Week 4 Day 1

This little guy got adopted last week by this nice gentleman!

While I have been volunteering at the shelter these past three weeks I have seen almost four animals get adopted, three go to foster homes, and I have heard of other animals getting adopted while I haven't been at the shelter. It is the most rewarding feeling when you see an animal get adopted! There is the moment of such joy when you here the words the animal has been adopted, it is like that feeling you got when you were a little kid on Christmas and Santa has brought you a bunch of presents. It is so special to see the new owners and their animal interacting with each other before they leave the shelter. You can tell how happy the animals are to be going home with someone; their tails are wagging, they have a little pep in their step, and they are smiling. Most of the animals I have seen get adopted have been at the shelter for a couple of days to two weeks or more but one time there was a dog that was there for only 30 minutes! The shelter has a great and pretty fast turn over rate with the animals, they do a great job at getting these animals homes! 

Coca got adopted with in 30 mins of being at the shelter!

This puppy was going to foster care with this lovely lady whose husband works at the shelter!

 

Week 3 Day 4

This is Alfie getting loved on by one of the volunteers at the shelter.

What is "responsible pet ownership"? That is a good question I was asked by my professor in class; to me responsible pet ownership is when one can provide the necessary needs for their animal, loves the animal, when the person makes responsible decisions when it comes to the animal and can be a responsible adult and afford the animal. A responsible owner needs to be able to spend time with their animal and be able to take good care of the animal. The owner also needs to be able to afford the animal so that is has everything it will need and the owner needs to be able to make the decision if the animal they want is a right fit for them. At the shelter I have witnessed a women coming to adopt a dog and she was a responsible owner because she knew she couldn't handle a younger dog so she wanted a older one and she would get in the kennel with the dog to make sure her and the dog were a perfect match together. Also I have seen my cousin be a responsible owner when it comes to her boxer; when looking for a dog she researched breeds that would be right for her and she did her budget to make sure she could afford her dog which she could so she adopted a beautiful boxer named Bella. I wanted to get others opinions about what they thought the answer to that question was and here is the answer i got from a visitor to the shelter: A responsible pet owner is one who treats their pet like they are one of the family members. Anything you would do for a family member or anyway you would treat a family member you should treat a pet with the same respect.-Brett Banford. Myself and friends Bailey and Brittany interviewed Joanne Duda the foster/rescue coordinator at the shelter the same question and this was her response in the video below.

  When adopting a pet people just need to be smart and make responsible decisions about what they can handle with an animal and what they can provide that animal.

Week 3 Day 3

At the shelter many of the animals are brought in by their owners or as the shelter calls it "surrenders" for many different reasons. The animals could be a stray, someone doesn't have the funds to take of the animal anymore, or they just do not want the responsibility anymore. While photographing a dog named Abby I read her surrender card and it said her owner surrendered her because that person was to old to take care of a puppy; which it was a very wise decision to make to bring it to the shelter so she has a better chance to find a good home instead of neglecting her like some many others do to these animals. I also saw one for a dog whose family had the house burn down and because of the fire they could no longer house her or afford her vet bill because she was injured in the fire ( I was not able to photograph this animal because she was injured). I also read on for a dog whose owner did not have enough yard for the dog to run around in. It is sad to see these animals that get surrendered but I'm glad they come to the shelter instead of being put on to the streets. The shelter has a better chance of helping these animals in the long run than what would happen to them if they were not surrendered. Being at the shelter I have learned you cannot judge why the person is surrendering the animal you just need to focus on the animal and how to help it.

Abby ID# 71472

Harper ID# 71626

 

Week 3 Day 2

This week at the shelter I have noticed that there is a good turn-over rate with the animals getting home but I have also noticed it depends on what kind of animal it is. I have noticed that the little critters like rabbits, hamsters, and other small animals like that find home pretty fast. When it comes to cats, the kittens find home right away before the adult cats do. Now with dogs it really depends on the breed of the dog or if it is a puppy. The puppies at the shelter hardly last a week before they are adopted but with the grown dogs it depends on the breed. For example if you have a Pitt Bull versus a Black Lab, the Lab will find a home before the Pitt Bull because of the Pitt Bull breed bad rep. Or if it is any breed of dog that has a bad rep it takes them a little longer than a "sweet" breed to get adopted. I do not think it is fair to the dogs to be judged by their breed and not their personality; the shelter does a great job at finding the "rougher" breeds a home and making sure people judge the dog on who the dog is not their breed. This week I counted about 8 news dogs in one of the dog rooms I was photographing in. It doesn't really surprise me that I saw that many new dogs because the shelter gets so many animals in a week. I actually find it sad that people are not more responsible with their animals and don't see them as nothing more than just property instead of a living thing that just like us needs love and care.

