Brian and I are back from the most wonderful weekend in San Francisco!
On Friday night, we met some of the women who are in my Next Octave coaching group (and their great husbands) for dinner. Brian got to meet these amazing women in person, and we all talked for hours. It was a perfect dinner! Thank you ladies!
Next came Saturday: Day Two of BlogHer 08! Hundreds of women from all over the country came to San Francisco for the annual BlogHer Conference. I was honored to join in the fun and teach a photography workshop to these amazing, beautiful blogging superstars!
I would say 98% of the sessions were panel discussions with 3-4 women bloggers up front speaking. But the BlogHer staff was kind enough to let me to do the photography session solo, and we were packed out with women sitting on the floor and standing outside the doorways! The enthusiasm they had for taking better photos was wonderful!
(I just love how Brian tilted the camera to capture this little baby’s eyes. :))
This picture is to fun not to share. I was giving out door prizes of Refuse to Say Cheese, Beyond the Green Box, the Portrait 101 Kit, and Adobe’s Lightroom. When I held up the Portrait 101 Kit to give away, the two women in the front went crazy over it. See what I mean, this was a super fun audience!
BlogHer had posted on their site months back the question, “What do you want to hear about from Me Ra Koh at BlogHer 08?” We posted four different topics I could speak on and asked them to vote. The response was so diverse that I decided to mix all four topics and created a talk called “The Top Ten Tips that Shape Our Images.” Assuming the levels of photography would be super diverse, I started out easy for the beginners in the room and then got more and more difficult for the more advanced people in the room.
A number of you have asked me to post the outline from the session. Great idea! Check back tomorrow because not only will I post the outline, but I’ll post some of the image examples too.
Aside from the fun of getting to speak at BlogHer, I also got to catch up with some of the wonderful ladies I met when I spoke at the Sony’s Mommy Blogging Event! It was great fun to see them again and catch up! Becoming more acquainted with the blogging world has been fascinating and the Sony Mommy Bloggers are nothing short of amazing!
And to top it off, Tracey Clark and I finally got to meet in person! Yeah!
Tracey is such a kindred spirit. She is the founder of Shutter Sisters, an author, a wonderful photographer, mama and beautiful wife. We had such fun talking that Brian and I almost missed our flight home. In fact, the flight ended up being delayed and that is the only reason we didn’t miss it! But our only regret is we didn’t get to hook up with Garrett and Rick! Next time you guys, we still need to experience Garrett’s cooking! π (Great shots of Justin Timberlake! Way to go you guys!!!)
But I know what is on all your minds. Your waiting to hear what Batman has to do with any of this blogging craziness. Okay, I’ll get to the real meat of today’s post. π
Brian and I bought tickets for Batman on Saturday night. The theater was in a mall downtown. We got there an hour early and decided to do some window browsing. After fifteen minutes we decide to get our seat “early”. Okay, whatever! The lady says we need to get in line by the windows. Sure. No problem. But wait, the line runs all along the windows on the main floor, goes up to the 2nd floor, 3rd floor and wraps around the whole 4th floor! People in the front of this mammoth line had been there since 7pm! Our showing was 10:30pm. The math kills me! They had been waiting in line for over three hours!! Serious.
Assuming we’d be sitting in the front row, the line actually continued for quite some time after us. I think our theater held 1000 people because somehow we ended up getting good seats! But word of caution, this movie is on the dark side. Not for kids in the least. And Joker is so convincing that he creeped me out. But Brian, oh boy, Brian was in heaven. Don’t forget, he is the actual Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) in disguise as Brian, Me Ra Koh’s husband. π
p.s. Our product’s site, Refuse to Say Cheese, went down today. I know a lot of you from the conference were hoping to purchase the DVDs and 101 Kits on line. We should have the site back up soon! Thanks for understanding. (Don’t you just love the timing of sites going down? :))
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To enter our new Photo Contest for July, send your image as an attachement to contest@fioria.us. The theme is Water. Any thing that has to do with water is welcome.
To see our day job , visit here.
For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese , our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, or for details on spots left in our upcoming Chicago Workshop , click on the words of your choice!
Me Ra,
Came for my occasional Me Ra fix-
You never cease to amaze me with your insights, sharing, and endearing personableness. I wish we lived closer, and had free time. Then maybe we could actually say hello in person from time to time.
