Summer is a GREAT time to pull out your camera and try some new Photo Tips and Photo Exercises!  How about putting your hand to Shooting Silhouettes!  But be prepared to get comfortable with dark images rather than bright ones.

If you love taking photos, you may have been told at some point to look for the best light.  Look through magazines and see if you can identify the light source in every photo.  As your walking to the park, be aware of where the sun is and how the sun’s position affects your photos.  Where would the sun land on your kids’ faces?  How would you adjust yourself or them?  But with all these light focused questions there is a problem.  We negate the beauty in the lack of light.

Photography is always teaching me something.  This year, I’ve been processing my own beliefs and barriers with the issue of light.  I’ve found myself going inward and facing the fact that I’m not comfortable in the dark.  Brian and I are in the midst of a couple big life changes right now, and I feel like I’m groping in the dark—trying to find my way.  It’s exhausting at times.  I just want to see light, and if I get a little, I want more.

But darkness has an amazing role too.  The darkness isn’t just dark:  it defines where the light exists.  Darkness helps us see how bright the light is.  As I mull these thoughts over in my heart and head, I’ve been trying to give myself freedom to shoot in the dark.

When we were in Angkor Wat, Cambodia this year, the kids stumbled upon a long, dark tunnel.  When you reached the middle of the tunnel, you could barely see your own hand held up in front of you—it was super dark with the sound of sleeping bats overhead.  The kids ran ahead, laughing and giggling, tripping and making me so nervous.  When they got to the end, they stopped and waited for me and Brian.  I stood in this dark tunnel and spotted them at the opening.  The darkness surrounding them, and the light that came colliding from behind, was breath taking.  There was no better place to start shooting but in the middle of the dark tunnel.

These types of photos are considered Silhouettes.  Often we think of Silhouette photos happening only when there is a beautiful sunset.  But anytime the background is brighter than your subject, you have the opportunity to try a silhouette.

The key to Silhouettes is to take away the light.  Instead of focusing on adding light, let yourself exhale and take away light.  But let’s start at the beginning.

Photo Recipe for Silhouettes!

Ingredients:  Unless noted otherwise, the Aperture was f3.2 / I played with the Shutter Speed trying 1/60th or 1/100th of a second /  ISO 320

Directions:

1.  Find a space where the background can be brighter than your subject.  (for example; your kids playing in front of a bright window, a beautiful summer sunset, a dark tunnel in the bowels of Angkor Wat’s temples?  ).

2.  Turn your camera to Manual mode.  Gotta do it!  No escaping it for this one, but trust me, you’ll be fine.

3.  Focus on your Subject.  Go ahead and take the shot.

4.  Look at your photo.  Are your subjects bright or dark?  We want them to become dark, like the kids in these photos.

5.  If your kids aren’t dark enough, adjust your Shutter Speed so it opens and closes faster.  For example, if your Shutter Speed is 1/80th of a second (or your camera may say 80), speed it up to 1/150th of a second.  If the kids still aren’t dark enough, speed it up even more.

6.  Quick fixes.  If your photo still isn’t looking like a silhouette, you may be to zoomed in on your kids.  Think of a sunset silhouette or these examples.  See how the kids don’t Fill the Frame?  There is lots of darkness around them.  With a beach sunset, the subjects are often small and the beach/sunset big.

7.  If you are close but want it darker, you can always take our photo into Lightroom and up the Blacks or Contrast.  These photos are all straight out of the camera, no post process done to them.  But sometimes I up the Blacks if it didn’t happen straight out of the camera.

One more tip

Make sure your kids have light behind them and not a dark object.  In this next photo, Blaze fell back laughing and the dark frame of the door is behind his head.  So it’s harder to see the outline of his silhouette.

But in this next shot, his head fell forward more, and there was only light behind him.  See how his silhouette stands out so much more?

The kids were having so much fun playing some kind of Patty Cake game, that it made for a great opportunity to capture their hands in the middle of that bright light.

Play around with Silhouettes this summer.  Allow yourself to fail and try again and again.  Instead of looking for the light, watch the light dissipate and see what beauty can be found in the darkness.