This is Lady ID# 71625. She is a 2 year old Blue Healer mix. She has been at the shelter since 5-17-2012 and has not found a home yet. One reason she could still be at the shelter is because she is not fixed yet or because lots of people come in to the shelter looking for puppies and over look all the wonderful adult dogs there are at the shelter. Lady is a very good and sweet dog, there really is not a good reason why she is still at the shelter. People just seem to over look great dogs because of the reason I stated earlier about everyone just wanting a puppy.

Week 3 Day 1

The Improvements I need to make

This is a image I took of a wonderful cat name Shadow ID# 69779. His picture I took is step up from the picture he has on the website but there are some things I could improve with my image. For example even though his face is the focus of the image, he isn't in focus. The image in a little blurry and the background is more clear than he is. I could work on making sure I have my camera completely focused when I am shooting the animals. I do think I did a good job of brightening his eyes and playing up his catch lights in his eyes, but I do think I could have brightened his ears up some more using the dodge tool. I could have also added more of a vignette on the edges so you can focus more on his face. I think I did a good job of catch him looking directly at me. Overall I think I did a good job with my image but there are some improvements I could make and I will keep working on what needs to be improved with my images and my blog.    

Featured Animals Looking For a Home!

All these animals are looking for a good, loving, caring home to go to. They are all for adoption at the Wake County Animal Shelter as well as many other animals. You can find them all at this link or just go in to the shelter. If you go in to the shelter make sure you have the animals ID# so it will be easier for you to find that animal. Please help me find these animals a good home!

Kimberly ID# 71191. She is a sweet kitten who needs a energetic family that will play with her constantly. She loves to cuddle up in your arms. She is one of many kittens at the shelter. 

Orva ID# 71144. She is a sweet loving cat who needs a good home!

This is Spicy ID# 71219. She is the sweetest dog. She loves to give hugs and kisses. She is very calm and loveable.

Spicy ID# 71219

Knightington #ID 71191

Baylee ID# 70974 1 year old female, 28 LBS, Jackrussell Terrier/Pitbull

Gooch ID# 69821. Male 10 Months. Pit Mix. Very sweet,energetic, lovey.

Odie ID# 70937 Female. 5 years old. Very sweet, loves to be petted, and cuddled.

Puffy Doodle ID# 70082. 2 Year Old Female. Loveable, loves to be petted, and so sweet!

Shadow ID# 69779. 2 Year Old Male. Sweet, loves to be petted, and held.

String Bean ID# 67267. The most lovey dog. SO Sweet and cuddlely.

String Bean ID# 67267

Sunshine ID# 69523. Loving cat, very sweet, and loves being petted.

Week 2 Day 4

Where Do the Animals Come From? 

From volunteering at the shelter I have learned the animals come from many different places. They either are surrendered by their owners who cannot either care for them anymore or just do not want the animals anymore, they can just bring them to the shelter to find a good home. The animals can also be picked up by animal control if animal control is called. Or they are found and brought in by someone who wants to find them a home. It is sad when the animals come in but the shelter does a lot of good finding the animals great, loving homes. 

This is Baylee ID# 70974. I am very proud of this image because I caught her looking right at me and caught her expression. Also I think I used the techniques I have learned from class very well.

This is Odie ID# 70937. I am also proud of this photo too because I have used all the techniques I learned in class very well.

   

 

Week 2 Day 3

What is Meta-Data

    "Metadata is information about your photographs. This ranges from the mundane (the date the picture was made, what camera was used) to the sublime (what kinds of concepts the photo helps illustrate)."It can be used to describe any information about your photo rather that be when, where, and what your subject matter is. (dpbestflow.org, http://dpbestflow.org/node/298, 5-20-12.) Metadata has tags, fields, namespace, and schema; that can be used on your photographs. Metadata can help me keep all my photos in my photography class organized and keep all my information on my photos. I think the namespace because it helps me keep the date, name, and place organized with all my photos.

