Helping Rescue Dogs Find Homes

 When I think back on my photography journey, I never thought photographing dogs would be where I would end up. In high school and college I worked for a marketing company that produced direct mail editorial magazine for prom dress stores. Every summer was spent traveling the US selecting gowns with designers to fill their Spring lines while also selecting a few to photograph in an editorial spread. Months of planning and test shooting went into preparing for a weeklong photoshoot for a 116 page magazine. While I wasn’t yet a photographer, I had the chance to work closely with the photographer through out the planning process and on site. I learned from lighting experts, changed lenses, memorized camera settings and learned about creating a visual image to market.

In 2008 I began fostering rescue Boston Terriers. We had adopted a deaf Boston Terrier name Bocephus and been introduced to the huge number of great dogs looking for homes. By this time, I’d been working with the marketing magazine for nearly 8 years, and I started thinking, how can I get people to see these dogs. Of course, making a teenage girl want to be the model in the magazine and wear that dress is a little different than getting someone to see that cute dog in the photograph and want them on their couch, but there was something that they shared, a great photograph. 

Photographing my own foster dogs led to so much experience working with dogs and really learning how to get great expression, eye contact, and connection through a photograph. I learned to show a dog’s soul and personality through an image. From there, I started photographing other foster family’s foster dogs. Then I spent two years working as the Office & Intake Manager for the local Humane Society which meant hundreds of dogs & cats each year of all breeds and backgrounds that needed a great adopt me photo done in 5 minutes or less as they came in from animal control. Talk about learning under pressure! But the lesson of a photograph making all the difference stayed true.