Why You Should Take Photos For Your Local Shelter

[Camilla and Darwin]

Hi everyone, it's yet another discussion from me! I promise I will stop after this one. :-)

Karen posted a comment earlier that had a link to an article. This article had before and afters of shelter dogs who had been photographed by a photographer. It really stuck with me, and it made me want to do my own before and afters so that I could demonstrate how much this can help.

See, when I first volunteered it was for two reasons. 

1: I made a goal when I started college that I would complete 400 hours of service before I graduated. (I just reached 200, yay!) This was always something I had wanted to do for service, so I called local shelters and asked them about it.

2: I love dogs and routinely go to shelters just to play with them and hold puppies. It's actually what I used to request to do for every birthday, before I got Darwin. Seriously!

Well, It's been over a year and it's still one of my favorite things to do every week. I go every Saturday for 1-2 hours, and I love it more each time. Not only is it a blast, but it's very rewarding to see people come in because they reacted to a photo they saw on the website or the Facebook page. 

I just wanted to encourage all of you, if you are thinking about doing this, DO IT! You don't have to be an expert at pet photography (I'm not!) You don't have to have a perfect location or time of day (I definitely never do!). You don't even have to have a DSLR. Most kill shelters just have animal control or a busy front desk person snap a photo, with flash when they come in. They don't know about angles, lighting, or even getting a cute shot of the dog. Any person who can come in and have a knowledge about photography, and spend a few minutes of one on one time with the dog, will improve the photo. 

If you don't have a lot of time, this only takes me a couple of hours a week. That really isn't much time at all! Take a look at the before and afters from the dogs I shot today. The first photos are the photos that animal control or the front desk took of them when they came in.  My photos were all taken on a small patch of grass, at 1pm, with kennels and a shed for a background. Not ideal, but it really doesn't matter! All that is needed is clear, bright, happy looking pictures to get people to fall in love.

There are even dogs that we can't take outside because they are too afraid, in that situation all we do is open the kennel door, and snap a picture right there, the key is to make a lot of embarrassing kissy noises. :-)

Finally, I know some of you may be worried about being overwhelmed with the sadness of being there. While that does sometimes happen, I can personally attest to the fact that it is by a vast majority, happy! You get to interact with these dogs who have been dumped or abandoned, and are in a foreign environment, yet they are loving, happy and just overwhelmingly excited to be near you. It's incredibly humbling and inspiring and it really just lifts my spirits to be around them. In addition, knowing that what you are doing will really help them is incredibly rewarding!

So there is my plug. I hope that if anyone has been considering this, but has been holding back for one reason or another will take the leap. I hope that those who have never considered it will consider it. Because it's awesome, and I'm sure all of you would do amazing jobs, and love it, and think of how many dogs the awesome PG members could save! 

Sandy and Ronna both do this too, and I bet you anything they will agree that it is a great and fun thing to do!

[Camilla and Darwin]

I should also mention, that cats need their photos taken too! The guy who takes pictures with me at my shelter does the cat photos (I'm extremely allergic to cats) and he puts them on a table in a cat bed, in one of the spare rooms of the shelter and snaps away. Simple.

I did attempt to photograph a cat from a distance once and it didn't go so well. LOL I tried to make kissy noises at it like I would a dog... it was not amused.  Here is a side by side of the look a dog will give me when I make that noise... and what the cat did.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And that about sums up the difference between dogs and cats in general, lol! 

[Vivian & Mojo]

lol that's so funny I almost fell off my chair. I do miss having a cat they are so whimsical  :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Camilla, you are awesome and I truly wish I could just adopt you.   I would love to try this, but I am truly concerned that I couldn't get better pictures than they already get.  I don't photoshop so I couldn't fix them much or put that sparkle in their eyes like you do.   I have no idea if they would be receptive to my offer, but if I had to push to offer and then couldn't get nice pics.....? I would feel so bad to let the shelter down. How could I give it a try without making any promises (remember I am pretty much a point and shoot girl skill-wise)?  The shelter we got Clancy from has a volunteer (professional) who takes pictures of the dogs and cats and it does make a HUGE difference. Their animals all look soooo clean and adoptable.

[Camilla and Darwin]

The photos you take of your dogs are beautiful Nancy! You could go in to play with some dogs and take some practice pictures without saying anything first... but I think you absolutely would improve the photos they have!! The nice thing about photographing dogs midday is that the sun really illuminates their eyes, editing really isn't necessary. also non-doodles are sooo much easier to photograph, truly!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When we get back from Tucson, I am going to try this. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Richard Crowe]

Great job...  A good photo can literally save the life of a dog. Many of the people who adopt our rescue Maltese and our occasional foster Doodle mention that they were attracted to the dogs by the photo we posted on petfinder...

Thank you for what you are doing for these wonderful creatures...

BTW:  I use a squeaker that is sold in craft stores like Michaels and is designed to be sewn inside stuffed toys.  

I hold the squeaker between my teeth and can make it squeak by biting down.  The dog hears the squeak and looks at where the noise came from.  That way I get the dog looking at my camera.  The squeakers are pretty inexpensive, about a quarter each or less if you purchase in a larger lot... 

Using a flash outdoors, even the built-in flash can improve any image by lightening the shadows and by putting catch-lights in the dog's eyes.  This image was shot using the built-in flash of a Canon 10D...

The flash brightened up the shadow side of her face and added the catch-lights to her eyes...

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thank you Richard! You do so much and I really admire you. The before and afters I've seen of the Maltese you've rescued is truly amazing!

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

Ditto to what Camilla said!

[Richard Crowe]

I forgot to mention.... An inexpensive fleece throw makes a great background for smaller dogs.  I have several in different colors.  They are cheap and easily transported...

[Camilla and Darwin]

Another great suggestion Richard!! I think this would be great for cats too.

[Richard Crowe]

Cats like a little feather toy on a string at the end of a stick.  My cat used to enjoy a piece of potato chip bag crumpled up at the end of  string or long rubber band.  I think that it was a combination of sight, smell and noise (when he hit the bag with his paw) that attracted him.

We use a thin show lead for the dogs because it can easily be photo-shopped out. I like shooting with another person holding the dog.  Judy does an excellent job doing this.  I like to use a lead that is close in color to the dog because it is not as difficult to remove. This is the above Beau Jangles picture straight out of the camera except for cropping a bit.