As a thank you to the military for all they give, especially the sacrifice to be away from home this time of year, I twittered a call out last week for military families to be my models on Seattle’s morning show, New Day.  My hope was to bring a little more awareness to these special families during the holiday season.

Kelly and her two daughters came with a framed photo of dad who is stationed in South Afghanistan.  He’s been gone for four months and has eight more to go.  (To the amazing dad of Lauren and Nicole, thank you so much for all you give.  You should be proud of your girls, they did AMAZING on TV.)  The second family is Capt. Borg, his wife Kristen and their 10 month old baby.  Capt. Borg helps head up the Warrior Transition Battalion, helping soldiers reenter life off the battle field.  It was an honor to personally meet both families and especially have them as my models for Family Photo Tips.  Hope you enjoy the segment, and most of all, a heartfelt thank you to all military families.

Today’s Daily December FB Contest has to do with thanking and honoring the military.  Starts at 10am and last 24 hours!  CLICK HERE to join us!

xo,

m

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Our Favorite Holiday Gift Ideas for the Photo Lovers!

1. The Gift of CONFIDENCE with your Camera!   Tampa CONFIDENCE Workshop  is SOLD OUT!  Only a few spots left for Seattle’s and Orange County/LA CONFIDENCE Workshops!

2. Me Ra’s national bestselling book, “Your Baby in Pictures“, includes forty of her favorite Photo Recipes for capturing your baby and the password to watch ten of the Photo Recipes from Behind the Scenes!  See the trailer here!

3.  Her award winning DVD series, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box.  FOX News featured these dvds as a Top Ten Holiday Gift!  The DVDs are back in stock for stuffing your stockings!  Orders must be received by Friday, December 16th to guarantee holiday shipping and arrival!

I’ve got to introduce you to some pretty awesome mamas and babies!

A few weeks ago, I was given the honor of demonstrating some of my favorite photo-recipes from Your Baby in Pictures on King 5 news in Seattle!  But the best part, I got to have mamas and their babies come on set and be my models!  You can watch the segment, A Baby Forever, below, but here are a few fun behind-the-scenes shots.  This was so much FUN!  And even though it was a few weeks ago, I had to share!  Check out these shots!

These moms all volunteered to be my guinea pigs on the King 5 news set!

They got powdered for the camera and lights!

Their little ones played back stage.  (So stinking cute!)

When the cameras started rolling, the audience started clapping, the lights were shining bright–these sweeties did an AMAZING job!

But when the show’s segment was over, they CRASHED HARD! I mean, after all, it’s tough being a model for one of my photo-recipes!    Especially if your the model for “Those Chunky, Adorable Baby Legs”.

To see these precious babies and their beautiful mamas in action, hit PLAY below.  Or CLICK HERE!

A BIG HUG to ALL the moms and babies who came on set!  Thank you so much for being in the audience and for letting me grab a handful of you and put you in front of the camera!  You were all amazing troopers!!  I’ve been meaning to thank you since that day–your time and willingness to be available is not taken lightly and blessed me and so many viewers!

For MORE Photo Tips, see the ones I gave to King 5′s website!  CLICK HERE and scroll past the video!

Mother’s Day is coming up soon dads.    Just an idea…you could order her a copy of the best selling “Your Baby in Pictures” book!  Read reviews by CLICKING HERE.

Click your favorite bookstore here to order online!  AMAZON,  BARNES & NOBLE, or INDIEBOUND!

Enjoy!

xoxo,

m

A couple of week ago, Channel 3 News/CNN Affiliate aired a piece on how I got started in photography, what my heart and passion are for women, and why our CONFIDENCE Workshops mean so much to me.  There are even some great OLD SCHOOL photos of me when I was touring with my first book, Beauty Restored.  (oh my goodness, what was I thinking with that short haircut!  )

If you missed the interview, watch below or CLICK HERE.

If you are considering the CONFIDENCE Workshop for this Spring, I hope this video gives you more clarity on what to expect.  And if nothing else, I hope you feel inspired and empowered with your photography passion!

CLICK HERE for details on the last workshop spots left in New York, Seattle and Chicago.

Can You Guess?  Keep Reading! 

