The break between semesters has certainly flown by this year. I suppose it seems like a big chunk of it was filled in the hospital or doctor’s offices. I’ve always enjoyed returning to Valencia every fall…the renewed energy that fills the campus the week prior to classes starts is quite uplifting.

Yesterday we had our annual welcome back to campus. It’s an opportunity to reunite with colleagues, attend meetings, and begin getting caught up for the fall semester. If you’ve followed me in facebook, twitter or instagram you likely saw a peek at a few memorable moments yesterday.

I was reminded yesterday that a meeting isn’t a meeting if it doesn’t include notes from my colleague Kristy Pennino…which always give reason for us to smile. In between meetings we took a trip past the art gallery on east campus and fell in love with the upcoming exhibition, Graphic by Design. Several local graphic designers with amazing talent have their work on display. Us design obsessed professors agreed it’s by far one of the best shows we’ve seen on display at Valencia. I was quite inspired by the quote, “give me your faith. let me show you my strength” found in Bryan Kriekard’s work on display. It seems quite fitting for me after this past year. The design work is on display now and the opening reception is September 9th from 630-830pm at the Anita S. Wooten gallery so be sure to check it out if you have an opportunity to stop by. In addition to preparing for the upcoming fall semester my mind is equally consumed with my return to course work at SCAD. If all goes as planned I should return this fall. It won’t be long and I’ll be working on my thesis proposal. Thanks to Kristy I have been immersed in the book do good design by David Berman which I’ve found quite inspiring for some of the potential topics for my thesis proposal. In just a day I’ve made my way halfway through the book and would definitely recommend it to any graphic designer.

This morning marks the annual Academic Assembly at Valencia where all full-time faculty and staff gather to be inspired and updated. President Shugart always spends the morning with us giving us a thorough update on the college’s mission and what’s ahead for us all each year. Every year, even amidst tough economic times, he greets us filled with hopeful and inspiring thoughts. One of the most memorable moments of the morning was at the end of the Academic Assembly when President Shugart introduced us to Valencia’s future students…a group of elementary school students performing on stage for our faculty. It was a precious sight to see young children on stage,  nearly the same age as my daughter Hope, singing and performing. I’m a little guilty of doodling during longer meetings and I found myself doing that at the Academic Assembly. Many great thoughts were shared with us this morning…I managed to jot down a handful that I’m sure I’ll remember for quite some time.

One of the exciting new things that has come this fall is Valencia’s new news site dubbed “The Grove”. It gives everyone at Valencia an opportunity to participate in sharing news to update us on the great things going on at the college. You can subscribe to it by RSS or for us faculty & staff the “news” is being emailed each Tuesday…sort of like a “newspaper”.

I finally finished another crazy to do list. If you ever want to know what’s in my mind I suppose you can just check out a mindmap. I finally finished doodling this thing yesterday as I was preparing for the fall semester. Next week I’ll great five new classes full of students…of course many other things will be keeping me busy along the way. But busy is good…I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad the break is behind me…it has definitely been one of the more challenging “breaks” (if you really want to call it that)…so thank goodness busy times are ahead.

The Valencia Foundation is still accepting donations to the scholarship so be sure to visit the foundation’s web site to make a contribution.

It’s about time I do another photo session giveaway. It’s time to do something pretty awesome. I sure do love to give when I am able to…especially when it’s towards a cause that’s worthy. This time it’s a cause that has impacted my family heavily and I hope it will be something that you all are interested in helping me with.

A little over five months ago Deputy Brandon Coates lost his life while working protecting our community. It was a night I certainly won’t forget. My husband worked directly with Brandon. They were on the same squad working as a part of a tactical high crime unit. My husband was one of the first on scene after Brandon was shot. He and his squadmates now live with the memory of that night. I still recall receiving his phone call that night when he told me Brandon had been shot. He was shaken and wanted me to know that if I watched the news that he was “okay”. A moment later I learned Brandon had been shot. As I continue to be so thankful that it was not my husband standing in Brandon’s shoes that night, my heart still aches to know that such a good man had to lose his life protecting us all.

