Ready to Dive In?

If you've recently purchased a DSLR and are feeling overwhelmed, this is for you.

If you love photography and are hungry to improve, but just don't know where to start, this is for you.


I love photography- and I love to pass it on.



Possible Summer Workshop Locations outside of Sioux Falls: Minneapolis, Rapid City, Brookings, and Marshall MN.


If you're a beginner through advanced amateur that wants to step it up and get better photographs straight out of camera using natural light, this is for you!

Group discounts are available, so grab some friends and dive in together!
 
And yes, I can travel for groups! 
 
Email me at megankoch@yahoo.com, or contact me through the Full Life Site.

Sisterhood.

My whole young life I fantasized about having a sister.  A bonus child a decade behind my 3 older brothers, I grew up, essentially, as an only child.

And I was dying for a sister. 

When I was 5 years old I was so jealous of a classmate's new baby sister I completely fabricated a story in which my mother had, also, just given birth to a baby girl.  That's right, I had a baby sister too.  For a couple of days.  Until I got found out.

I always, always wanted a sister.  A family.  Like a real one, with tons of people to fight with, and to love on.

And now, here we are.  I never got that sister, but I do have that family my heart was always aware it was missing.

A big, bustling, loud, crazy, loving family.  Messes and traditions and inside jokes and lots and lots of mutual affection that far outweighs the squabbles.

I've got a man I love and he loves me and we know it.  And 4 kids that are as different as can be, but also couldn't be the best of who they are without one another.

And for all the time I spent wanting for a sister, I now have the daily joy of watching these three girls grow up enjoying all the sisterhood I never had.

Believing God.

Wait, wait, Sarah just reminded me of this video-  I shot this at the end of last summer so it's already amazing to see how much my kids have grown-  but-  we've been saying this all together at every breakfast for over 2 years.  And this video is cute.  Because my children are adorable.

We're believing God.

Ladies of Sioux Falls this is for You...

Thinking of starting up a Beth Moore study in the next couple of weeks to finish out the summer.  That means ladies only, make that Sioux Falls ladies only, may apply.  The application process is simple- you just have to email me before Wednesday, and we'll figure out which one we'll do and when it will shake down. 

If you're interested, I know it will be a great opportunity to grow, learn, and just enjoy being together.

We'll meet once a week at my house to talk, share, support each other, watch the week's DVD that corresponds with our week of study, and there will be snacks.  And probably iced tea and diet soda.

Beth Moore studies are never, ever a waste of time, because time with Jesus is never, ever a waste of time.  No doubt it will be good.

Are you in?  Shoot me an email or facebook me.

Eye Chart.

When I saw this eye chart linked from Brooklyn Limestone last week, I instantly thought of one of my favorite Hudson Taylor quotes, which we've had in Hudson's room since forever.  I thought it fit perfectly with the concept of the chart.

So I made my own.  Right now it's at 16x20- I may make it larger before I print it.

Beautiful Mess.

We hear, and see, all over, the affects of motherhood. 

The image in our society says:

Moms get frumpy.

Moms get lost and caught up in the myriad tasks and filth of an average day.

Moms forget about taking care of themselves as they get absorbed in caring for their children.  Completely absorbed.

Moms neglect their marriage, claiming there's no time to find for it.

Moms are exhausted.

Housewives are desperate.


Everyone gets to choose how they rock their bod, their wardrobe, their lifestyle.  Whether they're a parent or not.  Whether they balance a double career in and out of the house, or are home full time.  So let's not get caught up in that judgement circle.  We all live differently.  That's not where I'm going here.

This is about your heart.

You were meant to live free.  Free to make mistakes and live full.  Free to live out your purpose.  Not expectations, yours or someone else's.  Free to serve poured out with all your heart without attachment to your self.  Free from comparisons to others, so you can see clearly the thing you should set out to do.

Free to be beautiful but not vain. 

Free to inspire but not intimidate. 

To be humbled, and empowered.

Freedom to fail.  And to get the victory.

To be exhausted after much work, but not sin as a result of it.

To be supported, and also feel confident and secure that you're equipped for every moment.

Free to live whole.  Free to thrive in a whole marriage.  Free to raise up children who will grow up free.

Because a broken down woman teaches her children the same.




For me, motherhood has not at all been about "letting myself go". 

I've discovered in the mysteries of big love and big mess and big mistakes the freedom to let my self go free. 