For more information on a Mini Session for you and your family while I’m in New York, CLICK HERE.  The Mini Sessions will be this Friday morning in Central Park.  It’s going to be a BIG week with a newborn shoot that just got booked for Thursday morning in DC, to Friday morning Minis, to the Park Slope Speaking Engagement at Barnes and Noble Friday afternoon (you are all invited! RSVP here!) to our NY CONFIDENCE Workshop!

But come this Monday at 8pm, after the workshop, a whole new adventure starts.  Can you guess what it is?!

Coming Up Tomorrow!

Get ready to be inspired by the January 2011 Seattle CONFIDENCE Women!

I’m so excited to show off the work from TWENTY plus women!  You’ll be inspired by all kinds of ideas for babies and families, regardless of your setting, lighting and subject’s age!  These women and their unique perspectives will EMPOWER YOU!

xoxo,

m

Yeah!  It’s the BIG day for one of my FAVORITE shows with the Nate Berkus team: The Valentine’s Day Show!!  Catch the trailer here!  This is a show you don’t want to miss!  It is PACKED with crazy fun Valentine photo tips and AMAZING surprises!!  And I have to say that guest Patti Stanger, the Millionaire Matchmaker, is hilarious on this show!

Let me know what you think of the Sweetheart Photo Tips!!  (I think Nate did an excellent job Photo Coaching with me!  )

A certain guest named Michael…he really knocked it out of the park! Wait till you see!  (big hugs to Rachel and Michael–the wonderful couple I got to work with!)

Happy Valentine’s Day Every One!!

-m

p.s.  The Early Bird for Spring CONFIDENCE Workshops is going to start tomorrow or Wednesday!   Stay tuned for what cities we are coming to!

It’s time to meet your new SOAR! Recipients!

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A big congratulations to Charisse Rhodes, Ali Anderson and Rachel Abelson!!  You will get to know these women a lot more in the months to follow!  We are so excited to officially start their journey!  Will you help me welcome these courageous ladies!

This amazing video was edited by Photographer’s Reel!  They are the latest company to join our SOAR! Partners, and they have produced promo videos for pros like Jasmine Star and David Jay!  All three SOAR! Recipients will have their OWN promo video made with Photographer’s Reel at the end of the year!  Isn’t that amazing!

Special thanks to a handful of women who represented our incredible community in today’s video; Christine Barker, Wendy Zippwald, Linda Baylis and Genie Ohashi.  Thank you for taking the time to bring the good news to these ladies in person!

Special thanks to our SOAR! Partners; SONY, Adobe, Wisdom Connection, Jill-e Designs, SmugMugPro, FastLine Media, San Diego Barefoot Memories , ShootDotEdit and Pixel 2 Canvas!

*If you were a SOAR! Applicant this year, or last year, I’d like to invite you to a special SOAR! Teleconference Call on February 18th at 10am PST/1pm EST.  I will be joined with Wendy, our SOAR! Coordinator, and the SOAR! Business Coaches from Wisdom Connection.  We have planned a special 1 hour call to kick off the new SOAR with inspiration and coaching questions for you to reflect upon.  Keep a look out for a special email invitation with all the call-in details so you can join us.  Again, this SOAR! Teleconference call is a special call for ALL our SOAR! Applicants.  We can’t wait to talk with you!

Have to say it one more time!  Congratulations Charisse, Ali and Rachel.  Soak it in ladies and fasten your seat belts! 

xoxo,

m

Here comes Part 2 to last week’s Photo-Recipe for the Family Photo When You’ve Got Toddlers!

After you capture the family photos, what is next when working with Toddlers?  Well, give them a little playing room, and they may give you some great, unexpected ideas!   This little guy wanted to crawl around in the leaves and pretend like he was a doggy!  So stinking cute!  This simple moment led to something much bigger.

When working with a two year old, you can do one of two things.  Try to distract him from playing doggy, or go with the flow and see what magic may unfold.

When I least expected it, magic totally unfolded!  His mama picked him up and brushed off his clothes–and that’s when it struck me!  As I watched the two of them I thought ‘these are the kinds of photos I love from when I was a kid–that simple moment that shows how little I was, the funny things I did, and the glow of my mom’s love for me.’  I had to capture this!  So I asked mom to brush him off some more (and more and more).  If I don’t have cameras rolling on set and a live feed of every image I’m capturing for an audience to see on national television…I’m all about re-do’s!  Amen sister!

