Our life has been made up of vomit and diarrhea the last seven days.  Yep, there is no nice way to put it but just say it as it is.  If this had lasted for one to three days, I don’t think I’d use a whole blog post to share.  BUT as of last night at 3am, it’s been seven days friends.  Count them out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, AND 7.  Do I want to scream?  YES!  Do Brian and I feel like we are up to our elbows in cleaning, cleaning, cleaning? YES!

It started on our flight back to Thailand from Cambodia.  Blaze felt a little nauseous.  We boarded the plane.  Buckled up, etc. etc.  And then all of a sudden the little guy started vomiting in his seat.  The airline stewardess brought me Kleenex!  Um yeah, not super helpful.  I don’t tell me Asians use Kleenex to clean up vomit b/c that is ridiculous.  I simply think this airline stewardess wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.  A nearby, sympathetic passenger passed me baby wipes—an angel in disguise.  And get this, as I’m on my hands and knees trying to clean up, the plane starts to taxi and just takes off!  So much for waiting for everyone to be seated.

Same thing happened at the airport and then at our house.  Next day Blaze laid low, and the storm seemed to pass.  Mom’s up to bat.  Oh yeah friends.  I vomited so much in one night the blood vessels popped on my eyeball so it looks like I’ve been in a bar fight.  “Should look better in three weeks,” says the doctor.  Great.  I laid low the next day and felt okay after.  Well let’s see, let’s bring Pascaline up to bat.  She hasn’t had a turn.  And Pascaline not only knocks it out of the park one day, but two and three days, and I think today makes it four….um yeah.  She has taken the championship by managing to throw up in every room, on our clothes, and at 3:30am this morning (when you thought it couldn’t get ANY better), she got up and vomited all over the home school stuff.  That’s feeling a little “set up” to me, but never fear, home school will go on to her dismay. 

Blaze, who has been playing in the ocean and chasing monkeys, came down with it again, and then last night I felt nauseated again.  Could it be all the cleaning up we’re doing?  Who knows.   But the doctor was extremely helpful and said that we all have a stomach bacteria.  Take the antibiotics for five days.  That should kill it.  The tricky part is getting Pascaline to keep it down.  And thus, our first week back in Thailand isn’t at all what I pictured.  So I figured it was time to take pictures of what it is.

You see, the climax for me was when…WAIT…this gets gross, so just stop reading if you need too—basically, consider yourself warned.  The climax was when Blaze said he had gas but instead had diarrhea all over the cushions.  As Brian and I start to clean it up, Pascaline decides to contribute by vomiting on Brian.  It was so awesome.  True parenting doesn’t get better than that point.

So you’ve got Pascaline hanging over the toilet, and Blaze showering behind her from his little mess.  And I figure, “What the hell.  It’s time to shoot the sh#$% out of this.”

Portrait of Pascaline Eux de Toilet!

Look at those BIG, SAD, Brown eyes.  We fell for them the first six times she had an episode.  And then the eyes didn’t work any longer.

Less is More!  Don’t even need to see her big brown eyes to feel it. 

I call these next few images “The Waiting” series.

And this last one is almost a little glamorous looking, don’t you think?!

(Photo Recipes: ISO was 200, f-stop was 2.8, and Shutter Speed was 125th of a second.)

Do you think I’m just the MEANEST mom on the island?

Was this the blog post that I thought I’d be writing for today?  No.  But thanks for humoring me because it feels really good to vent.  And regardless of how utterly exhausting and emotional the last seven days have been, shoot me for saying this, but I want to capture it on some level because right here and now, this is a big part of our trip in the last week.

And in case my parents are worried after reading this, here is a little status.  Blaze went kayaking with Brian today and feels great.  Pascaline has made it almost 20 hours without vomiting or running a fever.  In fact, she was sassing Brian a couple hours ago which is always a sign of her normal self coming back. 

For those of you who are wondering about Brian…is he up to bat next?…Good question.

xoxo,

Me Ra

But I am still working on telling the story with my camera.

I am probably being hard on myself.  Ugh, I say.  Do I have to “tell the story” or can I just line the kids up, put the camera settings on the dreaded green box, and yell “SAY CHEESE” and snap the picture.

I know, I know… I can just hear Me Ra’s gasp, can’t you???

What’s a mom to do?

Outsourcing.

So, I handed my $900 camera to my 4 year old son, Ty. “YOU take the pictures today,”  I say.  He beams.  I give him a quick lesson on the basics  –  viewfinder, thingy on back to look at the picture he just took, camera strap (a must!).  Then I set the camera on aperature priority and I turned on all the lights in our house and opened the curtains wide.  And I let him tell HIS OWN STORY.

Then I got out of his way.

