Hello,

I am interested in going to our local shelter and offering to do the photo's for the animals that need to be adopted.
what is the best way to approach them about this? Should i take in a portfolio of work? I am looking to help the shelter get animals adopted and to get some practice under my belt. I really want to specialize in Pet photography.
Any advice would be great!

Thanks
Tami

I just wrote emails to the local rescue groups and shelters and asked them if they needed volunteer photos. The first time I did this, I had no samples, but since then I send a link to some rescue portraits whenever I contact a new group.

You may find yourself overwhelmed with yeses though. I'm shooting for 13 or so different rescues now and combining that with my paid shoots keeps me pretty busy.

In this area, rescue groups are easier to work with than shelters. I assume that has a lot to do with regulatory red tape.

Thanks, that's a great idea...
in our little area we pretty much just have the shelter not many rescue groups. I will definetly be contacting them though.

Hi Tami,

I would just call and offer your help. Most of the shelters are anxious for the help (and definitely need it). Thank you for caring about the animals.

Barbra

I would like to help, but also not overwhelm my self starting out. when i email, should i put a time frame and limit of photos?
When starting out, do you photograph only the newest members at the shelter?

Thanks for all your help and advice.
Thanks
Tami

My local shelter turned me down! I'm thinking of asking surrounding counties.

I spent 14 months recently volunteering at a local shelter, not the one in my county but adjacent. Since they all are run completely different from each other and because they usually have very low morale, and often not very good PR, I would suggest volunteering in whatever capacity is advertised as needed first. Then get to know how the place is run.

As a rescue veteran of 10 years or more, I have come to know all the shelters in my state and some adjacent states fairly well. They are usually leery of someone until the volunteer turns out to be reliable, dependable, etc. Do they already have a photographer even if amateur? The shelter I was at already had a retired lady doing this and it is her life. She does a great job. However, there were some animals that she never photographed and those were the ones I went in and photographed and personally handled all of those adoptions. So see what kind of photographs they have of their animals now and if that position is most likely filled already, which is often the case.

Good luck!

I do a lot of this for ONE shelter. I cannot take on anymore as I am about to be really busy. I would suggest practicing on friends dogs first because, they do really need the help but, you better be able to direct them and do the job quickly.

I do about 80 animals in three hours, then run home, process them and get them to the shelter within about 12 hours. It is *alot* of work. I also run over and do their celebrity photos with animals. That isn't near the amount of work, but, you better know how to deal with people, posing and lighting(even if just natural light)

If you go to http://knoxpets.org you will see a lot of my work there. They haven't gotten up the new ones I did yesterday. That will probably be tomorrow.

My blog(if you go through it...) has lots of shelter stuff on it too http://JuliePoole.com

Great slide show, Julie. Makes it easy to just sit back and view all the animals. What software are you using to put it together?