Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams is an amazing photographer that has contributed to both the world of the photography and society. His photographs are primarily of nature, which ties in to the theme of this blog. Ansel Adams and others created a group called f/64. During this time period, few people were photographing nature, and even less were focused on creating sharp "straight" images. They were concerned with creating emotionally provoking natural images. With the photographs shown here, I think it is easy to see that they clearly achieved this.

I have always enjoyed black and white photography. Ansel Adams is amazing with it. The top two I especially like because of the snow. It really makes the other images in the photographs "pop". He uses the "rule of 3" well. In the first picture, the focus is the tree in the front, with the other two objects being the remaining trees and sky behind them. The second picture uses the river to guide the eye back into the photograph, with the trees and mountain being the other two main objects. The moonrise photograph is excellent with the dark shadows overcasting the mountains. Finally, the last photograph is intriguing with the twisted tree. The photograph was taken at the perfect time of day as the shadows extend in the same direction of the branches. I really enjoy his work, and he creates images that make people appreciate nature and evoke emotion.

All of this information and photographs can be found at: http://www.anseladams.com/aboutAAG.html

Letters

You would be surprised what you can find in your surroundings when you really look hard enough. Everyday objects become letters from certain angles. The first photograph is a "C". It is a tire mark in the grass from being mowed at Franke park. Using Photoshop I changed the contrast and brightness to try to bring the "C" of the dirt more clear. It is still kind of hard to see unfortunately. The second object is an "A". It is an Ab Lounge machine that is folded up. The third letter is an "N" and is trees in the Franke park woods. The fourth letter is a "D". It is an opening on my printer tray. The fifth letter is an "A". It is the leggs and tail of a figurine giraffe that I held in the air and took a picture of it. The sixth letter is a "C". It is the handle on a black tool box. Finally, the last letter is an "E". It is the metal frame of a ladder. By looking closely at my surroundings, I was able to take photographs to make a "collage", so to speak. With all of the photos, I cropped them to take out extraneous background items. Also, the brightness, contrast, and levels were altered to try to dull out the background and make the "letters" more clear against the background. Finally, all of the photos were combined on a canvas in photoshop to spell out a word.

All Natural?

Photoshop can help adjust lighting in photographs to make them look more natural. For this photograph I took a picture of my dog Zoro. He is an Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler). The first photograph is the altered photograph. The second photograph is the original photograph. I chose to crop the photograph to bring Zoro to the front of the picture and lose the extraneous objects in the background (the wood floor and rug). I made several adjustments to the lighting. I increased the brightness and the contrast. Also, I used the "magic wand" to select the rug and change the contrast and brightness. The original photograph dulled the rug and it had an orangish yellow tint to it. So by manually selecting the outer parts of the photograph I was able to adjust the colors to their "normal" colors. Levels were used to adjust the mid-tones and whites. There were too many highlights in the original, as some areas of Zoro's fur appeared white, when they are really a sandy brown. Photoshop can help create an image that is more natural by changing colors, and making it more appealing by cropping out extraneous information.

Crop and Focus!

A photograph becomes much more meaningful when "extraneous" elements are removed. It can be nearly impossible to take a photograph and have extactly what you want in the photograph. Luckily, there is a cropping tool. You can cut out the "extra stuff". The next two photographs demonstrate what cropping can do for a picture.

This photo was taken at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. The first picture is the original. As you can see, there is a lot going on in the backgroun, when the hyena and tree should be the focus. There is brush in the background, along with the head of another hyena laying on the ground. Also, the photograph is centralized. It does not really use the "rule of thirds" well.

By using photoshop, I was able to transform this picture. The main purpose was to crop the photo so that there would be more focus. This was achieved by removing the extraneous background and keeping just the hyena and the log in the cropped image. However, a few other tools were used to make the photo more interesting. I used manual adjustments for contrast and brightness, because the color in the first photograph was somewhat dull. Also, I flipped the image. Most people read from left to right, so I thought flipping it made the eyes flow better over the photograph as you follow the back of the hyena to the front and down the inside of the log.

Clearly, using software programs can have a great impact on photographs. Also, it makes you wonder what can't be done and what is really real? How would anyone know that the hyena was never laying in the position shown in the second photograph? This has a severe impact on what the news and media can portray to the public, just by changing the meaning in a photograph.

The Power of Light

For the next couple of months, this blog is going to take a different approach. I will be focusing on photography and nature. What better way to cherish what we have, so enjoy the pics!

Original photograph.

Enhanced color and brightness photograph.

Autoadjustments for brightness, contrast, and color.

Contrast and brightness can make a huge difference in a picture. Recently, I paid a trip to the local Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Inside of the indoor aquarium there were jellyfish. I thought they would make an excellent photo. I was worried that there could blur, and darkness was definitely an issue. There was no lighting inside the facility except for small light emitting from the aquariums. Luckily, photoshop can help capture and enhance photographs that we might not necessarily consider well done and give the photograph the essence we originally wanted.

