The beginning of this year, I signed up to volunteer with the PSPCA. It only made sense… after all, I love dogs and I love photography so what better than to use the two together to try to help some pups find new families. Couldn’t hurt to have a cute, new doggy headshot to display on Petfinder… I thought. So I’d wander the shelter, camera in hand and pockets stuffed full of dog treats, befriending all the dogs I could and trying my best to capture those sweet, sometimes scared, faces. It’s hard to comprehend how something can be so rewarding, yet so heartbreaking at the same time. To be quite honest, I didn’t know if pretty pictures would make any sort of difference. Until last week, when I received an e-mail that made my heart swell and my eyes tear up. Thank you, Katie, for giving Aspyn such a loving home and for sending me the e-mail that made my day, week, month!

Dear April,


This is just a note to say that I am a big fan of your photography and I have you to thank for the recent addition to our family. It was your photo of Aspyn, the Rottweiler/ Shepherd mix, that inspired me to pursue her adoption from the Philadelphia SPCA. It was such a striking photo and really captured her personality, although we didn’t know how wonderful she was at the time. We’ve had her nearly 3 months and we can’t imagine our lives without her. So, thanks. Your photo led me to her and I appreciate that. Keep at it.

 

Most sincerely,
Katie

This story was recently published in AroundMainLine.com‘s e-newsletter, which you can read by clicking HERE!

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  • Stephanie S. - Ahh…….that made me tear up!! That was so nice of her to let you know that you really are helping, no doubt about it!

  • Katie Clark - Aspyn really is famous! I can only hope all this publicity leads more people to new doggie friends at the PSPCA! Thanks again April!

  • Tish Mackay - News like that makes life such a happier place. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it over and over – You have been my inspiration to take pet pics and thanks to you, petfinder is getting Project HALO pups adopted faster than ever. You are amazing April and from the bottom of my heart and all the pups that find wonderful homes – thank you for everything you do! 🙂

  • Lauri - Awww! I’m all teary-eyed now! That must make you feel so good. You’ve bettered so many dog’s lives (and owner’s lives!) with your amazing work, and I’m so glad she took the time to let you know. 🙂

  • john...of johnwairephoto - the TRUE power of photography. keep up the good work april!

  • gingela5 - That is such a sweet story! That’s awesome! The power of photography! Good job to you!

  • ~mel - aww.. makes me teary-eyed too! sweet email =)

  • isabel - You’ve made alot of people smile with your work… 🙂

  • Claire - oh april, that’s such a lovely note. i bet that makes you feel so glad you’re doing what you’re doing–i think it’s wonderful that you donate your time and services to help these guys out. i really feel like we’re so blessed to be able to work with dogs as a job that i try to give back as much as possible. you should do a session with aspyn and her new family! 🙂

  • Judy G. - Dogs’ personalities seem to shine through in your photographs. You have a gift and are using it to save lives. You’re amazing! Gotta schedule Tucher at the end of Sept for new photos if possible. He may have hip/knee problems so we have to go for an evaluation/possible surgery. It’s always something with pets!

  • Alleigh - You are an amazing photographer, so this isn’t really a surprise, but how nice to really see the difference that you make. You should be very proud, April!

  • Nicole - Hey April,
    This is awesome awesome news! Congrats!
    Were you leaning OVER the fence for this shot?

  • Nick - Always nice to be able to make a difference with your work 🙂

Come out to Fido’s Festival, a fantastic pet event this weekend in Woodstown, NJ. Check out their website for information on all the fun events, including the world’s largest doggy wedding. You better believe that I’ll be getting photos of that. I will have a table there, so stop by and say Hi!

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  • Larry Woolverton - Hi April, my wife an I attended the Fido”s Festival with our 2 Chessie’s for the dock diving. We brought a camera but with handling 250lbs of excited, water crazy boy’s we didn’t get even one shot. We are searching around to see if anyone else happened to catch us. Do you have the photo’s posted anywhere?