Keep up the fabulous momentum! Say hello to Bat -uh, Brian.
You were so close to me and didn’t call! I know you were busy. Next time! You can’t forget your BFF in CA!
Sounds like you had a blast! I’m going to go over and check out BlogHer. What do you have to do to go to a conference? Can anyone go or do you have to be invited?
I do know that when I’m on line looking at blogs what usually grabs me first are the photos. That could be just me. You really can’t go wrong with a great photo!
Hey Me Ra!
I wish I could have been there this weekend – darn husbands and their 40th birthdays…I did take a big step last week tho!
Anyone else been compulsively refreshing Me Ra’s blog every 15 minutes since the bicycle post last week? LOL!
Looking forward to the results from the Fatherhood photo contest… I also can’t seem to find the due date for the Water photographs. I took some pictures this weekend, now to figure out which one to send in!!
Sounds like you are involved in so many fun events! I’ve recently discovered some blogs from ladies who make beautiful cakes and cupcakes… dessert blogs are so much fun! Now to buy some chocolate out of the snack machine. π
We can’t wait to see Batman!! Also can’t wait for Chicago…I’m still counting down the days!
Sounds like a great event, can’t wait to see the tips you post tomorrow!
Batman was so intense but it was really good, especially joker!
hey me ra…looks like a fun weekend. i didn’t want to toot my own horn….but later this year i’ll be one of the guest speakers at BlogHe 08. but you can all come…no worries! π tell the big guys at the door that jeramy said it was ok.
ok, the new Batman WAS AMAZING! I don’t think it could have been any better!!! And yes, I was horrified that there were KIDS in the audience… just because its based on a cartoon doesnt mean its for kids!
How fun that u got to speak at Blogher – I’ll have to check out all those links π
Loved your session! I’m a beginner and I so appreciated the way you started small, and in plain language! I’m very eager to purchase my first DSLR and I plan to keep your resources on hand for when that happens. Thanks again!
Hey Me Ra and Brian,
Sorry we missed you!! Tanya and I just made fresh basil pesto from the garden and we were thinking of rolling out the dough with a plate of homemade pasta tossed with fresh pesto. After the pasta is on the plate we take sweet 100’s (small cherry tomatoes), cut them in half and toss them in a champagne vinaigrette. Then scatter the tomatoes onto the pasta, which adds brillant color to the green of the pesto. A sprinkle of
toasted pine nuts and parmesan to finish it off. OK some tasty garlic bread made with Acme Bread (Artisan bread from the Bay Area). Wine – sure a bottle of Roederer Sparkling Wine (Love this). Dessert – well I thought homemade pistachio ice cream is a favorite…
Maybe next time….
Garrett
Jeramy and I will come over Garrett! We’ll bring some wine!
dang garrett….that’s tough. you did forget the 94′ silver oak cab. i’m sure they would have loved it! next time perhaps….
Garrett you suck so bad!!! I can’t believe you!!! You kill me! That post is making me salivate all over the keyboard!
Also, I’m cooking up an idea that we’ve got to talk about soon! π I think you and Rick are going to like it!
Me Ra, I love that shot of us! Too fun. You almost missed your flight!? AH! Sooooo glad you didn’t! Whew. Gabbing with you for that last hour was one of my weekend highlights. I could have talked for hours longer. You are a forever friend; I can feel it. xo t
Me Ra,
Looks like your in element once again. You never seas to amaze me! I must admit I’m envious of the ladies who got some one-on-one with you without little munchkins wanting to swim or crying because of sunscreen in their eyes. (Bless her Heart!) That was such a classic mommy moment!
It was wonderful to see all of you a few weeks ago. I know it had been a long pool-side kind of a day, but I so appreciate you taking time for a visit! The image that has stuck with me and made me smile many times over….is of you and Pascaline waving goodbye from your second story window. (I really wish I had grabbed my camera, to capture the queen and her precious princess!) You just looked so cute in your castle! Hey and your King makes a mean burger…thanks for cookin’ Brian! Luke also wants to thank Blaze for sharing those yummy blueberries too! π Love ya!
You are everywhere! How do you do it?! It looks like everyone was having so much fun. I love the shot of Brian, I mean Bruce.
More than anything else, THIS makes me wish I’d been able to make it to BlogHer. Looks amazing!