    I had never used the ISO feature before. This helps with making sure I get a higher quality photo when there isn't as much light in the area being photograph. Here is Odie and I used this feature in this picture to get a good image of her. I also edited it in photoshop to brighten her eyes, her face, and I darken the edges to make the focus her sweet face.

Odie ID# 70937

      

Week 2 Day 2

I watched NOVA's Dogs Decoded which was about the relationship between humans and dogs and how our relationship has affected their origins and how they have evolved in to the animals they are today. I thought it was very interesting how they did an experiment to see how animals react to human emotions and proved that they do; which I agree with because i know when I am sad or upset my dogs know it and try to comfort me or if I am happy they are happy too. I also found the experiment they did with the wolves having human interaction and the foxes having human interaction. It was crazy that the wolves still acted like wild animals and when the foxes had human interaction they became domesticated dogs like the pets we have which I thought was very interesting. This movie made me want to spend more time with the animals in the shelter since they are always in their kennels; they really need the human interaction so they can have these good relationships with a human. I recommend any dog lover to watch this movie! You can watch it on Netflix or this youtube video:

http://services.wakegov.com/adoptiongallery 5-17-12

When I was looking at the website I came upon a cat named Sunshine ID# 69523. She is a black female cat that has been at the shelter for 42 days. I'm not sure why she hasn't been adopted yet because she was such a sweet and loving cat. I enjoyed spending time with her; she just wanted me to pet and hold her. When I was looking at her image online it didn't do this sweet cat justice. Her picture is dark, she looks scared, and she has food hanging out of her mouth. She is also in the back of her cage which sends the feeling that she is scared and doesn't like human contact. I went to the shelter and re-did her photo and later edited it so she could have new more inviting picture and help her get adopted. With my image I made sure she was at the front of the cage, the camera was focus on her face, and that she wasn't scared looking. When I edited the image I brightened her eyes and played up the catch lights in her eyes with the dodge tool. i also fixed the levels, exposed, and brightness. Black animals are usually harder to photograph but I made sure that I had enough light and I made my image brighter in photoshop. I also cropped the image to focus on her face and I darkened the edges with the vignette tool to help make the focus her too. 

Sunshine by: Kayley Jolly

What good my photgraphs are doing for the shelter!

    The Wake County Animal shelter is a very busy place that takes in a lot of animals each day, so the shelter doesn't have the time to take cute and sweet pictures of the animals. The shelter takes the animal's picture as it comes in to the shelter and these pictures don't always turn out to be the best picture of the animal. The animal is usually very scared and it can been seen in the picture or the lighting is a bad, or its just a bad angle; but that's where my class and I come in! We help the shelter out by volunteering to take pictures of the animals for the shelter's website and posting these pictures on our blogs or any social media site. My class and I edit these photos and then send them to the shelter for them to use how ever they would like too. Also the one on one time we are spending with the animals is good for the shelter and the animals because there are so many animals not all of them get as much attention as the shelter wishes it could give them so my class and I spending time with these animals helps the animal get interaction and relationships with humans.
    While looking at the site I went to look at the available animals to see how their pictures looked and some of them weren't so bad but then others didn't show the animal's features, personality, or capture the sweetness of the animal. So I made a list of the animals that needed their pictures redone and have made it my goal to retake their pictures so the animal has a good picture on the site and a better chance at getting adopted from that. I am going to the shelter tomorrow and will start finding animals on my list and take their pictures. One animal that stood out the most to me was a dog who's ID number is 69999 she has no name is a female and has been at the shelter for 29 days. This dog has no photograph on the site at all! I want to take this dog's picture at my next visit and make sure her picture gets put up right away so she has a fair chance to get adopted just like the rest of the animals! I can't wait to photograph her tomorrow! 
    I still haven't found animal 69999 but I am not giving up on her. I was inspired by the image of Shadow ID#69779. His image on the website doesn't do this sweet cat justice.In this image his back is to you and he looks so scared. Also it is a dark grungy image, his eye aren't bright and inviting, and he really isn't the focus. To fix this image the photographer could have had the cat facing them and focused more on his face. f they would have used photoshop they could have used the dodge tool to play up the catch lights in his eyes and brighten them. Also use the vignette tool to darken the edges so more of the focus is on his face. 

