Shelter Pet & Rescue Photography- Startup Tips and Tricks
Do you work for an Animal Welfare agency and want to step up the “Adopt Me” Photos for the pets in your care? Or, are you an advocate or volunteer who wants to use your creativity to help homeless pets at your local shelter? Taking photographs of homeless pets is very rewarding, fun, and it really allows you to tap into your creativity in a heartfelt way! You don’t need to spend thousands fo dollars to get started, you may have many of the items nearby already! The more a pet’s personality can be shown in a cute way, the faster the pet will have interest, and more interest leads to more adoptions!
If you are just getting started, choosing between a camera or phone can be a BIG decision! When I got started, I bought a camera kit that came with a lot of bells and whistles, like memory cards, filters, and lights. After six months of taking photos part-time, I started dreading the after-part, editing on a computer, saving, transferring, and posting. Don’t get me wrong, editing and viewing the final product (adorable homeless pets) is amazing, but I needed to make the entire process more efficient. I was responsible for taking the photos, uploading them to pet management software, social media, and printing and laminating their kennel cards. The camera package below is quite pricey, it has head/eye detection for humans and pets! If you are planning on becoming a professional pet photographer, the Cannon R5 could be a great investment.
If you are taking pictures of less than fifty pets pet a month, a camera could be a great choice! Likewise, if you are taking photos for more than fifty pets a month, a phone with a portrait mode that works on pets will make your life so much easier! If you are the one who is also posting these photos to pet management software and social media, using a phone can be very advantageous.
It is very important to ind out who, where, and how the shelter uploads the pet’s photos. These photos should also be shared on Instagram and Facebook. I like to take a few short videos of each pet, so I can add the video to their Facebook picture (in the comments) and for Stories, where I insert the pet’s share link from our website!
iPhone 11, 12, 13 You don’t have to use an iPhone, but the iPhone 11,12, and 13 have “Portrait mode” With Portrait mode, the camera creates a depth-of-field effect, which lets you capture photos with a sharp focus on the subject and a blurred background. I personally use an iPhone for all my adoption photos, our shelter receives a lot of positive feedback. I feel like I can achieve more with my phone in a shelter, some pets are scared off a camera, and especially a flash! Plus, it leaves one hand free to hold treats or a squeaky toy! In addition, handheld gimbals are cheap and will help steady your hand while taking pictures and videos.
Left-Photo with portrait mode Right-Photo without portrait mode
Depending on the pet management software used, someone will be printing off the kennel cards with the pet’s photo on them. Some shelters use plastic sleeves, but they are not waterproof and can collect debris like cat litter. Switching over to a laminator is easy and cost-effective. In fact, the shelter I work at laminates all of our signs and kennel cards for the entire shelter. Laminated items are easy to clean, durable, and cheap enough to make sense even in a high adoption turnover shelter. The kennel card could even go home with the adopter! This is the laminator I use for all of our signs and kennel cards.
I like to use foil curtains for adoption pictures, I can change them out to match the seasons, like valentines day, Saint Patrick’s day, the fourth of July, Halloween, and Christmas. I add a see-through curtain panel and a set of Christmas lights behind the foil, to give it that extra sparkle, along with props, bandanas, and sweaters! I purchase additional decorum like banners and garlands from Dollar Tree, Party City, and Amazon.
Pictured above- Examples of foil curtains, lights, props and decor!
Depending on your space, you may opt to use a backdrop set up and you could use backdrops for every season! Purchasing a backdrop stand kit, along with backdrops can get expensive, opting for a DIY way can work too!
If I don’t have the space, I use 3M plastic hooks on a wall, I then hang up the lights and a sheer curtain panel as my base “backdrop”. From there, I can change out different garlands, foil, and props! I found many props from my own home, such as; fake plants, wood decor, and Holiday items!
Examples of DIY Pet Photography set ups “Adopt Me” Photos
I hope the tips and tricks are helpful in your endeavor to help homeless pets! You can do a lot with a little, if you have, or you can gain access to just a few items, you can create your own style!
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Prop extras:
Cat toys with wand https://amzn.to/3Isb0js
Dogs-Freeze dried treats https://amzn.to/33ZpIPK
Synthetic feather boas https://amzn.to/3GTqUTD
Always use an open hand when using treats, you never know how mouthy a dog could be, I have had to learn this the hard way! Between squeaky toys, treats, bells, certain sounds, or commands, most pets will respond to at least one! When taking photos, you have a golden window within the first minute or so, finding what makes the pet interested in you, will give you the best photo results. For me personally, puppies are the hardest to photograph, especially with portrait mode (puppies move constantly) I will usually ask for someone to hold the puppy up, and I will make all kinds of sounds and squeaks to get the best reaction!
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