(Aperture f/2.8, SS 1/400th of a second, ISO 320)

xoxo,

m

*The BIG, Fall CONFIDENCE Workshop Announcement is coming in the Newsletter!  Find out what cities you voted for, and when we are coming!  Priority Registration starts the moment you get your Me Ra Koh Newsletter!

**Dive into Summer this year with your camera and kids!  For more fun Photo Tips and Exercises, check out our Award Winning DVD series, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box!!

Windows are powerful.  They let light and fresh air in.  They allow us to see outside of where we are.  They frame a specific setting.  They bring definition, lines and a sense of opening.

When we first walked the ruins of Angkor Wat, I was overwhelmed with trying to choose what to shoot first.  Everything about the ruins felt magical.  I assessed our set up.  The sun was right over the top of our head, and it was 100 degree heat.  The Dramatic Lighting that we talked about in last week’s post was not an option.  Sunrise was long gone.

I let my camera hang from its strap, and I walked.  I tried to slow myself down within so I could observe what was around me.  What element was capturing me, tugging on my creative spirit?  I began to fall in love with the windows of Angkor Wat.

A

Some of the windows were taller than me.  Others looked like small, ornamental boxes cut from the detailed fabric of the wall.

B

What struck me most about these windows is that they all looked out onto something specific.  The view was always unto something else that would inspire the soul.

Whether the view was a secondary entrance to the temple,

C

or the view of another window that looked onto a scene of a dancing woman—the dimensions of all the views felt like echoes.

D

The green trees swaying outside the window below gave the whole scene a surreal feel.  It was like another world was waiting outside the dark room I was standing in.  I couldn’t help but think of all the childhood books where the kids walked through portals into another fairy tale like world.

E

This view happened to look out on two smiling faces carved into the stone.

F

I wonder what the intentionality was behind the various window views.  Were the views meant to draw people out of their momentary stances?  I think about all the times I’ve found myself in a room, surrounded by four limiting walls, feeling like there is nowhere to go.  I feel trapped by my lack of imagination and lack of faith in the unknown.  What would it be like to see a view that was outside of my scope of possibility…how would it affect my soul?

I wish all the windows of my house looked out onto something inspiring.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to be surrounded in such beauty and mystery like the monks of Angkor Wat had been.  But since I’m not a monk, living in the jungles of Cambodia, how can I create windows of possibility, windows that widen my imagination, that breathe faith for the impossible—how can I create these windows in my every day life at home?

One idea was to pin up magazine clippings that represent dreams I carry inside my heart.  So when I feel the four walls closing in on me, I can remind myself of my dreams that exist outside of the here and now.  What about you?   How have you created windows for your creative spirit?  How do you keep the view of magic and wonder alive?

I would love to hear!

xoxo,

Me Ra

Photo Recipes!  If you like to know the Photo Recipes behind the images, I went ahead and gave each image an assigned letter.  Below are the Photo Recipes for each.  Feel free to ask me any questions about why I chose the settings I did.  You can also click on the image to get a bigger look.

A.  2.8 f-stop, 60th of a second, 320 ISO

B.  4.5 f-stop, 60th of a second, 320 ISO

C.  5.6 f-stop, 1000th of a second, 200 ISO

D.  2.8 f-stop, 400th of a second, 200 ISO

E.  8.0 f-stop, 320th of a second, 320 ISO

F.  4.5 f-stop, 1000th of a second, 320 ISO

p.s.  Jennifer from Texas is also featuring her Setting Photography Exercise results on the SOAR! blog today.  Check it out by CLICKING HERE!

One of the craziest things we saw in Cambodia was the whole Fish Massage scene.  Imagine a big tank of water sitting in the middle of the street, not even a tank sometimes but the inflatable pool your kids had in the backyard last summer, and then hundreds of fish swimming around waiting for someone to stick their hands or feet in.  A friend said Fish Massages are now big in NY with the upscale spa centers costing hundreds of dollars per hour.  Well friends, in the overwhelming heat of Cambodia’s night scene, you can not only find a way to cool off your feet but have your skin cleaned up too!

The fish will nibble away at all your dead skin cells at $3 for 20 minutes.  And when all the dead skin cells are gone, they swim away. 

I have to admit, Fish Massage isn’t my thing.  It doesn’t sound appealing to me.  But Pascaline went crazy over it!  If it was up to her, she would have put her whole body in!  She said the feeling of all those wiggly, tiny mouths sucking on her fingers was the BEST feeling in the world.