No chains. 

Wings.

I'm such a better, fuller, mightier woman for it.

Life is not ever perfection.  It's a beautiful mess.

American Girl.

Even a mention of the American Girl dolls to women my age, and you either hear "Oh, I wanted one of those when I was growing up and never got one!" or, you hear, "I loved my American Girl doll", or "I had all the books and wanted a doll so badly!" etc.

It's true.  I've done an in-depth study of this in the past few weeks via facebook.  This study is rock solid.

Girls love American Girl.

Boys don't get it.

It's so a girl thing.

I was in the large, large pool of bright-eyed little girls who eagerly waited for the Christmas-time American Girl catalog to arrive so I could memorize every page and dream of getting one, and I'd leave the catalog out on the table just in case the hint got dropped- but I never got one.  And there was no chance I would.  And I knew it.

If you get a chance to re-live your childhood the "right" way via your child's childhood, then, why not?  Right??

Here's the deal- my three little ladies squeal over American Girl stuff.  They are 100% girly, and mature enough to treat their American Girl doll right.  Really, really right.  And they'll love the books.

The American Girl Era has begun at our house, and with three little American Girls, I don't see why we shouldn't just live it up.  I know we won't regret it.

Grace and Patience each picked out an American Girl Doll as a reward for being able to recite every Awana Memory Verse from their Sparks book word perfect by the end of the year.  We have a stack of well-worn note cards to prove it.  It was a big task to keep them in their hearts throughout the year.  They really do have them down- the other night someone asked Patie some of her verses when she was all hyped-up on sugar and crazed out and she was still able to throw down a few- though not all- I gotta give her a break- that was a tough task- being asked to focus when you're all sugar-fried.

And so, Grace and Patie's dolls arrived.  After waiting and waiting for them.  And talking about them.  A lot.  We opened the delivery box, and Lily, who is not yet in Sparks, and hasn't earned a big reward, looked at me straight and serious as a heart attack and said definitively, "I want an American Girl Doll."  (I knew she'd secretly been dying for one all along, but was keeping face around her sisters.)

After a little discussion on the cost (she had plenty of her own money for it, if she really wanted it- because I rarely encourage them to waste it) and a brief online search which ended in the perfect one, we ordered her.  She's on her way.  Lily is thrilled.  And yes, she knows how much money that is- and this means a lot to her.

We're taking a special trip to the American Girl Store in the Mall of America next month.  We'll be there for about, four hours.  We'll eat at the Bistro.  We will touch everything.  The dolls will have a blast.  We'll take lots of pictures, including a special photo shoot in the city, each girl with her doll.

And because delayed gratification is always rewarding, the American Girls will stay in their boxes until the day we leave for our trip.  Obviously they are super, super excited.  They've been busy making necklaces for their girls, and other little gifts, and we're even going to get fabric and make tiny pillows and blankets so we can convert the doll boxes into little beds.

We aren't frivolous people.  But this is worth it.  This is a big deal to them.  And every little girl loves the idea of a very special doll- who looks just like them.

If you're a boy, get over it.  You just don't understand.  My ladies out there- you get it.  I know you do. 

Here are their American Girls- Click the links to see them larger.  And yes,  they already named them.  On their own. 

Grace

Daisy Lanie

Grace's is a perfect match- everything is exact right down to her sparkly hazel green eyes.

Patience

Emily Rose

Patie's is adorable-with a huge head of strawberry blond curls just like hers.

Lily

Charlotte Lola

Lily's- let me tell you.  The moment I sat Lily on the counter after her haircut for these pictures, I thought, "She looks just like an American Girl doll."  No really- like an alive American Girl doll.  And then, later when the dolls came and Lily decided she wanted to get her own and we looked and we found this one- with the same haircut, and perfect green eyes AND freckles?!  It was too good to be true.  Lily is the only one of our kids who has freckles like mine.  The other girls have some freckles, but not across the bridge of their nose like I did as a girl, like Lily does now.  It was perfect.

  Lily was smitten, and it made my heart happy.

Look at me.  Just look at me.  I strive to write simple, pointed posts without all kinds of extra content, but, obviously, American Girl-talk gets me all disoriented and I went and wrote a ridiculously long post. 

It's just a girl thing.

Why Not?

It rained this morning.

No thunder, no lightning.

Just a big, warm, steady summer rain.