Late last month Valencia honored Brandon with a memorial service at its Criminal Justice Institute. Brandon was also a graduate of Valencia’s law enforcement academy. At the memorial it was announced that Valencia has established a memorial scholarship fund in honor of Brandon Coates. An initial donation of $500 was made towards the scholarship by students currently in the program. I was informed by the foundation that a $3,000 minimum is needed to officially establish named scholarships.

As you can see…this scholarship is very valuable and means a lot for us to get started. As a faculty member at Valencia I certainly would love to have a scholarship established that will help our students achieve their career goals, especially those brave souls who wish to enter into a career in law enforcement. It’s so important that we all do everything we can to help support causes like this that will help train law enforcement officers to serve our community.

Something tells me Brandon is up there rooting for you all to help us get this scholarship going. So once again, I’m ready to give and hopefully you might be too. In honor of Brandon Coates I’ll be giving away TWO photo sessions very soon. Check out the details below if you’re interested in helping me. I’m not asking you all to give much to help me and to have a chance at winning a photo session with me. And once you’re done reviewing the details I’ve included a slideshow of the photos I took at Brandon’s memorial services in December. Perhaps if you take a moment to view the moving moments as so many in central Florida gathered to honor such an honorable man it’ll help remind you how important it is to help donate to this scholarship. And even if you’re not out to win a free photo session with me, you can still donate to help out however you can. Every little bit counts. You may enter to win the photo session through June 8th, 2011 at 2pm. June 8th marks the six month anniversary of Brandon’s passing. I’d love to say on that day, or earlier, that we’ve met the scholarship goal of $3,000. With your help I know we can do it.

FREE PHOTO SESSION ELIGIBILITY
Here’s what you have to do for a chance to win a FREE photo session for those who care to participate.

• Go to the Valencia Foundation web site and Make a minimum of a $10 donation to the DFC Brandon Lee Coates Memorial Scholarship. Make sure you select this scholarship as the “designation”.
• Email me proof of your donation to amanda [at] amandakern.com – to do this either take a screenshot of the confirmation page or proof of payment. Only email proof of your donation if you are entering to win a chance at a free photo session.
• When emailing me share with me your name, contact information and the ages and number of people of who you wish to be photographed so that I can get back in touch with you if you are chosen.
• You may only enter to win a photo session once, however, you may donate as many times as you’d like.
• To be eligible for the free photo session you must donate prior to June 8th at 2pm. The names of those who have helped me give will be put in a hat and I will let my little blessings randomly help pick a winner. Entries will ONLY be accepted until 2pm on June 8th, 2011.
  

Below is a screenshot of a donation. You may email me this or the email confirmation as confirmation of your donation. Please ensure you have set the designation for the scholarship to the DFC Brandon Lee Coates Memorial Scholarship.

IF YOU’RE THE WINNER…
If you’re chosen as the winner you will have two options.

OPTION 1: FREE PHOTO SESSION

• A free photo session with me that will last 1-2 hours for you, your family, or someone you wish to give the session to.
• The session will be valid through December 31, 2011.
• You will receive all unedited and edited photos in HIGH DIGITAL RESOLUTION format. Yes, I said FREE. That means I earn NOTHING from giving.
• You will be given permission to print and share online all digital photos for personal use.

*By participating if you win you agree that photos may be used in my portfolio.
**You must be in the immediate Orlando area or willing to travel to Orlando if you win.
***The value of a custom photo session w/high resolution photos is $650.

OPTION 2: PHOTO MENTORING SESSION
I’ve received a lot of requests and inquiries in the last year or so for me to offer “mentoring” sessions. I’ve lost count of how many people have asked me “how” to I do something or if they could just spend an hour or two with me to see how my photography and/or editing approach. If you are chosen as the winner you have the option to select the mentoring session and it will be customized to meet your needs.

• A free photo mentoring session with me that will last 1-2 hours. This includes the opportunity to sit in and participate in a photo session with me.
• The session will be valid through December 31, 2011.
• The mentoring session will be customized to meet your needs and could include tips on photography, editing or a combination of both.