The first photograph is the original. It is extremely dark, and it is difficult to see what is in the picture.The second photograph is one enhanced by photoshop. I simply adjusted the contrast and brightness manually. I selected the highest brightness possible. Finally, the last photograph is one in which I chose to use the Autoadjust features of contrast, brightness, and color. As you can see, it made a very different photograph. Personally, I like the second one best, because I like the bluish tint of the fish, while the last one has a yellow tint to it. Photoshop enables photographs to have completely different appeals than their originals.

Wolf Park

WOLF PARK

• WHO THEY ARE

In 1972, Dr. Erich Klinghammer created Wolf Park. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and research of wolves. They are located in Battle Ground, Indiana and are incorporated under the North American Wildlife Park Foundation, Inc. They have 18 adult wolves, 3 foxes, 2 coyotes, and a small herd of bison. Their purpose is to help give displaced animals a home and in turn educate the public on these animals' behaviors so that we may better communicate with them.

• WHAT THEY DO

Wolf Park does a number of things in order to help promote wolf awareness to the public. First, they give several different kinds of seminars to the public. The fees they charge are then used to help care for the animals and keep their organization running. They offer 3 day and 5 day seminars in the summer, where those that sign-up receive great educational demonstrations as well as interactions with the wolves! Also, they offer people the chance to volunteer and intern at Wolf Park. As described on their site, its not just a chance to volunteer and learn about wolves, but "it is a means of helping the cause of wildlife preservation and promoting the welfare of wolves in the wild and in captivity." Interns and volunteers give Wolf Park the extra help they need to care for all of their animals. Another unique method of earning enough income to support their cause, they offer the opportunity to sponsor a particular animal. Unlike other sponsorships, this one earns you the chance to actually face-to-face engage with the wolves, as well as learn great educational information about wolves that will last a lifetime. You can also choose to pay to have yourself photographed with your sponsored animal. Wolf Park engages in several meaningful activities that help support their organization as well as educating the public on wolf behaviors.

• MATTER OF IMPORTANCE

Wolf Park offers a great benefit to the community through wildlife preservation and education for the community. Clearly, they have helped preserve wolves and the other animals through their organization and it has been thriving for over 30 years. The activities they provide for the community are what make it so successful. It is extremely hard for a non-profit to succeed. It can only do so with the support of the community. They have obviously found the key to success through their educational seminars to their sponsorship programs. All of them aid in the benefit of promoting wolf behavior education to the community, so that we may live in peace with one another. It also gives everlasting memories with the chance to interact with wolves. A true experience that will last a lifetime.

• For more information on Wolf Park, visit their website:http://www.wolfpark.org/overview.html

Rescue Farm

WHO THEY ARE

Rescue Farm is a non-profit, no-kill rescue center for companion animals. They help adopt out animals that would have otherwise been slated for euthanasia. From 2003 to 2005 they helped adopt out over 700 animals. In 2006, they increased this number to 780. So far, for 2007, they have adopted out 655 pets. They have formed a partnership with Brown County Humane and Indianapolis Care and Control in taking in animals. They are a fairly new organization and always working for improvement to help save animals lives through the donations they receive by the community.

WHAT THEY DO

Rescue Farm offers a few diverse activities that separate them from other shelters. A few of these are the CanINE Express, pictures with Santa, and International adoptions.

• CanINE Express- Dogs find homes on the East Coast in 3-5 days. With this information, they have been transporting around 10-20 dogs a month from Rescue Farm to the East Coast to improve their chances for adoption. It allows Rescue Farm to take in more dogs than they otherwise would be able to by transporting them to another shelter.
• Pictures with Santa- Rescue Farm has determined a unique way of getting donations. They have partnered up with Petsmart to offer people to have their pets pictures taken with Santa in December. $5 of each photo is donated to Rescue Farm.
• International Adoptions- Rescue Farm allows for international adoptions. By increasing where they adopt to, they increase the chances for animals to find homes. They adopted a terrier to a couple in Canada. They stated that it was very easy to get her across the border, taking less than a minute.

Rescue Farm is a prime example of a non-profit organization that strives to perform is main goal. By coming up with unique ideas, they maximize their potential in achieving their ultimate goal: saving pets lives.

MATTER OF IMPORTANCE

Rescue Farm plays an active role in the community. By forming partnerships with other animal shelters, they help decrease the number of animal euthanasia that take place. Their work helps people enjoy animals as companions that give benefits of even reducing stress. A study they site on their website shows that spending 15-20 minutes petting an animal reduces stress levels. Also, they partner with Petsmart on a number of things like the Santa photos, as well as adopting cats and dogs out through their store. They play an active role in community by giving back. They helped the Owen County Dog show purchase new agility training equipment. Rescue Farm is a great example of how to interact with the community to become more known and increase public awareness of the issues your organization supports.