MeRa Koh SOAR! scholarship entry

I did it again... I applied for MeRa Koh's SOAR photography scholarship. I figure I really don't have much of a shot at getting it... but if I didn't apply, I REALLY wouldn't have a shot, right dad? You can click on the SOAR site here & see my last-minute video (and of course you can leave a comment on it if you feel so inclined!). I hope there aren't many more applications that got submitted - right now there are only 116 entries, which gives me almost a 1 in 35 shot!
There are some amazing women out there applying & the camaraderie & cheering-everyone-along of the women is pretty incredible. The group of ladies that attended the workshop in May - well, they are awesome. We still keep in touch & are always rooting for each other with our photography & life in general. If you can... save your pennies & go to one of these workshops. It will do amazing things for your photography & your confidence & your vision & you will build a network of awesome loving sisters who love photography as much as you do.
The video is half of the application, the other half was written. It had to be between 90-120 seconds... which is hard! If it seems choppy, it's because it is! I had to go through & erase all my "ummmm"s & pauses to shave seconds off.

I'm the other Kristen

1. I shoot people with a:

• Nikon D90. I had a D50 forever but just got my D90 in May - an early birthday present (it's in June). I loved my D50... I superLOVE my D90.

2. My favorite lens:

• my Nikor 50mm f/1.4 is my most favorite lens! I can get sweet portraits with super-blurry background... which I love.

• ok... but I can't stick with just one favorite anything. my next favorite (& current fave, because it's new) is my Nikor 24-70mm f/2.8. It's such a good all-around lens & I love that it can open all the way to f2.8 - blury background (or bokeh) is my favorite. I've been drooling over this lens for a year+ & finally decided I deserved/needed/couldn't live without it any longer & got it in June (happy birthday! I'm expensive).
  

3. classes you've taken/how long you've been actively pursuing photography

• I've been actively pursuing this passion for about 3 years. I'd always loved taking pictures, but finally started taking it seriously/trying to figure my camera out & figure out HOW to get the shots I love since my kids have come along.
  
• When my oldest (Chase) was born in Dec 2006, my hubs (Aaron) bought me Me Ra Koh's 2 instructional DVDs beyond the green box & refuse to say cheese. I loved them! I learned a ton & highly recommend them. She has a way of explaining camera stuff so that it actually makes sense.
• I took a couple (semi-sub-par) online courses back in NY a year or two ago (photoshop CS3 & secrets of better photography both by Betty Shulz) & learned a few things. I didn't really love the secrets of better photography, but I did learn from it. I would recommend the photo-editing classes; there are a billion to chose from & I learned A LOT. (Especially since PS CS3 was way over my head when I got it - still probably is, but that class taught me more than I'd ever been able to figure out on my own, that's for sure - I couldn't even figure out how to OPEN a picture to START editing when I first got CS3.)
  
• I have been reading/drooling over Me Ra Koh's photography & blog for a couple years & for Christmas, Aaron bought me a spot at her Confidence Workshop in NYC this past May. IT WAS AMAZING & I learned sooooo much. I would go again hands-down, no questions asked in a second if I could - it was that good. I finally understand metering & can proudly say that since May 28 I have been "all manual, all the time" & I'll never go back to anything else. Worth every penny (early bird registration is $200 off, so save your pennies & go - you won't regret it, I PROMISE).
  

4. thoughts on photo editing (Software/programs you use)

• Photoshop CS3 as I already mentioned... but I don't use it very much now that I got.... (dun, dun, dun... wait for it:)
• ADOBE LIGHTROOM 3. girls. this program is my favorite. I can edit so much faster & it is fabulous. Unfortunately, Aaron got my LR2 a matter of weeks before LR3 was released.... but fortunately I have a friend at adobe who hooked me up with LR3. (and fortunately for you that means I have LR2 for sale if anyone wants it for a steal at $90.) It is an awesome program. I need to take a class to learn a bit more on it, I'm sure there's more to learn, but I've figured out tons on my own & love it mucho.
  

5. a favorite image I've captured:

• @ the erie county fair, taken last summer. this was our first time at the fair & the boys were in a trance the whole time, captured by the lights, the sounds, the smells, the rides... all things that are the fair. I absolutely love this image - it's not staged at all, I just happened to catch the hubs' hands holding tickets that he had just bought for Chase to use on rides. I love his little expression of awe & wonder. and I love the colors. it had been raining just before this & so the color was so rich & vibrant because of the perfect lighting.

6. What would I like to learn how to do better?

• oh, there is so much. Mostly, I want to figure out how to turn this into a business for myself. I eventually want to do weddings & big events... as well as portraits, babies, families, seniors, etc... but I feel like there is SO much to learn before I can jump into weddings. My favorite thing to capture is the intimate connections. the Relationships. the Feelings. the Emotion. I feel like I can do this... and my favorite thing about photography is being able to freeze those amazing connections between people & go back & give that to the client & have them be happy with the images. Now I need a way to turn this into a business so that I can touch more people with my work & balance my time shooting/editing/etc & also be able to support this expensive PASSION that is photography. (There is always another camera body to want, more lenses to crave/need?, etc...)
  
• I'd like to learn how to do off camera flash stuff, I think the images come out so dramatic.... & who doesn't love drama?
• For now I'm focusing on manual & trying to keep my images less "noisy" & trying to get my exposures right with my camera, not my editing software.
• oh, and I totally need help with POSING people - especially large families. I just hate when everyone is like "uh, duh, where should we stand?" & I'm like "oh, duh. I don't know. just act natural?" I feel like a blubbering fool when I'm trying to pose people & still have them look un-posed/relaxed. (See? Not ready for weddings.)

7. My favorite photography blogs:

• me ra koh - my super mentor. she has tons of tips on her blog & just wants women to succeed at photog!
  
• brooke snow- I'd love to do her workshop...
• jonathan canlas-I like his style & totally wish he did my wedding.
  
• jennie slade - because she's my BF from BYU & a dang good photog.
• I also like allison c, ali brown, just found & love kelly moore & dustin dodd...
  
• and for what to buy next: kenneth rockwell - he is like the all-knowing-Nikonman. I TOTALLY recommend his site for researching new bodies/lenses/flashes, etc. So much information & so unbiased (he's not paid by Nikon, he just likes camera stuff & likes to review stuff).
• and for buying equipment: amazon or adorama. (and if you link through ken rockwell's page he gets a little money, so that's nice for him.) adorama even BUYS old gear from you! love that.
  

giveaway by another photographer...

Photogs, check out the GIVEAWAY & Sale for Skye’s new Workshop Workbook!!
Visit her very cool website at http://www.theworkshopworkbook.com!