Shoot Three Straight Images

In this shoot I captured a few images of a member of staff working outside in the rain. This was to show that work at the Centre has to be done in all weathers. One of the images, shown above, captures a worker collecting bowls from the back of the runs after the rain has stopped. She is laughing as she talks to a member of staff who is out of frame and this captures the spirit of the mood about working in the Centre regardless of the weather conditions.
  

 I also took images outside of staff burning rubbish in the large oil drums, which is how they get rid of the large amounts of torn/used bedding as waste disposal is expensive.




I took a number of images to illustrate the amount of water and disinfectant the staff work with in cleaning the kennel floors and walls. This is thrown onto the surfaces to kill off any bacteria or viruses and then they are scrubbed clean with brushes.

I took images of Daisy, the cat with the scar from her surgery clearly visible to the viewer. But in one of the images there is a member of staff is looking after her, in another Daisy is alert and staring at the camera and in the final one she is sleeping contentedly.

Some images illustrate the time the staff spend interacting with the dogs at the centre. These include giving the dogs treats, giving them a back scratch through the kennel door and sitting with nervous dogs to try to get them more comfortable and used to having people around them.




I took some of the images and adapted them in Photoshop.



I felt that this image could be improved by making the background less obvious so that it is less distracting from the task the worker is doing. I also wanted to make the smoke more prominent to again focus more on the task of the burning of the rubbish. In Photoshop I adjusted levels in the image to make it darker, then I used gradient map to make the smoke stand out more. Finally to involve the viewer more in the task being done I added a warming filter to help them to visually feel the warmth of the fire.
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In this image I felt that the top of the gate was a distraction and added nothing to the image so I cropped the image slightly to get the gate out of the frame. I also increased the brightness and the contrast in the image. This was to remove some of the shadowing that surrounds the worker and also it makes her face and the situation more easily seen. This allows the viewer to more easily see the humour in the image.



This image show a worker sitting with a very nervous dog called Zoya trying to make her feel more relaxed and less threatened around people. In Photoshop I simply changed the image to black and white. I felt that this was more appropriate to reflect the sincerity of the moment and the emotions involved. It also conveys to the viewer the important and serious work that is going on. Additionally I felt that the black and white images allow the viewer to focus more on the eye contact between the worker and the dog as there is less colour to distract them. 

Shoot Three 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 take images in several locations at the centre including the main block of kennels, the isolation block and the runs, the reception area and the area around the field outside.

 

Daisy the cat has returned from the vets so I will take more photos of her, aiming to capture the long scar down her leg where her tumour was removed as well as a member of staff taking care of her perhaps giving medication or feeding her. This will create an emotive image showing the staff caring for a vulnerable injured animal.

 

I will take some images inside the main block where they there are kennels on both sides of the wall, not just one as in the isolation block. This may give more interesting perspectives for my images and there will be different dogs being housed there too.

 

I plan to capture images of Zoya, who is a very nervous dog, and staff working with her to build up her confidence around people. The image will show the effort staff make in trying to help the dogs they care for getting a home.

 

I would like to get some images of the staff interacting in a fun way with the animals. Most of the images I have taken so far have been of the work tasks and I want to show that working at the centre is rewarding too.

 

I had intended to do further work on my decisive moment image between the tree and the ladder however it is supposed to rain heavily for large parts of the day so I will save this for a drier day. Instead I will try to capture images of staff working in the rain to show that work goes on regardless of the weather.

 

What I Hope to Achieve

 

I want to capture the staff interacting more with the animals, and so be able to visually demonstrate the care and affection they have for them. I want to show the joy and fun this can be and will attempt to capture this in this shoot is by:

1. Showing a volunteer patiently encouraging a nervous dog called Zoya to accept a treat. Then capturing the moment when she has worked up the courage to take the treat from their hand. I will try to get the volunteer to look at Zoya affectionately.  
2. Capture images of the staff interacting with the dogs in various ways as they go about their normal work. Such as giving them treats, talking to them and cuddling them.
3.            I want to capture the caring way they look after injured animals. I will do this using Daisy the cat and her obviously injured leg. I will capture an image showing the staff caring for Daisy and I will try to take this with her injury apparent in the image.

I would like to take images of the staff working outside in the rain to show that work goes on regardless of the weather. This could be staff cleaning out the stables and taking hay from the store to them in a wheel barrow, or taking feed to the chicken house etc.    

 

What I Achieved

I took several images to illustrate the care being taken of Daisy the cat following her operation to remove the tumour in her leg. This image shows a worker scratching Daisy’s ear as an encouragement as she was attempting to put a cone on her to stop her biting her scar. I think this image is well composed showing the worker positioned to the side with Daisy and her scar clearly visible inside the crate. However, the viewer might not like seeing a cone being fitted as they may think it’s cruel as the cat may find it distressing. So it might have been better to show something else like her being fed or given medication. 

In this image Daisy is on her own and looking up directly at the camera, but she looks a little worried, I don’t think she particularly trusted my camera. So while the image shows she is being physically cared for, it might portray that she is apprehensive which is not what I want to convey. 
















For this third image I quietly sneaked back later on in the day after she had fallen asleep shown below. This image conveys the relaxed state she is in, as she is all curled up sleeping on comfortable thick bedding and looks content and happy. The curved line of her back and head conveys the perception of quiet and calm to the viewer, and the orange colour in her patterned fur also conveys comfort and warmth. This feeling is mirrored in the texture of her fluffy fur and the comfy bedding. All this demonstrates that the cat is relaxed and happy, then you see the long scar down her leg, and realise that she is missing her tail. In her sleeping position you would expect to see it curled around her body, completing the circle her body makes. This conveys that she has suffered some trauma and pain and should shock the viewer and create sympathy for her. Having these two opposing emotions juxtaposition in the same image, the feeling of calm contrasting with those of pain will make the image more dramatic to the viewer. Attention will therefore be focused on the image and that Daisy has been cared for by the centre following her traumatic injury allowing her to rest and recover again.

