The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum - Fine Art Landscape Photography

Do work with local rescue groups?

Posted By: TeresaBerg

Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/02/10 03:14 PM

I do a lot of work with rescue groups and I'm always looking for new ways to help dogs get homeless animals off the streets.

Currently I do an annual calendar for Dachshund Rescue and photograph their adoptable dogs for their petfinder listings.

What is everyone else doing? I'm always looking for new ways to get attention for these wonderful groups.
Posted By: Jim Poor

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/05/10 06:34 PM

I shoot portraits for "adopt me" photos Used by about a dozen rescues and hold a few portrait fundraisers each year.
Posted By: psmith

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/05/10 09:30 PM

Whenever Rescue groups set up at cat shows I offer to shoot some of them for their websites. I always choose any black cats to shoot first, because they are usually the ones who are not done well by the volunteer photographers.

I spent today shooting adoptables at a local Pet Hospital.
Posted By: psmith

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/05/10 09:31 PM

What do you find works best for adoptions? Formal clean portraiture, candid environmentals, studio with props, or people holding the animals?
Posted By: Jim Poor

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/05/10 10:21 PM

Clean portraits free of clutter seem to be the best. If the dog happens to have a favorite toy or cute behavior, I try to showcase that.

The work Julie does with folks holding the animals is also very effective, partially so because of the celebrity value of the people involved.

Typical volunteers holding the animals doesn't usually go all that well. Even worse, there are some rescues that use prisoners on a work-release type basis and they have a lot of photos of the orange jumpsuits holding the dogs.
Posted By: Julie

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/06/10 03:54 AM

All sorts of things work, the main thing to keep in mind is to make it look like a desireable animal to have in your own home. Which is why they do the celebrity photos. If the newscaster, sports players want to hold them, surely that makes them GOOD pets.

Sad photos do not work. Who wants a sad or pitiful pet?
Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/06/10 01:10 PM

Teresa,
my involvement in Rescue goes beyond the photography since I'm on the Board of Directors of Gulfstream Guardian Angels Rottweiler Rescue of Miami. Private organizations involved in Rescue require 3 things:

1. money. These organizations are generally 501c3 non-profit entities and they require donations to survive. I help on the fund-raising side by supporting our largest fund-raising event -- Oktoberfest in late October in Boca Raton. This event brings in lots of vendors who donate a percentage of their sales to GGARR. There are costume contests since it is held close to Halloween and I photograph all the participants and donate the proceeds to the club. I also have a portrait setup and donate most of those sales to the club as well.

Each year, Linda and I produce a Rottweiler calendar which we sell at Oktoberfest and later in the year at the Miami dog shows. A percentage of those sales goes to the club. In 2009, the star of the calendar was Sundance and last year it was our Blue Suede litter of puppies. Here are two samples:





The star of this year's August page is our very own Moxie.

2. the organizations need good dogs to put into good homes. My involvement is to evaluate any potential rescue that comes to us in the Central Florida area. I will evaluate the dogs for overall health and temperament with temperament in a Rottie the single "absolute" factor. Any dog that I cannot put my hands on will not come into our rescue program. I'm also involved in fostering -- the girl we just lost recently, Marion Louise, came to us as a foster -- and transport of dogs from anywhere in the Southeast to our boarding/vet facility in Miami. In each of those situations, I generally take the first shots that are posted to PetFinders.

3. Good dogs need great homes so I do home/adopter inspections/interviews in the Central Florida area. This week I visited a veterinarian with an American Hairless Terrier, two cats and an African Grey Parrot who wanted one of our older dogs and explained that she was in a unique position to provide them with care for the rest of their lives. So now it's just a matter of finding a dog that can live with a small dog and cats . But what a great home!

As I said, my involvement is more than just as a photographer although that is a piece of it. I think the things that Jim, Julie and Preston have suggested are great. For PetFinders, we've found that a simple headshot and body shot are sufficient. For our website, we do as much as we can especially with some of the dogs that come to us in horrific physical condition. But with Rottweilers, it isn't as much a matter of how cute they are; it's a matter of how well they will fit into the homes that want to adopt them.

Jim
Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/07/10 07:59 PM

I have done shoots for several shelters in the last couple of years...Rotts and Pups, Husky House, The Last Resort, etc...most are based in NJ. We have also raffled off our portrait services to one of the local humane groups. IMO, Humane Work is some of the most important ways to show that you are giving back as well as creating a great network base.

James
Posted By: TeresaBerg

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/07/10 11:40 PM

Thanks, everyone! I do a calendar each year for Dachshund Rescue and really love doing it.... and I do the petfinder portraits for them, too. It has really made a difference in boosting traffic to their website, etc.

I have been thinking of doing some greeting cards/holiday cards for them to sell...but I hadn't thought of actual holding an event and getting other vendors to participate. hmmmmm.... wheels are turning.

Thanks!
Posted By: Julie

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/11/10 01:26 PM

Teresa, I do different things during the year. My main charity is the county shelter, which is a GREAT shelter http://knoxpets.org and I have set them up with lights, a dslr and taught them how to take their own photos. They take in 100 animals a day and I cannot keep up with their need for photos. I do go out and do their celebrity photos for them.

I do a "work for food" fundraiser, where people bring a 20lb+ bag of science diet to get their photos made. That usually generates around 700lbs of food in a weekend.

My Christmas season Oct-Dec I do a donation session fee. I cut my creative fee in half, to $50 and have them write the check directly to the rescue. That way it is a double good thing for them, they are donating to a cause they believe in and they get to write it off on taxes. As far as how much it raises for the groups, well, they have to send me people. Golden retriever rescue sends me the most and they probably get close to $1000 in donations without lifting a finger.

I will happily forgo a session fee to get people in the door.
Posted By: rpcrowe

Re: Do work with local rescue groups? - 08/19/10 09:09 PM

Good pictures can be literally lIFE SAVING for rescue dogs in need of forever homes. We rescue Maltese and presently have 12 puppies and 5 adults living with us and we have placed 5 dogs last week.

Good photos on websites such as www.petfinder.com can ensure that the dogs will create interest.

I have shot pictures of rescue dogs who had been on petfinder.com for weels with no interest generated due to the quality of the images the foster families submitted. With my new images, plenty of interest is generated.
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