As I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, I glanced out the window and realized the drainage ditch behind our house was full with a cool, steady stream of running rain water.

It was already laundry day.

And bath day.

So...

First Cut

I have put off Lily's first haircut for a long time.  Well, other than a tiny baby mullet trim in her infancy, it's been put off four years.

Her hair has really, really, really been begging me for a cut, but because it was so unevenly layered, I put it off (for too long) for a little while longer until the top could catch up with the bottom layers more. 

In the past few weeks, it really started to look like we could cut soon.  Today we had the time and quick just got the thing done.

Here's what you need to know.  Just about any time I say, "Hey Lily, let me take your picture quick." She gives me this-

Even when she was excited about the haircut, that's still all she'd give me and believe me, that wasn't the worst.  Nice Lily.  Nice.  You can be such a pickle.

But, the haircut was really fun, only took me about 10 minutes, and we both enjoyed it. 

She was jazzed to be getting a grown up haircut, and also mentioned several times that she wasn't "screaming like Hudson does when you cut his hair".

A quick shower later and there you go.

HEY.  DO YOU WANT TO SEE A RIDICULOUSLY LARGE AMOUNT OF SNAPSHOTS FROM AN IMPROMPTU SPRINKLER PARTY WE HAD LAST NIGHT???  WHAT?  YOU DO?? 

Sweet.

Here they are.





Click the arrow things in the RH Corner to make them bigger (you know, if you're family). 

And yes.  Jim brought work with him.  Like those kids who bring homework on vacation.

Accepted.

I've accepted it.  I'll never get over it.  It's just amazing to watch bare dirt break open and out of the cold hard ground, beauty effortlessly appears.

Don't Let the Name Lead You Astray.

The stuff up in this joint is very good. 

If you haven't headed downtown to check it out, bring a sharing-buddy, and enjoy.

Uncovered Fruit.

The other night at dinner, the girls were telling Daddy about their day.  We went to the Pavilion, and to the candy store for a piece of sugar.  Jim made a sarcastic joke to Lily, saying when he and I were on a date the weekend before, we'd gone there (that was, in fact, true), but "Mommy said I couldn't have any candy."

Lily was astonished.  "Mommy, why would you say that?!"

I defended, "I didn't say that.  Daddy was joking."

Patie quickly said, "Well I knew Daddy was joking.  Grown ups don't lie."

It was simple, but it choked me up a bit.

We're not perfect.  We're very, very imperfect people who make imperfect parents.  But we work.  Oh we work.  To be straightforward, consistent, loving, and truthful.

And to Patie, it's just logical.  Grown ups don't lie.

It broke me up, because it's not true.  And I ache thinking of the first time this bites her.

And it broke me up to see at least in her world, from her place watching every move we make, she knows "grown ups don't lie".

Just a little fruit of our work got uncovered.

All the Time

If you have people in your life that you love, I really do believe you need to be taking pictures of them.  All the time. 

The actual number of photos per day, week, month, year for you will not be the same as it is for someone else.  But the point is, if someone were to ask you how often you take pictures, you should be able to say it's "all the time".

Whatever all the time is for you, don't wait.  Shoot.

In honor of all the mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters, friends who have lost printed photographs in the past to earth, wind or fire, shoot away.

This is a digital revolution.  Get those photos off your memory cards, and print some and also save them and back them up in several locations and ways.

But by all means, shoot all the time.  Because it basically costs you nothing to archive 1000 memories at a time.

Isn't that miraculous?

Don't wait for a perfect moment.  Don't wait for everyone's outfits to match, for their hair to be perfect.  Don't keep grouping the ones you love up in a line for a picture and require smiles. 

Just shoot.  Everything.  All the time.  All the ordinaryness that you so quickly forget.

There's nothing stopping you.  You'll never regret it.  Shoot often.  Archive your life.  Your real, gritty, normal wonderful life.  Hire professionals to document a moment of reality for you.  Get in there and let somone take your picture.  Often.

Once you have a digital camera, you have nothing to lose.  Shoot with reckless abandon.  Whether you think your photographs are good enough or not, shoot.  Whether conditions are perfect or not, shoot.  Don't wait for everyone to be smiling, or even for them to be looking at you.  Stop seeking perfection.  Start treasuring the real.  Hold up the truth and savor it.  That's what's real.  What lasts.


Because if you lose your home, or your spouse, your mom, or your child, suddenly these simple photographs become priceless.

