Jim McCook's Photo tips

My tips are for beginner volunteer shelter photographers

    Before the computer age, people would just by chance find that furry friend they were looking for by driving to a few local shelters. Times have changed, while you still have to go to the shelter to pick up your 4 legged friends, you can now browse the many available animals online by zip code with just a click of the mouse or cell phone. When I was fairly new as a shelter photographer, I thought taking 3 shots: mug, sitting and standing is all I needed, but after a year are so volunteering at the SPCA Tampa bay, I have learned that a quality photo can make quite a difference. Now we have the power to pull people off the streets with the computer, and many adoptions come strictly from online photos. If the cutest pet in the shelter has a poor photo, most people will overlook this animal and move to another animal or shelters gallery. On the other hand if an animal that is less attractive but just happened to show a great expression or turns just the right way (like people do in a photo) from time to time, you get a great snap shot, people will drive the extra mile to see that animal and perhaps they would bond on the spot. I've seen this happen myself.  Sad to say time is not on an animal side in a shelter. So volunteer photographers need all the edge, tips & help we can get, I know I'm still learning today!

Here are some of my views and tips I have learned as a volunteer photographer. I only photo the dogs so some tips & ideas may not apply to other animals.

Most people think its all about the camera, and although the camera is important, using most any digital camera (point & shoot) is fine to get your feet wet. You should be able to get a reasonable shot with most low end cameras as a beginner volunteer photographer anyway. Later as you grow and your skills get better you will want to upgrade I'm sure. I'll talk more about cameras later. First lets talk about technique. 

One of the first things I look for is expression. They say the eyes are a window to the sole and I believe it. If your animal have playful or happy eyes use them as a spring board and center the focus point there  If your furry friend has sad eyes use some other cute feature, like a smile, cute ears, body language (all animals have something to highlight). It's not easy to get this focus point or expression in an shelter environment, animals are stressed and off balance, their whole world has just been turned upside down. So first go in knowing this! You need patents, so take your time. If you don’t have the time or your animal just won’t pose, come back later or let some other volunteer photographer try later. Many of us on our photographer team have to be fair to the animal and back away because of a stressed or shy dog. Some animals are just afraid of men too because of a pass problem, so will first try but if I see I'm not getting a nice photo I'll delete and pass on this one in fairest to the animal. If I’m with a dog I’ll walk him, give him treats and talk to him, all the while I’m gaining trust and learning his personality a little (remember you need to type a bio for him too). This helps me lock in to his potential & give me ideas and keep my wheels turn. The likelihood of a better shot is far greater this way. Bring a squeaker toy, treats and learn to use doggie sounds to get a good hold of their attention. If you can bring out their expression, whether they express joy or playfulness to the camera, the photo draw out their charm.

Here is a clean looking happy dog smelling the flowers & a dirty dog just as cute but with his playful mischievous side, surprisingly many people will pick the crazy dog because they like the  down to earth style. 

So look for, and bring out the spirit, not just a glamour.

 Another tip (on dogs) is to get to their level. People always view dogs from above, but snapping shots from eye level or even below can give a new perspective. This really draws  and new feel to your photos, like the viewer is down on his belly really to play with them.

Dogs (for the most part) are active and playful animals, Take advantages of this energy. Highlight this action shots. I am aloud 3 photos for the website, I try to take one in action. People love to see the  cool fun side of a dog, it brings out the child in people. Sometimes people are motivated more by this natural fun (care free ) state then a simple mug shot. This isn't that hard to get from a dog! 

Another great idea is the uses of a natural colorful background.  Using colors in your background scenes is wonderful. We all know gals (for the most part) like flower where the guys may go for the western look. I'm blessed in my (SPCA Tampa bay) location because we  have livestock,  many green & flowers plus water areas is work with too. Use what you have available at your shelter. You will be surprised what great background you can find. If your don't have a great area paint a wall, add a fire hydrant, plant some flowers, etc.    

How about prompts? This is an easy way to enchants photos because most of the shelters out there always have things like ball, yard ornaments and toys to spice up your shot. I see very few volunteer photographers taking advantages of this great recourse. Its not only is great for color, but you now have some scale.  Try it and see.  

Every Shelter has toys and treats and I'm sure you use them. Many dogs have been train to sit or even shake hand if you offer them a treat. Don't rush this by just dropping a treat in there mouth, try to really make them want it, you may be surprised. Also toy bring out the puppy-dog in them. Use this to you advantage.  Make your photos say "Awe" 

Sometimes you luck-out and get a doggie who is pretty much totally trained. Use a partner and take advantage of this great gift.

