Sept 27th's EPIC ADVENTURE!

On Saturday, Sept. 27, a number of TLA DIY members and their families gathered at the trailhead to hike to Lindeman Lake.  We had hikers from 1 yrs (in a backpack) to adults!  The terrain was steep and rocky in places but everyone managed to get to Lindeman with no injuries!  (Camper challenge #1: Travel a trail) 

 Once we arrived, Tim, Mrs. Shulba's husband, showed us his water purifier and discussed how it worked and why you would want to purify your water before drinking.  Everyone got a chance to pump their own water and we refilled our water bottles! (Camper challenge #2: Purify water)

 A TLA DIY Abbotsford mom, Marcy, brought her water purification drops and we tested those out as well.  As it turned out, they worked well without much aftertaste!  For $5, they're a good method to use!

Everyone got to work on a stick fort (Camper challenge #3: Build a shelter) - even the dads got involved!  Because campers at Lindeman likely use the brush and sticks to make campfires, there were very few sticks for our stick fort.  We brought a tarp which helped but I never got a photo of the finished product!  Who's posted it on DIY?

Lastly, we worked on making a fire using flint.  Tim, Marcy, and another DIY dad, Scott, had brought flint so everyone had a chance to try it out.  Because there are no fires allowed at Lindeman Lake, they just worked on getting a little flame started.  It was harder than it looked!  (Camper challenge #4: Learn survival skills)

 But they got a flame going!  

Many a cool sight was seen on our epic hike to Lindeman and it was great to get out in nature on a beautiful Saturday!

Welcome to the #TLADIY club!

We kicked off a great first club meeting this week!  The first meeting was spent troubleshooting HOW to upload our photos and video to www.DIY.org and ensure that they were under the correct skill but by the end of class, I think everyone had the hang of it!

Because there is lots of video making in DIY, I enlisted an expert to come and talk to us about making great videos.  Sherman Hu, of www.shermanlive.com , gave us an acronym to keep the tips straight in our minds when filming:

C - Camera: make sure it's still and use the rule of thirds - if you look at your screen as being broken into 3 equal parts, shoot your subject in either the left third or right third of the screen!

L - Light: make sure there's enough light AND instead of having a light straight on your face, keep the light at 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock

A - Audio: make sure it's quiet in the space that you're filming and that you speak loud and clear.  A video with poor audio will not be watched.

P - Plan what you're going to say and watch your Posture!  Your posture conveys a loud message to your audience.

Sherman showing the screen at TLADIY Abbotsford

Sherman using a volunteer to teach C.L.A.P at TLADIY Surrey.

I'm looking forward to seeing your videos on DIY.org!