In December of 2012, I attended my first adoption event with Last Hope K9 Rescue. I arrived at the doggy daycare at 10am and didn't leave until after 4pm. I spent the entire day photographing ~40 dogs that were in need of homes. By the end I had hundreds of pictures of dogs that were adopted, some that would still be available at the time, but were later adopted by people I now consider friends, volunteers who were also just getting their start in the world of rescue, and even a dog or two who would end up spending a year in foster care until their forever homes came along. This was just the beginning. I spent the next year worth of Sundays at every Last Hope K9 event I could make it to (all but two). I also attended smaller local events and private shoots with individual dogs in between the larger events. In the end, I photographed thousands of dogs. I saw all but a two or three of those dogs find their forever homes and there were thousands more who I never got the chance to photograph, but were adopted just the same.
After changes in my personal schedule made it impossible for me to attend each monthly event, I started reaching out to different rescues and offering my services as a photographer. Over the next three years I was lucky enough to work with hundreds more dogs available through 8 different rescues. I have photographed dogs for Last Hope K9 Rescue, Survivor Tales Animal Rescue, Legacy German Shepherd Dog Rescue, Dog Orphans Humane Society, New England Saint Bernard Rescue, Greyhound Friends, New England All Breed Rescue and Ruff Tales Rescue as well as donating time as a photographer for different events to support some of these rescues. My husband "jokes" (he's totally serious) that I should call my photography business "If It's Free It's For Me", because my real passion is helping these dogs in need. I absolutely love spending the time getting to know these dogs and then hearing down the road that my pictures helped find them a home and occasionally running into some of these pups after they have been adopted. There is no better feeling than to tell someone that I already know their dog and I have photographs of the pup from when they were still in rescue. As I continue to grow as a photographer, the one thing I will never stop doing is photographing these dogs. While I did seek out the majority of the rescues I have worked with, I always love hearing from those who are looking for help with networking and getting exposure for their dogs.