*By participating if you win you agree that photos may be used in my portfolio.
**You must be in the immediate Orlando area or willing to travel to Orlando if you win.
***You are suggested to have a digital slr, photoshop and lightroom. If you don’t a mentoring session can still be offered but it may make more sense if you have access and/or a little previous experience to these things.

Below are photos taken at the memorial services held for Brandon in December.

It seems many of you keeping up with my blog, facebook or twitter have been a bit spoiled by my nearly constant connection to social media. I always laugh if I go a day or two without posting anything to at least one of the three that suddenly I get a handful of messages with people checking in. I’m really not connected 24-7 and this past week I definitely backed away from being so connected as I’ve been finishing up a lot of final preparations for the summer semester. And go figure the wonderful Florida weather left me with a lovely sinus infection just in time for Mother’s day and a brand new semester. It was definitely not the Mother’s day gift I was expecting at all…thankfully I’m starting to feel better. Anyhow, I thought I’d finally I thought I’d share a bit of an update…full of randomness from the last week or so and a few updates.

I suppose I should first wish you all a belated Mother’s day. Chance made sure to say Happy Mother’s day yesterday by sitting for a good 5-10 seconds without any assistance. It’s crazy that he can do that at 2 1/2 months old. Most babies I’ve been around don’t do this until 5-6 months old or later. He’s still wobbly and far from really truly “sitting” – but he did it and we got a few pictures! Yes, he’s one strong little dude…check him out!

It was definitely a team effort. Hope helped hold Chance and I trusted her to let go when he was stable. She did awesome. I promise there was no photoshop trickery done to take the photos above…we had to take a video of him sitting just to make sure everyone believed us.

This kid really has amazed us. Just a few days prior I was trying to take his photo as I noticed he was very alert and content. The little stinker kept trying to rollover, something he’s done since he was 3 1/2 weeks old. He did give good eye contact for this priceless photo.

I can’t say enough great things about Hope lately. She’s been so helpful with Chance which makes it much easier for me to get things done. This past week after he had his bath he was a bit fussy. He loves to cuddle. Thankfully Hope does too, especially with her baby brother. I don’t know who is luckier…Chance or Hope. Really, I feel like the lucky one to have such awesome kids.

Those that have seen the photos I’ve taken of Chance over the last 2+ months have commented how he’s such a great smiley little guy. This past week he’s really started to smile more. Not just in his sleep…now he smiles in response to all the attention he gets. I excited to finally get this one in a photo while he was awake.

Now that he’s no longer “newborn” I love getting to capture more of his personality and just observing what an adorable little guy we’ve been blessed with.

Last week I took a bit of time to visit Hope’s class. Every year I go in a few times during the school year to take pictures. Sadly, this was the first time I have been able to visit her class because the past year has just been too crazy to visit any sooner. It made Hope’s day…she’s been begging me all year to visit her class to take photos. Of course when I got into her classroom with my camera she wasn’t as thrilled that I was taking photos of her. I thought it was adorable to see that expression on her face as though she might have been less than thrilled for me to take her photo. Yes, her and her teacher were saying at the very moment this photo was taken that they though I was a “camera bully”. Just for that I took their photo. Hopefully Hope’s teacher is smiling to see me sharing this photo again…it’s one of my favorites. I’ll be photographing her twin boys in the next month. And you need not worry about Hope…by the time I got home from school she was telling me how much she wanted me to return to take pictures.

Our friend Blue stopped by this past week as well. He brought by the pictures he’s taken for our family before, during and after Chance was born. Yes, Chance will definitely grow up knowing we had such awesome people like Blue surrounding us when he was born.

I wanted to share just a few photos Blue took for us over Easter weekend. As usual, they are amazing and capture how blessed I am to have such an awesome family.

