For the last two years, our award winning DVD series has brought holiday cheer to thousands of parents!  Starting today, we are offering FREE SHIPPING for the holidays on both Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box!

The Back Story on our DVDs

When I first started learning how to use my camera, I was so frustrated with the camera manual.  The terminology, illustrations, explanations, NONE of it made any sense to me.  I just wanted to be able to look up “How to Get Blurry Backgrounds”!

As time went on I wondered if other people, women in particular, could relate.  I decided to offer a workshop on our blog.  It would be two days long, held in my home, and limited to ten women.  What happened next changed everything. Within twenty four hours, my first workshop was sold out and eight out of ten women were FLYING IN from out of state.  Yes!  I couldn’t believe it!   There were plenty of women who felt frustrated with their camera manuals!  I wasn’t alone!  That is how our CONFIDENCE Workshops grew to become what they are today–still selling out in every city four years later!

But Brian and I knew that not everyone could afford the workshop.  And if they came to the workshop, we wanted them to have something to watch when they went home to help enforce what they had learned all weekend.  What else could we do to help empower parents?

Instructional DVDs was our answer.  But the photography market felt saturated with DVDs already.  This series had to be different.  It would be for consumers not pros.  I wanted moms to no longer feel intimidated by the camera but be empowered to capture what they experienced every day with their kids.

I started teaching myself how to write scripts.  And Brian and I set out to do something we’d never done before, produce a DVD series that would break the barriers for anyone who wanted to grow in their photography passion.  With a bed sheet covering the window in our kids’ play room, we filmed Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box.  We never imagined the response that would follow!

The Unexpected Response!

Sony got their hands on the DVD series and asked if they could license the script and have me write their own version (thus, the Kids in Focus DVD that you get when you purchase a Sony 300 series DSLR)!

The whole experience with Sony had to be what an author feels like when her book is made into a movie.  Imagine going from our humble beginning of a play room with a bed sheet covering the window to a lighting crew, Director, Producer, Props crew, Food crew, you name it, they had a crew for it.  😉

Random House also watched the DVDs and asked me to consider writing two books for parents who love taking pictures of their babies.  (The first book is due this March!)  FOX News was so excited about the DVDS, they featured the complete set as one of their Top Ten Holiday Gifts.  And NAPPA gave BOTH the DVDs their Gold Award, one of the most prestigious awards for parenting products with past Gold Awards given to Baby Einstein DVDs.

But the best part was and continues to be ALL the emails I receive from countless parents, moms, photo enthusiasts, and aspiring photographers who watch the DVDs and see their photos change overnight!  They walk through every chapter with me and finally feel like their camera makes sense.  Blurry backgrounds are only the beginning, and they don’t have to decode their camera manual!

That, in a nutshell, is the back story to how these DVDs came to be!  In the heart of Thanksgiving, I’m so thankful we took a risk four years ago with our baby idea of workshops and a DVD series.  And I’m even more thankful that it has led me to so many of you!

Wondering What to Buy Her for the Holidays (or even Him! :))?

LOOK NO FURTHER!

CLICK HERE to order our award winning DVD series for your loved one!

FREE SHIPPING is our gift to you this holiday season!

*Due to unexpected increase in orders from “certain” TV appearances this year, not naming any names…

Please allow “up to” three weeks for delivery.  Thanks for your understanding!  🙂

Monday’s question:  What “baby ideas” are stirring inside of you?  You never know what they will grow into!

xoxo,

m

p.s.  The SOAR! Scholarship opened last week!  Applications/Video Submissions are now being accepted!  Year Two is underway!

CLICK HERE for all the details, check out the new program, the new cameras being given away and MORE!