Volunteering & Helping Animals
As a Veterinary Technician who spent over 15 years working in animal shelters, I am well aware of the impact that a great photo can have on the length of time a pet spends in the shelter system. Nobody comes to the shelter to adopt an animal because they saw a blurry cell phone photo of it sitting in its litter box, or cowering in the back of a run. For many years, providing shelters and rescues with clean, sharp, properly exposed photos of their adoptable animals was my way of giving back.
While living in Toronto, I volunteered for Speaking of Dogs, an amazing rescue group specializing in senior dogs, but in reality helping all breeds, ages, and sizes. I have been honoured to photograph many dozens of their adoptable dogs over the years, as well as donating sessions for their fundraising auctions and calendar.
When we relocated to a remote, rural area in Albert County, NB, I volunteered to take adoption photos for the Greater Moncton SPCA (now PAW). It was very rewarding, but living an hour away made it tough to make regular enough trips or provide fast enough turnaround time to be really useful to the shelter in the same way I had been in Toronto.
These days, I focus more on fundraising projects like calendars and books. So far, my efforts have raised over $45,000 for PAW (People For Animal Wellbeing) and ElderDog Canada!
I truly believe that my success as a pet photographer can be attributed to my understanding of animal behaviour much more than my skill as a photographer.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone once again and speak in public, at a professional photography conference. I do not enjoy public speaking, but I do enjoy saying “yes” to things that scare me, and seeing where it leads.