Wake County Animal Shelter http://services.wakegov.com/adoptiongallery/May 20, 2012

    When I went to the shelter I found him and re-did his photo; I made sure I got him facing the camera and I used photoshop to edit his picture. In photoshop I used the dodge tool to brighten his eyes and play up the catch light in his eyes, I checked the levels, I fixed the color balance, and I cropped the image to focus more on his cute face. Last I used the vignette tool to darken the edges. I think I was successful in getting the image I wanted other than it is a little blurry. 

Sshadow ID#69779

   

   
     
   

Shelter Information

     Everyone always ask the question how much is it to adopt an animal from the Wake County Animal Shelter and what do these fees cover? The question why don't they just give the animals away for free is usually raised too when referring to the shelter. I believe there are different pros and cons to having these fees when adopting the animals.

     At the shelter they have different fees when adopting anyone of the animals they have. These fees include the animals first series of shots (DA2PPV or FVRCP), a general dewormer, heartworm test for dogs, a FIV/FELU test for cats, microchip, rabies vaccine, and topical flea and tick treatment. If the animal you adopt is to young for the rabies vaccine then the owner can bring the animal back when old enough and get that animal the vaccine. Also all dogs and cats must be spayed or neutered before they are to be adopted. "If an animal is unable to be spayed or neutered due to its young age or a health condition, the animal may be temporarily fostered through the Foster-To-Adopt Program. The adoption fees are the same, but the adopter must place a $200 deposit on the animal and have the animal spayed or neutered when it is old enough or well enough for surgery. The surgery can be completed through the Wake County Animal Center's partnership with the Saving Lives Spay/Neuter Clinic or at the adopter's private veterinarian. Once the surgery is completed, the difference between the adoption fee and the deposit will be refunded to the adopter."-Wake County Animal Shelter. 

Here is a list of fees:

• Dog Adoption fee $45
• Dog Spay/Neuter fee $50
• Cat Adoption fee $15
• Cat Spay/Neuter $30

Exotic Animals and Little Critters Adoption fees: 

• Bird $20
• Ferret $45
• Guinea Pig $15
• Reptile $30
• Rodent $10
• Rabbit $20

I think the shelter has these fees to make sure the animals are healthy and do not spread diseases while in the care of the shelter. Also if someone is very serious about adopting one of the animals they will pay the fees to get an animal and make sure they are being responsible about adopting and the animal has all the things it needs have a healthy, happy life. The fees also help the shelter have all the supplies to keep the animals healthy and not have diseases. The only con to having these fees is that people may not want to pay the money to get an animal because they don't understand what good the fees do and will not take the time to understand; so many animals may not get adopted for that reason. I think everything the shelter does is amazing for these animals and I'm proud to be part of the good they are doing! I asked a visitor to the shelter they thought the pros and cons of not giving away the animals for free and they answered "Not giving the animals away for free helps keep up with the keep of the animals like their food, medical needs, ect. The cons to the fees are not as many people adopt animals because they can not afford them."-anonymous. Then I ask Ricky the volunteer coordinator at the shelter the same question and the answer I got is in the video below. 

My first trip to the Wake County Animal Shelter

Here is the class getting a feel for what it is like to be in one of the kennels that holds a dog. "Photo courtesy of Mary Shannon Johnstone ©2012"

On Wednesday May 9th the class and I went to an orientation at the Wake County Animal Shelter where we were given a run down of what we will be doing as volunteers and other volunteer duties offered by the shelter. We were also given a tour of the shelter. I learned a lot about the shelter and the laws about animals that the county has. For example I learned that this year the shelter will receive approximately 17,00 animals. Also that the shelters goal is disease control among animals in the community and they work with outside partners to find the animals good homes. There are also many different ways the public can help the shelter out by either volunteering, becoming a foster parent to an animal or adopting one of the wonderful animals at the shelter! 