What do you think?  Does it sound appealing to you?  Can you imagine the summer festivals having big tanks of cleaner fish this year, selling Fish Massages?

This was one of my favorite signs!

“Just try it now!”

If my dear friend John Louviere is reading this post today…Do you feel any kind of threat from the Fish Massage idea being a Massage Therapist yourself? 

Today is also the last day to get the Early Bird Registration price for the Seattle Spring CONFIDENCE Photography Wkshp in May!  There have been new sign ups from the weekend, and we are so excited to meet all of you!!  To register before tonight’s cut off, CLICK HERE!

xoxo,

Me Ra

p.s.  Linda Baylis has her Photography Assignment posted on the SOAR! blog today.  I guarantee those photos will teach you a lot more about photography then my Fish Massage photos did today.  (It’s okay to throw in the goofy stuff like this too, right?!  )

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

xoxo,

Me Ra

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

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

The constant Seattle downpours have reminded me of this very fact:  We don’t always have the fortune of breath taking light.    When we do, we relish the precious, vibrant light of sunrise or sunset.  But when we don’t, we’ve got to be intentional to see beyond the light.  We’ve got to be on the look out for stories around us. 

This scene caught my eye.  The stone washed temple ruins, a horse, AND random, wooden chair! 

Plus, this isn’t any horse.  This is a dressed up horse.  I had to capture this scene.  I felt like it would be one of those images that I could look back on in the future to inspire my photography, writing, or remind me to be open to the unexpected in my creativity.  The horse and simple, wooden chair were so unexpected for where we were.

The above image is unprocessed.  I have not touched it up on my computer.  Right off the bat, you can tell that this wasn’t sunrise or sunset lighting.  Nope, pretty much middle of the day sunlight.  Needless to say, the light wasn’t adding much drama.  But this scene had so many other great components. 

This is when I take an image into Adobe’s Lightroom and touch it up.  I up’d my Blacks, added a little bit of Contrast, a subtle Vignette around the outer edges, and got rid of that blue jacket on the ground.  This was my final result.  (Click on the image to see a larger view of it.)  

These changes helped me finish off the photo so that the unusual, magical details stood out more. 

I’m a busy mom, wife and business woman.  I refuse to spend hours upon hours sitting at my computer applying endless changes to my photos.  I simply can’t.  I’m not in love with being on my computer.  I’m in love with shooting.  To be able to shoot more and post process my images less, I have to set my photo shoots up for success.  I schedule shoots to happen around ideal light like sunset.  But, I can’t always make that happen.  That is when I have to forget about my search for ideal light and look for the details that catch my eye. 

And then I’ve got to promise myself to NOT spend a hour, or even 30 minutes, altering the image on my computer.  I promise yourself to work at becoming better and better with my exposures and understanding of light because the better I get at dancing with light the less post process I’ll need to do. 

Then I take a deep breath and give a long exhale.  Have you ever wanted to be so much better at your photography RIGHT NOW?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all there is to learn but can’t seem to get away from wanting to learn more and more?  It’s in moments like this that I remind myself of my love for photography b/c the lessons of light and capturing what you see are endless.  On some days the endlessness of it all will stress me out.  On other days, it will be the inspiration that lifts me above my daily burdens.  To persevere through the ebb and flow of that changing tide, to not find ourselves drowning, this is the commitment we make as artists. 

xoxo,

Me Ra

For more photo lessons on how to Capture the Story around you, check out our award winning DVD, Refuse to Say Cheese.  For more technical help with Aperture and Shutter Speed, check out Beyond the Green Box! 

How does one capture drama in their photos?  Before I share my opinion, I want to start by asking for yours.  Please leave your thoughts in the comments today because there isn’t one right answer.  This was a question I felt challenged by while in Angkor Wat. 

Capturing drama feels easier to me when doing Portraits or Weddings.  People alone are full of drama and emotion.  But what about the ruins of a temple?  Yes, the architecture is amazing, but it has to be more for me.  I needed to find dimension in the temples.  I wanted to capture Angkor Wat in a way that brought these ruins to life.  How to capture drama in your photos…exploit the LIGHT. 