I seem to be bragging a lot about Hope & Chance and maybe some think I’ve forgotten about Jaylen…officially the “middle” child…just like me. Well, he’s amazing too. I thought for sure with his age that he might get jealous once Chance was born. That’s definitely not the case thus far. He absolutely adores his baby brother and has such a nurturing and caring spirit. At times I feel so bad for this sweet little boy of mine because he’s now not the baby…he’s the “middle” child. Of course he’ll always be my baby boy. Hope has since taking a preference for seeming to outwardly love Chance more. She refers to Chance as her little brother and Jaylen is her little “brother”…yes, just like the kids cartoon/book Olivia. She and Jaylen still get along but she has moments where Jaylen and her have become more competitive than prior to Chance’s birth.

Of course I adore this little guy. Every time I return home from work or going out of the house with out the kids I return home to him running to me all smiles and telling me, “Chance missed you!” And then proclaims aftewards, “me too!”

Today the summer semester began at Valencia. Though I taught in the spring prior to Chance’s birth, I only taught online. Today is the first time since December that I physically taught on campus in the classroom since December. It was definitely a welcomed return. Today’s class was electronic imaging where I teach photoshop among many other things. I am known to torture my students by dragging them out of the classroom for a brief period of time to take their photos to help me remember their names and so they then have photos of themselves to use as they begin to learn some basics about photoshop. As much as I enjoy teaching online, it was definitely awesome to be back on campus teaching today.

I’ll be sharing a way you win a free photo session by helping me make the Brandon Coates scholarship possible for Valencia students very soon. Oh, and…our friend Blue & his wife Jaya are getting ready to greet their baby girl any time now…so I can’t wait to share some sweet new baby girl newborn photos of their daughter with you hopefully in the next week or so.

Chance turned 9 weeks old Tuesday and I took him in for his 2 month check up with the pediatrician. He got his first round of shots and was such a trooper. I couldn’t help but admire his little legs getting a little pudgier with two colorful band-aids.

Now typically I, like most mothers, would say “awe….shots” — but really they were nothing. Nothing at all. Maybe it’s because he’s my third child…or maybe it’s because I’ve seen this little guy endure much more than some silly shots. Yes, and he did amazing. He barely cried at all. In fact, the nurse said he was one of the best babies she’s had to give shots to because all he did was let out a little wimper of a cry.

His check up confirmed the obvious…this little guy is growing. He is now 10 pounds 2 ounces (25th percentile) and 20 1/2 inches long (3rd percentile). Despite how much he’s grown, I returned home to reflect on Hope and Jaylen’s measurements at the same age. Considering he was itty bitty at birth and went through so much in the first three weeks it should come as no surprise that Chance is the smallest of the three thus far. Perhaps he’ll catch up to their growth in time, but if not, I still enjoy him being my uber cute little guy.

Speaking of growth…the milk supply has definitely grown since we’ve been  home from the NICU. I’ve maintained the pumping schedule I’ve been since Chance was in the hospital on to ensure that when I returned to work we wouldn’t be scrambling to make sure Chance had enough to eat during the times I was away. It can be very stressful to try to “keep up” so I feel pretty awesome knowing that’ll be one less thing to stress about. The only stressor now is keeping it all organized by date to ensure nothing expires. Here’s about a month’s worth of hard work. All 260 ounces of his milk that equates to about 16 1/4 pounds. Yes, I officially feel like a milk factory after doing the math. This kid better start eating more or we may need another freezer before long.

I know everyone is eager to see his sweet face. So here’s a quick photo I took of him today in his swing as he sat contently sporting his sheriff shirt.

This week has definitely been one of the busiest weeks since Chance was born. Tuesday the kids and I got to watch Hope play in her little league softball game. Thankfully Chance slept contently in the bjorn while I got to take lots of photos of the game. I’m sure the parents got a kick out of me toting around a baby and my nikon that many have claimed weighs more than the baby.

In between taking photos I am typically making sure both the boys are content which isn’t always the easiest task when it’s 90+ degrees outside. Chance slept the entire time this time around which made life sooooo much easier. Jaylen sometimes begs to go home after a short time, thankfully this time he ran around and played. Three is definitely one of my favorite ages to photograph…I get such genuine expressions from him.

