some other new 101 Kits coming out in the next few months, the Getting Published Kit and the Mom’s Survival Kit. But first we have a few trips to do. If you can believe this, our little family hits Vail, Vegas, LA and Thailand in the next five weeks! :)

Back to today’s blog…

It’s still January. If you have a small business of any kind, call up your local commercial bank and set up a time to introduce yourself and see if you can learn more about cash flow, projections, and budgeting. You won’t regret it! It’s one of the best things we’ve done–by far!

Tomorrow I’ll post all the photos from this weekend’s workshop! Yeah!! Wait till you see!

And thanks Dani! I just love you!

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January 14th, 2008

Dane Sanders and His Daughters Refuse!!

Yesterday we wrapped up our Seattle Photography Workshop for Women. It was an AWESOME three days!! This week I’ll post the photos from the weekend, and wait till you see what these women captured! Just awesome!

After a full weekend, I decided to sleep in this morning (very nice :) ), and now I’m off to hang out with the kids and catch up on mommy/kids time. But as I checked emails this morning, our friend Dane Sanders had sent a link to his blog. It made me want to cry!

Dane is a wonderful photographer, speaker, writer (the list goes on and on). He called on Friday and said he watched our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD and had one of the best times with his daughters while putting the DVD photo exercises into practice. Then he emailed me his blog today with the results. His call and email meant the world. You can’t ask for a better endorsement among your colleagues than the one he gave on his blog!

Check out Dane’s photos!

This one is my favorite!

Dane took a lot more than these three images. To see the rest, check out his blog. And while you’re there, take a look at the new project he’s got going. It’s called Fast Track Photographer. He read Brian and I the first chapter this summer, and it’s amazing. For those of you wanting to break into wedding photography…you want to be hooked up with this project.

Thanks Dane! We love you!

And Happy Monday everyone! Full week ahead, and hopefully we’ll have the okay to make a BIG announcement soon! :)

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