Summary

My name is Christina McDonald.  I am a computer science major at Meredith College.  I was interested in this course (Photographing for the Web) because I feel that any experience I can get to strengthen my abilities in working with computers can only improve my work overall.  I know that I am not an artist and I will have to work with artists in the future.  Any way I can enhance my understanding of an artist's world will hopefully serve to make communication easier.  I have also come to see that I am capable of taking photographs in a pinch.  The most valuable part of this course for me has been seeing the way people of other mindsets interact with computers.  I take as many technology heavy classes in fields other than computer science because I am fascinated by the way most people use computers.  I realize most things seem very user-unfriendly and I actually enjoy showing people how to do things and observing how people approach things.
What I learned which I was not expecting to learn were things about myself as well as things about animals.  When I began this class I felt a bit left out because I got my first fuzzy pet about two years ago and everyone else seemed like they were such an animal person.  I didn't realize how my heart would melt when a cat I knew was killed, or how excited I would be when one found a home. 
Photography can help animal overpopulation by showing just how many animals are in the shelter as well as well as publicize the animals who still need homes.  A person who adopts a pet from the shelter isn't encouraging puppy mills or kitten mills to continue, which also contributes to animal overpopulation and is abusive. 

10 Images

Animal Overpopulation (when speaking in terms of domestic animals) is where there is a significantly higher number of pets as compared to homes which desire a pet.  It is painful for animals as well as humans.  I believe animal overpopulation is a problem when older cats who are sweet and deserve a forever home have to be put down because irresponsible owners don't spay their cat and it has a million kittens.  I saw this occur with Julip. The most visible sign of animal overpopulation is the massive wall of mewing kittens, the product of responsible owners. 
I don't feel that our society views animal overpopulation as a serious problem.  Besides The Price is Right reminding people to spay and neuter their pets, there isn't a lot of literature.  I've heard the complaint from individuals that they can't afford to spay or neuter their pet.  Though I may sound cold-heated, I really feel like the family shouldn't have a pet.  (They have 3, two female dogs and one male.)  I really feel that the biggest possible improvement to the overpopulation problem would be publicizing low-cost spay and neuter clinics.  I searched for a clinic in the Reidsville area and it was so difficult to find one I gave up.  I found one directory with many links to different sites but the sites were either impossible to navigate or just dead.  I realize it is a product of being spoiled by technology, but I don't know how to find low cost clinics without calling an animal shelter (which could feel intimidating.)

Help At The Shelter

Photography can have an impact at the shelter both by having cuter pictures on the website where most people browse before going to the shelter to look for a dog as well as expose more volunteers to the animals where volunteers can post the pictures they took in other venues than the Wake County website thus reaching a wider audience.  

Our artistic skills can be used to enhance the impact of the photographs on the official website by making it cuter.  In other venues our artistic skills can improve website layout both with aesthetics as well as functionality.  

Personally, I would consider programming an art form.  I also consider graphic design an art form.  I believe the shelter's website could be GREATLY improved with a search function on the critters by name.  It would also be great if it was possible to search with species AND age AND gender AND color.  Graphic design would also improve the website.  

This is Reba, a skittish cat who needed a bit of coaxing to come to the front of her kennel.  Without photography volunteers this photograph would be even lower quality.  (Truth be told I searched for the cat on the official website and Reba was missing.  I'll be waiting to see if her name was on the report.)

This is Reba after a bit of coaxing.  Having a good picture on the website is especially important for cats who are hesitant of strangers and noises.  Cats who rub against the edges of the kennels are more likely to be seen than cats who flop in the back and so these shier kitties need good images!

Valuable Lessons

What I have found most valuable about this course is an appreciation for volunteers who help with animals.  Previously I always thought it was more important to volunteer with people, and I always shied away from volunteering with animals because I always found the cause somehow less worthy.  I found it taxing when people would talk about helping animals because I felt they only cared because people were cute and thankful while people are a challenge to help.  (In my defense it is not easy to work in a soup kitchen and some of the individuals who come can be quite ... intimidating.)  Now that I'm volunteering at the shelter I realize the strength that shelter volunteers must have.  I checked up on what animals who are no longer at the shelter got adopted, and I found that 4 of my 10 animals had to be put down.  Saskia and Jonsey both got ill, I believe Saskia caught Pan Luke.  Tamara was put down because of her temperment, from what I saw she was really terrified of everyone.  While it saddens me that these cats met this fate, I can understand the shelter's decesion.  Julip was also put down, not because she was ill, and she had an amazing personality (she was actually very playful and played peek-a-boo with me during our photoshoot) but because she had been there a long time and space was needed for kittens.  Those kittens are there at least in part because people don't spay or neuter their pets.  We, as humans, put domesticated animals in the shelter because of our irresponsibility.  The critters who live in the shelter are not squirrels or bats who are still wild and, while they may have evolved through indirect human manipulation, we did not create these species.  These species do not depend on us.  

My feelings are a mixed bag about the course being online.  Had the course not been online, I would not have taken it.  However, having seen a few reactions to animals leaving the shelter and knowing the shock and grief I've experienced in this course I feel that a classroom where several individuals are experiencing these things (even if not for the first time) as well would be helpful simply as a means of support. 

I don't really know how to demonstrate this lesson in a photograph, and I don't believe that was the sort of answer expected of me so I'll add this.  I've gained courage in Photoshop and I don't mind experimenting now where I was afraid to before.  For instance, I'll try to color correct images.  I enjoy that I've learned how to sharpen and apply a blur to focus the eye.  I hope I find ways to apply these techniques later in life. 

This is Carol (53918).  This image was a little on the red side, so I changed the magenta/green to be just slightly more green.  This is the first picture I've worked with where I could see an incorrect tint.

Gaussian Blur

My favorite technique from this week is the forced depth of field. 

In images with a cluttered background the viewer's eye is drawn to the subject rather than to the really gross litterbox in the background.

New Critter Type

I was accompanied into the dog room and I took a few pictures of puppies.  I wasn't able to get in and cuddle the dogs, but there were some absolutely adorable faces I had to capture.  The biggest problem I had with dogs is that I can't help but want to play with them and give them attention.  The cats are easier for me to handle emotionally because cat's don't generally stand at the edge of their kennel with their tail wagging hoping for you to simply look at them.  Some cats are more personable, (for example Xavier is a handsome cat who purrs at me every time I'm hear him) but most don't beg for attention the same way. 

Amy - 53586

Andrea 53587

Critters No Longer In The Shelter

Julip - in shelter 5/11/11

Tamara - in shelter 5/15/11

Jeffery - in Shelter 5/2/11

Jonsey - in shelter 5/18/11

Moxy - in shelter 5/5/11

Pudge - in shelter 4/23/11

Saskia - in shelter 5/19/11

Morgan - in shelter 5/19/11

Strawberry - in shelter 5/23/11

Charlie - in shelter 5/11/11

Looking through the number of cats I photographed who are no longer at the shelter I strongly suspect many were not adopted.  In many cases I don't have the heart to ask if they found homes.