Gracious Eyes.

Beauty has a dignity and poise that takes us beyond our smallness and negativity; beauty brings is in to remembrance.  Beauty is the bridge between the real and the ideal.  Not everything is beautiful; yet when we develop a graceful and gracious eye, we can find beauty in the most unexpected places.   -John O'Donohue

It's OK.

This is my go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  And it's very flexible, if you like to get creative.

So here's the deal:

Using the above recipe, I created 100% Whole Grain Quad-Chocolate Chewy Cookies.  You've got 1. Cocoa  2.Three kinds of chocolate chunks.  That makes 4 kinds of chocolate. 

Stay with me.

1.  I typically only use Whole Grain flour in my cookies.  It is healthier, and it makes them much much more filling.  After 2 cookies, max, you're full.  I just make a straight substitution with no special extras.

2.  I replaced 1/2 C of the flour with cocoa powder.

3.  I replaced chocolate chips with 2 C of chopped chocolate.  Green & Blacks, Dark, of course.  Espresso, Mint, and 70%.

It's OK to moan a little.

Tips from the Test Kitchen that I always use for baking cookies of all kinds:

Don't just soften the butter.  Melt it completely.  This scientifically changes the groove of the sugar and butter when they collide and creates chewy cookies.  Obviously, if you want crispy cookies, don't do it.
Use a cookie scoop of course.
Bake them on parchment.
Halfway through baking, completely rotate and change around the sheets.
Take them out just when lightly browned (or in dark cookie cases, getting firm on the edges). Then leave them on the sheet 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  This gets them to bake the rest of the way on the hot sheet, but they remain chewy (but not raw).

So see?  Simple.  And like bam pow, with a little lovin', standard cookies become a whole new thing.

Session One...

Well, I thought it went well.  No one fainted from boredom, or threw a lens cap at me, or told me to stop talking so much.

So, I thought it went well.

Well, actually, I had a lot of fun.  I can talk shots all day, no problem.  We got to try out some things, answered questions, and got to know our cameras a whole lot better.  Since the class ended, I've gotten great comments and questions and love every minute of it. 

The first class is all about getting introduced to the technical side.  It's like a fire hose of information.  But after the initial blow, everyone can go home and work on it step by step.  It's in the trial and error where the real magic happens.

Next week, it's all about creativity.  But- your creativity isn't really free to live up to it's potential until your feet are firmly planted in the technical fundamentals.  So that's of course where you need to start.  If you're wondering how to learn more about your DSLR feel free to ask me. 

Here we are trying out Aperture Priority.

We moved the Aperture up and down, to watch the rear flowers come in and out of focus.  Man those bottles are smudged.

I've never mentored in a group larger than 2 before.  I was a little terrified.  But it turned out to be just as fun, they seemed interested and forgiving of my dorkiness, and the time flew by.  Now I can't wait for next week.

Anything

You can stick anything in a vase.

Patience did this one.

Eight.

8 Years.

And today I'm so grateful for the mystery and deep goodness of knowing and being known.

I love you.

Change of Plans

After a change of plans on Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast together, then stopped alongside the road, keeping ourselves just on the good side of this sign...


to grab some everyday shots...


Here in SD, it's a very special thing for little girls when dress season comes around. It's amazing how little lady hearts resonate with free flowing fabric.

It instantly leads to this...










Patience is certainly growing up, but I savor her last season of that little bit of baby fat and innocence, these last months before she inevitably stretches out, and gets all tall and boney.



Like Grace. Who still startles me a little. The baby in her is gone.

Grateful 2010: May Edition

Lily Hope. Alarm Clocks. Yellow. GPLH. Breezes. Friends. iPods. My Job. Warm, Safe House. Work that I Love. Discernment. Pippen. A Good Forecast. Sunshine. Date Night. Time Alone. Almost-Summer. Summer. Biographies. Sunrises. Grace Daisy. A Date with Patience. Leftover Cake. Thompsons. Morning Snuggles. Cool Morning Air. Tea. Freedom. 3-Day Weekends. Movie Theatres. Sacrifice.

Hudson.

He is such a great little kid.

Charming, adorable, incredibly sweet.

He can just knock you over with his charm.







This bike is pink.



