March 7, 2014

What Would you Do If you Knew you Could Not Fail

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids

Book cover

What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?: How to Transform Fear into Courage by Nina Lesowitz & Mary Beth Sammons is a book filled with stories on how fear can be transformed.

In the 10 chapters the authors bring one through how we may experience fear in different stages of our lives.

They touch on the following

– The meaning of courage

– How to create a courageous mindset

– Overcoming fear and facing the unknown and having the courage to speak out.

-Building bridges and facing adversity

– Having the courage to begin again and to fight

– Having the courage to try again and just do it.

Fear need not be overwhelming in our lives. Everyone does have fears and it is doesn’t need to take over your life. It is possible to channel your fears away and transform it into courage.

In each chapter personal stories are being shared about how individuals overcome their fears and rise against the odds. There are also short summaries and tips at the end of chapters for one to takeaway.

My thoughts

I found the read very inspirational. The stories of courage within the book really touched me and only proved that nothing is impossible.

It can be said with the challenges and obstacles that we face in life, if one has the correct attitude everything can be achieved. Positive affirmation and taking action we will see the results that we desire.

Adversity can be overcome and we don’t have to resigned to living with our fears or be paralyzed by it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own. This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.

February 20, 2014

Your Child in Pictures by Me Ra Koh

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids Photography

Book Cover

Your Child in Pictures: The Parents’ Guide to Photographing Your Toddler and Child from Age One to Ten by Me Ra Koh is the 2nd photography book which I have read this month.

One of my goals this year is to improve on my photo taking skills and one of the areas in photography which I am concentrating on is taking portraits of the kids. This book certainly came in handy.

Divided into six chapters Me Ra goes through step by step what to look for and focus on while photographing kids in the specific age group. There are tip sheets based on how you should adjust your camera to get the best shot in the particular setting.

For each shot shown in the book Me Ra gives information about

1) When to take the shot

2) What preparation to do before taking the photo

3) The settings you should use on your Point & Shoot or DSLR camera

4) How to compose the picture

5) What to focus on while taking the picture.

My thoughts

My kids are currently 3, 7 and 9 so I zoomed in and focused on those chapters while reading the book. I love how easy reading this book is and that very practical and useful tips are given.

The photos that Me Ra takes look very natural and not over “posed” like those you see taken in a photo studio. She is able to capture the subjects in their element. I can see the timelessness in each shot and the shots featured in the book would certainly make great centerpieces in the family living room.

Reading her book gave me lots of ideas on how I should approach photographing my kids to capture their growing up years. I would certainly be in-cooperating what I learned from her book in my photography and improve on it.

With the photos that I will be taking my kids will be able to catch a better glimpse of how they spent their childhood and recall all the happy and memorable moments that they had experienced in time to come. This would certainly make the snapshots that I take all the more precious to them.

Grab your copy of Your Child in Pictures: The Parents’ Guide to Photographing Your Toddler and Child from Age One to Ten today.