you have asked…..and here it is!
answer this question HONESTLY….how many photos of you are in your family albums? how often do you look back at your family photos, only to see that you are not in one single image? well….we’re gonna fix that! no more will you be the absent parent behind the camera. we focused on our children in our last finding the joy class….NOW, we’re gonna focus on YOU!!!! that’s right…..you are going to be in pictures, my friend! your life will be documented for a change.
the much anticipated follow-up to finding the joy is here!!!!!
finding YOUR joy (<<<——— click here to register)
i will begin this mini three week e-journey september 7th, 2010. this is a great follow up to the finding the joy e-journey we just finished.
the cost for the three week e-journey is $45 USD.
the class will last three weeks on-line, and it will be presented in a forum setting with a gallery within the forum to share images if you choose. i will email weekly lessons as well to participants (lessons for the last class were only available on the forum). the class will have weekly lessons, video tutorials for your camera/shooting and tutorials for photoshop or elements. all levels of photographers are encouraged to participate (as the class is focused not so much on technique as it is on encouraging you to focus on yourself in photos for a change).
class topics include:
- getting in the frame..how to.
- documenting YOUR life….areas of your life you would like to document
- capturing your everyday/routines
you may take the class at your own pace….there are no deadlines.
sign up….start your autumn focusing on YOU once the kids are back in school. you will thank yourself, and your children will thank you in 20 years when they get to see how beautiful you are (and when they actually get to see some photos of YOU).
recommended class materials include:
- a camera
- YOU
- a tripod
- a computer
- photoshop elements or photoshop (not required…just recommended)
Happy, happy, joy, joy! This looks fun!!! Thanks for all that you do and create. You are truly inspiring!
Just finished Finding the Joy Part 1. What an enlightening experience. This class broke me out of my funk. I learned to think outside the box when taking pictures of my kids. There were SO MANY extras. The tuturials were very helpful. Can’t wait to do it again. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Just finished the Finding the Joy class. And it was a great class to take for Mother’s. Especially scrapbooking mother’s. What a great way to document your Child’s life for her future self.
As both a new mother AND a new owner of a dSLR, I could not have found a more perfect class than Finding the Joy. I am way too lazy (and now, busy with a newborn) to read a camera manual and learn all of the features on my own, but this class taught me how to use my camera effectively to take amazing pictures of my new baby. The video instructions were so engaging and instructive, and the written material was easy to understand. I loved the flexibility of the class—if I’m being honest, I’m still finishing up some of the lesson! All of the little extras Kelly threw in were such a happy surprise. I can’t wait for the next class!
I just finished the Finding The Joy class and it was wonderful! I had an “Aha” moment every week! Thank you for teaching us so much Kelly!
Wendy:)
I just finished the Finding The Joy class and can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations! Since it was the first class, I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was worth every penny (and much more!). The lessons were straight forward, yet inspiring – reminding you to capture the everyday moments that we often forget to document. The video tutorials were great and the templates and actions were an unexpected bonus! I’m really looking forward to the next class!
I finished up the first Finding the Joy …WOW.. there is tons of great information, tutorials, videos, freebies, advice, ideas, everything you need to ‘Find the JOY’ in taking pictures of your own children!!
Thanks for such a great couple of weeks!!
Like all my fellow joyseekers, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sadness as Finding the Joy came to an end, so I must say that learning about Finding YOUR Joy, has really got me excited. Mostly because I know it won’t be the average photography workshop.
In my 6 weeks of Finding the Joy, not only were we given clear, easy to understand, and FUN ways to learn how to become a better photographer….and guided by the most creative, giving, FUN and personable instructor….Kelly was always there to answer questions,(never for a moment making a novice with big dreams, ME:), feel like a questions was “dumb”!)
Beyond being the best learning experience I have had thus far, (AND it was an eworkshop!), this class had such a personal component to it, as I discovered how badly I need to slow down, relish each day, and find joy in the simple things. I don’t need to be at my son and daughters games to have a reason to take the camera out. I need to take more pictures of just….life, everyday, not only when our baby takes her first steps, which she recently did! It does not matter what my pictures are of, and they don’t have to appeal to everyone. If they stir up a moment remembered within me…they are the best pictures ever! Kelly helped this perfectionistic, not-so confident mom find joy in moments I never have seen as joyous. My goal now is to come back to that “mode”, as I continue to take pictures…with not just the purpose of practicing what I’ve learned….but with purpose to capture my children in a different way, as they are growing before my eyes, and I want to remember what brings them joy. It brings home the saying I use all the time….”The days are long, but the years are short!”
