Better Photography Could Save The Lives Of Abandoned Animals

I found this article extremely interesting!

It talks about how taking better photos of animals at rescue shelters actually increases the amount of animals adopted. The photographer who had started this does it free of charge and helps train others to take good photos at other shelters. After reading it and watching the clip of the photographer it makes me want to go to our shelter and do the same thing :)

Week 4 Writing Assignment

Q: What motivates you to make photographs? How do you benefit internally and what do you hope for from your photography externally?

A: Making photographs, for me, is a way to express creativity. I have never been any good at drawing, painting, sculpting, or any other art forms, but I'm decent at photography, and I love it. I love the feeling that comes when I'm behind the camera and the satisfaction after I click the shutter button. It just feels right.

Right now I think that my motivation to take photos comes from me knowing that I have to learn the basics before I can specialize and understand how to take other kinds of photos. After graduating I eventually hope to do scientific photography. This would include underwater photography, astrophotography, and under the microscope photography, as well as possible wildlife. My motivation behind wanting to do these kinds of photographs is to help others discover what else is out there. Not everyone has the opportunities to discover the wonders that are beneath the ocean or that are in the night sky, but I want everyone to be able to see them if they choose to. Plus, for me, these kinds of photography are what take my breath away. If portraits are your thing, that's cool and I understand many people like to do them, but to me they're bland. I want to do something that is both interesting to others as well as myself.

Q: What interests and inspires you as an artist?

A: Well as mentioned above I am interested in the science side of photography. One of the main influences in this is the photographer David Doubilet. He is an underwater photographer and many of his images are stunning. Another artist who has inspired me is Barbara Kruger. She isn't exactly a photographer, but she works with images and texts to create inspiring and thought-invoking pieces.

I guess for me inspiration is hard to come by and depends on the project. For a school project last year we did cultures and had to come up with photos to go along with one. The one I chose was Egyptian gods and goddesses and the hieroglyphics are what inspired me to come up with ideas and my model inspired me with different on the spot poses. Other sources of inspiration are simply photos I see in books or on websites such as Flickr. Any photograph that catches my eye is usually something I wish I had created or want to know how they made.

Week 4 Assignment: Groups of Objects

This week we had to choose 4 similar objects a shoot them 4 different ways.

The first set is close and far:

I wasn't as pleased with my far photograph as I was with the close one. I wasn't really sure how to do this one other than to step really far away and I didn't want to. I tried to show them as they go back, but I had put them equal distances apart and probably should have made them get further apart as they went back.

 The second set is high and low:

The low photo is my favorite of this project. I think it mostly has to do with the focus being mostly on the cap, with the bottle in the back and wood in the foreground just slightly out of focus.

 The third set is balance and disorder:

I know many may say that my first one is disorder, but to me it feels more balanced than the bottom photograph. It may have to do with both sets of bottles balancing, I'm not sure. But I liked the strong triangle that it made.

And the final set is high contrast and lower contrast:

I wasn't quite sure what to do as the last set, I originally tried to use the first photo for high but I didn't like the starkness of it for that part of the project, so I tried to play with contrast.

Adventures

I have a couple random photos from my photo shoot in the woods on my other blog if anyone wanted to take a look.

Week 3 Writing Assignment

Pure Energy and Neurotic Man by Barbara Morgan

Creating a good photograph involves many different criteria. Some include:

1. Photo draws your eye, catches your interest.

2. Angle or point of view.

3. Makes the viewer think or react emotionally.

4. Has a message, or pushes barriers.

5. The subject matter is interesting.

6. Tells a story.

7. Catches the ‘critical moment’ when action is at it’s pea

8. Clear focus of photo (both the sharpness and primary subject matter).

9. Design elements: composition, framing, lines, movement.

10. Lighting interesting

11. Technically proficient (exposure, focus, etc)

12. Good printing: frame, paper, size, all match content.

The above photo meets most, or all, of the numbers on the list. 

• The photo draws your eye due to the high contrast and organic shapes.
• The point of view is fairly simple, as if you were standing directly in front of the scene.
• The photo may not make one react emotionally but it does make you wonder what is going on in the photo and what the artist was trying to portray.
• She pushes barriers by doing something that most photographers do not do, which is painting with light. She then adds a human element in the corner which is another thing most photographers do not do.
• The subject matter is extremely interesting as you are not quite sure what is going on. You see the light and the hand but you aren't sure why either is there or what it is meant to be doing.
• It may not tell a story, but I'm sure that one could easily be made up to go along with the photo.
• It does not catch one moment where the action is at its peak, but instead the total moments when the light was moving.
• The focus is definitely clear as they are the only lighted objects in the frame.
• She uses asymmetrical balance and rule of thirds to make her composition the strongest.
• The lighting is the main focus of the photo, and with the motion involved it adds to the interest of the photograph.
• She seems to have exposed everything for just the right amount of time. The hand is perfectly exposed with bright highlights and deep shadows as well as it being well in focus.
• I'm not sure whether this photo was originally printed on matte or glossy paper, but the glossy paper of the book seems to match it just fine. I believe it could be printed at any size and still have the dazzling effect.

Week 3 Assignment: JustinAustin

This week's assignment was to photograph any moveable three-dimensional object, so I chose a stuffed animal. I felt he needed a forest-like background and took him into the woods to shoot. It wasn't as easy as I was hoping it would be. The lighting in the woods was scattered, leading to some bright spots, which I avoided, and some dark spots. It also was a greenish color light. I ended up putting my white balance on sunny (shade was too red, cloudy was too yellow, and auto was too blue) and ended up with a slightly green tint to my photos.

It was interesting trying to come up with ways to photograph the giraffe. I ended up taking a bunch of close up shots, but did not like them as much as I was hoping and continued shooting different concepts.

Week 2 Writing Assignment

Q1: Did it feel uncomfortable to be photographed? If so, why? Describe if there was a moment when the mood, your relationship or your comfort being photographed shifted?

A: Personally, I never feel comfortable being photographed. But when I began taking photographs, I felt much more comfortable. After awhile we started talking more and it became more comfortable between us.

Q2: How can you help someone feel more comfortable when you are photographing?

A: It helps both the photographer and model feel more comfortable when they begin talking about things and see what they have in common. It also helps the model to feel comfortable by shooting somewhere familiar and showing that the photographer is in control and knows what he/she is doing.

Week 2 Assignment: Portraits