The greatest difference between a pro photographer and amateur is often one thing.  The pro knows how dependent they are on exploiting the richness of light.  The pro knows that with dramatic light, they can capture an image of a temple at noon (but it feels a little flat), or…

they can come back at sunrise to capture something magical.   (Click on any image to see them larger.)

Yes, we got up at 4am and dragged our kids to the hot air balloon. 

The day before, we had walked Angkor Wat’s ruins, but it was full sun at noon.  We knew Angkor Wat would be a different experience, if we had the opportunity to see it at sunrise.  

How you position light in your images makes all the difference.  But it the sun is right over your head, there isn’t much you can do because the sun can’t get behind your subjects or in front of them.  It’s just over your heads.  So shooting at sunrise or sunset is ideal for getting the most drama in your images. 

Whether it’s a line of monks walking along the river in the morning sun.

or a quick family photo with your favorite Tuk-Tuk driver…light can add drama, warmth,

or enhance emotion.

Here is the other thing…I don’t have to do any editing to the images on my computer when I have dramatic lighting b/c the light is the drama.  In today’s second image, the temple at sunrise, I didn’t edit the color at all.  That is how amazing the color is at sunrise—how mysterious it can be.  When my light isn’t as dramatic, I find that I add more in the post process.  Tomorrow, I’ll show you an example of what I mean. 

SO, do you wake up your kids or clients at sunrise to shoot their photos?  I prefer to wait for sunset.    BUT, if you venture to Angkor Wat, Cambodia—sunrise in the hot air balloon is unbeatable!

Happy Monday Friends!  How do you capture drama in your photos?  Tell all! 

xoxo,

Me Ra

After we left the orphanage in Phnom Penh, we flew to Siem Reap to explore one of the seven wonders of the world with our cameras:  Angkor Wat.  We had been so involved with the orphanage, loving every moment, that we forgot to book a hotel in Siem Reap.  So there I was, sitting in baggage claim, trying to get online to book a room somewhere.

A lady sat down next to me.  She was beautiful; long, black hair and dark brown eyes with a petite nose and warm smile.  I asked her if she’d been to Siem Reap, and she said she lived here.  What a perfect person to ask for advice on where to stay.  She mentioned a couple places, but soon we were talking about our time at the orphanage.  I was so full from our time that I spilled story after story out, and she was so gracious to listen to them all.  Then she excused herself to make a call.

When she came back to me, she said that she had booked us a room at the five star Hotel De La Paix.  It’s one of the most exquisite hotels in Siem Reap with the room rates starting at $350 USD.  You can only imagine the beauty of this place because a $350 room in a third world country IS something to write home about.  She gave us the room and said she wanted to give us a place of rest after all we’d done in Phnom Penh.  Brian and I didn’t know what to say.  But she insisted that it was her pleasure.  She was incredibly moved by the stories from our time at the orphanage.  And before you knew it, we were in a taxi headed to one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed at.

We had the wonderful honor of meeting the hotel managers and learned about their commitment to supporting the arts and people in need.  They were all eager to hear of our time at the orphanage.  And I have a feeling that this beautiful, mystery woman at the airport, started a relationship…friendship…of something powerful to come.

After spending the last several nights, sleeping on mats in a room above a coffee shop for $20 a night, we all dove into the plush, white sheets of Hotel De La Paix.  The four of us indulged in long showers and then slept as long as we could in those clouds of white sheets.

The kids were amazed to see how an unexpected gift like this could happen.  It spurred so many conversations about faith, hope, helping those in need, giving space for the unexpected, and on and on, conversations I will always treasure.

The next day we got in a Tuk Tuk and headed to Angkor Wat.  We had no idea what to expect.   I kept thinking of the signs in the airport, Welcome to the Country of Wonder.  Our time at the orphanage had definitely be  filled with wonder.  Little did I know that as our Tuk Tuk putted it’s way down the mangrove road, another kind of wonder prepared to welcome us.

Here is a sneak peak of the wonder we came upon at sunrise!

xoxo,

Me Ra

We had two hours to do a photography workshop with the teens at Water of Life.  When we hit the point of no one knowing the word for Aperture in Cambodian, I felt the freedom to really drop the technical jargon and just go for it!  And so we did!  They totally got Buttery, Blurry Backgrounds!  More than good enough for me!

