Photographing Your Pups for Philanthropy — Kaylee Garrick
Intro:
My name is Kaylee Garrick and I am a full time EMT with the Scottish Ambulance Service, living on the beautiful Shetland Islands. When I’m not running around with a blue light though, I spend my down time rolling with eight amazing dogs — taking photos to promote where we live, raise money for charity and generally make people smile.
It sounds like you have two very interesting jobs. I’d love to know more about your photography.
Our shots are often quirky, colorful and different — I like to draw the eyes in with rainbows, patterns and unusual features to create a story and get the onlooker to question what’s in front of them. The main point of what we produce is to take the observer’s mind away from the real world for a bit and transport them into ours — hopefully adding a few minutes of joy to their day.
It sounds like you use a lot of props to create a scene in front of the camera. How much of what you do is planned out before the actual shoot?
Everything! There’s a lot of backstage practice that goes on before the final photo is taken. I usually post videos of us playing around with props and poses on our Facebook page — people love the footage!
Granted on the day, the gang are always gonna do what they like, they’re the professional models after all! And they know what looks good — I just trust them, point the camera and shoot! haha.
I love how you trust your pups to work for you like professional models. They seem to have such personalities. Can you tell us about them?
They’re all so different! So, Fenton (tri-colour) is the oldest and most sensible of the group… sorta like the grandma of the lot who is the central steady pillar of them all.
She’s always the one I start with first when it comes to setting up a pose and it’s often why she’s right in the middle — she stands and I work away from her in either direction with the other pups.
Next is Thiago (small blue merle) who is often the public favorite. She was born with a defective liver which left her fighting for her life at 8 weeks old. As a result, she’s almost completely blind and doesn’t understand the world in the same way we do!
When people look at my shots, they often comment that she looks “grumpy” which couldn’t be farther from the truth — she just can’t see! So she squints at the camera.
The truth is, she is the most joyful, amazing, soulful creature you will ever meet in your life. It’s this reason that anyone who meets her completely falls in love. Thiago simply embodies everything positive about life — for such a small dog, she has a lot of affection and personality in her.
The truth is, she is the most joyful, amazing, soulful creature you will ever meet in your life.
She fought so hard to be a part of this world and as such, she is living her life to the full no matter what her disabilities tell her she can and can’t do.
After Thiago came her full sister — Thorin (big blue merle). There is one word to describe her — loyal. Thorin is just a good dog! She’s never the one being mischievous or loud, she’s just the pretty girl in the background looking for the A+ from her mum — and she gets it, every time! She’s a very agile, intelligent pup who also enjoys Flyball.
Next is Gimli (golden sable)… the spoiled one. Gimli came from France in order to bring some fresh genes into Shetland and I can honestly say, the second I laid eyes on her I absolutely melted.
That girl has me wrapped around her little toe and she knows it! Whenever I lie on the couch for a snooze, she’s always the one in the “prime” spot in my arms. She gets away with so many things that the rest just wouldn’t.
And she is the BIGGEST poser for the camera — she’s gorgeous, but my doesn’t she know it. You can simply tell by the confidence in her stride that Gimli thinks she’s the best there is…. and one tilt of the head can give her the world.
Then there’s Murphy (black and white), the only guy in the group! What a sweet boy he is… and an absolute sissy! People often ask if he’s the most dominant one in the pack being the only boy and I laugh every time. The girls walk all over him!
People often ask if he’s the most dominant one in the pack being the only boy and I laugh every time.
He’s a gentleman really — always waiting for the ladies to finish in the water bowl before he drinks and he will give up a treat from his own mouth so they can have it if they want.
He’s a complete daddy’s boy and obsesses over my husband — he’s never happy until he’s lying in Robert’s lap!
Murphy is a very athletic, fit little dog too and absolutely loves charging around the house.
So, Ghost (darker Klee Kai) appeared in the group after this. She’s so super chill… loves a cuddle on the couch! She can go for miles and will run around the garden but she’s usually happiest just sniffing around exploring at her own pace.
The thing is with Ghost, is she is incredibly independent — like all Klee Kais! And her facial expressions give her away every time, much to the amusement of the public. If she’s not in the mood for posing, she’ll do it, but she will have the biggest resting bitch face you could imagine!
If she’s not in the mood for posing, she’ll do it, but she will have the biggest resting bitch face you could imagine!
She’s too funny.