How he sees the world made me stop.   One time a while back my then-8-year-old, Izzy said, “Adults get wrapped up in the craziest things sometimes.”  And that quote came to mind when I looked at Ty’s shots.

What he saw was not what I would have photographed.  But it was worth my time.  A fleeting moment of Daddy re-filling the ketchup bottle.

Mommy’s Desk.

Mommy, working on her blog and not looking her best.  But he tells me that I am the “prettiest mommy in the whole world.”  Het tells me I am “wonderful pretty.”

Part of a toy.

As Me Ra and Brian head back to Thailand, I think back to a post she wrote on how the people in Thailand really SEE kids and that Blaze noticed this.  He said he “felt invisible” in America. 

Then I thought, THIS is what my son sees.  This is his world.  This is the story he chose to tell with the camera. Although I have a need to photograph him from top to bottom AND in such a way that my love for him somehow translates into digital pixels, that is purely MY need.  HIS need is for ME to see his world the way he sees it.  And, today I did because I handed him my camera.  Today, photography taught me to slow down and really think about my child, my baby boy, and how he must see the world from only a few feet off the ground. 

He turned my paradigm of “Telling the Story” on its ear.  And I am so glad he did.  Because I think I’ll go a bit easier on myself next time I pick up my camera.  It’s not just about me afterall…

Click here to read Me Ra’s post mentioned above about Blaze feeling invisible.

Come visit me at MamaBloo and check in with my other tales!

This is Kari from Mamabloo—stepping in to help Me Ra while they prepare to make the SOAR! Scholarship announcement this Friday.

Okay, I know we all think our own kids are cute. But, mine REALLY are… being totally 100% objective here… my kids are darn cute….

The problem is that because I am a photography nut, my kids actually don’t like being photographed that much. So it is very hard to actually document their darn-cute-ness. Sometimes, it’s like I am pointing a weapon at them instead of a camera. This impression is not aided by the expression “just let me shoot you, please!?!!?” They usually look frightened, sometimes they look bored and sometimes they just look disgusted with me. And the older ones usually reserve the famous eye-roll

for very special photography occasions like graduations and band concerts.

So, right before a recent band concert of Izzy’s, I tried some Photocoaching a la Me Ra and Brian. “Look natural” I shout at them.  They stare back.  They try to smile.  They look like ZOO animals!  (I promise you, if you couldn’t tell, this is NOT Izzy’s most natural look.)

Ah, man. Me thinks that I am not a good photocoach.

So, after a sigh and some digging deep into my endless abyss of patience, I go to my old standby (and my favorite Me Ra tip! ). I go to… THE FAKE LAUGH. That’s right. Make them throw their heads back and fake it! What makes this work in my family is that itty-bitty, nano-moment when my kids transition from the fake laugh to the real laugh. But first I need to set my camera on continuous shoot because this moment is fast, I tell you. Elusive even.

“Just pretend you are having fun! Throw your head back and laugh! FAKE IT, for the love of God!”

Darn cute, don’t ya think?

To check out Me Ra and Brian’s video that demos their famous “Fake Laugh”, check out their video at:

http://www.merakohblog.com/2008/10/08/brians-video-and-people-magazines-sexiest-man-alive-contest/

And to see more Portrait Photo Tips from Me Ra, check out these 6 tips!

http://www.merakoh.com/2008/10/28/q-a-segment-2-top-six-poses-for-senior-portrait-shoots/

Yours truly,

Kari from Mamabloo

My dear friend, Kari, has started her own blog.  And I am LOVING it!  It’s called Mamabloo.  Some of you may recognize Kari from her funny comments on my blog posts, and then there was that incident where Oprah rebuilt her HOUSE!  (no, I’m not joking.)

Kari has a down to earth style of writing that nine out of ten times makes me smile.  When I post Photo Tips or Exercises, Kari will bust out her camera and give it her best go.  She’s not a professional photographer.  She is a full, and I mean FULL TIME mama, with FIVE kids in tow.  She doesn’t know all the camera jargon, but that doesn’t stop her from capturing her family stories.  What is so great is that she’ll often email me the stories behind what happened and her fun results.  Some of her stories have me rolling…and that got me thinking…why don’t I ask Kari if I can share some of her stories with you!  So for experiment sake, we’ve got our first Mamabloo Photo Tale.

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I love Christmas trees.  Every year I load the family up in the mini van – all 7 of us – the Saturday after Thanksgiving and head out to someplace to get a tree. What happens next is predictable and consistent from year to year. My husband, Dave, and I get in a fight.