It was difficult to get a good image of Zoya, the nervous dog, and the volunteer as my presence and my camera made her nervous so she would not accept any treats. I did however get an image of Zoya and the volunteer looking at each other and connecting emotionally.

 

I then went on to photo shop this image making it black and white. Removing the colour and making it black and white allows it to reflects the sincerity of the moment and the emotions involved more. It conveys to the viewer the serious work that is going on here. It also removes any distracting colours allowing the viewer to focus more on what the image is showing them such as the eye contact between the worker and the dog.

I had the opportunity to take a funny image just by chance. I was photographing a volunteer holding a cat called Puzzle when the cat decided she was not happy about being held. She suddenly started struggling and jumped right out of the volunteer's arms. The image I took captures this moment with the volunteer reacting with a startled expression and pulling back her hand quickly so she wouldn’t get scratched. This was quite funny at the time, but shows the potential for getting injuries when working with animals that have sharp claws and teeth.

 

I managed to get some good images of the work in the main block of kennels. The staff were doing a thorough deep clean of the kennel walls today and using a lot of water containing bleach so were wearing water proof outer clothing. I took an image of Eddie, a member of staff, as he scrubbed the walls clean. This is physically exhausting work and power washers can’t be used as it damages the walls, so it must all be done by hand. Eddie has his face turned away from the camera as he was concentrating on his task and this unfortunately makes it hard to see the sweat that covered his forehead and the physical demands of the work. Eddie is a big powerful man and this helps to portray the physical strength that is required to do this work. A good aspect of this image is that you can see the dirt on the wall that has not yet been scrubbed off and so what the worker is doing is obvious. Also behind the worker there are many other kennels that have to be cleaned too, and this highlights the scale of the task involved and the amount of work that still has to be done.   

I also took an image of the main block showing the kennels on both sides of the corridor. This image highlights the large number of dogs that are being cared for. The converging lines of the kennel blocks floor and ceiling lead the viewer’s eye along the many kennels highlighting the length of the block. However the worker partly obscures the point where the corridor ends so this gives the impression that the corridor is endless as it vanishes out of site. It would have been better if the end of the corridor was completely obscured by the worker i.e. they were positioned a little more to the right, as the viewer would then not be able to determine where the kennels end and their mind would naturally extend the line of kennels. I photographed the worker as she was reading the information about the dog in that particular kennel; this is written on a sheet kept on each of the kennel doors. It contains details about the dogs temperament around different types of people and other animals, as well as about diet. Showing the worker reading this helps to illustrate the individual importance of each dog even though there are many dogs to look after here.  

I also captured a number of shots showing the staff interacting with the dogs.

 

·    Including Rocco being given a treat through the door of his kennel, even though he has just shredded all of his bedding, which can be seen in bits scattered all over his kennel floor.

Digby enjoying a back scratch which the worker stopped to give him as she passes by his kennel 

 
Bolt the Akita jumping with excitement waiting for his dinner and the worker smiling at him as she goes into the kennel to deliver it to him.

I particularly like this image as it is cropped so that the workers head is out of the frame so all the attention is on Bolt. He is jumping in the air excitedly at the thought of getting his dinner and his head is now framed within the rectangular bars of the door. He is staring directly at his dinner bowl which the worker is holding in her hand as she opens the kennel with her other hand. This focuses attention on the task being done by the worker which is the delivery of the dogs meals to their kennels as well as the excited emotion of the dog.
 

The rain was so heavy that none of the workers went outside to work, preferring to wait till the rain went off, so I could not take images of them working in all weather. I did however manage to get a couple of images, one looking out through the reception window showing a volunteer approaching the door and another where they have their hood up and are moving plastic dog baskets around. These images do not really convey what I wanted to show that the work at the centre is being carried out in all weathers. I will hopefully have more opportunities to capture this, but this will be dependent on the weather.

 

I photographed a worker as they loaded up the huge tumble drier with bedding. However as the room was quite small and was full of big storage crates it was impossible for me to get far enough away to take an image showing the large size of the industrial drier and washing machine. I think it would have made an effective shot to show the huge equipment needing to be used at the centre, with a worker standing alongside it to illustrate the scale of it.  I had wanted to do this after being inspired by Lewis Hine ‘Power House mechanic image’ but I will have to abandon this idea as it is not going to be physically possible to capture.

 

I took some images of a worker burning ripped/dirty sheets in one of the old oil drums. The centre burns as much rubbish as it can to keep levels of waste to a minimum.  I thought this image would captivate the viewers’ interest as they would wonder what she was doing and also the drums are an interesting shape and are nicely composed between the two trees with the field in the background. The smoke also adds an interesting feature to the image too.

 

What I am going to do Next

 

The next shoot I will be on a Thursday which is the day the volunteers come in to take the dogs out individually to the two paddocks to run around and get some exercise.  I will take images of the dogs interacting and playing with the volunteers, to show the enjoyment that can be had from working at the centre. I intend to spend almost the entire shoot capturing images of the volunteers interacting with the dogs as this as this is the only day during the week that the volunteers come in.

 

I heard today that Zoya will be moving to a foster home soon so they can work more on building up her confidence. There will therefore be little chance for me to develop this interaction more photographically at the kennels. I will therefore think of other situations to show staff caringly interacting with the dogs.

 

If I have time left over after photographing the dogs being exercised I would like to spend some time improving the image of the worker burning dirty bedding. I would like to try to vary the angle and perspective of the bins with the trees to make them more symmetrical.

Shoot Three Contact Sheet