When at the shelter I had a really good experience and it made me want to start volunteering right away! Here is a list of what my senses experienced: 

Smell:

• Cleaner
• Dogs
• Dog food
• Cats
• Cat food
• Some dog poop

Sight:

• Lots of dogs 
• Cages/Kennels
• Lots of Cats
• Kittens
• Rabbit
• Hamsters 
• Vets
• Volunteers
• General Public 
• Offices
• Lots of people who really care for these animals

Sound:

• Barking
• Meows
• People talking
• Cages rattling

 In the shelter I imagine that the animals maybe feel scared, alone, nervous, and just want to be loved. Even though the shelter does a wonderful job of taking care of these animals and give the animals all they can; there is nothing like that animal having an owner, getting out of those kennels, having their own home/yard to run around in, and the love of their owner. It is amazing what these wonderful individuals do for these animals and all the hard work they put in to caring for these animals. I cannot wait to work with this wonderful center and the wonderful people that work there! I also can't wait to be a part of this and to be making a change in these animals lives!

This is Amanda giving us all the volunteer information and getting us prepared for our tour of the shelter. "Photo Courtesy of Mary Shannon Johnstone ©2012

This is me saying hello to one of the cats in the shelter. "Photo courtesy of Mary Shannon Johnstone ©2012"

Brittany, Bailey, and me talking to one of the wonderful dogs in the shelter. "Photo courtesy of Mary Shannon Johnstone ©2012"

All About my Camera!

 The Pros and Cons of using a Point and Shoot Camera when it comes to photography of animals:

Pros:

• The Camera is small, light weight, and easy to use since it is made for anyone to use.
• Because the camera is made for everyday use it is harder to damage; which is great when working with animals.  
• The camera is easy for one to move in and out of kennels or to move around a room because animals seem to not ever want to sit still. 

Cons:

• A Point and Shoot Camera does not have as many controls that a DSLR Camera does. For example the focus and exposure is not as good as a DSLR. 
• A Point and Shoot has a fixed lens as to a DSLR has a removable lens. 
• One will have to force shallow depth of field which can be done in photoshop. 
• This type of camera does not have AV (Aperture Priority). 

Tips:

You can trick a Point and Shoot camera to have better focus and exposure by two ways:

1. Look for a dark area with light and hold down the shutter button down half way to have it focus on the image. 
2. Macro Mode

  

This is a photo of my camera I am using. This picture shows how small and light weight a point and shoot camera is. It can sit in the palm of ones hand. Also you can see the fixed lens on the camera. 

Here is an aerial view of my point and shoot camera. This Picture is showing how easy to use the camera is and the easy buttons/features it has: shutter button, on and off button, flash button, and a program button.

Here is the back view of my camera. It has a few feature buttons but not as many as a DSLR camera does.But it is still simple enough to just point and shoot.

 

This is me..

This is Cooper. He stopped by to give me a big kiss while I was in the pool.

 Introduction to my blog and me

Hi everyone my name is Kayley and I'm a senior at Meredith College getting my degree in Fashion design and a minor in the Studio Arts; I have created this blog for my Photography and The Web Class. This class was created to teach us students how to create a blog and how to use photography skills to create the images for our blogs. Also in this class we have created our blogs to help the Wake County Animal Shelter get their animals adopted by presenting the images we have taken of the animals on this blog and talking about the animals or shelter in our blog post. I am taking Art 949 Photography for the web so I can learn more about blogging, the techniques used to blog, and to learn more about photography. I want this class to be able to help me in my fashion career since it will teach me how to blog, which is a good skill to have in the fashion industry since fashion blogs are so popular and photography is always a good skill to have in the industry too. Also I love animals a LOT! I have two of my own rescue dogs Mocha and Juicy and a cat Tangerine right now; but my family has always rescued animals since I was young, so it is very important to me to help animals out in any way I can. I hope to get that feeling that I am doing some sort of good helping these animals out and I hope to get these animals a loving home! I am most looking forward to working with the animals and learning more about blogging because I do not know much about blogs. It is intimidating thinking I am going have to remember all these different types of files used with photos and the work load because I have two other classes I am taking during these first six-weeks. I know I will have a lot of work to do, but I am excited to get started on everything! I have never taken a online class so I am interested to see how this will work. My expectations for the online class are that I will have a lot of work but it will all work out because the class works around my schedule. I am very excited to get started in this class and to help the animals in the shelter find loving homes! 

-Kayley