1st time at the shelter

After completing the application and orientation process (took about a month because I just missed the last orientation), I had the chance to volunteer at a local humane society to take photos of their animals for adoption. Thank you mikekelley and thesilent for the inspiration to do this. It was a lot of fun but the cats were a challenge to get in focus since they were so quick! It also didn't help that my allergies flared up in the cat room.

Here's a few pics.
Maya

Poor Sputter...Looks sad.

2nd one looks so sad. adopt him already...haha

Awwww luuuuv the tortoiseshell in the last pic!!!

Sputter is a really sweet little dog. His fur makes it so I couldn't get a good view of his eyes. He seemed to be just squinting all the time. I showed a friend of mine his pics and she's really tempted to adopt him.

Here's a few more on my flickr

http://www.flickr.com …0/sets/72157626​712594114/

Kuma, these are beautiful. Just wondering, did you use natural light? I was thinking the same thing to volunteer at local Humane Society/adoption to shoot their pets. Could you give me any tips?

Thanks

alexdesign wrote in post #12408975
Kuma, these are beautiful. Just wondering, did you use natural light? I was thinking the same thing to volunteer at local Humane Society/adoption to shoot their pets. Could you give me any tips?

Thanks! I was using natural light, but I had a flash with me just in case. I suspect I will be using flash at times in the future as needed. The dogs were taken outside on a sunny day with a portion of the dog area under some trees.

Tips: I'm actually volunteering at 2 humane societies, and they are vastly different experiences so far. At one place, they just want me to take one single photo that has to have the entire body shown. Then it gets uploaded and placed on their really slow website. It's just not an ideal set up to showcase an animals personality (it's all in the eyes!). At the other shelter, I have some more freedom. I just upload the pics to my flickr and I let them use what ever pics they want, or they can direct people to my flickr also.

Both places required me to fill out a volunteer application form and attend an hour long orientation. One place required a $25 fee for all volunteers.

Whoever is helping handling the animals (other volunteer staff in my case), can be really helpful. It helps to direct them a little as far as where to stand (out of the background, out of the light), drop the leash, etc. The cat handlers were especially helpful, trying to get the cats attention with toys. It takes a little patience. Some handlers just wanted me to hurry up and get a quick pic so they could move onto the next animal on the list.

Photographically, I used a 50mm 1.4 on a 5DII for the cats. Most were shot at 1.8. The cats were really difficult to get to look into the camera so focus was tough at times, although I still used 'one shot' focus or manual at times. I'll try AI servo next time too. The dogs were shot with a 24-70 at 2.8. I also brought a 70-200 but it stayed in the bag. Some of the dogs were a little skittish so I wanted longer focal length available just in case.

Overall I tried to capture the animals personalities as much as possible. I think the key to this is to get their eyes and face. I plan to volunteer on a weekly basis and this helps the shelter feel like you're committed to the cause and I think they'll also feel more comfortable with you being around. Next time, I'm definitely bringing some dog treats.

Good luck! It's a lot of fun.

alexdesign wrote in post #12408975
Kuma, these are beautiful. Just wondering, did you use natural light? I was thinking the same thing to volunteer at local Humane Society/adoption to shoot their pets. Could you give me any tips?

Also check out Christina's and Mike's pics...some awesome ones here.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1015451

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=920381

Thanks very much Kuma.

Yeah, I was wondering how did you get that cat to look at the camera. I am thinking about (if I'll get an ok to do a photoshop at Humane Society to buy a few pet toys to engage them in activity) or have my husband stand behind me and wiggle a stick with a cat toy in front of them.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Again, gorgeous photos. I love the light on all of them and the focus is perfect.

Good job from one Humane Society photog to another (I've been photographing our shelters adoptable pets for over 5 years now0. Try talking to the shelter that wants full body shots to go with the close ups with focus on the eyes our shelter has shown an increase in inquiries as well as adoptions by going to the close ups. Also skip the natural light especially on the cats they are too quick use your flash and bounce off the ceiling. I shoot all in the shelter with an assistant who entertains the pets and the flash and it helps the shelter in evaluating the dogs if we have a dog growl or run at the camera we let staff know so they can work with the issue.

BaliHai wrote in post #12420685
Good job from one Humane Society photog to another (I've been photographing our shelters adoptable pets for over 5 years now0. Try talking to the shelter that wants full body shots to go with the close ups with focus on the eyes our shelter has shown an increase in inquiries as well as adoptions by going to the close ups. Also skip the natural light especially on the cats they are too quick use your flash and bounce off the ceiling. I shoot all in the shelter with an assistant who entertains the pets and the flash and it helps the shelter in evaluating the dogs if we have a dog growl or run at the camera we let staff know so they can work with the issue.

Thanks for the excellent advice!

Awww poor sputter!