Koh - Your family in pictures : the parents guide to photographing holidays, family portraits, and everyday life

Photo by Amy Rhods

With all the amazing opportunities and wonderful partnerships weve built, nothing compares to the powerful, creative voice that photography has given to our family as a whole.

was speaking in Seattle when a woman came up to me afterward. In her hands she held a well-loved copy of my first book, Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parents Guide to Photographing Your Babys First Year. She had flown from South Dakota to Washington State not only to hear me speak but to share something special. As she opened the book, I noticed that every single one of the forty photo recipes had a small photo attached that she had taken. She had documented the first year of her babys life and, with tears welling up in her eyes, wanted to thank me for empowering her to capture moments she never thought possible. Each photo was her beautiful interpretation of my photo recipes. I was so moved by what I saw that she gave me the prints as a gift. Those prints sit on my desk as a visual affirmation to my passion of empowering moms with cameras.

If this is your first introduction to me and my story, Ill start with a shortened version, but I invite you to read more at www.merakoh.com. I often share that I didnt find photography; photography found me, and then it healed me. I started as a writer. My first book, Beauty Restored: Finding Life and Hope After Date Rape , was published in 2001, on the same day my daughter was born. The book is based on my recovery from being date-raped. When Pascaline was three months old, we hit the road and did an almost-two-year book tour with the sole purpose of bringing hope and healing to other women who had been sexually victimized.

At the end of those two years, I miscarried Aidan, our second baby. This sudden loss, combined with all the other years of pain in my life, overwhelmed me. I couldnt write or speak. I spent most days on the couch watching Pascaline play with her toys. It was on one of these lonely afternoons that I noticed the afternoon sunlight illuminate her. I knew in that moment that I wanted to capture her and hold on to what was in front of me. I went to the local Costco and bought my first camera, an entry-level SLR camera, and a pack of film.

I had no intention of taking photography beyond a hobby, but life has a way of surprising us when we step into the unknown and open ourselves to a new form of creativity. Friends noticed my photos of Pascaline and asked me to take pictures of their kids. I would shoot two rolls of film and give them the negatives, feeling thrilled to have a creative outlet while my grieving heart healed behind the camera. Soon after, a bride asked me to shoot her wedding. I convinced my husband, Brian, to come with me. That was the toughest wedding we ever shot, but we loved every minute of it. For the next six years we grew a boutique wedding photography business, shooting high-end weddings together all over the country.

But my deepest passion has always been to empower womenespecially moms. To impact a moms life is to impact the whole family. When a mom is inspired to create, she begins to believe she has a voice worthy of being heard. Confidence takes rootand her whole family is forever influenced. After six years of wedding photography, Brian and I turned our businesss sole focus to empowering moms so that we might be a catalyst for moms to find confidence with their cameras.

I am amazed at how doors open when we are following our passion. In 2008, I started a wonderful partnership with SONY as one of their Artisans of Imagery. Together we work at finding new ways to empower moms with cameras, while I also represent their family portrait and family travel photography. In 2010, the Nate Berkus Show began flying me to New York City, back and forth, over a two-year period to be Nates sole photo expert.