[atupdate]

At least with dogs and cats you don't have to deal with them deliberately trying to sabotage your shot. I'm just so happy that the bad shots don't cost anything.

How many of these shots do I have to take
Attachment 207178
Attachment 207179
to get one of these?
Attachment 207180

You don't want to know...

These are the pictures you print for her high school graduation party.

Tim

[frogoutofwater]

wildman mentioned that he felt he wouldn't have the heart to do this kind of work. To be honest, much as I love animals, I stayed away from volunteering at an animal shelter for a long time. I briefly worked at the local pound when I was a teenager and I had a hard time coping with the fact that dogs and cats were euthanized if they weren't adopted quickly.

Currently, I work with a no-kill animal rescue organization. A lot of their dogs are "rescued" from the top of the "kill list" at Animal Care and Control. At least I know that the dogs and cats I meet will be taken care of for the rest of their natural lives, either in foster care (dogs) or the cat shelter.

I also volunteer for a wildlife rehabilitation center (mainly as a caregiver, not a photographer), and I see more harrowing stuff there. For example, this past weekend, we got a possum that had been nearly killed by people throwing rocks at it - crushed its jaw and destroyed one of its eyes. I volunteered to photograph it to document the damage, in case a prosecution is possible. (I realize that possums aren't popular with many people - but killing one for fun blows my mind.) Thank goodness I spent a chunk of the rest of the weekend hanging out with the shelter dogs and cats ... although I still have trouble getting what I photographed out of my mind.

...

Here's Little Panda (who now has her own Facebook page), when I first photographed her (about 4 months ago - she was sitting in her litter box, not willing to come out and play) and now. The shelter staff think the missing ear is a birth defect and that she was dumped by a breeder or pet store ...

[atupdate]

Currently, I work with a no-kill animal rescue organization. A lot of their dogs are "rescued" from the top of the "kill list" at Animal Care and Control. At least I know that the dogs and cats I meet will be taken care of for the rest of their natural lives, either in foster care (dogs) or the cat shelter.

Same here. Most of the puppies we fostered last year were short notice rescues from the county Animal Resouce Center. If someone didn't take the pups, they would have been euthanized (The ARC isn't staffed around the clock to take care of puppies).

Tim

[frogoutofwater]

These are the pictures you print for her high school graduation party.

Tim

... or her wedding

My parents have a pair of charcoal drawings of their two daughters on their living room wall. My aunt created them when we were about 5 and 7. I was the 5 year-old, and I spent the entire 2-weeek period when my aunt was creating my portrait (during our annual vacation) refusing to smile for her. I didn't frown or pout or make faces - I just refused to smile because I didn't like being told to smile. So 45 years later, my non-smiling 5 year-old face is preserved for all visitors to see.

[Racer X 69]

For example, this past weekend, we got a possum that had been nearly killed by people throwing rocks at it - crushed its jaw and destroyed one of its eyes. I volunteered to photograph it to document the damage, in case a prosecution is possible. (I realize that possums aren't popular with many people - but killing one for fun blows my mind.)

I agree that possums are viewed more as a nuisance animal, but to torture and deliberately injure any creature is wrong.

Surely the morons who mistreated the animal will be caught and brought to justice.

Even if they aren't, everyone, each and every one of us will have an opportunity to answer for our deeds, good or bad.

Every single one of us. Including those involved in the heinous behavior towards the possum.

Karma can be good, and karma can be a bitch.

[atupdate]

Our latest foster dog, Marty, is back at SICSA and is available for adoption. Marty is a 10 year old Shih Tzu/Affenpinscher mix that needed a home for a couple of weeks while the vet adjusted his thyroid meds.



They aren't using my photo on the SICSA adoption site, as their "official" volunteer photographer took some. Rumor has it that they expect an 8-10 week old puppy within the next day or so and it will need a foster home for a couple of weeks until it has all of it's shots. I expect we will get a phone call very soon.

Tim

[narual]

Any dog that's as fetch-obsessed as mine can be easy to take photos of by holding a ball just above the camera. Treats would probably work for the food-obsessed ones:


If you can get someone to help by holding the ball or treat while you can shoot from the side or an angle, it can help with the long nose depth of field:


Catching them rolling in the grass always makes them look cute (adoptable):


And just like with kids, the best view is down at their level, or below:




And thank you for doing such good work. Reminds me I need to check with our local place again and see if they need any help. Last time I checked, they had someone on staff who was a decent photographer.