As I continue to strive towards my dreams of photography, this class has given me a perspective no class has yet to do, and no other class will ever do.
With deep appreciation Kelly, for using your gifts to help others, you are an exceptional woman, mommy, and photographer.
Again, with heartfelt thanks from the notoriously long winded student…
Michelle:)
I just finished “Finding the Joy” and it was fantastic! Well, actually I am probably not “finished” as I am sure to revisit the forum many times between now and September! I especially loved the videos. Like any teacher knows, I remember much more of what I “see” and “do” than what I just read. I have been learning on my own for about eighteen months and my skill level improved tremendously in just 6 short weeks with FTJ. Thanks Kelly–I’ll be back! Yvonne
Finding the Joy has been such an inspirational course! I’m excited for the Finding YOUR Joy class! Especially since I’m never in any of the pictures … I need it!
Finding the Joy has been a wonderful experience and has made me realize all the little things I take for granted everyday! Kelly has helped me see more things I want (and need) to capture … so in 20 years when my kids are all grown up, I’ll still be able to remember all the details. I went into the class expecting more of a “photo inspiration” course and was surprised by all the actions, templates, video tutorials, and photo editing tips. Great for all levels – whether you are a beginner or shooting in manual on a DSLR -this class is for everyone! I absolutely loved it!
Thanks Kelly!
Wow!!!! I absolutely enjoyed every bit of “Finding the Joy”. Not only did I find the joy again in photographing my children, but I have beautiful EDITED photographs ready to print and hang on my wall. I have always loved taking pictures…thousands and thousands of them of my kids, but they just sat there on hard drives never shared really with others. I have learned new ways to capture, process, and share my greatest joys. Thanks Kelly, now I am really looking forward to “Finding Your Joy”, it’s about time for me to be in our family albums.
I loved the first Finding the Joy class. The class was well done and very inspirational. I loved the fact that the information I learned can be used over and over to capture the joys of childhood year after year. This is a great class that I highly recommend to anyone that has children in their life!
Kelly,
Thank you so much for “Finding the Joy.” I learned so much! Capturing my kids through the years is definitely a passion of mine. I have had so many moms with older kids say “these are the best days…treasure them.” What better way to remember/be thankful for the little things even when day to day life seems the same sometimes. There is beauty in the routines and experiences because that is “our story.” Thanks again!
Great class for anyone who loves photography! It really helped me take great photos of my girls without having to bribe or threaten them;) I think that professional photogs would enjoy this class, too because it helps you put priority on taking photos of your own children/family without them running away;) Lots of great ideas, freebies, and discounts to help you along the way. Can’t beat the price of this class with what you get out of it!
Stumbling onto this class couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I recently added another boy to the family while realizing the oldest boy had already grown so quickly in our eyes. The topics not only created a focus on my children’s pictures, but also allowed to evaluate what areas I was not capturing during those prized moments. The organization of the topics flowed throughout the course and the lay out was user friendly. Thank you Kelly!
I just finished finding the joy part 1, as a mom of three, I rarely find time to do anything let alone take good pictures of my kids growing up. My poor son, the youngest has been neglected in photos and I have stopped scrapbooking because I ran out of time and pictures. Finding the joy has given me a new joy of photography and taking pictures of my children. I have learned so much about my camera taking my dslr past the point and shoot mode and into manual, allowing my pictures to be sharper and more focused. Finding the joy really made me focus on my kids and their unique personalities, traits, toys, and what make each of them happy. Focusing on their relationships and documenting life. Now I have the knowledge and ability to bring life back into my pictures and document my 3 children as they grow up.
I encourage anyone who has forgotten their “joy” in photography to sign up for Kelly’s class! I just finished up (okay – admittedly – am still working on) the first “Finding the Joy” and have loved it! I’ve been spending so much time trying to perfect my photography (shooting in manual, learning studio lighting, etc, etc) that I kind of lost sight of the real reason I got into it! While Kelly’s class offered a lot of insight for beginners it also provided just the right “kick in the butt” that I needed to focus on taking fun and joyous photos of my own kids again. For me – that meant focusing on the “what” and the “who” and not so much on the “how.” (GASP – I actually shot for awhile in aperture priority for awhile – something I haven’t allowed myself to do in awhile!) The idea of focusing on me for a month in September is certainly appealing, too! Thanks for the opportunity, Kelly!
I really enjoyed the class. I loved how it forced me to focus on the little moments in daily life as opposed to trying to create the perfect shoot.