I asked mom to turn a little more towards me and be sure to smile.  I didn’t need to see her whole face, but instead, I wanted to capture her beautiful profile with her hair back lit by the sun.

My camera was set to Continuous Shooting mode.  This allows you to take several photos at a time by holding down your shutter release button (the button you push down when you take a photo ).  This camera setting is PIVOTAL to capturing these types of toddler shots!  The actions and expressions of a toddler are SUPER FAST.  If I wasn’t in Continuous Shooting mode, I may have missed the moments.  In fact, you can watch this quick video clip of me taking these photos to see how fast it all went down!  I’m not a video editor by any means, but I think you’ll find it helpful to see the simplicity in how I set this up and how fast it happened.

Within seconds we went from being a little doggy to joking with daddy (who is standing behind me).  If one of the parents are out of the frame, I like to have them stand behind me and a bit off to the side.  I encourage them to talk, joke, be goofy, even sing to their little one.  It’s amazing what expressions will appear when dad starts to get silly behind the photographer!

This one is my absolute FAVORITE!  Look at that SWEETNESS!

As we all know, photographing toddlers can be a HANDFUL!  They are constantly on the go needing to be distracted (without them knowing you are distracting them).  I find myself needing to create space within the shoot where I can watch them play, see what they are into, and within a matter of minutes they will almost always show me.   “Doggy!  Ruff-Ruff!” said this little guy.  Crawling in the leaves and playing doggy is something this toddler loves right now.  There isn’t anything sweeter to capture in that moment.

When I’m shooting, I can’t help but think to myself  ‘When this little guy is a grown man, what photo–what moment–what expression–will his mama, auntie, or grandma want to put on their fridge?  When he comes home from college, what photo will make him smile, even blush?  What photo will make his girlfriend fall even more in love with him?    What expression will not only remind his loved ones of how sweet he was but the young age he was–his innocence–the simple joy he brought to everyone around him (and continues to bring).  These are the moments we are searching for when we hold our cameras.  Simple, true stories.  The kind that will bring us inner joy whenever we recall them.

CAMERA SETTINGS

Point-and-Shoot:

Look for open shade if the sun is bright.  Mama’s hair is back lit because I was shooting my DSLR in Manual mode (see below for those details).  But if you are using a Point-and-Shoot, you may have a tougher time getting this look.  My best advice is to still capture the expressions and moments, but shoot it in open shade where there are no shadows from the sun or unwanted eye squinting.  If you like the buttery, blurred backgrounds like the photos in this blog post, set your shooting mode to P for Portrait or A for Aperture-Priority.  These two modes will automatically give you a lower f-stop which creates the buttery, blurred background.

Your DSLR:

Go to Manual mode to have more control of your lighting and hair back lit from the sunlight.   Try my DSLR settings below;

ISO 200 I keep it as low as possible for the best color results.

Aperture was f/2.8. I’m using a low f-stop because I love the buttery, blurred background.  If you know you love buttery, blurred backgrounds but need help understanding them, check out our Beyond the Green Box DVD!

Shutter Speed was 1/400th of a second or some camera just say 400.  I metered on the little one’s face and then adjusted my Shutter Speed so the meter’s marker was between 0 and positive 1.  If this doesn’t make any sense, I’ve got another route!  If your weather looks similar to what my weather was start with my DSLR settings.  Then look at your photo.  Is the photo bright enough?  If no, slow down your shutter speed so more light can come in.  For example, try going from 1/400 to 1/250.  If your photo is to dark, roll your shutter speed dial in the opposite direction.

Remember to breathe, give yourself freedom to experiment and have fun.  No critics allowed!  Tell that critic voice to keep it zipped so you can play.

Post your questions about today’s Photo-Recipe!  I’ll be checking in throughout the day!  As always, feel free to post your own photo tips and tricks in the comments too!  Your voice is one of the things I treasure most about this community!

xoxo,

m

p.s.  And don’t be shy to post “I SUPPORT SOAR!” for your chance to win $100 GC to Amazon Giveaway!  Details HERE!