Tonight we had a bit of fun at Hope’s school at one of their annual functions. Yes, I say this week has been busy between work, photography, and the kids…but really I think it’s really been more of an “active” week for me as I’ve been steadily learning to take all three kids out on my own and I’ve been doing more and more physically than I have in months. Okay, I admit it made me tired tonight…but really it does feel great to gradually getting back to things. Here’s me & my boys…while I was toting Chance in the bjorn, the trusty camera/diaper bag, and my other kid (aka my nikon).

Realizing how much I have going on I had to keep myself sane by creating another mindmap of my to do list. I suppose these darn things have helped make sense of all I have going on. People joke with me saying “you’re busy” but it never really hits me until I make one of these. Most of the things listed pertain to teaching, tenure, SCAD, or photography. I totally neglected to put in the other things that consume my day like laundry, dishes, and everything else around here to keep this crazy house of mine in order…ah, but that would be a totally different mindmap that might be larger. Anyhow, you might be humored to take a peak at it if you’re curious to know the things I’m juggling at the moment. If you click on the image it will allow you to see it a bit larger in flickr.

Oh, and one more update…if you’re interested in a free photo session keep an eye out for a chance at one. I plan to post more info tomorrow so we can help get this scholarship started in honor of Deputy Brandon Coates at Valencia. I’ll share more info in the next day or so.

For those of you who have been following me in twitter and facebook you likely heard me announce just a bit ago the official news about the tenure track position at Valencia. It’s official, as of August 24, 2010 I will begin a tenure track faculty position at the college.

I’ve been teaching since 2004 and teaching in a full time temporary position since 2005. Last month I interviewed for the position and have waited patiently for the last month to hear this news. It was my third time interviewing for a tenure track position over the last few years. I recall the disappointment I felt the last two times I was turned down for a tenure track position. As discouraging as it was for me I remember trying to remind myself how everything in life happens for a reason. And though I feel I was just as strong of a candidate the last two times I had applied for the position I must admit that as I reflect on how far I’ve come in just a few short years the decisions made have only helped shape me into who I am today. So much has happened in just the last year that years ago I would have never even imagined were possible.

So I thank you all for your support, encouragement, and reassurance. It means to world to see the confidence you all have in me. I am overjoyed with this news and the opportunities that are ahead.

I have to admit that this news couldn’t come at a better time. I’m not so sure if someone higher really planned this news to come today but it has lifted my spirits incredibly on one of the toughest moments I find myself passing since the miscarriage. Yes, in light of the news I find myself still pausing today, 33 weeks after miscarrying and realizing that today is also the day that the little one I lost in October would have been due to be born today. So I am thankful to have such wonderful news on a day where I find myself reflecting a little more lately on what might have been if I hadn’t have miscarried. I realize as I reflect it’s all an important part of me continuing to accept all that has happened this past year and part of how I will continue to get past the heartache that hasn’t completely faded. There aren’t days that pass that it hasn’t crossed my mind or that I haven’t wondered “what if?” And though it will likely not fade completely from my mind I will feel relieved for today to pass so that I can focus more on the promising future ahead.

Yes, today I’m reminded that “sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together”. But as they do today my heart will remain reserved for the little one that in my mind I feel I should be holding today. I realize I can’t change a thing…but I can and will take that time today to remember and honor the little one that will always have a special place in my heart. Yes, I just pray all the little ones I’ve lost over the years know:

“A thousand words cannot bring you back. I know because I tried. And neither can a million tears. I know because I cried.”

As I find myself reflecting today, I reassure you all that I will do so now finding a renewed strength to smile while embracing my children, and yes,  praying that the news today is the start of a much needed streak of better news in my life. Thank you all again.

If it isn’t obvious, I’ve been a bit busy lately. I’ve been meaning to write a bit about the fun during my time at Photoshop World at the end of March but haven’t stopped moving since before the conference began. So hopefully its not too surprising that you all receive a little delay in my wrap up of the conference.

I knew going in that the conference would be awesome. Again this year I nominated several of my students. Thanks again to Scott Kelby and the gang at NAPP for awarding 8 of our students scholarships. We ended up with a handful of other students and alumni present at the conference, which only made the conference that much more fun. They had a “rock” theme and even rocked out during the keynote. Scott Kelby and the guys at NAPP are the only ones that could pull off rockin’ out to photoshop songs with a standing room only crowd.

