My journey as a volunteer photographer at the Winnipeg Humane Society continues. And it continues to be an excellent opportunity.
It started with taking shots of dogs, which later morphed into taking shots of volunteers working with the animals, and recently trying out head shots and portraits of the new CEO. Later in the month I’m going into the home of someone who has adopted a pet from the shelter to show the story of the dog in it’s new adoptive home.
Offering photography as a volunteer has been an excellent, excellent learning opportunity. Because I’m doing it as a volunteer, there is a little bit less pressure (though I do want to produce something that can be useful). It has pushed me into areas that I did not even think of trying before this year. Finally, I find it extremely gratifying to produce some work that makes people happy and provides a use for my skills beyond my enjoyment.
And one final thought. I have had a lot of hesitations along the way. I was hesitant about sending the pictures in the first place thinking maybe they were not good enough. I was hesitant going in the first time, because what if I didn’t get anything good. I was hesitant about asking if I could shoot other volunteers while they worked with the animals because I had never done that type of photography. I was even more hesitant about the shoot with the CEO because that was really new. But i think the hesitations were good because they didn’t stop me and instead made me think about what I would try to do beforehand so the fears would not be realized. And it feels pretty good to overcome hesitations.
One last thing. If you’re at all interested, the shelter recently added a little story on my volunteer pursuits to their website here:
www.winnipeghumanesociety.ca/pictures-for-pooches-a-whs-v…
Posted by Jim.J.H on 2015-10-05 04:29:39
Tagged: , WHS , Winnipeg Humane Society , shelter dogs
