By Christina VanGinkel
One of my fondest memories of childhood is recalling when my three cousins from Illinois would head north, to our small town in Michigan to spend several weeks with us each summer. They would come with sleeping bags, fishing poles, and always their radio controlled airplanes.
This was a time period where radio controlled airplanes were built from the ground up. Where as much work went in to them as some people now put into professional airplanes. They would be constantly working on them, designing this changing that, re-painting the entire airplane, all because they enjoyed doing it all immensely, and it was just what they did. It was their hobby. It was what all the rest of us cousins thought of whenever we thought of them.
I also remember that one of the reasons that they always brought their airplanes when they came to visit, was because my father had a real airplane, a small Piper Cub that he flew out of the small airport a few towns over. Each summer, he would not only give all of us kids ride, including the visiting cousins, but he would arrange for them to fly their airplanes at the real airport. Even back then, nearly forty years ago, living in town meant dealing with things like power and telephone lines.
The thought of having a wide open space to fly their airplanes in, without having to worry about them hitting a line, crashing into a house, or making an emergency landing on the highway that ran by our house, meant less chance of damage to all of their hours of hard work.
My dad would have it all set up for about the second week they spent by us, and all of us kids, and adults alike, would pile into our family's station wagon. This was before seat belts were required, there would be half a dozen kids jammed into the backseat, two in the far back of the wagon with the airplanes, along with all their gear, including a gas can, and at least two kids jammed up front between the adults.
One year I remember that my Aunt and Uncle also came with for this yearly event, but we had to take two cars, theirs and ours, ad we would not all fit. All of us kids still wanted to ride in the station wagon with the airplanes though, so my Mother rode with my Aunt and Uncle, and all of us kids still rode with my Dad.
Radio controlled airplanes are still a huge pastime that both kids and adults alike enjoy. They are available in gas and electric models, and can be purchased all set to go, as a kit needing to be built from the ground up, or partially constructed with painting and other final additions still needing to be applied. On the other hand, for the most enterprising people, even by setting out from the ground floor with no kit, just an idea in your head, and the fortitude to make it something tangible.
Radio controlled airplanes (Besides radio controlled airplanes, there are also helicopters, boats, cars, and trucks) also come in enough of a variety to fit most budgets. You can get started for less than a hundred dollars, or easily rack up the cost into the thousands of dollars, depending on what you choose, and how serious you take this very fun hobby.
It is a good hobby for families to participate in together, with adults and children finding enough about the activity to keep both age groups satisfied. If you are interested in learning more about radio controlled airplanes, or one of the several other radio controlled vehicle types that are available, be sure to check out one of the many online sties that sell supplies, such as eHobbies.com. Alternatively, check locally for a group or organization that has been formed for the sport, possibly providing you with a chance to view the fun that is just waiting to be had. You can test the waters by seeing what all the fuss is about, before you buy one of your own. Be warned though that once you see a demonstration, it will be difficult if not entirely impossible to not want your own!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Get your Kids Dancing!
By Christina VanGinkel
With a lack of health and exercise a concern for many parents where their children are concerned, getting their children interested in a hobby that can provide access to action is a growing goal of many parents. Dance is one such hobby that can provide an advantage such as this. In addition, it is a hobby, which if the child enjoys it, can lead to many years of fun and activity. With tap, ballet, jazz, Celtic, and other dance forms to choose from, you and your child are sure to find one that is of interest and that your child can have fun at while getting the extra exercise that many children need, but often lack in their day-to-day lives.
One young girl I know, the daughter of a good friend, has been taking dance lessons for several years already, and is only four years old. She attends class once a week, where she has had the opportunity, to not only gain knowledge of the basics of tap dancing, (her chosen genre) but to also make many friends that she would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet, as the school teaches students from several small surrounding communities. They spend their hour of class each week learning the very basic steps that make tap dancing the fun and exhilarating dance that it is. They have also been learning exercises that will help them progress to more complicated dance routines as the years go by. The hour is filled with fun, learning, and exercises in a safe environment, with teachers trained for dealing with such young children, and trained in teaching the various dance genres safely, and correctly, helping each child build a foundation in dance from which to build on.
My own daughter attended ballet classes when she was the same age. She danced until the early years of elementary school, then switched her energies and focus to the game of basketball, which she continued to enjoy throughout school. I firmly believe that her beginning in dance at such a young age gave her many advantages both physically and mentally for the other sports that she participated in throughout her school years, not to mention in life itself.
My niece also attended dance classes around the same time that my daughter began, but went on to make dancing a part of her complete school life, dancing with the company through her senior year in high school. She never lost interest, and said that it helped her tremendously with her ability to compete as a cheerleader.
Whether your child sticks with it for a year or two, or makes it a long-term hobby, there is a lot to be gained.
