So… the first episode depicted Tara pulling some dogs from the city shelter, but Paws in the City also helps find homes for kitties.  A few weeks ago (I’m very slow blogging this summer!), I met some of the kittens and cats available for adoption.  With my camera, of course.  We met at a vet/boarding facility where Paws has a room for the cats  - the hope/plan is to soon convert a larger area into a full-time adoption center for the cats.  (As a side note, it gave me my first real experience with the weirdness of fluorescent lights — I’ve shot in them before, but for some reason was not as affected as this time.  For the photography people out there, it’s a white balance nightmare with the rapidly cycling color changes – one photo is blue, and the next, shot rapid fire, is orange).  Anyway, here’s a ton of photos of some of the cats available for adoption (because I am delayed posting this, it’s possible that some of these guys may have been adopted — but there are plenty more just like them!).001-pitc kittens-110714 002-pitc kittens-110714 003-pitc kittens-110714 004-pitc kittens-110714 005-pitc kittens-110714 006-pitc kittens-110714 007-pitc kittens-110714 008-pitc kittens-110714 009-pitc kittens-110714 010-pitc kittens-110714 011-pitc kittens-110714 012-pitc kittens-110714 013-pitc kittens-110714 014-pitc kittens-110714 015-pitc kittens-110714 016-pitc kittens-110714 017-pitc kittens-110714 018-pitc kittens-110714 019-pitc kittens-110714 020-pitc kittens-110714 021-pitc kittens-110714 022-pitc kittens-110714 023-pitc kittens-110714 024-pitc kittens-110714 025-pitc kittens-110714 026-pitc kittens-110714 027-pitc kittens-110714 028-pitc kittens-110714 029-pitc kittens-110714 030-pitc kittens-110714 031-pitc kittens-110714 032-pitc kittens-110714 033-pitc kittens-110714 034-pitc kittens-110714 035-pitc kittens-110714 036-pitc kittens-110714 037-pitc kittens-110714 038-pitc kittens-110714 039-pitc kittens-110714 040-pitc kittens-110714 041-pitc kittens-110714 042-pitc kittens-110714 043-pitc kittens-110714 044-pitc kittens-110714 045-pitc kittens-110714 046-pitc kittens-110714 047-pitc kittens-110714 048-pitc kittens-110714 049-pitc kittens-110714 050-pitc kittens-110714

She couldn’t keep him, but really didn’t want to have to take him to the city shelter if she could help it.  After 36 hours with the little guy, she was already a little smitten with the dude and wanted to make sure he was happy and well cared for.  I gave her contact information for a couple people.  When I received an email from Kristy that a plan had been worked out, I was thrilled… and she was so relieved.  He’s up-to-date on his shots and will be neutered next week.  He’s staying at Urban Paws, very busily making friends and charming everyone who meets him.  I told Kristy I’d run by and check on him.

She hadn’t named him so Urban Paws gave him a name.  A fitting name, I think.  When they said they’re calling him Cash, I smiled.

A little about the guy… he’s definitely got a lot of rottweiler in him (they’re guessing rottie/shepherd mix), and he’s going to be a big boy.  He has no tail – like a rottie, but he’s got some crazy ears.  Kristy’s vet guessed him to be 3-4 months old, and he’s got some serious paws to grow into.  He’s still a baby so he behaves accordingly, though he’s relatively calm (or at least he was when I visited him!).  He had a full spa day – bath, nails, glands, etc. – and is oh so handsome.

He will be available for adoption through Paws in the City as soon as he’s de-boyed. If you’re looking to add a sweet, big baby boy to your family, be sure to check him out — I have a feeling he’ll be snatched up quickly by a lucky family!

One piece of advice I pretty much always give is to volunteer services to a rescue organization.  It’s a win-win — not only do decent photographs help the animals find homes, but it provides great practice.  There are innumerable lists of tips on how to improve your pet photography, but in my opinion, one of the most valuable things is to really learn to understand the animals (I will admit, I’m much more fluent in dog than cat!).  Practicing on your own animals is great – particularly to help you learn your camera and what all it can do.  But you know your pets.  It’s different when you are confronted with unknown animals – their personalities are as different as ours are.  Some are easy to make friends with – think the stereotypical bounding, slobbery golden – others are much more reserved.  In the rescue world, you definitely come across both.  The nervous dogs present obvious difficulties, but the overly friendly ones offer challenges of their own when it comes to photography. Plus sometimes even the most outgoing dogs are not comfortable with a camera pointed at them.