One of the things we heard during the keynote is that Adobe CS5 is on it’s way to being released. The official release date will be announced on April 12, 2010 and you can watch it live online! During the keynote Katrin Eismann demo’d a few of the features of Adobe Photoshop CS5 and I think we all were in awe with some of the features. The most memorable one was certainly the content aware fill option. Okay, it’s total photoshop geek talk but go check out this youtube video demo’ing the content aware fill feature and you will be ready for CS5! I think we’re all wondering what could possibly be next…does photoshop CS5 do magic tricks too!?

For all the Lightroom users, it’s worth checking out the Lightroom 3 beta 2 that was released just before Photoshop World. It’s still in beta so go grab your free beta copy and take it for a test drive before they release the official version. I’ve been using it over a week now and totally love it. I don’t think I can go back to the old version now because it’s a big leap forward.

PHOTOSHOP WORLD SKETCHNOTES!
Of course I was equally excited about the conference because of how much I enjoy sketchnotes. Some of you may recall several us doing them at Photoshop World 2008. I also did them again at Scott Kelby’s lightroom workshop. So I had fun again this year. Though I have to admit, it was a little tougher this year trying to juggle sketchnotes, homework, and keeping up with the courses I teach in between moments. But I think you all will still enjoy them. I know for me they are a great reflection of my experiences at the conference. They do give us a pretty hefty workbook with most of the notes and much more but for me I enjoy having a concise reference to the shortcuts and key points that stuck out to me during each session. And of course I truly love jotting down the hilarious things the presenters say during their sessions. Hopefully when you look at my sketchnotes you’re able to tell who the humorous speakers were.

Okay, I suppose I should let you all check out my sketchnotes…

One of my favorite classes was with Zack Arias who is such a passionate photographer. This man is amazing and I’ve been so inspired by his white seamless background tutorials over the last year or so. Maybe when I have a little more space to work with I’ll get to use some of his tips he shared during his session.

I was thrilled to see that Katrin Eismann and Julianne Kost were presenting Lightroom courses at Photoshop World. They’ve both been two of the most inspirational NAPP speakers for me. I love their humor in the midst of teaching such highly technical things to groups of hundreds. Of course by day 2 I no longer felt like I was at Photoshop World, for me they might as well have named it “Lightroom World” because all but two of the courses I took at the conference were related to Lightroom.

One of my other favorite courses was Light Painting with Ben Wilmore. It was amazing to see the types of effects you could achieve by merely changing a few camera settings and using nothing but a flashlight to light a subject. His web site shares amazing examples that only make me wish for more time to experiment. Maybe someday.

Scott Kelby’s killer tips lightroom course was by far one of the most useful. I swear this man is always filled with 101 one tips that I never knew before.

The closing ceremony is always a blast. I truly enjoyed Zack Arias presentation the best of all the presenters. He gave a brief presentation on if he was to start today as a new photographer starting out a business. It was really eye opening considering all his tips were right on par with the things I’ve been planning with my own photography. It was definitely one of the most inspiring moments of the entire conference for me personally. The rest of the closing ceremony was filled with so many funny moments that I still find myself chuckling reflecting upon the sketchnotes I took as they were giving away prizes to the audience.

I’ve added these to my sketchnotes set in flickr in case you all wish to look back at the old sketchnotes too.

Again, thanks to Scott Kelby & NAPP for another amazing Photoshop World and for making sure many of our students had an opportunity to make it to learn from the best. But the biggest thanks goes to my husband. Jason took off the entire week to care for the kids while I was at the conference. I really couldn’t do half of the things I have done all these years without his support.

One day a year Valencia Community College holds Learning Day. We cancel all classes, give the students the day off and all full time faculty and staff get a chance to learn. It’s a nice break for us all but also a great chance for us enrich our professional careers by taking classes from other faculty and staff. In years past I’ve always had many colleagues during or at Learning day who tell me “you should teach…(classes on all the things that excite me)…at Learning Day”. So this past fall when I received the invitation to teach presentations I jumped at the opportunity and was excited to have both my presentations approved.