We are in complete and utter disagreement over everything regarding the tree. What size it should be, how much we should spend, and, of course, where it should go in the house. The truth of the matter is, I always win. And Dave always sulks. This year, he took a different approach and just said “I’ll do whatever you want” over and over – sorta like a mantra — and the whole day was much better. Ahhhh…Merry Christmas. So it is not a coincidence that this year I think we have the best tree ever. Ever. So, it is finally time to take a picture of it.

Me Ra tells us that taking a good Christmas Tree photo requires 8 simple steps. Gee, only 8. Off I go to try the first step.

Step One says to set the shutter speed at a VERY slow speed. Check: 1/5

And to set the camera to TV mode (I didn’t even know it had a TV mode, but, hey, I watch a lot of TV, so it should be fine) Check.

And put the ISO up high. Check: 1600

Here is my first crappy picture.

I GUESS I AM GOING TO HAVE TO READ ALL THE STEPS!

The next steps actually involved the timer on my camera!  I actually had to Google it to find out where the stinkin’ timer was on this thing.  I spent the next few nights in short bursts of time shooting my favorite parts of the tree using Me Ra’s advice.

So……I wasn’t able to completely adhere to all the steps – anything called “RAW” scares the ba-jeebers outta me.  The imagery that word, RAW, conjures up is just wrong.  And I am glad I have had some ballet and yoga in my past because I needed to contort myself to see through the viewfinder. But, I was able to fiddle around with her 8 steps and come up with something to forever document the best tree ever. Even Dave agrees.

To try Me Ra’s 8 steps for photographing a Christmas tree, CLICK HERE!

If you are hungry for even more Christmas Tree Photo Tips, check out THIS POST where Carey Schumacher of Barefoot Memories chimes in!

Mamabloo and I would love to know what you think of Mamabloo’s first Photo Tale.  Should we share another one with you!  Post a comment and let us know.  (and post one fast b/c you know we are both going to be refreshing all day!  )

xoxo, Me Ra

p.s.  Oh!  Wait!  I just got word as I was preparing this post that we have TWO NEW CONFIDENCE Workshops to announce for the Spring!  We are coming to Jersey City, NJ for all our East Coast ladies and also Huntington Beach, CA for our West Coast ladies!  It’s going to be a GREAT Spring!  If a CONFIDENCE Wkshp was on your Christmas Wish List, stay tuned this week for Registration Details—either Wed, Thursday or Friday !

You have all been so patient and supportive as I’ve tweeted the unfolding developments of the SOAR! Scholarship.  Even now, as I write this blog, a handful of people from SmugMug, Chopping Block, Taco Lamp, and more, are racing the clock with us to bring you SOAR! today.   A few of them have been up ALL NIGHT!  Our goal is to go live with the video, website and all the details by 4pm PST (maybe sooner).  Between SOAR! and our new website and blog, I feel like we are birthing triplets! 

Stay tuned.  It’s going to get really good!  Think “Running on Empty Contest” magnified a 100x’s!  For up to the minute updates, search for #SOAR on Twitter. 

In the meantime, while we are finalizing details, go over to my dear friend, Kari Hale’s new blog opening.   Mamabloo went live today!  Her blog is going to be an awesome one to follow!  I’ve been waiting for Kari to have a blog my whole life!  You will LOVE her!

Check back later this afternoon and come SOAR! with me.  This is a scholarship that will change the lives of three women!  You may be one of those women!   

p.s. Wait! What else happens today? The two Photo Contests end!  Have you submitted your photo entries yet? Remember to submit your Photo Contest entries today!  We’ve got two photo contests going on right now that you don’t want to miss! I’m loving the submissions!  To read the details on what our Photo Contest Themes are CLICK HERE!

p.s.s. The bugs are worked out of our Newsletter box on the right side!  Sign up today, and you will be entered in a drawing for my favorite Sony DSLR camera!

Christmas lights went up this weekend in our neighborhood. We even got our first Christmas card! Eeks! I’m still finishing off our pumpkin pie! I’m not ready for the holidays to be official! Are you? You know what, I don’t think it matters if we’re ready. I think the holidays are here whether we’re prepared or not. So let’s form a circle! Gather in! We must support each other! I’ll support you tossing the leftover pumpkin pie as I make room for the eggnog. I’ll support you buying your own stocking stuffers b/c let’s face it, Santa doesn’t stuff our stockings the way mom did. So here we go ladies and gents; this is my Top Ten Stocking Stuffers for the Photo Enthusiast whether you are a beginner or pro!

I admit, you need a BIG stocking for #1. But it’s so worth it! The moment we’ve been waiting for is finally here!

#1 Me Ra’s Sexy Copper Brown, Sony a330 DSLR Camera and Lens!

Price: $549.99 BUY HERE!