The Nate Berkus Show has received a handful of photography related questions from viewers who have watched my segments (YEAH!).  The NB team asked me to answer some while I was Behind the Scenes last week.  One of the questions I answered was all about taking Halloween Photos!  To my surprise, it’s the Featured Video on the NB home page!  Yeah!

Remember the Halloween Photo-Recipe I posted on Friday?  Did any of you try it?  If you prefer video blogs over reading, here it is!  It’s not to late to get your kids and do a night Photo Shoot!

We made it home from Photo Plus Expo late Saturday night…just in time for a FUN FILLED Halloween!  And oh my goodness, wait till you see our costumes!  Oh man, did we ever have a blast with making this year’s costumes!  Photos from Photo Plus and our Halloween costumes are coming soon!  But first…day of REST for me.

Love you all!  Happy Monday!

xoxo,

m

The SOAR! gals are really going for it with their weekly video blogs!  This month’s SOAR! Photography Exercise was to do a photo shoot at night with an engaged couple!  I wanted the ladies to shoot outside of their comfort zone and see what magic they could create when ideal light is not available.

Watch what Lindsay did!  You will not only crack up but learn a few things too!  She rocked it!!

Linds, GREAT JOB!  Aside from preferring better light, any words of wisdom that you learned about shooting at night?

The exercise was so fun that I may do a Call Out on my FB page!  Make sure you are following me to hear it!

xoxo,

m

*Early Bird Price for upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshops!  Delicious Details Here!

I gave our SOAR! Scholarship recipients another challenge–a BIG one.  Starting this month, they would rotate with one another on who was going to make their weekly blog post a video.  Video!!  You could hear them groan on the other side of the phone.  But alas, these ladies have taken on every challenge and are becoming AMAZING photographers and strong, confident business women with each passing month.

The September SOAR! Photography Assignment is all about  Shooting Silhouettes.  Linda Baylis was up to bat for making her video.  I know a lot of you saw this on the SOAR! blog and already commented how much you loved it, but in case you missed it…YOU CAN’T!  It’s so awesome!  (Linda, you rocked it!  I’m super, super proud of YOU!  And I laugh every time I watch this!)

Wasn’t that video awesome!  If you enjoyed it, let Linda know in today’s comments!

Why make these gals do videos?

Being a successful photographer isn’t just about understanding your camera, it’s being able to let people into your world so they can connect with you.  People are most often afraid of the camera, let alone someone pointing the camera at them.  They want to feel safe and connected to their photographer.  One of the best ways to do this is to let them see you in action.  The best way to become a successful photographer is to let people see who you are; your smile, your passion for shooting, your passion for life, the safe feeling you give.  It’s tough to be in front of the camera, but well worth it!

The Silhouette examples don’t stop with Linda.  Check out Lindsay’s post and Jennifer’s post.  All three of these ladies did an awesome job!  And yes, get ready to see more great videos from these gals as they approach their last quarter of the SOAR! Scholarship year.  In fact, watch Lindsay’s Business Coaching video.  That one is HILARIOUS and powerful!

What’s the SOAR! Scholarship?

It’s an annual scholarship that I started last year–a mission that is close to my heart and has amazing partners involved.   CLICK HERE to watch my video. Who knows…maybe you will be one of three soaring women for this upcoming year!  Scholarship will reopen for new submissions soon!  Stay tuned!  (Yep, we are doing the scholarship again ladies!  Woo-hoo!!)

Enjoy friends!

xoxo,

m

You asked for it!  We are back with the 2nd part of Bri-Ahn Kor’s interview!

He’s going to answer the pressing question of why he never looks people in the eye.  Watch, listen and be inspired as a photographer to never look anyone in the eye again!

Bri-Ahn Kor wants to hear from you!  He tells me his speaking schedule is packed for the next three years!  To many TV appearances lined up to count.  To many sponsorships banging on his door.  To much Latin to still teach his kids while he finishes up the FIVE book contract with the biggest publisher!  But for Me Ra Koh blog readers, he is going to do something out of his usual character.  He is going to give us a chance to ask him a question!

Bri-Ahn Kor said today is your chance to post any question you want to ask THE Bri-Ahn Kor.  If you are lucky, he may decide to answer your question in Part 3 of his video interview!  Just tell him your question, first name and what state you are from. 

Ask away!

xoxo,

Me Ra (and Bri-Ahn Kor)