Take better pictures with Best Buy Photography Workshop Tours

This post is sponsored by Best Buy. All opinions are our own.

We would be hard pressed to find anyone these days who hasn’t taken a picture. Taking a photograph is one of those skills that we use every day and wish we were better at. Whether it is the uncanny knack of taking pictures of folks with their eyes closed, blurring out movement or keeping the sun in the background, we have done it all (and multiple times sadly). So for those of you who are ‘emerging’ photographers like us or just looking to polish up on your photography skills there is hope. The good folks at Best Buy are offering up some hands-on training through their Photography Workshops.

For Beginners (like us) there are FREE In-store Photography Workshops: 2 hours long sessions that will cover the photography basics & allow you 1:1 interaction with Best Buy’s Camera Experience Shop Experts to walk through your camera’s settings. The Camera Experience Shop is a specialty camera store within a local Best Buy store with a great assortment and experts to help you make the right choice. Given our great experience with Best Buy’s Geek Squad employees we would imagine a great level of support and guidance. Once you are done, you can take the next step into the upcoming Photography Workshop Tours on 7/28, 10/20 and 1/19. It is very easy to sign-up to be notified when these go live for registration in the fall/winter.

For intermediate-skilled photographers Best Buy has got you covered as well: you can sign up for one of the Photography Workshop Tours that are available in Seattle, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, New York City and Minneapolis on July 28th. You also have the opportunity to sign up for fall and winter sessions planned for 10/20 and 1/19. These are half-day sessions where the participants get a chance to work with pro photographers and Best Buy’s Camera Experience Shop experts, with a lunch and some giveaway goodies thrown into the mix. These sessions are not free (cost $50) though may very well be worth the expense. As mentioned earlier, it is very simple to just sign up for notifications when the sessions are open for registration.

#Giveaway Go on a Creature Adventure with the new Wild Kratts Magazine

Have you had a creature adventure lately? Maybe you've taken part in a creature rescue? How about collecting a treasured set of creature power discs? If your answer to any (or all) of these questions is a yes, then you know we are talking about the uber-popular show Wild Kratts on PBS. For those few of you that don’t know about the show, it is a fun educational children's live-action/animated series created by brothers Chris and Martin Kratt. The show's aim is to educate children about biology, zoology, and ecology, and teach kids small ways to make big impacts. The show is very popular with our two boys and we are not ashamed to say that they know more about some wild animals than we ever did.

Given that anything that has the word Kratt associated with it is an instant hit in our house, we were very excited to preview the latest issue of the show’s companion magazine, Wild Kratts Creature Trail Scrapbook, put together by Topix Media Lab. Topix Media Lab is a magazine and book publishing company that partners with the biggest kids brands to create fun and educational magazines, such as the Wild Kratts issues.

Developed in direct consultation with the Kratt brothers, the latest issue of the Wild Kratts magazine (which came out on July 24th) is chock full of short blurbs about amazing creature adventures from the TV show on each page along with activities, crafts, and photos of real-life animals. We are totally fascinated by how unique some of the animals and their stories are - streaked Tenrec or spotted-tail Quoll anyone? The quality of the content, information, and drawings is top-notch and would make an awesome gift for the Wild Kratts lovers in your family.

Now one of our wonderful readers can get their hands on copies of the last 5 (yes 5!) Wild Kratts magazines put together by the good folks at Topix Media Lab through the giveaway below: 

Entry-Form

Product received, thank you to Topix Media Lab for supplying us with a product for this review, all opinions are our own.

#Giveaway Introducing STEM through Dream Big: Engineering Our World 2-DVD Set (+Educators' Resources!)

Watching IMAX®  films at our local Science Center was a great way for us to beat the heat recently.  We weren't sure what the kids would think of their first  IMAX® giant screen viewing experience.  Would they love it or freak out?  We had been looking forward to seeing Dream Big: Engineering Our World as a way to talk to the kids about the many ways engineering impacts our lives and help ignite their interest in science and technology.  Produced for all ages, Dream Big showcases engineering's impressive impact on our world and our lives.  The film features amazing engineering projects, along with forward-thinking and compassionate engineers. The huge scale of the IMAX® format made these engineering marvels even more impressive - the soaring expanses of bridges and skyscrapers were pretty incredible and the kids were spellbound.  

Jeff Bridges narrates this engaging film about the wonders brought to life through engineering.

Now this amazing educational and fascinating film is available in a 2-DVD education-focused set from Shout! Factory.  It makes the transition to the small screen really well (admittedly without some of the stomach-flipping impact of the aerial visual effects through IMAX®), and Shout! Factory takes it even further by including a 150-page educator's guide, with detailed lesson plans, PLUS additional education short clips and featurettes.  As a former educator, I was impressed with the quality lesson plans that were targeted to each grade level from Kindergarten through High School, as well as special activities and event planning guides.  Even though much of the educator content is available at discovere.org, having all these materials easily at hand without searching and downloading will be a great resource for educators who want to offer enrichment opportunities aligned with the film. (Even if you purchase the 2-DVD set, visit discovere.org for even more extension activities and information)

Here are some example lesson summaries from the educator guide:

1st Grade
Daylight in a Bottle
Harness solar energy to light a room.
Topics: Electromagnetic radiation, refraction, use of recycled materials

7th Grade
Building the Pyramids
Determine how Egyptians moved giant stones.
Topics: Teamwork, forces and motion, ancient cultures and mythologies

High School Chemistry
Making an Impact on Habitat
Create a safe way to neutralize the byproduct of a factory.
Topics: Engineering in the real world, runoff from pollution, impact of human civilization

Bridge engineers in Haiti: Engineers work on the final pieces for the deck of the Chameau footbridge in Haiti, as seen in the film Dream Big. The Chameau Bridge will provide welcomed access to schools and medical care for isolated, rural families.

The Shout! Factory 2-DVD set is a perfect back-to-school resource for the STEM-focused educator, but its content is also great for community groups like Scouting troops or industry groups focused on engineering (I liked the event planning guide for 'Girls Night Out' focused on using the film and  inspiring engineering heroes to help encourage development of STEM careers). 

I loved these five messages for conversations about engineering (from discovere.org) that are reinforced through the educator materials:

Curiosity—Engineers ask lots of questions that start with: Why? How? What if?
Creativity—Engineering is a great outlet for the imagination—the perfect field for independent thinkers.
Teamwork—Engineering takes teamwork, and engineers work with all kinds of people inside and outside the field. Whether they’re designers or architects, doctors or entrepreneurs, engineers are surrounded by smart, inspiring people.
Opportunities—An engineering degree offers lots of freedom in finding a person’s dream job. It can be a launching pad for jobs in business, design, medicine, law, and government. To employers or graduate schools, an engineering degree reflects a well-educated individual who has been taught ways of analyzing and solving problems that can lead to success in all kinds of fields.
Helping Others—Imagine what life would be like without pollution controls to preserve the environment, life-saving medical equipment, or low-cost building materials for fighting global poverty. All this takes engineering. In very real and concrete ways, engineers save lives, prevent disease, reduce poverty, and protect our planet.

Dream Big delves into the inspirational story of Civil Engineer Menzer Pehlivan, who as a young girl experienced a devastating earthquake in Turkey. Here, Menzer uses everyday items to demonstrate to children how engineers design and build earthquakeproof structures.

Shout! Factory has generously offered a free copy of the 2-DVD Dream Big: Engineering Our World Set, including the educator resource materials, to TWO MommyKatie readers!  Enter below!

Entry-Form

Product received, thank you to Shout! Factory for supplying us with a product for this review, all opinions are our own.