Shoot Two Straight Images

These images shows volunteers training a very intelligent dog called Hades to army crawl and give a paw then two paws.



I then captured images showing the affection and rewards he received for being so good.






I also tried to photographically capture the depth of the affection in the bond the volunteers have with the dogs.





I set up my camera to take a shot of me using a timer, as I relaxed and had a drink during a break. I felt this image captures the idyllic country landscape the centre is set in, showing how enjoyable it is to work here.



This image was inspired by H C-B and his decisive moment. Showing the worker carrying water and checking the padlocks on the runs as she passes by, and the dogs in their runs in various poses.


There is a blind German Shepard called Heka at the centre, and the volunteer here is leading him on a walk around the paddock. This is part of the trust that is slowly being built up so that he trusts people he cannot see. I took this image through the fence from the adjacent paddock, using the wiring to frame Heka and Paula.  I felt this focused attention on them and visually illustrated how confined his life must feel without sight.

This image captures a moment where two volunteers Carol and Julia are chatting and laughing together about something while Tom the lurcher who has come over to greet Carol has now took off at top speed running around the paddock. This image captures the fun that the volunteers and the dogs have at the Centre. 

The worker here is taking Tom back to his kennel after being exercised in the paddock. They are going through one of the heavy metal gates that lead to the kennel block.

Here Paula calls Digby over to her to play a game of fetch with her hand I have captured the motion of this activity in freeze frame as well as the affection between Paula and Digby that has built up over the many years he has been at the Centre.

This image shows how gentle a large male Rottweiler can be, as he carefully takes a biscuit held in the volunteer’s mouth. This image dispels the perception that certain breeds of dog are aggressive and uncontrollable. Buster is a very gentle affectionate dog, as are many of the Staffie type breeds to be found at the kennels

There is also another photograph I took that shows how a volunteer has to be careful around the dogs, for many reasons, whether it be aggression, nervousness, escape artists, or generally sneaky little rascals. Hades is the furthest from being aggressive or nervous but he can sneak up on you and has lots of energy for jumping, so could startle you or possibly injure you. 

This image captures Paula as she takes Hades out of his kennel to go for a walk, he is so strong that she is nearly pulled into the wall. This image shows the resilience of the volunteers and their determination to help the dogs at the Centre.

This image shows that it takes three volunteers to handle three puppies that came over recently from Romanian. The pups are in the process of starting to be trained on a lead, but are so excited they just want to pull in all directions. The image captures the excitement and chaos of them being taken to be exercised together in the paddock.

I also took photos when we were inside the paddock with them. These photos show the affection and attention that a volunteer is giving them, to prepare them for family live where they'll most likely be getting lots of attention. 

I also took images of some of the tasks that I had not captured in shoot 1 that I felt were important to document. Such as the medication records that are kept and signed for, the caring for the hens and ducks and the meals being taken to the dogs.



As well as taking a few where I felt that I could improve on the ones taken in the first shoot.