Thanks again, Kelly, for such an inspiring class. You are so generous with your knowledge and downloads and information. I loved having a blueprint before taking photos of my little ones. Thanks
Everyone can use a little more JOY! Thanks for all the inspiration and knowledge!
Everyone can use a little more JOY! Thanks for all of the inspiration and knowledge. KJ
I had so much fun “Finding The Joy.” The class was outstanding. I can’t wait to take the next class “Finding YOUR Joy!” What a wonderful idea.
Kelly, I just wanted to let you know that ‘Finding the Joy’ exceeded all of my expectations! Your lessons were so well presented…tips, tricks, lists, prep. suggestions and inspiration. As if that wasn’t enough, I was delighted to get your extras like templates, Photoshop actions, and especially the videos. Seeing you explain concepts in a video was such an unexpected personal touch and really helped me feel connected in this online course. You possess a real gift for taking a potentially confusing or complicated topic and explaining it in a way that makes sense. After watching each of your videos I saw immediate results in my photos. I loved how there was no stress to complete assignments (perfect for this busy mom) and I have lots of superb information to reference as I continue developing my photography skills and feeding my passion. One last thing to add, and I think this says it all…since beginning FTJ, I have had a handful of family and friends make specific comments to me about the quality of my photos…none of them had any idea I was taking a class. Thank you Kelly, I found the joy and can’t wait to take your next class!!
Kelly, thank you so much for offering a class for the moms who want to “up” their photography skills. Thank you for helping me take my DSLR off of auto mode (after 4 comfortable years
.
Thank you for your simple, straightforward instructions and videos. Thank you for making the class information available to use at my own pace. Less pressure is better for me. I have learned so much from this class.
I love that I am spending time learning while spending time capturing memories with the kids. I especially loved the way you helped us look at our daily lives to capture precious moments.
Thank you!
Finding the Joy was wonderful! I’ve learned more in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 6 months. The video tutorials were super helpful and straight forward, the themes each week allowed me to really think about how I want to capture my kiddos, and having the ability to view all the photos in the flickr group truly inspired me! Thanks, Kelly, for a wonderful workshop!
Kelly, this was a great class. Due to winter, school holidays and selling my house I didnt get to be as invilved as I would have liked. In saying that I still learnt so much, the penny dropped on a few things and I loved all the extras you so generously shared with us.
Thank You
http://www.piccadillymarket.blogspot.com
Just finished my first ever online class with Kelly Willette in finding the JOY part 1. I didn’t know what to expect or how the class would work. It was the best experience ever, not only did we find the joy in photographing our children but we also learn’t a variety of techniques including the processing and enhancing side too. I would recommend this course to anyone who has the love of making memories of their family or even those that have the love of photography……their is something here for everyone! The new course “Finding the JOY….document your life” the next step…..as a single mother I am always the one behind the camera taking the photos (there is only a handful of pictures with me in them) so I am really interested in how I can document our life with me in the pictures too. Kelly opens your eyes and makes it all possible, full of fun, exciting and it is as interactive as you yourself wish to make it. Oh…also no deadlines. If you were considering it….give it a go, you will be thrilled you did. Thanks Kelly for sharing your knowledge and making this a wonderful experience…..Hugs M xxx
yay! i’ve signed up for the finding your joy workshop
I was so glad to take finding the joy photo ecourse. I love to scrapbook so therefore I need good pictures, This class was a great introduction into photography, I new nothing about getting into manual. Now my intrest has been tickled and off I go. I can’t wait to take finding your joy, I need to get more pictures of me in my kids albums so I can remember what I look like when I’m OLD! Thanks Kelly for getting me started with documenting my childrens lives!!
I just finished ~Finding the Joy~ and I can honestly say it was Pure Joy! Kelly has a way of teaching that is straight forward and easy. She offers many extras, and her videos are well done as well as short and sweet, and this makes learning so much easier! I have taken a couple other classes but this one was the most fun!!! I think Kelly is so wonderful I would take any class she offered! Thanks Kelly for such a great class, you are a true inspiration!
This class met all my needs as a beginning/intermediate wannabe photographer…Kelly was great with helping me with creative ideas and composition. Just as valuable were her Photoshop tutorials. For some reason, I was intimidated by the very idea of editing on Photoshop and she broke it down and got me over that very quickly! I had a great time and learned so much while having fun taking photos of my granddaughters…it also pushed me to do more with them to create precious memories! Thank you, Kelly!!
