Week 6 Post 2

Summary

This is Zunny and this is one of my favorite images I took this course. I think this image made a positive impact because Zunny did get adopted and it was a great improvement from his original image on the site.

 

• Name: Kayley Jolly 

• Major: Fashion Design with a Minor in Studio Arts

• Year: 2013

1. Why was I interested in this course?: When looking to resister for summer classes I was looking at the different art classes to take and I saw that there were some photography ones. I have always wanted to take a photography class so I could learn to take better photos and edit them. When I started to read this classes description I was sold immediately! I love animals and to have a class where I would be working on helping them sold me on taking this class and I have loved every minute of it! 
2. What was the most valuable part of this course for you?: The most valuable part of this course to me was the happiness I got from helping the animals at the shelter. It was so rewarding working with them and the amazing people at the shelter. I learned how compassionate people can be and  how much I really do care about these animals. It was also great to see how everyone in the class would work together and support each other it was like a little family. 
3. What did you learn that you were not expecting to?: I learned that the animal shelter is not a bad horrible place because they euthanize animals, they only do that to help them and I understand that know. Also I learned how much I really love these animals and I want to help them and the shelter as much as I can.
4. How can photography make an impact on animal overpopulation? Photography can help with overpopulation because it can make the community aware of what it is, what is going on with animal overpopulation, and educate them how harmful it is to this animals.  

Week 6 Post 1

Animal Overpopulation

Animal overpopulation is a growing problem in Wake county and in America. Animal overpopulation is when there an overcrowding of animals and not enough resources to care for this overcrowding. To me animal overpopulation is happening because people are not educated enough on getting there animals spayed and neutered. Many people think that getting their animals fixed is way to expensive and not even worth it; but there are lost cost spay and neuter clinics that offer lost prices for getting your animals fixed. Here is a link to different clinics that offer low cost spay and neutering for animals http://www.ncraoa.com/clinics.html . Another reason I think there is and overpopulation of animals is because people are not responsible about what it truly means to care for an animal. People just love the idea of having a pet but once they get one they finally understand how hard and what it means to take care of a animal which would be have the fiances to support an animal, get it spayed/neutered so there is no overpopulation of animals, and to have the time to care and love the animal. People just need to think before they get an animal and how important it is to spay and neuter their animals. I don't think society really understands how bad overpopulation has gotten and how they are causing it because they do not spay/neuter their animals. Society just thinks that all shelter can actually take care of all these animals when really they cannot and society gets upset when they hear how shelters euthanize animals; but they don't take the time to understand why shelter have to do this and that they try everything they can do to not euthanize the animals. The shelter has to euthanize animals when they are sick or just have no chance to a happy life, they don't just put them to sleep just because. Society needs to start taking responsibility for the problem they have help cause and need to get their animals spayed/neutered. 

     

Week 5 Post 4

 My Home Away From Home

"Photo courtesy of Mary Shannon Johnstone ©2012"

After this class is over I will continue to volunteer at the animal shelter. Since volunteering there I have never felt so happy and like I am making a positive impact on the world. It makes me feel so good to help these animals find homes and to give them love. I have gotten my boyfriend to volunteer with me and it had made us even closer because we are both so happy to be doing something good and helping out creatures that need our help. Since being at the shelter I have learned more about myself and what I want to do in life; I want to help these animals in anyway I can.

Week 5 Post 3

3 Step Plan to creating my Art Auction for the Shelter:

This is what I would want the Auction to look like. Photo courtesy of Youngna Park http://www.youngnapark.com/Art-Auction 6/10/12

1. I plan to send a proposal stating my plan for the auction to the head of Meredith's art department. In my proposal I would describe the event and what is for, about, and my plan for it. I would ask her to help me get in touch with the art students at Meredith that would be interested in donating art to the auction and other artist in the area who would be interested in donating art too. I would also ask for her help to find volunteers that would like to help with the auction. 
2. Next once I got her ok with and her help I would contact all the artist and a place to have the event like I was thinking it could be at marbles kids museum or one of the art museums downtown.
3. I would start out by creating a timeline for how everything needs to be done and I would have due dates for when everything needs to be done so i can keep everything organized.      

Week 5 Post 2

The photographs the class and myself are taking at the shelter help out a lot in getting the animals adopted. For example I was talking to a woman coming to adopt a dog and we were talking about what the class was doing for the shelter and what the class was about; she told me the pictures really do help with getting the animals adopted because some of the pictures on the website are so dark and they don't show the cuteness of the animals. I have noticed the animals with a good picture do get adopted quicker than the other animals with a picture that isn't so good. My artistic skills help these images because I know how to edit a image to make it look better and help the animal get adopted. Also I can use my artistic photography skills to get the best angles in my shot. There are other artistic ways to help the shelter. One idea I had was to have a silent auction where artwork from Meredith College students was auctioned off and all the money made was given to the shelter. To get this charity art event started I would talk to my professor and the head of the art department at Meredith College. There are some many different art venues that could help the shelter, someone just needs to explore them. 
    

Week 5 Post 1

While taking this course I have learned a lot of taking photos, creating and implementing a blog, and how to edit pictures for the internet. This skills have become very helpful because now when I take a photo I know how to use the levels tool to make it brighter, how to correct the color, and many other useful tools. Also I can now put photography skills and blogging skill on my resume when I apply for jobs in the future. I have liked that the class is online because it gives me more time to be in the shelter taking photos or at home blogging and editing instead of sitting in a class for hours getting lectured on things. I enjoy the freedom. This class has also got me very interested in volunteering at the shelter and planning charity events for the shelter too. I have even gotten my boyfriend Brett to volunteer at the shelter with me and he loves it! This animals can teach you so much about yourself and how to love people/things in the world and make you want to make the world a better place for every living thing! I want to give a special thanks to my wonderful Professor Shannon Johnstone for creating this amazing class and giving all of us Meredith students this amazing opportunity! 

This is Zunny ID# 71842. This is my favorite picture I have taken this semester and I think it is very successful. I really improved this image from the tools Dr. Johnstone has taught me and I got to spend time with an amazing puppy!

 

Week 4 Post 3

Important Photo Editing Tools!

Summer ID#72114

When editing photographs of animals there are different tools that can used to edit your photos to make them look great! Here is a list of the tools I use to edit:

• Crop
• Levels
• Brush tool to lighten the eyes
• vignette
• color correction
• curves
• clone tool
• burning

The tool I use the most and is my favorite is the levels tool. This tool helps you correct the exposure and help make the image brighter. When I use it i make sure the white triangle on the right is at the edge of where the histogram starts and the same with the black triangle on the left. The image above is a example where I used that tool successfully. Summer did not want to come out of the dark corner in her cage, so when editing her image I used the levels tool to make it brighter. The level tool is a very useful tool that I will definitely keep using while photographing these animals.  

Animals Up For Adoption!

ID # and Names Left top corner to bottom right corner: 

1. Sunshine ID# 69523
2. Blair ID# 70083
3. Sora
4. Ford ID# 71668
5. Zunny ID# 71842
6. Jasmin ID#71890 *Foster Care*
7. Puffy Doodle ID# 70082
8. Starista ID# 69538
9.  Ella ID# 72257
10. Stan ID# 69018
11. Big Ole Boy ID# 72081
12. Piggly ID# 72280
13. Cosma ID# 72101