I will use people in the photo too but sparingly, just to mix thing up a bit. With the great interaction dog show with people, like licking peoples face, shaking hands etc. shows how friendly they can be. However sometimes the tendency of the viewer is to look at the volunteer more then the animal and  miss the focus point so I may blur the person some to off set this.

How about older dogs? Lets face it, most people are looking to adopt young animals rather than old guys. However, many animal that are 10 years plus have great attitudes, spirits and lots a life left. I  I like to give a senior dog a special edge and make him more appealing. First I look for their best side (like a person).  If I was shooting a jet black dog who is a senior, his muzzle would be grey, and his eyes baggy or blood shot perhaps, so I look at both sides of his face, one side may have a better profile. Also I wouldn’t take a photo real close showing this dog's face, I would back off a little and get a full shot so the fine detail would not be so pronounced “more like a glamour shot”. with a little blur. I’m not suggesting to doctor the photo but just soften it. This way you'll be giving the dog more of a chance by showing his wiser mature quality’s rather than just snapping this seniors face. 

Most of these tips are very simple, quick and straight forward, but with a busy shelter and so many animals to do the tendency is to rust. Sometimes just spending a little extra time on a photo and applying some imagination can make people smile as they read the bio.

Here I took an old tie and cut the collar off my old dress shirt, I put the two together and added a stretchy elastic ban around the collar. I put a  dog (like Buddy here) in an office chair/with tie. Then I put in his bio, a line like "Buddy is looking hard for his forever home on his own" Hey its crazy but it works, people smile and read it.   I sure you can come up with you own too.

  Many photographers prefer not to put any, or very little, background in there photo because it looks to busy and one need to keep the spot light on the animal as the star. I agree with this point if I only had one photo to shot. Our SPCA let's us shot three photos. However I think background done tastefully gives the feel of jumping into the photo. I took the color out of the background below, yes I can see the dog as to eyes draw to the color better, but I'm not much of a black & while guy.

Adding a dark background  with grass at the animals feet is very eye catcher without drawing attention to the background too.

With that said, I sure you noticed there was no leashes in my photos of dogs?! Yes they all had leashes on when posing, but if you want you animals to look free and relaxed remove the leash in a photo edit program! If you don't know how,  this is a goal for you to work on up the road. I use Photoshop &  Paint Pro but there are many free ones offered online too. I realize this does take more time and many times your animal is adopted before you can upload your final photos, but for me its a small price to pay to give them more of the edge they need.

The right Camera???

  Boy that's a loaded question. Camera are as unique as tennis racquets, and to each his own.  When I jumped into the volunteer animal photography arena I just used my cheap Nikon point & shoot camera. I loved the idea of pulling the camera out of my pocket and the quality was fine for me for a website shot. So if your happy? look no further. But as we grow we what the edge and just getting by is not good enough anymore. Plus the  frustrated of shutter lag can be a big problem with point & shoots cameras. While digital point & shoots offer advantages in size the  SLRs, offered significant advantages in control. The big reason (for me) to jump up to the next level was shutter lag. When trying to snag a shot of a wild and crazy animals shutter lag will drive you insane. Many less expensive cameras can take up to a second or two after you have pressed down on the button for the picture to actually take, so you may get a photo of his tail intend of his head. This can make you try to anticipate what your furry friend next move is, causing unpredictable shots with foggy and blurred pictures. Yes with a point & shoot you can cut down on some shutter lag by depressing the button on the camera halfway so that some of the wait is reduced, but if your fine specimen moves you must let up your finger to reposition your camera lens focus and start again. One of the fastest shutter speeds i know was the Fuji Finepix F70 EXR  Here is a shutter lag table You can live with a point & shoot with a faster shutter speed, but if you want your photos to shine and have more control in sports (action) shots, lighting and color (like me) go to the next level, a SLR. I found many good SLRs out there, each model has different ways to control setting. The Nikon & Canon was my two choices. As of now I shoot with a  Canon rebel XSi “SLR” for what its worth,  but please check the new cameras out and the best voted cameras online too. They are pricey and bigger but you can justify it in quality and control. With the SLR class you had much more manual operations than the point-and-shoot cameras and so you can tap into it as you grow. I adjust things from shot to shot sometimes, like shutter speed.  Bottom line: point & shoots cameras are fine for beginners or a week-end warrior, but make sure you buy one with a faster shutter lag and good color for active animals. I could give you a list of point & shoot cameras I like, but after a short time they will be out dated anyway, so search online for "point & shoot cameras with the fastest shutter lag" and high marks over all, then demo a few. As you grow you may opt for a SLR too. Look for other tips online too. If you liked my little tips please let me know on facebook.                     Thanks Jim McCook.