If you walked into the Dearborn Branch on the morning of June 5, you would have seen children mesmerized by self-proclaimed "balloon-atic" Larry MacDonald creating animals, hats, and crowns from long, thin balloons. He handed out balloons to the children, and as they followed his instructions, dogs and hats emerged with a twist of the wrist. Oohs and ahhs were heard as he created teddy bears holding hearts and a crown for a princess.
The Grain Valley Branch had the pleasure of having Mac, the Missouri Mavericks Mascot; Bob Rennison, the Mavericks radio announcer; and Darin Henderson, the official DJ for the Mavericks do their new program Stick With Reading. This program not only promotes the Missouri Mavericks and hockey, but it also promotes reading.
Summer is in full swing at the Raytown Branch. The Summer Reading Program is up and running. There are programs for all ages, birth through teens. Children have an opportunity to win 3 free books and other prizes. You have until July 31st to participate. It is easy to sign up online or at the Library.
Don't let your reading skills get rusty this summer. The Antioch Branch has a program just for you. Pagemasters will meet every Monday at 6:30 p.m. We take turns reading a book, then play a game or make a craft to go along with the story. You can sign up online or call the Library at 816.454.1306.
Here are some of the books we are reading this summer:
Tips for Taking Pictures Indoors Part #2: High ISO
The next part of our series on indoor photography will focus on using a high film speed or ISO indoors. ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization. The most common settings are 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. Many cameras available today will allow you to switch an ISO setting quickly.
Imagine a mysterious, diverse, and beautiful land on the other side of the world. A land that produces an instrument called the didgeridoo, which looks and sounds as exotic as its name. A land down under, a land called Australia.
But wait! Let’s go back to the instrument: a didgeridoo? Well, that’s just plain fun to say! The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians about 1,500 years ago that is still in widespread use today all around the world.
More than 80 girls got a chance to experience the aloha spirit of Hawaii recently when the North Oak Branch hosted two American Girl Tea parties celebrating Kanani, one of the American Girl characters.
Tips for Taking Pictures Indoors Part 3: Using Outside Light
Here is part three of our series on taking pictures inside. The last two blogs focused on using the flash indoors and high ISO settings. This time, I would like to focus on using outside light to help you get a good indoor picture.
The picture you see above was taken inside an apartment. However, I made sure to position the objects of the picture within the sunlight that was shining through the window.
Tips for Taking Pictures Indoors Part 4: Some Quick Tips and Tricks
For the last entry in our series on shooting pictures indoors, I would like to share a number of quick tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years.
1: Try shooting in black and white. The picture of the cat you see above was taken inside with no flash. Before taking this picture, I’d taken several others in color, and none of them were turning out right. On a whim, I set my camera to shoot black and white and finally managed to get a good cat head shot.
