Online exhibition

My name is Kathryn Fairbrother and I am a senior, child development major at Meredith College. I was interested in this course because I thought it would be an interesting way to learn about Photoshop and to help out my community. The most valuable part about this course is the connection I have made to those at the shelter and the help that has been given to the animals. I did not expect to learn so much about how to not get so emotionally involved when you are working with animals. My photos can help with the impact of animal overpopulation by showing the public what happens when animals cannot find homes.

This animal was sent to the shelter by a previous owner, I have been able to help him by taking his picture to help get him adopted.

So many animals, so little time!

Animal overpopulation is a epidemic that is occurring in the world right now. It is when animals continue to procreate even though they cannot realistically have a beneficial life. I do not really understand how to interpret because the sentence is a fragment and I cannot give two examples because I am not quite sure what is being asked. Society does not see animal overpopulation they do not think about the repercussions of having an animal that has not been "fixed." With the shelter having every animal fixed helps the population of animals but they cannot help all the animals that come in. If there was a way to educate pet owners that adopt from other area in the benefits of having your animal fixed could help the overall pet population issue.




Here are my top 10 images from this class

Mallory (55299)

Sunshine (53317)

Cake (55038)

Princess (54435)

Trixie (54667)

Ace (52418)

Rob (54461)

Betty

Bonnie (49512)

Jerri Ann (52921)

Keep it coming!

I will continue to help at the shelter when I am done with this class. I do not believe it will be in photography though. I want to have a little more time to actually play with the dogs. I have also started the process of becoming a foster parent! This option will not only help the shelter but it will also help me as well! My dog gets lonely during the afternoons when I am at work and he sometimes wishes he could just be a "wild dog". By having a foster dog, I can help the shelter open space and socialize my dog with other animals. Both of my roommates are on board and they cannot wait until summer is over so we can foster a wonderful dog.

Here is a picture of me in the kennel with a newer dog named Bobby Jenks (54511) Who looks a lot like one of the other dogs that I fell in love with. This photo was taken  by a kennel worker named Dameon who has been a great help every time I have come to the shelter! Thanks!

My plan

(Step one) I have always been interested in time lapse, whether it be with photography or with video. It can be as simple as setting up a camera in one area and keeping the film going until the desired point. Someone can also set up a camera and have it set up to take a set number of pictures over a set of time. The idea I had for our work is to have two separate videos one for cats and one for dogs. This would lapse over a months worth of animals in the shelter to show how many animals come into the shelter. This could be beneficial to the public to show how often animals get placed into the shelter. It could also help the shelter by having more people volunteer at the facility. 

(Step Two) If we could have everyone in the class collaborate their pictures at the end of our class to create a template for this project. It would require more than the number of people in this class to get the pictures that are needed. You would also need to make sure every animal is accounted for in a register and to be sure that no animals is missed. Cooperation from the facility would be required in order to make this idea a possibility.

(Step Three) Doing some research before hand is critical and I went to google to learn a little more about photography time lapse. I found a website that set up a camera to take pictures of a town square for an extended amount of time. This could be used as a spring board for this idea and can provide us with a better idea about the outcome of our production. Photography Time Lapse

Photos that show extended time lapse

Pictures of a puppy to a dog

Think...

Not only can you get an animal adopted just by a picture but I have found that I can give more and more of my time to the shelter because of how it impacts my life. I don't have a lot of time these days since work has started up (I am a swim coach). The days that I can go into the shelter and take photos of these animals makes my days just a little more manageable. Making the dogs and cats simply irresistible! When you are at the shelter and getting to know a dog or cat you can really capture their personality in a photo. By using forced depth of field you can bring the animal out in the photo making it the focal point of the photo. This can help the potential owner sift through the animals online and see what animal they truly desire. Another example of the impact the photography has is that it teaches us how to function on Photoshop. Being able to do the same things over and over again through the photos makes learning the abilities easier. If it wasn't for the practice pictures I would not have learned how to appropriately make a mask. I think it would be a great idea to make a video of a day in the life of a shelter animal. While it would require a lot of time it might help those who do not quite understand how shelters work and cure some of the misconceptions that surround the center. They could not only place these films online but they can see if a news center wants to run the piece. While this might not be feasible right now I do see this as a positive impact for the shelter and getting the word out their about how the shelter is run. Getting other schools to participate in this class and in the shelter could help with community outreach. By simply extending an arm to our neighbors at NCSU we could increase awareness about the center and about the issues that the shelter preaches about.

Here is a photo of a puppy that shows his personality and would have been lost in his previous photo.

Rob (54461)

Value

What I have found to be most valuable about this course would be the animals that I have been able to get adopted because of the skills I have learned in this class. I love being with the animals and being able to connect with them on their level. Without the skills I have learned in Photoshop this outcome would not have been possible. One thing I do wish is that this class would meet in person. I enjoy blogging but find it hard to keep up with without the support of   a more formal setting. Here are a couple of pictures of animals that have been adopted because of the skills I have gained from this class.

The wonders of Photoshop!

I love photoshop! I have never been able to get these results from my photos before and I love having the power that I have seen in the dark room with film! I have grown to love the curves because I love a nice contrast. I was able to take a picture that I had edited before and really make it pop. I have a picture of the dog Henna at the shelter that now has more meaning because of the contrast. One tool that I am struggling with is the masking tool and the forced depth of field. I need to work on the selecting tool because I either end up selecting the whole photo or just half of the dog! I keep re-watching the video online to see if there is something I am doing wrong but I think it just takes a little getting use to. :)

Here are two photos that I have used the new tools in photoshop that we have recently learned. The first is Henna and I did levels, dodging, rotation of image, lens correction and curves! The second photo is Chloe and I did levels, dodging, rotation of image, lens correction and curves.