Taking part in dance will provide your child with the opportunity to build coordination, learn discipline, and build strength and stamina, alongside of building their self-esteem and teaching confidence. Dance provides so many benefits, that I often wonder why more children are not involved in this wonderful pastime.
We had the opportunity to go to the dance recital of my friend's daughter last night. Ages of the children, boys and girls, ranged from the pre-tot age, through the senior year of high school. Besides all of the regular dance genres, the dance school also teaches a gymnastics class, and the kids that were performing for that class seemed to be having just as much fun if not more so than the children representing the various dance genres. So if you have a child that rally does not want to dance, this might be something to consider too.
If you do have a child who is interested in taking up the hobby of dance, or you are looking for a hobby that will get your kids moving, off the couch, active, and enjoying themselves, consider dance in one of the many available genres. Even the littlest children can join, which makes it a perfect hobby to get involved in if you happen to have kids across a wide age range.
Do not assume that all of the schools that teach such classes expect your child to look at such an activity as a career move. Most children join with the intent to have fun, to learn the basic steps of a particular dance, and to participate in some group-oriented activity other than their regular school activities. Dance can be the best hobby your child will ever participate!
With a lack of health and exercise a concern for many parents where their children are concerned, getting their children interested in a hobby that can provide access to action is a growing goal of many parents. Dance is one such hobby that can provide an advantage such as this. In addition, it is a hobby, which if the child enjoys it, can lead to many years of fun and activity. With tap, ballet, jazz, Celtic, and other dance forms to choose from, you and your child are sure to find one that is of interest and that your child can have fun at while getting the extra exercise that many children need, but often lack in their day-to-day lives.
One young girl I know, the daughter of a good friend, has been taking dance lessons for several years already, and is only four years old. She attends class once a week, where she has had the opportunity, to not only gain knowledge of the basics of tap dancing, (her chosen genre) but to also make many friends that she would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet, as the school teaches students from several small surrounding communities. They spend their hour of class each week learning the very basic steps that make tap dancing the fun and exhilarating dance that it is. They have also been learning exercises that will help them progress to more complicated dance routines as the years go by. The hour is filled with fun, learning, and exercises in a safe environment, with teachers trained for dealing with such young children, and trained in teaching the various dance genres safely, and correctly, helping each child build a foundation in dance from which to build on.
My own daughter attended ballet classes when she was the same age. She danced until the early years of elementary school, then switched her energies and focus to the game of basketball, which she continued to enjoy throughout school. I firmly believe that her beginning in dance at such a young age gave her many advantages both physically and mentally for the other sports that she participated in throughout her school years, not to mention in life itself.
My niece also attended dance classes around the same time that my daughter began, but went on to make dancing a part of her complete school life, dancing with the company through her senior year in high school. She never lost interest, and said that it helped her tremendously with her ability to compete as a cheerleader.
Whether your child sticks with it for a year or two, or makes it a long-term hobby, there is a lot to be gained.
Taking part in dance will provide your child with the opportunity to build coordination, learn discipline, and build strength and stamina, alongside of building their self-esteem and teaching confidence. Dance provides so many benefits, that I often wonder why more children are not involved in this wonderful pastime.
We had the opportunity to go to the dance recital of my friend's daughter last night. Ages of the children, boys and girls, ranged from the pre-tot age, through the senior year of high school. Besides all of the regular dance genres, the dance school also teaches a gymnastics class, and the kids that were performing for that class seemed to be having just as much fun if not more so than the children representing the various dance genres. So if you have a child that rally does not want to dance, this might be something to consider too.
If you do have a child who is interested in taking up the hobby of dance, or you are looking for a hobby that will get your kids moving, off the couch, active, and enjoying themselves, consider dance in one of the many available genres. Even the littlest children can join, which makes it a perfect hobby to get involved in if you happen to have kids across a wide age range.
Do not assume that all of the schools that teach such classes expect your child to look at such an activity as a career move. Most children join with the intent to have fun, to learn the basic steps of a particular dance, and to participate in some group-oriented activity other than their regular school activities. Dance can be the best hobby your child will ever participate!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Locking Focus and Controlling the Exposure on your Digital Camera
By Christina VanGinkel
How often have you snapped a picture, intending to capture a special moment, only to have the main focal subject clearly not in focus, yet the background image, the part of the photo that is not very important, in focus? If you are anything like me, you can probably not count how many times this has occurred. Rarely, if ever, should this have to happen though. And the fix for it is so simple, that once you understand and learn how to avoid it, you will be chastising yourself for all the ruined photo opportunities that you have wasted through the years!
The work around to keep this from occurring is to center the intended snapshot on the part of the photographs that you want to be the focus. Once you have done this, depress the shutter button half way, then frame the shot as you want to, and then snap the shutter button all the way, taking the picture.
With all the different features available on the myriad variety of digital cameras now available on the market, keep in mind that some cameras might actually have an independent function specifically to accomplish this. However, the way I just described is by far the easiest and quickest way I have ever found to get the picture as perfect as can be.