[frogoutofwater]

That's a very nice photo of Marty, atupdate. He looks like he's in very good condition for a 10 year-old dog.

Have you heard of the Facebook page, Susie's Senior Dogs? (I can't pull it up on my office computer but you can google it.) Susie (a senior dog herself) profiles senior dogs in need of a home (or happy stories of recently adopted senior dogs). There is also a contact email address susie.dogggie@gmail.com but I understand that the mailbox has been inundated recently (the Facebook page is relatively new) and so responses are somewhat slow as they work through the backlog. But if you think Marty (or another senior dog) needs the boost that a profile on SSD can give, you might check it out. And you can also help with the placement of other senior dogs by liking the Susie's Facebook page and sharing some of her bulletins, especially if you have Facebook friends in the relevant area.

---------- Post added 02-19-14 at 01:57 PM ----------

And thank you for doing such good work. Reminds me I need to check with our local place again and see if they need any help. Last time I checked, they had someone on staff who was a decent photographer.

I approached about 4-5 different organizations before finding one that needed my services. It's a generalization, but I found that the larger groups (like the Humane Society and the city shelter system) seemed to already have photographers. But at least in New York City, there are a number of small rescue groups (which often rescue dogs that are on the euthansia list at city shelters) that have fewer resources and may be in more need of a photographer's services. You might also look into breed-specific rescue groups.

[ToyTank]

I really like helping the shelter, and the fact I get photo credit in the paper and facebook makes it a total win-win. I have some spare time, and would like to know other ways people volunteer as a photographer.

[atupdate]

Have you heard of the Facebook page, Susie's Senior Dogs? (I can't pull it up on my office computer but you can google it.) Susie (a senior dog herself) profiles senior dogs in need of a home (or happy stories of recently adopted senior dogs). There is also a contact email address susie.dogggie@gmail.com but I understand that the mailbox has been inundated recently (the Facebook page is relatively new) and so responses are somewhat slow as they work through the backlog. But if you think Marty (or another senior dog) needs the boost that a profile on SSD can give, you might check it out. And you can also help with the placement of other senior dogs by liking the Susie's Facebook page and sharing some of her bulletins, especially if you have Facebook friends in the relevant area.

I don't really do Facebook but I'll try to remember to give her page a look. I'll forward to SICSA to make sure they are aware of her page.

Tim

[ToyTank]

A couple from my trip yesterday. This is the county run shelter, they have over 99% live release, but they are not a "no kill"- They posted on FB their numbers IIRC they put down 1 dog and 2 cats last year out of nearly 1000 rescues.

I wanted to volunteer at the humane society last year, but they never called me back after orientation. I think they get lots of young girls to volunteer there, and myself being a old, hairy, fat mountain man did not fit the profile .

Luna the Siamese cross is deaf, and has coordination/balance issues which are especially endearing to me the poor thing acts like she's always drunk.

Marty the pitbull is so awesome(like many animals there) he's the current longest tenant at the shelter, been there since Aug 2013. Loving, non aggressive, smart and playful. Some stories certainly pulls at my heartstrings.

[frogoutofwater]

Nice photos, ToyTank. Thanks for posting. Are those your backdrops for the cats are do they belong to the shelter? And how did you get the cats to stay still?

[ToyTank]

They belong to the shelter. The girl in charge of the cats was just off frame with a toy. This is how the other photographer took photos of the cats, and it ok, but not really my cup of tea, I'd need to spend alot of time cloning to get real happy with them.

Myself backdrops are useful, but I like to have some distance between subject and backdrop so texture, fuzz, etc is smoothed out. I was thinking to look at thrift stores for a kids couch, put it a few feet from the wall and the backdrop. At the shelter they really like them, but I feel they could be MUCH better, and I leave the shelter motivated to improve my technique.

[frogoutofwater]

They belong to the shelter. The girl in charge of the cats was just off frame with a toy. This is how the other photographer took photos of the cats, and it ok, but not really my cup of tea, I'd need to spend alot of time cloning to get real happy with them.

Myself backdrops are useful, but I like to have some distance between subject and backdrop so texture, fuzz, etc is smoothed out. I was thinking to look at thrift stores for a kids couch, put it a few feet from the wall and the backdrop. At the shelter they really like them, but I feel they could be MUCH better, and I leave the shelter motivated to improve my technique.