Ghost only makes pretty faces for the camera when GHOST wants — thankfully, she likes having her photos taken on most days!
After her, we introduced Jara (shaded sable) into the world. She is the daughter of Gimli and Murphy so has been practicing in front of the camera pretty much since the day she was born!
Jara is exceptionally bright and keen to learn, but a whirlwind girl at the same time. She absolutely loves to run, play and meet new people. I imagine when the time comes and Fenton becomes too old for most of the centre stage stuff, Jara will be the one to take her place — but she has a lot to learn before then!
Finally, there’s Daenerys (light Klee Kai). She must have been born with modeling genes in her system — she was MADE for the camera!
She adores the attention and thrives on posing when the lens is landed on her — often adopting that huge smile people have come to cherish about her. She’s a very sweet and sensitive little character, but intelligent and thrives on praise for new tricks.
Ah, I loved learning about their unique personalities. You get them to stay in poses long enough for you to make the photo. Are there any tricks to dog photography that you’d want to share with us?
The most important thing I always say to people who take photos is “happy dogs take great shots; sad ones do not”.
Always build a trust with your subject — for me, that’s already been established so it’s easy!
Photo shoots should be fun, always. When my gang sees the camera they go crazy because it’s like “yes!! We’re going somewhere AWESOME and then we’re gonna get lots of praise and play and run around!!”.
Photoshoots should be fun, always.
I strongly promote positive reinforcement for this — anything you want a dog to do, make it a great thing for them so they WANT to do it.
My gang are able to pose for so long because I’ve spent a lot of time training them that if they stay still, great things will come their way after.
It’s the same when they wear their outfits — there’s hours of work that goes on before taking that photo, just making sure they’re comfortable and know what’s involved before going out.
Also, while it’s great to have a vision in your head for how you want the final composition to look, don’t fully rely on getting it.
You’re working with living beings here and if they don’t want to conform to the pose, you can’t force them. Most of the time, the best shots I get are not ones I have aligned myself, but those where the dogs have chosen the pose themselves.
You’re working with living beings here and if they don’t want to conform to the pose, you can’t force them.
You also make photos in very beautiful locations. Would you say that you are fortunate to live in a beautiful place? Or do you scout out locations for your photos?
We are extremely lucky with where we live — we really have it all here! White sandy beaches, rolling hills, high jagged cliffs, clear blue seas, castles, actual viking ships!
We are spoiled with the number of fantastic places to shoot.
Usually, I always check out a place before I go shooting there, mainly to assess the access and if there’s any livestock around. The only problem with Shetland is the weather… being an outdoor photographer, I rely completely on natural light.
This doesn’t exist in the winter time — literally! We live in constant darkness!
So, the camera goes into hibernation between November to March, when it then flips and it ends up constantly light.
It’s also usually always windy and cold — great conditions for a dog with a thick coat I guess! But it can make taking their photo more challenging.
You’ve gotten a lot of local and international press coverage for your photography. Tell us how that happened. Was it something that you looked for or did it come about organically?
Our “original” fans came from a Sheltie group on Facebook. I started off posting photos of Fenton and Thiago against typical Shetland backgrounds and people went crazy seeing the breed posing in their homeland.
A couple of years later, Fenton was nominated as one of Visit Scotland’s Ambassadogs for her contributions to encouraging people to travel to the islands.
It was after this that the page “Fenton Goes Forth” was created so people could have a specific place to learn all about the locations we were shooting at. However, it was only after a complete fluke shot went viral that we built our worldwide fanbase…
It was only after a complete fluke shot went viral that we built our worldwide fanbase.
Basically, I had the gang lined up on a beach and when I gave the release command I clicked the shutter by accident. When I returned home and uploaded the photos, I found I’d taken the perfect shot where the whole lot each had a paw in the air as if they were doing the can-can!
Our local paper asked to publish it and the rest is history… Since then, people have loved seeing the dogs so much they’ve featured several times in the papers all over the world.
They’ve also been on the TV a few times, including live on the BBC breakfast news — THE most nerve racking moment of my life. Seriously, I get less worked up about going to a cardiac arrest as that!
They’ve also been on the TV a few times, including live on the BBC breakfast news.
The coverage has always been so positive and we seriously wouldn’t be where we are without our Hobbitpaws fans. The calendar was such a success thanks to them and I can’t wait to complete the next one!
I know you do charity work through your photography. Can you tell us about that and the effect it has on other people?