I just finished the workshop and it was just the kuck in the butt I needed. I had been spending so much time searching for that perfect portrait that I’ve missed documenting our life! This workshop showed me how important it is to capture the little things. Great tips, awesome freebies, not intimidating at all. A friendly place to get inspired.
Although I wasnt able to keep up there was a wealth of information that I learned. Sometimes I felt lost in the threads but overall this was a great class.
the reason i bought a dslr camera and to shoot manual was to take really cool pictures of my kids. i took a beginner’s class to shoot manual, learned it enought to start using it, and then thought “well, now what?”. finding the joy put my manual skills to work. i want to take great pictures of my kids and the rest of my family and this class was exactly what i was looking for. and it delivered. if you could see my pictures from week one to now. whoa. look out. there were a lot of “pros”
in the class and i learned so much from just looking at their shots of their kids- all sorts of ideas and inspiration!
there is a lot of information coming at you. i would like to tell future joy seekers not to get overwhelmed. work at your own pace, take your time to watch the videos, and read the message boards. there’s a lot of “stuff” everywhere on the forum. take your time. it’s some searching. and, if you don’t have photoshop GET IT! she gave away so many templates and actions and all sorts of crazy stuff. but if you don’t have it (i don’t), it doesn’t matter. take the class!
Just the kick start I needed to figure out PSE and really use it for more than the organizer. Working full time, I would just catch photos sporadically. Your framework and assignments helped give me focus direction and get more out of the photos I now take.
THANKS!
I just finished the Finding the Joy class and it was awesome. Kelly packs it full of unique ideas that make you totally rethink how you take photos! I loved that this course could be done totally at your own pace and even though I did the assignments every week, I didn’t have to post pictures unless I wanted to. Her tutorials were amazing! I recommend this class to anyone, of any skill level, just looking to take better pictures of their kids. I can’t wait to take the next class!
I definitely found joy during the past six weeks! I’ve learned so much about photography from Kelly and from the others taking the class. For me, this course turned a hobby into a PASSION. I can’t get enough! Kelly is much more than a teacher, she is a mentor. I appreciated all the individual questions she answered and her accessibility. The tuturials were easy to understand and taught me so much, and I was glad to be able to learn at my own pace. I also LOVED all the “FREEBIED” like the templates and posing guides. I’ve looked at other online workshops and classes, I don’t think there is one out there better than Finding The Joy, especially for busy mamas! I don’t the six weeks to end. I’m glad to have made many friendships online, and hope to continue learning from other photographers. I can’t wait for the next FTJ workshop! Thank you for helping me find and share my joy!
For a while now I’ve been shooting in manual but didn’t really “get” what I was doing. Having taken your Finding the Joy class things have clicked and I am soooo much happier with the photos I’m taking now. I’m still slow at times but I’m getting there. I can’t thank you enough – especially for the video tutorials which were so informative and helped with the “ah ha” moments
Now I would love to take Finding Your Joy and seeing how much more I could learn!
I am so glad I took the six-week Finding the Joy workshop–it was full of so many wonderful ideas for capturing the joy of our every-day life! I have portraiture fairly well down, but was having SUCH TROUBLE elevating my more journalistic style photos to something above snapshots, and this got me well on the way toward more beautifully documenting or family. I am so thrilled! Thank you!
I just finished FTJ, Part 1 and I LOVED it. Kelly’s short video tutorials are so incredibly helpful and EASY to understand. Before taking this class, I had taken a couple of classes at a local photography school and I was shooting in manual exposure. While these videos are great for true beginners (they are things like, “Put your child here, You stand here, Now shoot”), I learned a ton from them, too.
I also liked that the class was no pressure. I never posted any of my homework in the Flicker group and I never felt pressured to. I did look at the Flicker photos some and I learned a ton from just looking at all the homework that others posted on there.
I bought Photoshop Elements when I started the class and I cannot believe how much I can already do on it. If not for this class, I would not be able to even open a picture in there.
This class was defintely worth the cost of tuition. Looking forward to part II!
Sad because it finished, happy to have taken part.
I knew I would learn LOTS from Kelly, but coudn’t imagine this much really.
It has broaden my ideas and my projects.
Huge THANKS , Kelly, for such a lovely workshop.
Hi Kelly, I have just learned about this course from Ali Edwards blog… it sounds great and I’d love to register… is it open to residents outside the USA? I live in Australia. Thanks!
@amy!!!! of course! i LOVE my aussies! we have a several UK and Australian participants in the last class, and i already have several signed up for this class! so glad you found out about the class…it is gonna be fun, fun, fun!