Teaching photography in Cambodia was one of the most humbling experiences.  It’s already challenging to teach someone Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO when you both speak the same language.  But to take it a step further with someone trying to translate, I wasn’t sure if anything was really making sense.  But they were so hungry to learn,

so excited and hanging in there with my lack of experience in teaching with a translator (Rith and Rin were both AWESOME translating, but it was a different dynamic for me and Brian—no other way to get better then jump in!  ).

Everyone wanted to keep pushing forward.  So we did the Magic Three that I teach about in the Beyond the Green Box dvd.  We also talked about the story telling elements, I teach in Refuse to Say Cheese. They all knew “cheese”, and we talked about what it means to not say that dreadful word and instead capture someone’s life story.

And then we hit the streets of Phnom Penh and decided to take a few hours and shoot away.  We brought as much equipment as possible with us so they could try the gear out.  SONY is HUGE in Cambodia.  You see the Sony signs everywhere, so they were super excited to try the cameras.  I had no idea what had sunk in and felt a little down on myself.  But then the guys, and our token sweetie, Sreyown, our only girl—started asking us questions while shooting.

EVERY PHOTO that you see from this point on was taken by the students.  Every ONE!

“Is this what you mean by the Third’s Principle Me Ra?

“Is it the lower numbers for f-stop that give me the blurry background?”   (Bora Sang is with Blaze. He is Rith’s younger brother who is now at Water of Life with Rith.  Bora’s smile and tender heart got into my heart that I cried at the airport when we had to say goodbye.  But we will see each other again, yes, we will Bora!)

“How do you focus and then move your camera so you can do the Third’s Principle without losing your focus?”

“Wow, that makes sense!”

“Me Ra, since the sun is so bright, do we use the lower ISO?”

“Will you look at this and tell me if this is what you mean by Filling the Frame so the picture is only full of the story you are trying to tell?”

This is Me Ra—I LOVE how the photo above and below has so much emotion, action, and diversity in both images.  And yet, EVERY THING points to the story the photo is trying to tell.  The students nailed it!  My favorite part is Pascaline in the bottom right hand corner shooting away! 

Rin, the amazing art teacher that I told you about yesterday, had some wonderful conversations with me.  He wanted to learn photography so he could enhance his drawings, and he wanted to be stretched in his creativity.  We talked about the importance of shadows.  We discussed how important it is to add mystery to your images or drawings—to invite your viewer in.  What does it mean to take away light and clarity?  What does it mean to cause someone to lean forward, want to know your image’s story, be captivated by what they see but want to understand more of?  I talked about different techniques to try.  This is one of the photos Rin took from those conversations.

The students were so focused, so intent.  This is Tongchou Fleming, and he embraced the camera like nobody’s business!

They were determined to learn as much photography in our time together as possible.

and they LOVED seeing their results.   Even the kids jumped in at times to help explain something.  Such a gift to me and Brian!

I have to hand it to SONY because the Live Preview helped the students grasp these crazy technical elements so fast!   The students could SEE the Live Preview getting darker if they increased their Shutter Speed.  They could see the Live Preview get brighter if they raised their ISO.  They could watch me show them how to frame with the Third’s Principle.  It was pretty, freaking AWESOME!   There is no way that such technical ideas could be grasped with this much understanding in one day, not to mention a language barrier and so many other barriers.  But to see it—is to believe it!

Brian and I took them all out to ice cream afterwards to celebrate.  They kept thanking us and telling us this was the best day.  But oh my goodness, they have no idea how much they gave to me and Brian.  They opened their hearts to us.  They took a risk with their creativity and insecurities.  They showed us how they see the world.  And this inspired us beyond words.

Thank YOU Water of Life!  We LOVE YOU!

xoxo,

Me Ra

Our hearts were so moved by the little ones at Children of Hope.  It’s hard to imagine that babies are sold for $10 on the streets of Cambodia.  Randy and his team do their best to bring in as many children as they can fit and feed.  Each day is a faith walk.  Sometimes Randy has no idea where they are going to get enough rice to feed the kids.  But somehow, it always comes.