I always feel that way, too, when I leave the shelter. I usually learn something and try to do something different and better the next time. But even now, your photos are probably far, far better than what they usually have.

A couple of things to keep in mind with props (such as a kid's couch) are: (1) hygiene/cross-contamination; and (2) the potential that your props could make it harder for the shelter staff to get their work done. With respect to (1), if you use something like a blanket or kid's couch, then there is a risk that you'll transfer one animal's germs to another. (Not a big issue if they're already all running together, but sometimes the staff are keeping some animals semi-isolated, e.g., because one animal has worms, or an eye infection, etc.) You also would want to be able to disinfect well whatever you bring into the shelter and take back with you - you also don't want to expose your own animals to anything. With respect to (2), I'm not sure if you were planning to bring the prop to and from the shelter with you, but if you plan to leave it there, there might be storage issues - or the set-up for your shoot might get in the way of what they're doing.

I have learned (through trial and error) to ask first before I introduce props like backgrounds or other materials for my shelter shoots. I remember coming up with what I thought was a brilliant idea for my outdoor shoots - to bring a water-resistant roll-up picnic blanket to use as a seamless backdrop. I figured we could clamp to the fence in the park for an instant backdrop. Well, the system will work but I learned that: (a) we're not allowed to clamp anything to the fence (it's a permit issues problem) and (b) volunteers will have to hold the blanket up, which they're willing to do but they've already got their hands full either taking care of the dogs on display or speaking to passers-by to promote the shelter, solicit adoption applications, collect donations etc. So although my system will work and we're likely to use it some circumstances, it's not an every day-every shot solution.

One experiment I tried with portable (and disposable) backdrops has worked occasionally at the cat shelter: I've used gift wrap paper (either tissue or regular). You can tape some up on the wall (and possibly on the floor) for a shoot and then toss it. This also has the advantage of giving you lots of colour choices so that you can create a nice contrast between a particular animal's coat colour and the background. Another possibility (which I haven't tried yet but might try) is to get a Candy Stick backdrop, cut it down to about 3x4 feet or so and stick it to a piece of foam core or something similar. You can prop it up against the wall and wipe it down between animals (or when you get home).

I've linked to a photo (the Christmas card image) where I used wrapping paper as a backdrop. My cat (and husband) are about 15" from the wall and I'm about 3.5" away from them. (It was a cramped space so I couldn't get more distance between the subject and me and between the subject and the wall.) But you can see that the background is fairly soft.

Tonks

(That was our Christmas card for last year. I ordered more cards with the shelter's slogan on the back and will be selling them as a Christmas fundraiser in 2014.)

Of course, every shelter set-up is different and you might not have any difficulties. But I have been surprised by the number of unanticipated challenges that arise when I try to set up better environmental conditions for the photographs. It's not that people don't want to help. There's usually a work-around, but I don't know enough about how the shelter operates to be able to consistently predict the potential problems associated with my photographic "solutions".

---------- Post added 02-21-14 at 02:49 PM ----------

I really like helping the shelter, and the fact I get photo credit in the paper and facebook makes it a total win-win. I have some spare time, and would like to know other ways people volunteer as a photographer.

I also volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation centre (Wild Bird Fund). Primarily I do wildlife care, but I always bring my camera in case there is something interesting to photograph that would be useful to the WBF.

I've spoken to my vet's office and told them that if they have clients with pets that are terminally ill, I would be honoured to photograph their pets so that they have images to remember. It hasn't come up yet, but we'll see.

When I get better at pet portraits, I would like to offer pet portraits in exchange for a donation to the animal shelter.

This isn't something I've tried, but I took a class with a Mexican woman who did this. A couple of times on weekends, she has gone down to a park in her town that is frequented by a number of families with limited means. She has set up a backdrop outdoors and offered free portraits to families. She somehow managed to set up a printer nearby (not sure how she powered it) and offered instant prints. She said it was a great experience for practising portraiture and she got a lot of attention and some publicity for it. (She runs a graphic design studio and photography is her hobby - but the press coverage mentioned her business as well.)

[ToyTank]

Thanks Frogoutofwater, I had a similar idea about doing outdoor portraits, but it was for profit. I'd thought about turning a cargo van into a photobooth type of rig. The idea of driving it to scenic, touristy areas and let the van make money while I'm hiking. One camera would be in the van photobooth, and the second pointed towards the mountains or lake or some other scenery for tourists to get their picture in front of.