Family Circle magazine highlighted this Copper Brown DSLR in their Favorite Holiday Electronic Picks! Check it out on the newsstands this month! And remember, the secret Sony trip we made this summer? We were filming a revised DVD for them called Kids in Focus. I’ll blog about that amazing experience more later. But here is the coolest news, when you purchase your new Sony Alpha DSLR, Sony will include a copy of our newly released Kids in Focus DVD! Exclusively available at Sony Style stores and Sony.com! If you get it, you must PROMISE to send me a photo of yourself with your sexy, new camera!

#2 The Buttery, Background 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Price: $149, BUY HERE!

I love this lens b/c it gives you the low fstop ability to create buttery, blurry backgrounds! FYI, all the images, shot live, for the Kids in Focus DVD were captured with the Sony a330 DSLR and 50mm lens! And believe me, I pushed the camera and lens abilities to the limits, and they both blew my expectations out of the water!

#3 NEW Refuse to Say Cheese Organic Cotton Baby Onesies w/ FOUR Colors to Choose from!

Price $24 Holiday Special $19.20 till 12/4!

Coupon: stockingstuffer BUY HERE!

Style 1

Style 2

I’ve been wanting to make Refuse to Say Cheese onesies forever! Aren’t they sweet! They are by far one of my favorite Stocking Stuffers! We even have two styles to choose from for the little ones. Sizes range from 6-18 months. And the boys versions are green onesies with the brown camera!

#4 Can’t forget about Mom! NEW Refuse to Say Cheese Women’s American Apparel T-shirts!

Price $29.99 Holiday Special $ till 12/4!

Coupon: stockingstuffer BUY HERE!

Style 1

Style 2

You asked for them, and we got them just in time for the holidays! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!!!

#5 Our Award Winning Instructional DVD Set.

Price $ 49.99 Holiday Special $39.99 till 12/4!

Coupon: stockingstuffer BUY HERE!

Fox News recommended the DVD set on TV as a top Holiday pick! NAPPA gave the DVD set their prestigious Gold Award! Sony’s new Kids in Focus DVD was inspired from this DVD set. And thousands of customers have emailed us their praise for Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box! What are you waiting for!

#6 The Sony External Flash for a price that’s hard to BEAT!

Price $129.99 BUY HERE!

I love this little flash because it solves the red eye and black cave problem in seconds. With this flash, you can point it toward the ceiling and bounce the light. Bouncing the light gets rid of all the red eye, and your kids don’t look like they are climbing out of black caves. It’s light weight, easy to snap on, and the price is pretty amazing!

#7 The BEST Photo Editing Software EVER: Adobe’s Lightroom 2.

Price $169.99 BUY HERE!

We do ALL our photo editing with Adobe’s Lightroom. I could sing Lightroom praises for hours. This software has made photo editing ten times faster. When you have little ones running around, fast post process is a BIG deal. Lightroom is super intuitive and Dynamic with a capital D! Ask other users, they will confirm what I’m saying.

#8 Stop Reinventing the Wheel with our Popular 101 Kits!

Price: $99, Holiday Price $79.20 till 12/4!

Coupon: stockingstuffer BUY HERE!

Do you want to stay up all night trying to reinvent the wheel on starting a photography business? Or, do you wish that someone did the research for you and just shared it all with you? I SHARE IT ALL in our popular 101 Kits. You’ll receive photo release waivers, marketing tips, package pricing, and much more. Just read the reviews when you click to buy now! We’ve received hundreds of HAPPY emails from customers! And when you buy two 101 Kits, you get an even better deal. Our Portrait 101 and Wedding 101 Kits are the most popular!

#9 Chic jill-e Camera Bags that will make Her Giddy!

Price: $24.99 to $384.99 BUY HERE!

My girlfriend Carey bought me a Jill-e Camera Bag for my birthday a couple years ago. Love it! Love it! You can’t beat the classiness of these camera bags for women (and they’ve got some pretty hip ones for men too–Brian approves! )

#10! Me Ra’s best resource for Artistic Inspiration: The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity-10th Anniversary Edition.

Price: $26.40 BUY HERE!

If your creativity needs to be inspired, this book is for you. There are endless exercises that jog your creativity, whether it’s tackling fears, beliefs we have regarding our worthiness to create, you name it, this book tackles it! It is my Bible when it comes to creative inspiration. You’ve heard me quote it several times, why not treat yourself or someone you love to their own copy!

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You have it friends! Our Top Ten Stocking Stuffers for the Photo Enthusiast! If your purchasing a product from our store (tshirts, onsies, DVDs, 101 kits) remember to use the Coupon: stockingstuffers. This Coupon will give you 20% off until this Friday, December 4th!

Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

Me Ra

And what better post, then to tell you what my kids did last night. The kiddos know we’ve been working so hard on the new website and a handful of other projects. So while Brian and I were working on the new site, they decided to surprise us. They came downstairs dressed us as teenagers (or at least this is what they picture teenagers looking and acting like ). It was hilarious!

I know what your thinking ‘underwear on the outside of your pants?’ The kids explained that teenage boys are always wearing their pants so low, and since everyone can see their underwear, why not just wear them on the outside? Totally!

Blaze wanted this shot. As I was shooting, he kept saying “That’s classic mom. Just classic.” He told me “classic” is a teenage word. Duh, mom.

Notice how they planned their socks? Yes, that was planned.

I asked them to give me their best “teenage expression”.

Isn’t that funny?! I love the socks dynamic in that one too. I don’t even know if they “know” any teenagers. Nonetheless, they have a definite idea of what it means to look and act like a teenage boy.

This is my favorite! So much attitude going on.

So how did I make the lighting happen on these images? I used my external flash.

Photo Recipe Time! This is something you can totally try yourself! If you have an external flash, turn the flash on auto and leave the buttons on the back of your flash alone. Turn your camera to an ISO of 800, Shutter Speed of 60 or 1/60th, and an fstop between 4.0 and 2.8–up to you on fstop.

Then take your flash head and instead of pointing it at your kids, point it at the ceiling. This is called “bouncing”. Bouncing gets rid of the shadows and looks more like natural light. I love to bounce behind me, but for these images I tried bouncing off the ceiling. And that’s it friends. If you try it this weekend, show me what you get! Email them to mera@merakoh.com. I totally want to see!

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a new website/blog early next week! (I pray to the website gods, please, please, please!)

xoxo, Me Ra

p.s. Oh, Don’t forget to submit your Photo Contest entries! We’ve got two photo contests going on right now that you don’t want to miss! I’m loving the submissions, but if you haven’t submitted–you’ve got until December 1st. To read the details on what our Photo Contest Themes are CLICK HERE!

p.s.s. We have 16, yep SIXTEEN!, babies showing up on Saturday for our Baby Extravaganza Photo Shoot. Brian is going to video tape the whole thing, so maybe we can give you a baby peak! It should be interesting with that many cute babies!

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Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE ! The DVDs were also recently featured on FOX News as a TOP GIFT recommendation for the holidays! Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box, click either title!

Thinking of starting your dream Photography Business?! You can totally do it with our popular 101 Kits! Inspired from the 100’s of emails that Me Ra Koh receives each week, asking the how to’s of having a Photography Business, Me Ra has compiled all her answers into her popular 101 Kits! For more info, click on the titles of your choice, read the reviews and make your dream a reality! And don’t forget to send your success stories to Me Ra at mera@merakoh.com!

I love to get kids involved with photo shoots. I had these two build me the BIGGEST pile of leaves. I told them to grab two handfuls and on the count of 3, throw the leaves in the air as high as they can. But kids will do exactly what you tell them and sometimes nothing more or less. So that just means they need even more photocoaching. I told these two to keep their arms stretched high to the sky and smile as the leaves fall down all around them (and I demonstrated what I meant with exaggeration). We practiced a couple times (I shot each run through–just in case). When the three of us knew we were all on the same page, we yelled our countdown “ONE, TWO, THREE! THROW THE LEAVES!”

For all my Photo Recipe Lovers: Aperture/ftsop was a 2.8 to give me a blurry background. ISO was down to 200 for maximum color saturation. With all that sunlight, the Shutter Speed was cooking at 640th of a second or 1/640–plenty fast to freeze their action and smiles.

Have a wonderful weekend friends! Brian and I get to spend the weekend with the beautiful November Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop ladies, starting with a fun Meet and Greet at our house tonight. We are so excited. And next week, oh my goodness I can hardly wait, our new website/blog goes live with special announcements and goodies for the holidays!

Love you all!

Me Ra

p.s. If you emailed us about your baby being in my new book, we will be in touch by Monday! The photo shoots will happen on Saturday, November 21st, starting at 9am. If your baby fits what we are looking for, we are going to email you time slots so you can sign up. All the details (location, what to wear, how long the session will be, etc) are coming soon so watch your Inbox for an email from me or Genie! xoxo

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TWO NEW Photo Contests, TWO WAYS to WIN! Deadline is December 1st! To enter and WIN, read the details HERE!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE ! The DVDs were also recently featured on FOX News as a TOP GIFT recommendation for the holidays! Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box, click either title!

Thinking of starting your dream Photography Business?! You can totally do it with our popular 101 Kits! Inspired from the 100’s of emails that Me Ra Koh receives each week, asking the how to’s of having a Photography Business, Me Ra has compiled all her answers into her popular 101 Kits! For more info, click on the titles of your choice, read the reviews and make your dream a reality! And don’t forget to send your success stories to Me Ra at mera@merakoh.com!