My first class “Social Media and online tools for educators” received a great response and turn out. I was a little shocked to see that there was such an interest that a handful of those that attended were willing to sit on the floor because we ran out of seats. It was the second session of the day so I knew everyone was anxious to head to lunch, but I think it turned out to be a fun one for everyone to learn more about how faculty and staff could use social media like twitter, facebook and more to help communicate, collaborate and inspire students and colleagues.

For me social media has become an invaluable tool as an educator so it was exciting to share the ways I was using various outlets online to hopefully inspire others. Before I started class I made sure to twitter as the group gathered.

This class was so much fun because many of my colleagues I only knew through twitter and facebook – so while I was presenting…they were twittering. Of course I completely approved. I think for many who may not be using social media that it was eye opening to see the possibilities and benefits. There was definitely a nice response after the presentation and many have expressed interest in more classes in the future to help faculty and staff learn more ways to use social media effectively in education.

I have elected to share my keynote presentations using slideshare for those of you who would like to refer to it again or for any of you who may have missed my presentation. It doesn’t share the hilarious youtube video included, but the rest of the main points are present.

After lunch those of us from graphics and the art department headed over to Jason Ellison’s office to check out the new screenprinting set up he had going. You may have heard the rumors, but Jason has done an amazing job at setting up a screenprinting set up in his office so that we can use it in the future. This is exciting news and will likely lead to many more fun creative projects for our students and graphics program. I thought I’d share a little sneak peak with you  of his office as we were all checking out his office because it really is that exciting to see how much work he’s put into it all. And if you’re wondering what all those awesome posters are of – just go check out the Pinup girls, killer robots, and toast event that we’re holding next week. Our amazing alumni, Kevin Scarbrough will be back in town to school us on the topics of freelancing as a designer.

I was most excited about my photography presentation that was held at the end of Learning Day. I think they must purposely put the awesome presentations at the end to excite people to stay for all the sessions but it was pretty clear that crowds began to fade after lunch. I must admit that for me I was a bit nervous because they anticipated a possible large turnout due to the topic and so they put my presentation in the second largest speaking venue on campus. I presented to a reasonable size group for it being the last session of the day.

Thanks to my friend, Giancarlo (a.k.a. Blue) Brand, I have a few photos from the presentation to share. I think as teachers we all don’t have enough photos of us doing what we do just about every day…teaching. For me it definitely left me a little more nervous because it was the first time speaking connected to a microphone but once I got use to the echo it was no different than teaching in any other setting. So I feel pretty fortunate that Blue was willing to take time out of his day to help me document a bit of the day to share with you all. (thanks again Blue – you rock!)

My photography presentation was exciting because it allowed me to not just share my knowledge of photography but to also share my work and offer examples throughout the presentation. Because I knew I’d have a diverse audience I had to make sure not to over teach or under teach the subject matter. I also couldn’t teach to a specific camera because the functions on cameras varies so much by brand. So I hope given the time that I was able to inspire everyone with some things that have greatly influenced me in growing as a photographer these last few years.

I think one of the most rewarding parts of the day was the sense of community amongst my colleagues. Teaching a couple sessions definitely connected me to many more colleagues than I typically would interact with. But along the way it was very helpful to also have amazing support from my own colleagues in graphics. Thanks to Kristy Pennino, Jason Ellison, and Meg Curtiss for attending both of my sessions and offering an amazing amount of reassurance and encouragement all day. You guys rock!

Yes, I have to admit, sometimes I think it’s more challenging to teach to a group of people you know. So at first, I wasn’t so sure how much I liked the idea of having the colleagues who knew me best in my presentations. But it was great to have their support. I really love this photo Blue took of Kristy as she sat in on my photography presentation. I suppose it’s a little odd now that I am the one teaching many of my own former teachers. Thanks again Kristy. I know many of you believe I should say “no” a little more with all I’ve been doing, but I had fun sharing my knowledge and found it to be a very rewarding experience to inspire my colleagues.