He loves to be big. Can't wait to get bigger.
The world revolves around his blanket, and his Daddy. When Dad walks in the door, it's, "I want to be wi' youuu, Daddy!!", and Jim has a buddy the rest of the night.
When I need him to do something I know he won't want to do, I just tell him, "Let's _____, and do it like Daddy does", or, "Hudson, let's be big, like Daddy". It usually works.



He loves to be rough with the guys, and be sweet and cuddly with the ladies. And he's all things and in between with his sisters. Sometimes obnoxious, but that's his job.

He works hard to get all the doors for us.

He's not big on sitting still, but he's getting there.

And we all agree he's great to have around.

Love you, HJ.

April.

This is April.

She's an old friend. We went to college together.

April likes Coke, and tulips, and has very adorable handwriting.

April- get this- remembers me when I was completely single. Almost no one I see regularly remembers me when I was single. After a few new cities after college, I've always met and become friends with people who only know me as the Mom me. The married me. Good friends who know me from beyond that "great change" are so valuable. They just are.

We both liked to roll our jeans up one roll in college. So it's like 2 pants in one. Jeans, and capris. If it's hot, roll them up. When the sun goes down and it gets cold, roll them down. Genius. I still do that most days in the summer.

We used to take long late night walks together. Lots of them. Looking back, this was a little dangerous, but, in my memory's eye, the world was a different place then. This was only like, 9 years ago. Either way, we did it. We talked about God, friends, boys, life. It's a fond memory for me.

April and I have very complementary personalities. She's full of patience, mercy, and gentleness- all things I naturally am not. So it's a nice balance, and she seems to put up with me OK. But we like the same things. So we have lots in common.

She and I used to be accountability partners. We even got baptized on the same day.

We've eaten lots of Puppy Chow together. And both like to give little gifts.

When I quickly became not single, she listened to every detail that I wanted to discuss and analyze without complaining.

She slipped Jim my ring size when I suspected the Question was near so he'd have it.

She helped me plan my wedding and of course, made sure we watched Father of the Bride on my wedding day.

She was my Maid of Honor and she, along with our other sainted friends, wore her lavender gown like a champ and never uttered a word of complaint to me. That is friendship. I am still sorry for those lavender gowns. Sorry.

When I got married, she, and our friend Erika, bought me my first subscription to Martha Stewart Magazine.

She was the first person I told when I found out I was pregnant with Grace.

When we moved away to enter the "real world" in another city, she was there to wave goodbye when we got in the car.

After college, we still emailed each other often, and did Bible Studies together via email correspondence. That's right. We stayed in touch before Facebook.

A year later when she got married and I got to wear a black dress to her wedding, she did not gloat about how she made a better choice. But, let's face it, she 100% did.

She married one of Jim's friends. So that was convenient.

Then she moved several hours away. Then later I moved several more hours away in the other direction.

And we all kept being fruitful and multiplying.

And we always missed them.

And now, years later, they came back.

Not just back.

They live just an easy walk down the street.

And our kids all mutually love one another.

And we can just come a'calling to each other's houses whenever. And we do. And I love it.

Lily.

"OK Lily Baby, it's your turn. Can you come on over here so I can get a few pictures of you?



"No, I do not care if you don't want to. Sweetheart. Less talk. More action. Get over here Babe. Love you."



"Oh. So that's how it's going to be. Here's the deal. I'll take a few shots. You'll cooperate. It will be short and sweet, and you'll be off and playing again in two snaps."

"Lily, come stand out here, where I'm pointing. Now please. See, there's this thing called a Shallow Depth of Field. I want that. Because it's ideal for portraits, Lily, and it disguises things, like the very unideal location we're in right now. But it's the only place where there's any shade and we need to be here. So I've made my peace with the unideal location because I just want some quick sweet shots of each of you. But I want that Bokeh, Baby, so get over here and get far away from the ugly under-grown bush's focal plane."



"Oooh, No. You are so not going there."


"Lily. Do not go there. This is so simple. Just a good attitude and in less than 2 minutes, we'll be done, and you can go play. Isn't that what you want? Get on the cooperation wagon, please."



"Lily. Seriously."

"Oh, you did not just go there. Seriously Lily. Seriously."



"You know now it's taking waaay longer than either of us wants to admit. It could have been so simple. And now it's taken us like, 10 minutes, after that sidebar you had to have with Daddy after getting hot and spicy with me."

"But, he did say I would choose the consequence. My choice: You put the kibosh on the 'tude, and give me something good. Right now."



"Good enough for me."


I love you Lily.