Meet Amanda DiMonda!

Amanda is our Amazing Mom feature today. She is based out of Long Island, NY. And she has two beautiful twin girls!

1. Amanda, when did you start your business and what was the turning point of taking it from a hobby to a business of charging people and putting up your beautiful website?

I have always had a love for photography; however, my first love was animals. I grew up wanting to be a veterinarian. In college, I was always interested in taking a photography class and for one reason or another I never did. I did take my camera around campus with me when I needed time for just me and to reflect on life during a time when I was really trying to find myself.

Fast forward six years later and I found myself becoming a mom of beautiful twin girls.

My camera and I formed a new relationship. Would you believe I actually started off taking pictures with my Sony video camcorder?! It also took still shots and it was the only camera I had. After literally thousands of pictures later, capturing my girls every moment, my video camera fell at a birthday party and broke. While it was being fixed my husband and I went to the store and he asked me what kind of camera I wanted. I said, “Well if I could get anything it would be the Canon Rebel XTi.” At the time I had been drooling over it for a very long time. It was then that he looked at me and said “OK.” What?! I was really just joking and throwing it out there…never expecting to actually get it. He told me that it may take time but that everyone always compliments me on my pictures. And maybe one day it could end up being a business purchases, and I could start my own photography business.

I received my camera for a Christmas present in 2007 and never looked back. I was literally floating. Photography woke up something inside of me that I knew was there but never actually took the time to listen too. My camera let me show and “say” more then I could ever put into words. More and more people continued to tell me that I should pursue photography because they loved my eye.

It wasn’t until last winter (2008) that an amazing woman I met by chance through a mommy and me class, asked me to take pictures of her boys. She knew I could do it, just like many others telling me, before I did. And for some reason I listened and said I would love to. After my first photo shoot I was re-newed in spirit and on such a high that I saw all the pieces of my life fall into place. And just how amazing it was to produce such a priceless gift for another person and truly love every minute of it. That is when it started. I did do a few jobs after that for free and slowly started charging people from there. In April of this year, I decided to put up a website to have some way of actually showing what I do. Through my website and mostly word of mouth, I have started to take off. Some days I find myself holding my breath wondering if it is truly happening. I mean how many people can honestly say they LOVE and have such passion for their job?

2. What inspires your photography?

Definitely my children.

It is amazing how quickly they go from one stage in life to the next. I want to remember all the little things. The way their eyes light up when they do something for the first time, or how innocent they look while sleeping or laying next to their puppy, all those silly face only they make so well. I could go on for hours, but just to watch them grow and come into their own…is so beautiful and takes my breath away.

They inspire me to try my best to capture that, so one day they can look back and treasure those moments and see how amazing they have always been.

3. What inspires you as a person, artist?

Just life in general and a desire to want to show people what I can’t put into words.

I am a deep thinker, always have been and I am sure always will be. Growing up I always felt “older” then I was and the things that went through my head were not the normal things I should be worried about or thinking of. I was always sensitive to situations that would normally go right over a child’s head. Life itself was such a big question to me: Where exactly did I fit in this big world? It amazed me to think of all the possibilities. I saw and felt so much, yet I never found a way to let all that energy out and have always just taken everything in. My camera bridged that gap. Now I can show people what I see and help them notice something beautiful in places they might never have thought to look or taken the time to feel.

4. What made you decide to do photography as more than a hobby? What was your turning point?

I found my self 25 years old, a mom blessed with newborn twins and unable to have any more children due to a heart condition that was a result of my pregnancy. That one stung for a while. As thankful as I was that I was given two amazing children, I didn’t like being told I could not have any more kids. I LOVED being a mom and thinking that all these moments that pass too quickly would never happen for me again was heart breaking. Those tiny newborn hands, those belly laughs and toothless grins. Everything. Only once. It crushed me.

Fast forward a few years later and I realized that there is a reason for everything! I found my camera, this passion…and I actually took that “leap”. Just the way I felt after taking pictures for someone else for the first time, it was so empowering. I finally saw all the pieces of my life fall into place, and it felt right. And I find that I am blessed again every time a family allows me to step into their lives for just a moment and capture their own child’s story.

I get to relive those moments every time I do a session! It truly is a special gift and dream within a dream!

