Me Ra Koh - Your child in pictures: The Parents’ Guide to Photographing Your Toddler and Child from Age One to Ten

Capturing the story of my childrens lives has been one of the most rewarding honors of my life.

If you read Your Baby in Pictures, you will remember me sharing how I didnt find photography. Photography found meand then it healed me. I bought my first SLR camera when I was turning thirty years old as an attempt to process the grief of miscarrying Aidan, our second baby. At the time, I was an author and speaking at womens events on the topic of recovering from sexual victimization. My first book, Beauty Restored, was based on my recovery and restoration after being date-raped. Photography was nowhere on the map for me, but with the painful loss of Aidan, my heart needed a new creative outleta way to process my grief. Little did I know that as I grieved Aidans death, the birth of a new love would come.

I remember the afternoon it happened. Pascaline was eighteen months old and playing in front of the French doors. The afternoon light spilled into the room and illuminated her in such a magical way. I knew in that moment that even though I couldnt hold on to Aidans life, Pascalines life was hereright in front mewaiting to be captured, cherished. With my new camera in hand, she and I headed out to the garden. As a toddler, Pascaline was always intent on being my little helper. When she reached for the garden hose, instead of trying to keep her from becoming soaked, I stepped back and captured the moment with my camera. I went to the closest one-hour lab with my roll of film, and when I saw the resultsher spirit and big eyes looking back at meI was hooked.

Friends and family started noticing the photos and asked me to photograph their children. Before long, brides were contacting me to shoot their weddings. Within four years of buying my first SLR, I was shooting million-dollar weddings all over the country. My husband, Brian, joined me, and photography became a vehicle for us to work and grow in creativity together.

As much as I loved shooting high-end weddings, my heart has always been committed to empowering women, especially moms. This is what I spent my time dedicated to before photography, and I knew that this is what I wanted to get back to. A few years later, Brian and I made a decision to shift our photography business from being a boutique wedding business to empowering moms with a camera. Through my daily blog, I began to provide moms with photo tips on how to capture their children.

In a short period of time, my photography and photo tips were featured on TheOprahWinfreyShow, VH1, Lifetime television, as well as in the NewYorkTimes and on exhibit in New York City. Yet I still wanted to reach more moms, to inspire their creative spirits. It was time to return to speaking engagements, and in the process, my passion for empowering women grew a thousand times stronger.