Getting the exposure of a picture right can also be just as easily fixed. By simply fooling the camera, into picking up the proper lighting of the area of the photo that you want to be the most prominent, almost always results in a picture that is just as you pictured it. Take for example a photograph of a stunning cactus plant in the desert with a massive bright blue sky behind it. If you just swing up your camera and snap the picture, you risk losing the details of the cactus because of the brightness of the sky when your camera actually snapped the picture. By first focusing your lens on the cactus itself, then halfway depressing the shutter button, before pulling back and getting the whole scene, cactus and sky in the frame, before you snap the final picture, you will have a snapshot that not only has captured the cactus in all of its beautiful detail, but also the bright blue sky behind it.
By taking the time to play with these two quick to learn tricks, you can immensely improve the outcome of your average photograph. You will avoid all the blurred shots that have been the cause of so many memories being lost forever. No more will you have to wonder why you snapped the picture of a fence, with all of its details, and wonder at the same time if your daughter was that blurry in the foreground when you actually snapped the picture. The next time, it will be the fence that is somewhat blurred, as it is of no importance, yet your daughter will be crystal clear with her huge grin and armful of wildflowers.
When someone is learning the basics of photography, it is sometimes too easy to be caught up in all of the technical jargon. We can read manuals, take classes taught by people who seem to speak some foreign language, and read article after article on the subject of taking better photos, and still not understand the basics. If someone would just show us or tell us a shortcut such as these though, we would notice the harder things quicker and easier. We can learn how something as subtle as moving a camera just a bit and halfway depressing the shutter before swinging it back for the intended shot can have such a deep impact on the outcome of the photograph.
Of course, the best lessons are those that you can practice, and practice some more. So with this in mind, grab your camera and go practice these two easy lessons until you not only understand how simple they are to execute under various circumstances, but also until you capture that one photograph that you have always dreamed of capturing. Only then will you truly understand how simple does work, when it comes to getting the best photo you can ever hope to capture.
How often have you snapped a picture, intending to capture a special moment, only to have the main focal subject clearly not in focus, yet the background image, the part of the photo that is not very important, in focus? If you are anything like me, you can probably not count how many times this has occurred. Rarely, if ever, should this have to happen though. And the fix for it is so simple, that once you understand and learn how to avoid it, you will be chastising yourself for all the ruined photo opportunities that you have wasted through the years!
The work around to keep this from occurring is to center the intended snapshot on the part of the photographs that you want to be the focus. Once you have done this, depress the shutter button half way, then frame the shot as you want to, and then snap the shutter button all the way, taking the picture.
With all the different features available on the myriad variety of digital cameras now available on the market, keep in mind that some cameras might actually have an independent function specifically to accomplish this. However, the way I just described is by far the easiest and quickest way I have ever found to get the picture as perfect as can be.
Getting the exposure of a picture right can also be just as easily fixed. By simply fooling the camera, into picking up the proper lighting of the area of the photo that you want to be the most prominent, almost always results in a picture that is just as you pictured it. Take for example a photograph of a stunning cactus plant in the desert with a massive bright blue sky behind it. If you just swing up your camera and snap the picture, you risk losing the details of the cactus because of the brightness of the sky when your camera actually snapped the picture. By first focusing your lens on the cactus itself, then halfway depressing the shutter button, before pulling back and getting the whole scene, cactus and sky in the frame, before you snap the final picture, you will have a snapshot that not only has captured the cactus in all of its beautiful detail, but also the bright blue sky behind it.
By taking the time to play with these two quick to learn tricks, you can immensely improve the outcome of your average photograph. You will avoid all the blurred shots that have been the cause of so many memories being lost forever. No more will you have to wonder why you snapped the picture of a fence, with all of its details, and wonder at the same time if your daughter was that blurry in the foreground when you actually snapped the picture. The next time, it will be the fence that is somewhat blurred, as it is of no importance, yet your daughter will be crystal clear with her huge grin and armful of wildflowers.
When someone is learning the basics of photography, it is sometimes too easy to be caught up in all of the technical jargon. We can read manuals, take classes taught by people who seem to speak some foreign language, and read article after article on the subject of taking better photos, and still not understand the basics. If someone would just show us or tell us a shortcut such as these though, we would notice the harder things quicker and easier. We can learn how something as subtle as moving a camera just a bit and halfway depressing the shutter before swinging it back for the intended shot can have such a deep impact on the outcome of the photograph.
Of course, the best lessons are those that you can practice, and practice some more. So with this in mind, grab your camera and go practice these two easy lessons until you not only understand how simple they are to execute under various circumstances, but also until you capture that one photograph that you have always dreamed of capturing. Only then will you truly understand how simple does work, when it comes to getting the best photo you can ever hope to capture.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)