Riley is a little spitfire of a Chihuahua. She’s so tiny, but those ears!! It’s impossible not to fall in love with those ears. The only thing that’s more adorably irresistible are her pretty pink toenails. I first met Riley and her momma at a dog event and couldn’t get over Riley’s tiny manicured nails. Seriously cute. If you want to see more of Riley’s sweet little face… click HERE to watch the slideshow!

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  • Melissa - Eeeeek! That’s all I can say.

  • Caitlin Domanico - LOVE the toes!! Awesome shoot as always!!!

  • Li W. - Awesome photos! Love the second one – it’s very you.

  • Jill - LOVE chihuahuas! The second photo is especially awesome

  • Nancy - She is tooo cute! Also, you pic the best music to go with the slideshows!

  • Nick - She is adorable indeed 😀 And haha those tiny pink nails!

  • Sarah - YOU have to make the black and white photo your new biz card shot! That is awesome.

  • john...of johnwairephoto - i have a sudden urge to watch the movie gremlins 🙂 these are awesome april.

  • isabel - One of my favorite shoots that you’ve done 🙂

  • Ericha - OMG! Pink toenails!! hahaha!! That’s great!! My favorite is #2!

  • Kara Gordon - LOVE LOVE LOVE the second photo of Riley!! Made me want a Chi, except I’m afraid the bullies would think Riley was an appetizer!

So, you might have wondered where I disappeared to for the past couple days… I took a trip to Boston for a pet photography workshop where internet access, not to mention time, was hard to come by. It was a fantastic trip and I hope to post more about it soon. But for now, here is Lucy, an adorable black lab puppy. I loved how Lucy followed around the older dogs like a curious little sister. And her abundance of energy kept me smiling the whole session. We had to be sneaky to get some shots of her being still…

LOVE…

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  • john...of johnwairephoto - big fan of the shot of lucy chewing on the stick — scratch that — branch 🙂 …easy to see that she had a ton of energy 🙂 great job april.

  • sarah - the b/w is really lovely april!

  • Emily Beaty - what a cutie, and i love her name!

  • Nick - Haha awesome use of the wideangle 🙂 Looks like a really fun session!

  • Nancy - Lucy is tooo cute. I love her eyes in the first one and she is just too cute in the pic with the stick!

  • Emilee - The second shot just knocked me out. Seriously. Fantastic work!

  • Concetta - Love them all so much! The stick one is my favorite!

  • Claire - oh my goodness april those first two are STUNNING. and black dogs can be so tricky…but your photos are just lovely!

  • leesia - these are great! love the expression and bokeh in the first one, and the one of her chewing on the stick is too cute.

Emily is adorable in the way that she loves her pug, Phillie. Her face lights up when she talks about him. She spoils him rotten. And I love that because I do the exact. same. thing. Our session confirmed my idea that pugs are one of the most photogenic breeds out there. Every pug that I’ve photographed so far has been so easy to work with, so much fun, and you can’t deny that the ‘pug features’ make for fantasticly cute images!

FAVE!

And to leave you with a giggle… I love, love, love when a dog’s lip gets stuck like this and they don’t seem to notice at all. Kev is always yelling out to Chloe, “Fix your lip!”. Ha.

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  • Holly - ADORABLE!!!! As a pug owner myself, now I absolutely cannot wait for my Ziggy’s photo session!

  • john...of johnwairephoto - you really give wrinkles a good name 🙂

  • Emily Beaty - these are adorable, and that last one is too cute! rylie’s lips do that a lot, too! 🙂

  • claire - love the shot with the barn in the background…it really makes him seem like a little peanut!

  • Nancy - This one is my fav with the head cocked and lip out! Adorable!!

  • amanda - what an awesome location! the stuck lip one is definitely my fav.

  • Jennie - that last one is SO Philly.

  • Allison - LOVE IT! Pugs make the best faces. Love the location too.

  • Rachel - Haha! Fix your lip…One of my dogs sometimes get her ear stuck kinda rolled back and we always say, “Your ear is on backwards.” The shot you said is your fave is definitely my fave too.

  • Emilee - Aw, I just want to squish and smooch that adorable little face! Ah!