But the love and support doesn’t stop with the Children of Hope.  There is also a Center of the Arts for teens and twenty somethings called Water of Life.  When the children are old enough, they can live here IF they commit to continuing their education.  Randy and his team of teachers (who are mostly local Cambodian twenty-something, young men that were once his first orphans) teach the kids piano, flute, guitar, singing, drawing, English, writing, computer skills, Internet tools of building websites, and some are even law students. These young men are AMAZING!  They have so much to give the world, and they work harder and study more than anyone I’ve ever known.

Channa Bo is a fourth year law student. He is on the other side of Randy, opposite of me doing hand motions.     When he isn’t studying law, he’s helping out the little ones whether it’s playing with them or doing the hand motions for songs.

Channa is in the middle with the can of Coke and black shoes.  I found this photo of him on FB, and his smile is so gentle and unforgettable.  This is the smile that is fighting to finish his law degree and help his people. 

Randy has taken Channa through the system of filling out all the right legal papers for the Cambodian government, so the orphanage adopts the kids legally with no loop holes. Channa now does this on his own, sometimes travelling five hours by bus to help claim a 2 week old baby before it is sold into the sex industry for $10.  Shawna is amazing.

Rin’s story is also powerful.

He was an orphan by the time he was 8 years old.  He refers to his boyhood as being a rat on the streets, living an insane life of danger and recklessness.  But what does a boy do when both their parents have left him alone at 8 years?  He ended up in a Christian school and discovered his passion for art.  He can sit down with almost any instrument and play it as if he has been practicing for years. He is also phenomenal with drawing.  Rin was commissioned by the Cambodian government to take his drawings on exhibit throughout the US.  This is only one of many.

He has been offered many teaching opportunities that would pay him a pretty penny, but he has moved into the Center to teach the younger boys music and art.  Rin Yame has a passion to give back to his own community and see other young boys achieve what he is achieving.   Become his friend on FB, and you can see his amazing drawings for yourself.

Rith Sang comes from a remote village in Cambodia.  Several years ago, Randy was helping with a medical clinic in the village where they met Rith.  The doctor was so taken with the emotional stress and malnourishment that Rith was suffering.  They worked with Rith over years, praying for his mind and heart to be healed.  Rith…brings tears to my eyes. He has a spirit full of love, kindness and a passion for learning.

He is now an AMAZING English teacher at the Center—teaching me a few things about past and present participles!  His mind is so sharp!  And his heart if so BIG, so full of joy, hope—to think he was once buried under burdens as a young boy. Rith is a miracle, and Brian and I both feel so honored to have him in our life. 

Within the Center is a quiet room.  When you open the door, you find two brothers.  The older brother is named Rath.  He is sitting on the floor.

The younger brother is Roth, and he sits on the bed.

Both brothers suffer a fierce and rare form of Cerebral Palsy. It is genetic and only attacks the boys.  Randy told me that if the mom had daughters, the Cerebral Palsy wouldn’t have ever come.  Such a huge burden for a mom to carry.  She loves her boys and cares for them with every inch of her being. 

Randy heard about these boys, and went to their village to find them.  When he found them, they were almost dead from malnourishment and the disease.  He invited the two boys and their mom to come back to the orphanage and live there. Their muscles and bodies were twisted so tight.  And then a man showed up from England, and the man just happens to be a Physical Therapist.  He went and found a massage table for the boys bedroom and started working on them every day.  Slowly, their muscles began to loosen.

They now go to school everyday.  The orphanage was given special wheel chairs for both boys.  Their mom helps around the house and in turn she and her boys are loved and cared for.  Randy said that several months ago, they brothers had to return to their village for a short visit.  Randy was unable to go, so one of the young men drove them.  When the boys arrived, the village gathered around them in shock.  They couldn’t believe the boys were still alive.  They couldn’t believe how much better they looked.  But this is the part of the story that brought me to tears.

The boys asked if they could have their wheelchairs put in the middle of the village.  Then they invited all the village to gather around them.  When everyone had gathered, the boys began to share their hearts.  They told the villagers that they wanted them to all know something.  They wanted them to know that they had forgiven them.  They forgave them for all the years that the villagers had made fun of their bodies, cursed their lives, neglected them and shamed them.  The brothers said that they had been adopted by a Father in Heaven that called them his own, and that they now had a family at the orphanage.  They have learned what it means to be loved, and how important it is to forgive.  They sat in their two wheelchairs and forgave their village.

