Shoot Six Work Record

Plans for the Shoot

I will take my images using my Nikon D5300 DSLR Camera and will adjust the setting for each specific situation to suit the shot I am taking. The shoot will take place at Mutts in Distress in Little Hallingbury in Hertfordshire, and I plan to focus on taking landscape images in the centres grounds, as well as in the fields and in the kennel blocks.

I plan to arrive early at Mutts for this shoot so that I can capture landscape images of the centres grounds as the sun is just starting to rise so that there are long shadows being cast by objects. There are many trees and fences in the centre grounds which I can use for this purpose. I plan on capturing these landscape images with the staff arriving for work, as this will visually demonstrate that work at the shelter starts really early in the morning.  I would also like to illustrate how long the working day is by capturing images as the sun is setting and it is starting to get dark. Getting these images on this shoot will depend on how long I can stay for on the day of the shoot, so I may not get these images if I have to leave before the sun sets. 

Another landscape image I plan to take is of a member of staff working in the centres grounds but importantly with trees present within the frame. I plan on using these to create physical images/Photo-shopped images where I can make changes to the trees so that it appears to be a different season. This could be by adding yellow/orange/red leaves to make it look like autumn or flowers for spring or snow for winter. In this way I can illustrate that work there goes on all year round.  

I am also planning on capturing more images of the work involving the other rescued animals such as the sheep, donkeys, ducks or hens as I have been focusing mostly on the dogs and cats so far and do not have many images to illustrate the range of animals the staff care for.

What I Hope to Achieve

I want to show that caring for animals at the centre can be a 24hr a day, 365 days a year task. The days start early in the morning and go until all the work is done, it can’t be postponed till the next day. The work also takes place on weekends and holidays including Christmas day. I want to photographically illustrate the early starts and long hours the staff work. 

To show that the staff have to start early in the morning to care for the animals I will take images showing members of staff arriving for work when the sun is just starting to rise and it is casting long shadows of trees/fences etc. on the ground. Similarly to show that work is still going on late on in the afternoon I will capture images as the sun is setting and it is starting to get dark. This will illustrate how long the working day is. 

To show that the work at the centre goes on all year round I will take some landscape images of a staff member working in the centre grounds but will make sure there are trees present within the frame. I will then use this to practice making either physical images or a photo shopped image where I can make changes to the trees so that it appears to be a different season from the one in the photo. By adding yellow/orange/red leaves I can make it look like autumn or by adding flowers it will look like spring. In this way I can illustrate that work there goes on all year round. 

I would like to illustrate the range of animals the staff at Mutts care for, as there are many other different animals there, even though the focus is on rescuing and rehoming dogs.  I will capture images of staff as they care for the various other types such as the parrots, sheep, donkeys and hens. This will mainly involve cleaning their cages/stables and feeding them.

What I Achieved

In the morning when I arrived at Mutts, Daisy the cat who had the operation on her leg came over to greet my mum and me as we were trying to get out the car. I took the opportunity to capture images of Daisy and the scar down her leg, to show that with the care of the staff at Mutts she has made a good recovery. The cut is healing well and her fur is growing quickly and starting to cover it over, so soon it will not be visible.

I also adjusted this image in Photoshop by using the brush tool to remove the colour from the background that was visible through the window of the car. I felt that the colour in the background was too eye catching and drew attention from the subjects within the car as they were very neutral colours. I also wanted to make the environment within the care seem more isolated as if the subject was in her own world with Daisy. 

 

This image shows a volunteer standing next to a field and feeding some bread to the two donkeys (Karen and Mark) and two sheep on the other side. I thought this image was quite funny and so represents the fun and enjoyment that volunteering at the centre can bring you. The donkey Mark has opened his mouth to receive a slice of bread and being impatient has stuck his upper lip up to hurry the volunteer up. Then the two sheep on the bottom left of the frame are fighting over the same slice of bread so they are both eating it and are bumping noses together. Animals can be really funny and cute to watch and interact with and this is part of the joy I get volunteering at Mutts and why the staff there would rather do this type of work than any other.

This image I took early in the morning, so it shows the long shadow of the trees created by the sun as it rises from its position low on the horizon. The volunteer is carrying a bucket of water as she walks through the apple orchard towards the kennels to start the morning cleaning. The trees are bare of leaves as it is March. The volunteer is walking towards the camera, having come out from a region of shade. The landscape in the image looks really peaceful and full of nature, and it makes you feel like this would be a wonderful place to spend the day looking at as you work.

This landscape would be a good image for me to practice on to see if I can change it to make it look as if it’s a different season. This will involve mainly changing the trees, such as by adding red/orange leaves to illustrate autumn. Alternatively I could try to adapt the image to show different times of the day. This I could do by taking inspiration from Jonathan Knowles project 'Passage of Time' project where he explores how at various points throughout the day light can change the way it harmonises with objects, and used a small bonsai tree that was suspended over a pool of water. This was one of the photographers I researched in my log. By showing the person working at various times of the day this would illustrate that work is ongoing throughout the day.

Another image I took to visually show the long hours that are worked at the Centre is this image. It is a landscape photo that I took on the Centre grounds early in the morning as the sun was low in the sky. This has created the long shadow from the wooden fences and the donkey which is standing behind them. I have composed the image so that the shadows are quite prominent in the foreground and so obvious to the viewer. The rising sun is also quite bright in the top right of the frame and this will draw the viewer’s attention too. The image looks like it is a quiet period at the start of the day and I now just have to place a person who is still hard at work within the frame to illustrate that work is ongoing at the Centre.

Often the workers will spend some time in the kennels giving the dogs some individual attention and affection. This is important in order to firstly assess and then possibly correct the dog’s behaviour when interacting with people, and also it gives the dogs some much needed physical attention from people which they love. The staff also get a lot of pleasure out of interacting with the dogs too.  In this image I have captured a volunteer as she interacts with Sampson, a German Shepard. She is sitting in his kennel near his basket and giving him treats and cuddles. She knows the dog well enough that they are playing a game where Sampson takes the dog biscuit from where it is being held for him between the volunteer’s teeth. This is a game which they both seem to be enjoying.

 

This image shows a volunteer Paula taking Tarquin out of his kennel to go for a walk and get some exercise. This image is divided into four quarters by the thicker black lines of the kennel doors. The subjects are positioned to the left side of the frame and their faces are framed in the top left quarter by the black lines of the door supports. Tarquin is a very excitable dog and is bouncing all over the place making it hard for the volunteer to get the door open to get him out of his kennel. The position of her arm shows she is trying to pull the door in towards her while Tarquin in his excitement is pushing it closing it again. Most of the subjects as well as their faces are in the upper left quarter of the frame, so this is where the viewer’s eye will be firstly drawn to. 
Then as they move to the lower frame they will see that Tarquin is suspended in the air with all his feet off the ground in a freeze frame. This image captures the excitement of the moment the dog feels as well as the difficulty and physical strength needed in having to handle an excitable dog.

 What I am going to do Next

In the next shoot I plan to capture images of the dog training that a volunteer is doing with one of the dogs, and this should be taking place in the paddock.

I also want to capture a landscape image with long shadows created by the rising sun and also show a person arriving for work. This will illustrate that work starts early at Mutts.

There are also 7 puppies from three different litters that are arriving from Romania that are expected to be here, so I may get the opportunity to take images of them if they arrive on time.