The two charities we support are Bravehound and TASC (The Ambulance Staff Charity).
The reason I chose Bravehound was because they do amazing work with dogs and war veterans. I have done a lot of research into the physical bonds created between humans and their pets and there is an unlimited amount of evidence around supporting the positive effects a dog can have on a person’s life.
So they were an easy choice for me!
There is an unlimited amount of evidence around supporting the positive effects a dog can have on a person’s life.
Given my role in the ambulance service, TASC was an obvious decision to donate to. It can be a tough job and most of the time you can’t speak to family or friends about what you’re feeling or have been through for fear of scaring them or simply because you know they won’t understand.
Suicide rates for clinicians are high and I lost count of how many we lost in the service last year. It’s extremely painful hearing about a member taking their life — it’s more than a job, we are a family.
I can honestly say that due to Covid, this has been one of the hardest years of my life being an EMT. I can’t begin to describe the things I’ve seen and the pain I’ve witnessed.
While all the rainbows, clapping and huge support from the public has really helped keep our spirits alive, sometimes we still need a kind ear on the end of a phone line just to allow us to vent some of the horror we’ve absorbed.
Sometimes we still need a kind ear on the end of a phone line just to allow us to vent some of the horror we’ve absorbed.
The role of TASC will be more vital than ever this year and it will be an honor to raise more money to support them this year to help prevent more heroes from falling.
Wow! Thank you for explaining that! Your work is not only beautiful and heartwarming, it also has deep roots and is so important.
If a photographer reading this wants to get involved with their own socially responsible work, what advice would you give to them on how they can get started?
Just go for it!
A lot of people spend time thinking about doing charity work then they’ll lose their confidence because “what if I let them down?”; “what if my work isn’t good enough to represent them?”.
Let me tell you, whether you make them a penny or a few pounds, they will be grateful of anything you give them.
Let your imagination lead you — we’ve done loads from PAWtraits, to walks, to postcards. Some made more money than others but it doesn’t matter, it’s not a competition.
Just do what you can for a cause you’re passionate about.
And what advice would you give someone who is looking to grow as a photographer?
I would say, it’s important to seek opinion from professionals and ALWAYS take critique with grace and acceptance — nothing more annoying than someone asking for CC and then giving every reply a backlash when the commenter was just trying to help.
It’s important to seek opinion from professionals and ALWAYS take critique with grace and acceptance.
But at the same time, don’t allow others to choose or define your style — the beauty of art is that we all see it differently!
I constantly get folk saying things like, “don’t you know you have a glare there?”; “erm, there’s a red bit there?”; “I don’t like those [butterflies/hearts/rainbows], they’re distracting”; etc!
And I’m like, “yea I know… I put it there!”.
I find that most people strive for technical perfection, but that’s not always what makes the best photo.
It’s about the WHOLE creation — the story it tells — and often, it’s those little moments of so called “imperfections” that make the work your own.
Usually, the professional opinion vastly differs from the general public and it’s good to take both into account. But ultimately, if you like it — go with it!
If you don’t, then take the time to learn how to achieve the look you want — don’t waste your time getting frustrated because you don’t have the knowledge of how to create it. You could be on the road to making something awesome, you just don’t know it yet.
Ah, that’s such great advice. Thank you for that! Are there any other photographers who you find particularly inspiring?
Kaylee Greer (Dog Breath Photography) is my inspiration… I would do anything to be able to shoot like her!
The compositions, the clarity and lighting is perfect on all her shots and I’m just drawn in every time I see one of her photos.
She just seems to have taken dog photography to a whole new level — capturing an energy and vibrance within her stills I’ve never seen before.
I would love to see what she could do with my gang — I bet it would be outstanding.
Kaylee Greer is my inspiration too! I actually signed up for Kelby One only so I could see her classes.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Dog photography is one of the most amazing hobbies/careers you could ever choose to have.
I have had the pleasure of meeting so many brilliant humans and dogs, whilst also discovering stunning locations I never knew existed as a result of following this creative path.
Anyone who picks up a camera is opening the door to an exciting adventure and who knows where the road could lead to.
Anyone who picks up a camera is opening the door to an exciting adventure and who knows where the road could lead to.
Stay unique fellow photographers and have fun!
That’s such a lovely place to end this interview. Thank you so much for this Kaylee!
Okay, so if others want to connect with you online, how can they do that?
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fentongoesforth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hobbitpawsdogs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hobbitpaws/
