your family in pictures
The Parents' Guide to Photographing Holidays, Family Portraits, and Everyday Life
by Me Ra Koh
Amphoto Books, an Imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley
I have always loved taking photos, but felt intimidated and afraid of wasting film on a bad shot and missing a really good one! Then I was given a digital camera! No longer limited by the roll of film, I was photographing everything - and discovered that even with a digital camera, you can still take a bad shot and miss a really good one!
When Blogging for Books offered Me Ra Koh's book, YOUR FAMILY IN PICTURES, I decided to review it and see if there was help for my photography. And this little book is indeed informative!
YOUR FAMILY IN PICTURES, the author's third book, is divided into sections that reflect the events of family life: holidays, birthdays, vacations, individual and family shots - all opportunities to preserve the memory with a camera. And as a wife and mother, the author shares her personal creative successes and failures with her own family as an avenue to teach the reader.
On the technical side, Me Ra Koh displays a tremendous ability to discuss posing, lighting, and shutter speeds in such a way that either the most inexperienced novice as myself or an experienced photographer can follow the instructions and achieve results.
The author is all about trusting that you can do this and to just pick up the camera and take that shot! In her closing, Me Ra Koh offers tremendous encouragement to the reader:
Learning a new art not only stretches our creativity but comes up against all
our fears and doubts that we aren't good enough or creative enough to keep
trying. ... true creativity is about venturing into the dark. ... And this process,
the creative process, is often messy, but it's incredibly rewarding.
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NOTE: In the author's section on "you and your spouse", Ms. Koh suggests the subjects have a glass of wine to relax before the photo shot. As I do NOT condone the use of beverage alcohol in any form for any reason, it is herein noted that this review does NOT agree with nor condone this suggestion by the book's author. CE Watson
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Author Bio: Me Ra Koh is the leading photography expert and educator to moms with cameras. In addition to her success as an author and photographer, Me Ra is a sought after, inspirational keynote speaker who brings empowerment, humor and tears to all her audiences. Her CONFIDENCE Photography Workshops for Women have sold out for six years. She can be followed at www.merakoh.com and @merakoh.
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DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. I have not received any type of financial compensation for this review.
C.E. Watson
Photo source: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
