Before the computer age, people would just by chance find that furry friend they were looking for by drive 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 photography, I thought a simple point a shoot camera taking 3 shots: mug, sitting and standing was about all I needed, but after a year now at the SPCA Tampa bay I've learned that a quality photo can make quite a difference. Now we have the power to pull people in off the streets and many adoptions come strictly from online photos. If the cutest pet in the shelter has a poor photo, most people will overlook that pet and move to another shelters gallery. If an animal that is less then perfect just happens to show a great expression or turns just right way (like people do from time to time), you get a great shot and people will drive the extra mile to see him and perhaps they would bond on the spot. I've seen this myself, sadly to say time is not on an animals side in a shelter. So volunteer photographers are VERY IMPORTANT and need all the tips & track they can get, I know I'm still learning today!

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

First lets sit the camera type & models aside. Using most any digital camera (point a shoot) is a fine starter camera to get you feet wet. You should be able to get a reasonable shot with a low end camera as a beginner volunteer photographer anyway, later as you grow and your skills get better you will want to upgrade. I'll talk more on this at the end.

One of the first things I look for is expression. The eyes are a window to the sole. If they have sad eyes use some other cute feature (all dogs have them.  It's not easy to get this in a shelter environment, animals are stressed and off balance, there whole world has just changes. So first go in knowing you need to 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 for later because of a shy fellow or gal. 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 the 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 and hold there attention. If you can bring out their expressive, whether they express joy or playfulness, the photo will still draw people to their charm thru the camera lens.

Here is a clean happy looking dog smelling the flower & a dirty dog just as cute but with his playful fun side, surprisingly many people will pick the crazy dog because they like the real feel. 

So look for, and bring out the heart felt side, not just a glamour shot.

 Another trick (on dogs) is to get to their level. People always view dogs from above but snapping a few shots from eye level or even below can give a new perspective. This trick really draws attention because it seems like you are down on your belly really to play with them.

 Also dogs (for the most part) are active and playful animals, highlight this in an action shots. People love to see wild and crazy photo, it brings out the child in people. Sometimes people are motivated more by this natural fun (who cares) state then a simple mug, sit & standing photo. This isn't that hard to get because it's their nature. 

Another great help is the uses of a natural background.  Useing 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 as the SPCA Tampa bay has livestock,  many greens & flowers is work with, but use what you have at your shelter too. You will be surprised what you can find in your own setting.   

How about prompts? This is an easy way to enchants photos because most of the shelter always have things like ball, yard ornaments and toys to spice up your shot. I found very few volunteer photographers around here were really using this great recourse. This not only is great for color, but you now have some scale.  Try it and see.  

Every Shelter has toys and treats, many dogs have been train to sit or even shake hand if you offer them a treat. Also toy bring out the puppy-dog in them. Use this to you advantage.   

I will use people in the photo sparingly, just to mix thing up a bit. The tendency sometimes is to look at the volunteer helper and miss the focus point. Online shelter animal photos should be, for the most part, just that, animal shots.

Here is a problem, most people are looking to adopt young animals rather than old guys. However, many animal are 10 years plus.  From time to time people will adopt senior animals too but I like to give them an edge and make them more appealing. I find their best side.  If I was shooting a jet black dog who is a senior, his muzzle is grey, and eyes baggy or blood shot, I look at both sides of his face, one side may have a better profile. I personal wouldn’t take a photo only 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”. You can get great expression with this too. 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 quality’s rather than just the face shot, which at this point is not his best feature.

Most of these tips are very simple, but can make your photos pop

.  Next I personally go the extra mile. I sure you notated there is no leashes in my photos of dogs?! Yes they all had leashes on when posing. If you want you animals to look free and relaxed remove the leash! If you don't know how, this is a goal for you up the road. Start with a photo editing software program like Photoshop, Paint Pro or a free one offered online. 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 edge.

As to Camera choices???

  As I jumped into the volunteer animal photography area I just used my cheap point and shoot camera. I loved the idea of putting the camera in my pocket and I quality was fine for the website, but while digital point and shoots offer these advantages over SLRs, there is one place where they are still significantly behind the curve, action pictures and shutter lag, when trying to snag a shot of a wild and crazy animals shutter lag is a big problem. Many less expensive cameras can take up to a second or two after you have pressed 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. 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 speciMINE moves you must let up your finger to reposition your camera lens focus and start again. You can live with a point and shot, but to go to the next level you need an SLR.   Cameras are like tennis racquets everybody is different. For me after looking at a few friends SLRs and some of the advantages, I bit the bullet and got a Canon rebel XSi “SLR” Yes it is a bigger camera and somewhat pricey but I can justify it in quality and control. With the SLR class there are more manual operations than the point-and-shoot cameras have. Another advantage is that the SLR cameras can accept interchangeable lenses. This helps you in getting best shots of sports and nature where you cannot go close for taking pictures. You can zoom the lens of SLR digital cameras and take close-ups. The other advantages are long battery life, high-speed continuous shooting, great image sensor and the ability to save RAW images. So for me the Canon Rebel XSI is my choice. However I may change again up the road so you need to do the math and field test work too. Bare in mind what I do works for me and if you only use a small part of this great! . I hope many of you have ideas and trick you can sure too.  If you liked this let me know.                     Thanks Jim McCook.