I just wanted to let everyone know that when I did the Photography club it was so successful that I am now working on developing some drawing classes, design classes, photography classes and maybe a few other classes for kids. I am working on some concepts and lesson plans to make it interesting and fun for kids. These classes will probably only be offered in Orlando at first I am thinking we might offer them in Kissimmee as well. They have such great facilities there and I want to bring art to as many kids in the Central Florida area as I possibly can. I know that kids and parents alike want high quality art classes but dont want to have to pay an arm and a leg for them. One of my philosophies is to try to make art accessible to as many people as I possibly can. If I charged $250 for an art class for a 6 year old then I might get 3 or 4 kids. For the same class I can offer it to 10 children make the same money and know that people feel like they are getting value for their money. I think that when you are paying for kids classes value for money and high quality are very important. I have to say I have spent that kind of money on classes for my daughter only to have her say she didnt like it after the 2nd class. I felt like I had to force her to finish so I got my money's worth for that instruction. In all honesty I didnt get any of my money's worth because it probably did more harm than good.
I know in my classes I try to actively engage the children and get on their level. Yes sometimes we talk about boogers! But hey what are kids interested in? Being quiet and well behaved? or are they really into having fun and being silly and sometimes a little gross? I vote for the last, even if we have to yes, talk about boogers and scabs sometimes! I do sneak some educational stuff in there too, dont worry! I also try to bring extra stuff allong so that if a kid does get bored then they can take a break and look at some cool art pictures (always in good taste!). Maybe some crayons and paper to break up the time. You might think, hey that isint pottery, but sometimes we need to take a break and come back. Over time the little ones become more tollerant of the time spent making art that they dont need breaks as much.
Well I have talked at you guys enough. Remember keep an eye out for new stuff being offered at Super Awesome Cool Pottery Studios and keep that imagination going!
I am really pleased at the wonderful students I have taking my classes. They are smart and fun and love making pottery. I have a few kids who need a little encouragement and sometimes need help with the creative juices but it doesn't take much to get them going. I have to say that my Orlando Kids classes are very successfull! We had a free pottery class trial last Friday and it was awesome. The kids just made pottery like busy little bees! A few older bees, but bees none the less! I had a lot of parents interested in signing up later in September! I intend to hold another free trial very soon to drum up some interest and registration for my non homeschool classes. I am going to rework my schedule in response to parent comments and I am going to push my start date back to later in September. Hopefully my advertising kicks in and I start getting some calls from my ad in The Orlando Kids Directory. They seem to be a pretty good resource. I am also taking the advice of the Kindermusic owner and listing on every site I can find. I will have free trials soon and will post those to all the event calendars I can find. If you know of any please let me know. If you have been to my studio and liked my classes please check me out on gocitykids or google and write a short review. It would help me a lot and honestly, if you do it and let me know, its worth a free class to me.
I am also really excited because I am going to start kids classes in Kissimmee tomorrow. It should be very cool. I think we need to tweak the schedule over there but I think it will work out. I am excited about the classes in Kissimmee because they have a nice base they advertise to.
The space is evolving arround us. We keep shifting to make way for construction and progress and there are a few scheduling kinks that need to be worked out, but it seems like things are going well. The person running the building has a lot of big ideas and is renting the space out for festivals and events which can make it a little hard to plan classes, but she very concerned with making things work. Im sure we will get ourselves working in the right direction. I think that I am extreemly fortunate to find her and be in this building!
Please please if you see this rate and review us because its how others see me and how I will be able to stay in business!
I created a photography club because I love photography and I wanted a new way to expose myself and my new business to people. I figured that it really only costs my time, and I more than willing since I have some available. I am really excited at the response from the homeschool groups I am connected to. I think I must have about 20 people interested. I also decided to offer a free trial for pottery that day too and I have quite a few people comming for both on Friday. I am so excited. I really hope this gets me some word of mouth and maybe a few registrations. I know money is tight for a lot of people, so I am trying to be really sensitive. I really wish that money didnt have to come into play here, but ultimately I do have to buy materials, pay rent, pay for some type of day care for my baby and well, I suppose the list can always go on. I hear people talk about how hard it is and it really worries me. I dont want to anyone to go thru trials and suffer. I want everyone to be doing well and happy and healthy. I know that is not how the world works, but maybe I can bring just a little bit of excitement and relief to people by bringing this photo club to them for free. I have had a lot of art and design training and well I suppose we will see it put the the test on Friday.
I would like to share my plan Friday so that anyone reading can work on this at home a little bit. Also if you missed the club you can see what we covered. Parents please review all materials before sharing it with your family as I want you to make sure it is ok for your family.
Portraits
When you take a portrait of a person, animal or anything really you need to remember that you may need to get down on the subject's level. Many people have pictures of their cats or dogs laying on the floor and the angle of the camera is looking down on them. Consider laying down on the ground to take a picture of the animal, getting down on your subject's level can make a huge difference in your pictures. Consider putting your subject off center or taking their picture from a unique angle or even turning the camera. Did I say OFF CENTER! We are always tempted to put our subject in the middle of the picture because they are our main focus for the picture, but the main focus does not always have to be the "main focus". Sometimes we can create interest by taking our main subject out of the center or out of focus. Dont be afraid to get close to your subjects with your view finder. Zooms work really well in this situation especially if you feel self conscious. But I would like to point out that you can always ask someone if you are worried and that a lot of people in this world like having their picture taken. But if your taking a picture of your pet well... they usually love the attention from you! Also if you have a digital camera you can take your pictures and upload them to a photo site like snapfish, shutterfly or flicker and crop your pictures and then send them to be printed. Please remember to read the terms and conditions and remember that once you have altered your photo they probably wont let you download it back to your own computer, but they will let you print it after paying them money!
My biggest piece of advice when it comes to taking good portraits is to go to look at great pictures. I will list some websites below and you can always always go to your local library and check out some books on photography. The other is to take your camera to busy places! Someone is bound to do something interesting or funny, and maybe you will be lucky enough to catch it!
Get some photography books from the library and check some of the below sites out and compare your own pictures to the ones you see. Use strips of paper to temporarily "crop" your own photos. Once you have seen professional work and your own work you can get a good sence of things you want to look for and try when using your camera.
Check out these sites for great information. Please review all content before sharing it to your children. I can't be responsible for anything on any of these sites. I try to provide content that is of value and appropriate, however I can not control other people's websites and ask that you always review these materials before sharing it with your children.
http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/intro/index.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/charts/resolutionChartPopup.html
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/portrait-photography-tips/alcar-li-fusi-photography.html
http://www.nuvisionsinphotography.com/
http://img.stern.de/olympia2008/fotostrecken/:Abstimmung-Die-Bilder-Peking/635951.html?zz=1219803827&&zz=1219868490&cp=1
http://photography.about.com/od/famousphotographers/Famous_and_Influential_Photographers.htm
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