Summary Post

     My name is Brittany Murray and I am a senior at Meredith College.  I am a Child Development major obtaining a Birth through Kindergarten teaching license and a minor in Psychology.  I have always enjoyed taking photographs; however, I did not know the ins and outs of photography, how to correct a photo, or how to photograph moving subjects.  I learned of this course and the partnership with the Wake County Animal Center and I knew this was the perfect class for me!  I wanted to learn more about photography, cameras, and editing photos.  When I found out I could do all of these things while helping animals find homes, I was beyond excited.  I have learned so much throughout my time in this course!  Using the skills and techniques I learned in my photography class and applying them at the Wake County Animal Center was the most valuable aspect of this class.  I was practicing my photography skills and making a difference in the lives of animals at the same time!  I have a passion for helping others and helping animals has been so incredibly rewarding and a great fit for me!  When I first learned about Photoshop, I had no idea that I would become confident in using this program!  I was surprised that I learned how to make an animal appear more adoptable.  I learned how to lighten the eyes and ears, how to crop the image, how to use the cloning tool to remove eye gunk, how to save the files, and many other features.
     I was not expecting to become this confident in Photoshop.  It is no longer scary to see a picture come up in Photoshop on my screen!  Before this course, I had no idea how to edit an image in Photoshop or how to photograph animals.  I have never been able to capture good pictures of my own dog because he is always on the move.  Professor Johnstone has taught me many techniques about how to get animal's attention and snap a photograph of them.  I had no idea I would learn so much about the Wake County Animal Center or animal overpopulation.
     Photography can make an impact on animal overpopulation!  For example, our class has been taking photographs at the Wake County Animal Center to help these animals find homes.  By helping these animals find homes, we are reducing animal overpopulation.  If these animals were not spayed or neutered and were running around the community, they would be able to reproduce and thus creating animal overpopulation.  The Wake County Animal Center spays and neuters pets before they are adopted.  This is one example of helping with animal overpopulation.

Chief Finn 71816
Photo Courtesy of Brittany Murray
Photo Taken: May 30th, 2012

     This photograph of Chief Finn made a positive impact.  This photo that I captured and corrected was loaded onto the Wake County Animal Center's website for the public to see.  Chief has been adopted!  I am so happy to hear of Chief's adoption and so excited that he has a forever home!  This shows that our photos make a difference in the lives of these animals!  There are many more animals that have been impacted as a result of our class!