5. What are the classes/workshops/DVDs you’ve watched to teach yourself photography? Were they helpful?

I honestly have never taken a photography class or workshop before. I have learned what I know from playing around and reading information anywhere I could find it. Then I bought Me Ra’s Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box DVDs. They absolutely helped me in more ways then one. They showed me in simple terms how to understand Aperture. That was the most technical thing from it that I truly appreciated getting out of the DVDs. Then even more then that was the confidence it inspired in me. The DVDs, just your blog in general and you, and the information you provide and your encouraging sincere way. How you show in more ways then one that you can take this amazing passion and make into whatever you want it to be. All you have to do is look any fear or doubt straight on and jump in with two feet and the rest will fall into place. Whenever I feel my self confidence lacking all I have to do is read through your blog and take a deep breath. Then I realize I can do this, just keep moving forward.

I also attended MeRa and Brian’s CONFIDENCE workshop in Minneapolis, and I am still in awe of the whole experience. I had hit a glass ceiling in my photography and had not even realized it until the first day of the workshop. By the second day I realized why I was where I was, and Me Ra and Brian gave me the tools and the courage to go out there and challenge myself in new ways. I can not even put into words how amazing these workshops are…and there is NO question. Everyone should attend one…it is that simple!

6. What is one or two pieces marketing/self-promotion ideas that you can give our newbies? (something you did to get your name out there)

Definitely business cards. Even if you do not have a website yet, and are just starting out. I would absolutely tell anyone to just get business cards. You can put your own pictures on one side and on the other just have your name and contact information and write down photographer or child photographer how ever you choose to word it. Hand them out to friends and family to give to people, or ask if you can leave them at certain businesses. Or if you just meet someone and the conversation comes up you have something to show a piece of your work and have all the info right there.

I have also found the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation. I did not realize all that I had been through children could be subjected to as well. It is such a misdiagnosed condition and as soon as I found it, I knew I wanted to do my part to help them any way I could. I decided to donate 10% of my prints profits during a certain time frame to their organization. When they found out they were so excited and wanted to help promote me as well and in turn hopefully helping them at the same time. So they posted about me on their website, and I have gotten recognized through that. If there is something that speaks to you…something you would love to help out in some way–you can do it with your photography…you can do it! You never know the possibilities that can arise and at the same time you are helping others and that always feels amazing.

7. What was your first “paid” shoot like? How did you feel on the way, during and after?

My first paid shoot I was very nervous. I was so scared that the “idea” of actually being paid would just get in my head to much and I would never give them something they would actually want to pay for. I had my work cut out for me as well as it ended up being the coldest day of the winter up until that point. It was of two little boys and the youngest was only about 15 months. He was so cold and not happy to be outside, and he cried every time we tried to get him to walk around. I totally understood why! It wasn’t until I got home and started looking through the images that I realized ‘Wow I really can do this, I had so much against me with the weather yet I still captured images where you would never known how miserable it was outside and that the little guy was so upset!’ I ended up making them happy and have actually taken their pictures again since then. It wasn’t until I got their mom and dad’s words of how much they loved the pictures that I actually started to breathe again! It felt empowering to make others so happy.

8. What is the best and toughest part about doing photography while being a mom and wife at the same time?

Guilt and time. By nature I find it very hard to do things for me and when I do…as much as I know in my heart I need them and despite my husband’s encouraging words and support to go get and achieve anything I want…I still feel tremendous amounts of guilt. It is funny to me, as much as this is my business and a job, it is so much fun and I love doing it from the bottom of my heart that I sometimes forget about feeling guilty for going out, away from my family to do a shoot. That I am creating something to treasure for others, making them happy which is priceless for me, and I am contributing to my family at the same time.

Also time, finding the time to sit at my computer and edit all the images I capture. I struggle to find the right time that I am not taking away from my “job” as a mommy or wife and yet not staying up all hours of the night working on pictures and then getting no sleep! (sometimes I just get so into it that I can’t stop to go to bed! Lol! The house is quiet and when does that happen right?!)

The best part is that I get to give people something and make others happy, while at the same time doing something I truly love for me. And I get to share my passion, especially as my children get older and hopefully inspire them to go after their own dreams.

9. Is there one more piece of advice you’d give to newbies?

To stop waiting and just go for it. Fly. Do it for yourself, especially if you are a mom…You know how we all get to these points where we are doing things for all these people and then we stop for a second and think…but who am I again? It will fill that space and empower you to do more in every area of your life! And don’t let those days where you are lacking self confidence bring you down. Just breathe and keep moving forward…it will come back. You can do this!

And to have a good support system behind you. I could not do what I do with out the support of my husband. He is so enthusiastic about what I do and wanting me to grow and succeed. He is always willing to help in anyway with our girls so I can go out and meet with clients and is always by my side reminding me why I started this and how proud he is!

I love that I can make people happy and slow down for a second in this crazy life and take a moment to appreciate the beauty in love in their own lives.

A client once told me that she had never known her husband to cry and as he looked through their on line gallery he had tears. That was the best compliment any one could have given me, especially just starting out.

