Just my reflection paper was submitted for this past week.

This week I went to Frick Park to photograph getting outdoors with the older generation (I was youngest one there)! Walked around Frick Park on the trails and discussed exercising and the health benefits of just walking daily can keep your bones healthy. You could also attend this event virtually (one of the people was carrying around their phone and took them along).

The last survival course of 2020 wad fire building. First we went for a hike down a mountain in search of sticks and twigs to use to build a fire. Some found very large sticks and didn't fit into the paper bag lol. The sun set very fast when they started building their fire. Flash photography is a whole separate animal and I didn't want to irritate them with flashes. 

This week we had 3 different events that I covered. The first two I have already had photos for but I'll add newer ones below, also on Saturday I attended a hike in Hays, PA documenting the journey through the uncertain terrain and coming back in one piece. Also, a blog post for them covering how their virtual summer camps went and what kind of difficulties occurred while streaming.
​Tyke Hike:

Outdoor Survival:

Hay's Woods Trail Hike: 

​Virtual Summer Camps of 2020! (Blog post)
Venture Outdoors had three different selections: Explorer, STEM, and Survival!
​Campers had "family challenges" to teach their family what they learned during the stream - in the Survival series the parents loved the activities that they could do with their kids! Virtual lessons tend to take more time to go over but as time went on, the kids became more accustomed to learning in a virtual environment. Some of the more popular virtual activities do do together with the kids are: seed planting, water experiments, and fire-building! Best sessions: Hands-on stuff IS KEY! We basically have to build and deliver kits that include materials for crafts, experiments, hands-on learning. It makes the learning so much more fun and engaging for the kids. It is a lot of work up front to do, but really helps out.

(Slideshow of photos would go here but want to play it safe because I don't have permission from the children/parents during the virtual summer camp sessions.)

This week was a busy end to the week with 2 hikes and a event at Shanley Park. The outdoor survival skills pictures are redundant, basically the same thing as the week prior. At the end of the week, I went to Dead Mans Hollow in McKeesport and documented the event throughout the trails that we hiked and learned bits of information throughout the duration of the hike from the leader of the event.
Tyke Hike:

Ages 10-16 a 4-week in-person afterschool course at Shenley Park for youth (ages 10-16) from Thursdays 10/22 to 11/12. This course is to help prepare them to go adventuring in the backcountry. From fire starting and map use, to trip planning and shelter building.

Tagging each image with the appropriate tags to be searchable later on (may change the tags or add to them). Each image has to be tagged and can become time consuming!

Instagram Stories for Venture Outdoors! 
Sunday I went out to Frick Park and did some instagram stories on what are the different colors of fall and adding information to the photos/video to make it more engaging!

For a blog post last week I did a "Meet the Interns" for VentureOutdoors and got all the contact info for them and send them an email and they responded with a short bio and a picture for the website. Some took a long time to get back to me, but they all responded and the blog post is sent to the website manager at VentureOutdoors.

(I would post the information to make this section more complete, but I don't want to publish their information without their approval)

This past week I figured out how I want to plan my time at VentureOutdoors between the few events they have each week. So every other week, I am going to the North Shore and the odd weeks I attend Tyke Hikes to spread out my time. Plus integrating blog posts for social media/website posts into my time. This week, we went for a nature walk down to to goats and the kids had a great time being intrigued at the animals and then the kids favorite, snack time and drawing!
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Tyke Hike: (at Frick Environmental Park)

Blog post:
​What should you bring with you on a camping trip?

Camping is a fun and exciting outdoor adventure to have with your friends, family, or anyone that wants to spend time outdoors! To be well prepared, you are going to need a few items to help your outing go great!

1. Tent (with all the tent poles and ground cloth)
2. Sleeping bag, pillow and sleeping bag pad to soften your slumber
3. Lights! It can be kerosene or electric to light your path and campsite
4. Tools, building your fire, cooking your food, knife, backpack, extra clothes, etc.
5. Needed things:
   1. jacket that is waterproof
   2. sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun
   3. extra clothes - long sleeve shirts are great for when it gets chilly at night
   4. swimsuit (if you find a body of water that is safe to swim)
   5. socks, nobody likes hiking or walking in wet socks
6. Hiking boots - for when your group decides to go for a hike in the afternoon to explore the area and see the beauty of nature with comfortable feet!
7. Water - bring an insolated water bottle and enough to quench your thirsts!
8. Medications - if you take medications or prescriptions, make sure you have them with you! Pain medicine for those suprise visits of headaches.
9. Bug spray is a must when those pesky mesquitoes come out
10. Toilet paper can be used in more than one way, can be used as a fire starter to ignite your campfire!
11. If you are camping in an area with showers, you want to make sure you have your shampoos, lotions, hair products. Plus your teeth will appreciate you if you bring a toothbursh and toothpaste. Deoterant is a good thing to have too, to remain fresh while in the woods.
12. Your skin needs some attention too, sunscreen is always a good thing to bring with to protect yourself against burns.
13. You can't forget food! Before heading to the campsite, have meals planned out and purchased.
14. You're going to need pots, pans and cooking utensils to cook your food in also.
15. Navigating the trails! Either an old-school map of trails of the area you're in or a high-tech personal GPS to track your progress while exploring the greater outdoors!
16. First Aid, have a first aid kit with you with all the necessary supplies so in the event that it is needed, you are prepared.
17. Entertainment for the evening or weekend - board games, campfire activities, learning experiences with leaders chopping wood for the fire, preparing meals, short hikes, fishing gear, kayaking equipment?
18. Enjoy the outdoor experience! Being one with nature and having a break from our normal lives is refreshing and can recharge your inner spirit!

This past week I went to the North Shore again and another group of students came and went fishing. This time, towards the end of the time slot, one of the members caught a fish!

Banff Promotional Video - highlighting some of the events VentureOutdoors does for the community to bring them together.

This past week was a busy one! On Wednesday, I attended a Tyke Hike, which is looking at insects, plants, rocks, and other natural aspects in Frick Nature Center Park. Ages 0-6 and older siblings attended. Capturing the events of the morning!

Trianglers Fishing - on the North Shore, right after the Tyke Hike I rushed to the North Shore to capture people fishing!

Outdoor Survival & Backcountry Skills for Teens at Schenley Park! A 4-week in-person afterschool course for teens to be better prepared to go adventuring in the backcountry! This week: Setting up camp.

On Saturday, Sept. 19th VentureOutdoors had Kayaking at their Aspinwall Riverfront Park location, they planned to have Keshir Pittsburgh to come out and accelerate Rosh Hoshana.

I'm not a big fan of "hurry up and wait" and once they started with showing the kayakers how to paddle and getting them into groups and in the river. Creating pictures that show the event as if you were there was the challenge to me to figure out what picture(s) has someone not taken of this before.