The villagers were so struck at the change in Rith and Roth that they begged them to come back and share more of what they had learned.  A couple months later, the boys went back in their wheelchairs and brought almost 200 Bibles with them.  They sat in their wheelchairs with hands that sometimes won’t even open from the Cerebral Palsy, and they shared the hope and forgiveness they had found.  And then the villagers asked them to pray with them, and they called Randy on a cell phone and said, “Randy, tell us how to pray with our village.”  And over the phone, Randy guided them in praying with their villagers.

There are so many powerful elements to this story, but what hit me most is that Randy didn’t go to their village and try to teach the village a thing or two.  Randy is all about empowering the boys to follow the desires of their heart.  So the brothers, Rith and Roth, went back alone and found that they have a voice and have healing and love to offer.  They are not worthless.  Their lives are not a mistake.  They are symbols of hope. 

Randy has sent their medical records to doctors all over the world.  The doctors say that these boys may only live for two more years.  As I sat on the bed with Roth, he said he is now ready.  He is not afraid to die anymore.  He is excited to see God in heaven.  This boy’s face was so calm, so full of peace.

I wanted to sit with him and his brother for hours.  They taught my heart so many things that I have yet to process.  They sit in this small room, working on their homework, and they are fearless.  But their courage is not made of a strong body and ambitious spirit.  Their courage is made of peace and undying hope.  That room was one of the most peaceful rooms I’ve ever entered.  Heaven itself was in that room.  And I shall never be the same.

The stories go on and on.  All the boys and girls are miracles.  Some of their parents have died, but many of them have been given up because their parents can’t afford to feed the family.  They have experienced traumas that would cause them to sleep with the light on and the door locked for the rest of their life.  And yet, they have risked to love again—to let Randy and his staff in—to believe that there may be more to life than being abandoned—that there is a God of the impossible who loves, has not abandoned them and can heal the most broken of hearts. They are the living testimony that healing like this is real.  They look at you and smile.  They hug you and share their powerful stories, and then they share the hope they hold for their lives—I have never been so inspired in all my life.

All they need is someone to have a bit of confidence in them.  Randy says that when someone believes in them, they are unstoppable.  I felt so humbled with their invitation to teach photography.  They had already taught me so much.  And I wasn’t sure how this was going to work?  Teaching Aperture to a group of Cambodian teens with Rem and Rin taking turns translating for me… that quiet voice said “Have a little Confidence in me Me Ra.”  What worked was something that was so beautiful, so moving—tomorrow.

You can join the Facebook Cause Pages for Water of Life and Children of Hope to learn more about the children.  A lot of them have their own FB pages and love having friends, just search their names on FB!

xoxo, Me Ra

He was sitting next to me.  The plane was headed to San Diego.  It was the middle of December, and I felt so exhausted I chose not to introduce myself—just close my eyes and rest.  And then the storm came.  It was the worst storm that month for San Diego.  The wind knocked our plane around like a cat batting at a toy.  I thought I was going to be sick.  The pilot came on the intercom and said he couldn’t see the run way until he was right in front of it.  He said he was going to try to land, but if he found himself to far up the run away he was going to pull up as fast as possible.

He tried this FIVE times, and I thought I was going to die every time.  People were crying in the rows across from me.  What types of things do you think in this kind of moment?  I was so thankful Brian and I had checked in with our life insurance that week—but the timing of this alone made me wonder if my life was going to end.  I thought about Brian and the kids, and I found myself thankful that if something did go wrong, there were hundreds of images that I would leave behind.  Images that show the kids, I saw them.  Their mama saw who they were.  And then the pilot gave up (thank GOD!) and flew us to LA.  When we landed he gave us the option of getting off the plane and taking taxis to San Diego.  But when the storm passed he was going to try it again.  I turned and looked at the man next to me. That was the first time we talked.  His name was Randy.

Randy said he was going to stay and wait out the storm.  I got my stuff and got off the plane, standing on the ramp for 30 minutes as another pilot told me things were much better than they seemed.  I called Brian and cried my eyes out. And in the end, I decided to get back on the plane, IF I could sit in First Class. 