Through photography I also found a way to give back on a personal level. I found The Littlest Heroes Project, which is a non profit based organization helping children who sometimes feel forgotten because of an illnesses or life altering condition by offering free photography sessions. I have yet to do my first session, but was accepted as a photographer a few months back. I am so excited to be able to take my love for photography and not only start a business but also reach out at the same time and make a child feel wonderful. I am not the founder of this amazing organization or anything to do with how it started, I am just waiting to partake and do my part! If you are interested check them out and see if they are in need of photographers in your area! http://www.littlestheroesproject.org/Littlest_Heroes_Project/Home.html

Photography has opened my life and heart to so many amazing things and I am so honored and thrilled that you, Me Ra, have given me this opportunity to take another deep breath and open up about my incredible new journey. If I can do this anyone can!

Dearest Amanda, I will never forget meeting you at the Minneapolis workshop. You have such a tender soul. You soak in all the energy around you, and you turn the energy into beautiful images. I was looking at your blog last night, and I was blown away–just in total awe of your beautiful images. You seem to capture the human spirit in such a soft, gentle way. Thank you for sharing your story, your fears, weaknesses, triumphs, your honesty…thank you for sharing YOU with all of us. We are better people today because of you.

Much love, Me Ra

To all our blog readers,

To see more of Amanda’s beautiful imagery, CLICK HERE! To follow her blog, CLICK HERE!

Did you see the last five Amazing Mom features? If so, check them out here!

1. Interview w/ Leslie Webber from Indianapolis, Indiana!

2. Interview w/ Michelle Riddle from Santa Cruz, CA!

3. Interview w/Tracie Stier-Johnson from Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

4. Interview w/Lora Ayers from Atlanta, Georgia!

5. Interview w/Carey Schumacher from San Diego, CA!

p.s. AND, would you like to be featured on our blog too?

If you have attended our workshop, purchased one of our five 101 Kits , or watched our DVDs, and feel like your life has taken a new and wonderful turn for the better, then please send me an email at mera@merakoh.com . I will send you directions on how to be featured! We can’t promise to feature everyone, but I want to do this type of blog post more and more. Hundreds of people have sent us the most amazing emails regarding our workshops and DVDs impacting their life, their before and after photos, their revived passion; I would love for all of you to hear those stories!

Jennifer Caplinger sent this to me. So sweet! Love the depth of field Jennifer. You did good!

Rhonda included a Behind the Scenes shot, and I LOVE that! You can see where she was to take the shot.

She got the sweetest results ever! Here is one of my favorites! You would never know the image below was taken next to the garage! Isn’t her creative composition great! We’re not paying attention to this shot being next to her driveway, we’re just captured by her daughter’s eyes and those to cuties in the background!

I got to see this little cutie in person because she lives down the street. Oh man, she probably stole everyone’s heart on Halloween. Her little Annie wig and freckles were precious! Sara said she did the Photo Shoot idea with her kids the week before. So I had to steal her to take our family Halloween photo. See below!

Mary Larson emailed me. She shared that she’s a painter but follows our blog for photo tips. She took my advice and bought the 1.8 lens for her camera. WOW, look at this magical image! Mary, this took my breath away. It is perfect!

And now, for the moment all Twilight fans have been waiting for!

We had Edward Cullen with us on Halloween. Can you believe it! He’s a huge fan of Me Ra Koh Blog.

He was serious. He was in character, and he didn’t utter a word that wasn’t from the Twilight movie!

You may have already spotted this image.

Here is an updated version from Halloween! This is my favorite from the night! As Bella said, “It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real.”

When I asked Edward how he feels about Halloween, he looked me right in the eyes and said ” What if I’m not the super hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” My girlfriend (who is a HUGE Twilight fan) pushed me out of the way and said “I know you weren’t hurt me Edward.” And the quotes continued ALL night long.

Remember the scene in Twilight where Edward is watching Bella (right before he saves her from getting hit by a car).

Edward felt like he looked to cold with all the blue tones and hues. So we tried to lighten it up for Halloween with some yellow hues and background. He doesn’t seem as cold now. To see this revised image and a FEW more, visit my Facebook page later this afternoon (spelling on Facebook: MeRa Koh). If we’re not friends on Facebook, why aren’t we?

The whole family: Batgirl, Storm from Xmen, Wolverine and Edward Cullen.

(Thanks Sara!)

There you have it–some of your awesome Halloween photos and some of our favorites! Thanks again to everyone who emailed me your images! I LOVED them all! Keep up the good work!

xoxo,

Storm

p.s. Whose going to New Moon on November 20th? Kari? Leslie? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TWO NEW Photo Contests, TWO WAYS to WIN! Deadline is December 1st! To enter and WIN, read the details HERE!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE ! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!