As has been noted on here a bunch of times, I volunteer my services to Paws in the City.  Paws tries to place as many of their dogs  as they can in foster care, but they have relationships with several boarding facilities to handle overflow.  Urban Paws in Deep Ellum boards quite a few Paws dogs normally.  Since those dogs are not being fostered, their need for a good photo is even greater — they don’t have anyone really getting to know them one-on-one, talking them up, training them, etc.  So I head over to Urban Paws every so often to photograph some of the dogs (the photos included in this post are from a recent visit).  It’s not an easy feat.  I usually just wade out into the play area during an open play session – sometimes with up to 20-25 medium to large dogs, both Paws pups and Urban Paws’ clients.  I don’t want to take away any play time, so I just try to shoot them in that environment – plus I feel it better showcases their personalities.  It’s not easy – I often have dogs jumping up on me, wrestling at my feet, trying to grab my camera strap…. all while I’m trying to shoot.  Needless to say, this environment presents unique challenges when it to photographing the dogs.  Some obvious – keeping the camera steady and the lens (reasonably) clean.  But it also is very different from client shoots as I have very little control over the background, and there’s really nothing I can do about the photobombing pups.  Of course, what makes a good shot for Paws is not necessarily what makes for a good client shot.  For the Paws shots, I’m not really interested in the background or environment — I’m looking for a (hopefully) compelling thumbnail portrait, something to get potential adoptive owners to click on the photo and want to meet the pup.  I try to herd the dogs into decent light as best I can, and I tend to shoot wide open to blur out the background.   I also deliberately crop out other dogs (in camera), often times where I wouldn’t do so if it was a client shoot.

*Not a Paws dog – but fairly typical of my view when I look down toward my feet after I’ve been out in the yard area for a little while (up to that point, there would be a lot more dogs in the photo!).  The other dogs in this post are currently up for adoption through Paws in the City.

Not sure you can tell, but that’s two dogs wrestling on my foot.

* I actually like this kind of photo – to me it shows the dog is dog-friendly, particularly important with the bully breeds.

During my normal client sessions, I admittedly bribe a lot — treats are doled out generously.  Toys are used.  Whatever works.  But at Urban Paws, I can’t rely on those as there are just too many dogs, too excited.  So I have to rely on sounds and other tricks to get dogs’ attention.  I admit that I sound – and look – like a crazy person.  I’m squawking, clicking, cooing, etc., waving my arms around – whatever works.  But I watch the dogs.  For some, that waving catches their attention for a second – just long enough to fire off a shot.  Others get nervous by my flailing about.  Some dogs just want to get some loving – and are quite forward about it; others I don’t ever touch.  I don’t push it – if they are not comfortable, I give them their space.  The same is true of my clients.

* I never touched either of these guys, though neither seemed particularly scared – the dog on the left is just a young’un who seems to be going through that shy stage (I’m sure that given a little time – and maybe fewer distractions – we’d have become bestest friends); the one on the right just didn’t have much interest in me (he was all about chasing an aussie who was chasing a ball – understandable as it’s hard to compete with an aussie).

It is amazing how much you can learn if you really watch the dogs — how they relate to each other, how they react to me (or to the Urban Paws employees monitoring their play).  Having done so has given me even more confidence when it comes to strange dogs.  I grew up with lots of animals, but I knew them, they knew me, and we trusted each other completely.  But that’s not always the case with other people’s dogs.  Learning more about dogs has helped in my business – I know how to approach all sorts of dogs (I’ve actually had several clients comment that they were shocked how easily their dog bonded with me, though there have been a few that tolerated me but never truly warmed to me).   I can now typically tell if a dog’s bark is play, nerves, or a protective instinct kicking in so I can behave accordingly.  Rather than being tense around riled-up dogs, I now have the confidence to wade in authoritatively to settle the dogs down (and the knowledge to know when not to).  Plus I have to admit, I find dogs fascinating.

The dog on the left appears to have been de-barked.  The procedure hasn’t stopped him from trying to bark but now it sounds painful, though it doesn’t appear to be.

On another Paws note…. Paws in the City is selling customizable holiday cards, with photos taken by yours truly (with one exception – both the founders of Paws in the City lost their babies in the past year and it was decided to offer cards with their photos.  I was lucky enough to meet and photograph Max, Tara’s golden, but I never had the opportunity to meet Becky’s baby so we used a photo of Logan taken by Becky herself).  The cards are $75 for a set of 25 folded 5×7 cards with envelopes.  You pick the photo for the front (starring the pets of Paws volunteers), select a greeting for the inside (or write your own), and a font and color.  You’ll receive the cards in 5-7 business days.

Click here to purchase the holiday cards.

Maggie’s a big ole tank of a boxer mix girl.  She’s smart as a whip – maybe the smartest of all the Paws dogs I’ve photographed so far – and LOVES her ball.  LOVES.

Cooper is a slobbery, ball-loving, happy-go-lucky doofus lab.

What a little sweetheart Pablo is.  He’s a young kid who spent a lot of his puppyhood at the shelter – poor thing.  He’s a cuddly bear.

It probably wasn’t very nice of me, but I giggled a little when I first saw Glad.  I think she looks like a cross between a pug and a pit, not a common combo!  Her little underbite, uncontrollable ears and adorable expressions are too much.  Glad has one of those awful stories – she was found when a good Samaritan noticed a black garbage bag on the side of the highway moving.  It was Glad trying to get out.  You’d never know she had such a tragic start to her life though – she truly lives up to her name!

Last, but certainly not least, Red.  Red was found in North Carolina, having been shot in the leg.  Paws worked their magic, found him transport to Dallas and have him healthy and happy and ready for a family to spoil.  I didn’t know his story when I first met him, and I never would have guessed it.  He’s a serious goofball and lovebug.  It may not be the best manners, but the way he slowly and gently climbs up the front of you to get as much loving as he can is just so sweet.

All these dogs (and more!) are available for adoption through Paws in the City!