Two of my favorite photos taken by Blue today are of my Dean, Wendy Givoglu as she sat in on my photography class. Just like Kristy, she too use to be one of my favorite teachers when I was a student at Valencia. I think I’m still having a hard time believing that now I’m the one teaching my former teachers.  Thanks for showing your support today Wendy!

I’ve also placed my photography presentation online. It also doesn’t include the brief video that was shared during the presentation but the slides are there. Not hearing me speak with these may not give you the full experience of actually being in the session but I know there’s a lot of interest in seeing the presentations and many who attended are interested in looking back at some of the things presented so I hope you enjoy.

Thanks again to everyone who attended my presentations and to those of you who have put up with me the last two weeks as I’ve prepared for these two presentations. Finally, I’ve conquered Learning Day and now it’s time to return to a big pile of homework and grading!

If you guys have questions or comments about either presentation feel free to post comments to this post!

So though I have most of my presentation planned out, I wanted to take a quick moment to post this little inquiry on my blog to get everyone’s input. And here’s ALL I need to know from you:

If I could teach you one thing about photography, what would it be?

So take a minute to think about it and get let me know by posting a comment here on my blog.

It didn’t take long before I was dubbed the “baby photographer” at our location. Early in the day we bumped into a mother with a three week old little girl and I jumped at the chance to take newborn photos. I really didn’t anticipate taking baby photos today, but it certainly made my day. I have to admit one of the most rewarding parts of the day was not just taking the photos but then getting to see the reaction of the families as they saw the photos. This mother was just as thrilled of her little one’s portrait as all the other new mothers I’ve taken newborn photos for the last two years.

Thanks to Jim Hobart for taking the next two photos. I have to admit that as I photographed the three week old things went so fast, but I could sense I had a crowd watching and taking photos of me taking photos. In between photoshoots we were found twittering and updating our facebook statuses. Yes, we probably look pretty geeky twittering but hopefully you all enjoyed the updates as we were participating in Help Portrait.

We had a lot of volunteers today and so as we waited for families to take photos of, many of us went around taking photos of other photographers taking photos. It was very rewarding to see how excited everyone was to have their photos taken.

As we waited, proud canon owner, Kayla got to test out my nikon d700 – and  yes, she took photos of us waiting through a playground peep hole.

This was an international event so before the day was over we ended up seeing several media crews out covering stories of the homeless and the help portrait event. We overheard interviews of families telling the news crews how it was their first ever family photo and just how appreciative they were of all the photographers volunteering their time to capture such special moments.

The kids enjoyed having their photos taken and it was rewarding to see their reaction as we showed them their photos.

As the channel 6 news was filming, Valencia student, Kayla Hernandez was photographing one of the families. She did an amazing job at getting the kids excited about having their photos taken.

Here’s a few shots of me behind the scenes. (thanks Erin!)

This event was definitely a team effort. My team was outdoors and the light changed constantly as the day passed. We were constantly diffusing, deflecting and reflecting the light as we took turns taking photos all day. For half of the day Jim Hobart gave us a huge hand throughout our photoshoot. (photos courtesy of Valencia student, Erin McLain)

It was priceless to see how excited many of the kids were today to have their photo taken. Here’s Erin capturing one of the cutest smiles I saw all day.

We saw many families throughout the day. We even got to photograph a family of seven at one point during the day.

In the afternoon we had Valencia students, Matthew Westerman and David Remedios join us to help out.

It was really rewarding for us to see the smiles on the faces of all the families today.

Here are two shots of our Valencia group that volunteered at Help Portrait Orlando. A big thanks to Erin McLain, David Remedios, Matthew Westerman, and Kayla Hernandez. You guys were amazing today!

At the end of the day we took a group photo of all of us who volunteered during the day. Erin and I were the only two from Valencia that remained at the event all day so why not take yet another picture to remember the day, eh.

We’re still awaiting our images to download from the Help-Portrait Orlando team, so I may have a few more behind the scenes shots that to share later. For all of us who participated it was such a rewarding cause that I imagine we’ll be doing more events like this in the future. Thanks to all of you who made today a big success!