We arrived in San Diego, and as I got my suitcase I spotted Randy. He didn’t know I had moved up to First Class.  We joked about how crazy the flight was.  I remember him saying he was coming from Cambodia.  I asked him more about this.  It turned out he runs an orphanage in Cambodia’s capitol, Phnom Penh.  He had a home for little ones and an Art Center/Home for teen boys.  I was so taken by the five minutes we talked that I asked if we could come see him and the kids someday.  We exchanged info and that was it until…a few weeks ago.

Brian and I decided to find this orphanage.  Remember how Brian realized our flight to Thailand was leaving at midnight and not noon the next day?  We had six hours to get everything together, so I ran to the stores to finish shopping for things that we could bring to the children.  My girlfriend, Jill Hansen, owns her own dentist practice and at last minute drove out to her office and got toothbrushes and toothpaste for all the kids.  Brian got a duffel bag from Costco dedicated to the things for the orphanage, and we dragged it all over Thailand; over ferries, into long tail boats, almost losing it in the water at one point, and then into small propeller planes until we arrived in Phnom Penh.

That was last week.  We had left Koh Phi Phi and decided to find the orphanage in Cambodia.  But we showed up, in a third world country, without having made a hotel reservation and no idea where Randy was. Randy had not answered my email in a few days.  We didn’t know at the time that he was returning from Vietnam.  So we rented this random hotel room, exhausted from the travelling and stifling heat, and collapsed on the bed.  But first we shooed the spider out the window that was BIGGER than life.  Have your husband put his two hands together, fingers outstretched, that’s how big that sucker was.  Ugh, it gives me chills just remembering it now.

After we were safe from the spider, I looked at Brian, and I said, “You are the BEST husband in the world.  You’ve carried this 50 lb. duffel bag all over everywhere.  You agreed to come to Cambodia.  And when you think about it, I only talked to this man for five minutes in Baggage Claim at the San Diego airport.  I’m not even sure that we’ll find him.  I have no idea what to do if he doesn’t email back.”  Brian looked at me and smiled, “It will all work out Me Ra.”  He is an amazing husband.

And then the next morning, Randy answered his phone.   He was back from Vietnam and so excited that we had made it!  So we all bagged up 80 gift bags for the kids.

The kids were more excited about this part of our journey than anything else.

We heaved the duffel bag into a Tuk-Tuk and made our way through the city.

We had no idea what to expect, or how we could help.  We felt like we should hold off on booking our flight to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and just see where this experience took us.  We hoped we could give in some way to the children.  We didn’t expect what was to come.  We didn’t expect to be given to so powerfully, to be inspired and empowered like never before, to bond relationships that will last a lifetime, and to have more confidence because of what the staff and orphans gave us.

The children were so beautiful!  Their sweet faces.

Their inquisitive eyes.

The joy they had when they opened up their gift bags.

All you wanted was to hug them, as many of children, as possible.

I feel so small, so very small—in a good way.  The teens we worked with blew my mind and heart.  By spending time with them, I felt so convicted of the doubts I’ve been struggling with.  Their courage for life put my personal doubts for my own life to shame.

To think I doubt God’s call on my life—that I may be to damaged or broken from my past to fulfill the desires of my heart. To think I believe this at times, and then to be with these beautiful orphans for a week who have nothing—nothing, and yet live as if they have everything.  To see these children overcome. To see them build their dreams.  To see the joy in their smiles…to see my ability to hope expand and stretch and be changed from being with them.

I want to take the next couple days to share on the blog what happened during our stay at the orphanage in Cambodia.  We taught a condensed version of our CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop to the teens, and I must-must-must share their images with you.  Be prepared to be inspired friends by the images and stories of these young men and women.

And to think that it all started with a five minute conversation.  We never know what conversations, no matter how short, are meant to change our lives. We never know what seeds they will plant.  I must confess that I never had this BIG sense of “we need to go there.”  It was more of a tickling on my brain, that settled into my heart.  And it just seemed like something to try.  I never knew what was really going to happen or meant to be.  And I am stunned at how important it is to give those little ticklings on the brain and heart some attention.  Instead of waiting for the sky to part and the answer to come as the voice of God, what about the subtle nudge that really and truly almost goes unnoticed.

Does this make sense?

xoxo,

Me Ra