Award-winning “dogtographer,” Kaylee Greer uses her camera skills to help adopt out shelter dogs by transforming them into portrait heroes.
Kaylee Greer wasn’t always the viral dogtographer though. She began her career as a commercial photographer working in the pet space. She shared with PetaPixel the exact moment that it all changed for her, and she saw the vision of where her photography should take her next.
“I remember the exact moment it came to me. I was on a commercial shoot for a large brand in the pet food space. We were photographing a new dog food product in advance of its big launch. There were dogs on set, and we captured some fantastic images of them interacting with the product, but overall, the day’s focus was on the kibble itself.
“As I stood there in that studio, under the bright, hot light of a cacophony of strobes all around me — I watched as we turned each kibble individually, to create the most perfect, most glittering product images for packaging. The kibble was to be misted, spritzed, lit, moved, re-lit — you get the idea — all to make it look as delectable and salable as possible. The purpose of the photos that I was making there on set that day was to hopefully sell many millions of dollars worth of products to the masses at large.
“While I feel indescribable gratitude to have had gotten to that point in my career — where I’m working on shoots that large, with big crews, and with a lot of investment dollars at stake — I knew in my heart right in that instant that my purpose on this Earth was not to create imagery whose singular role was to go on to sell a product. No. My purpose on this Earth was to make imagery that held the power to save a life. That held the power to give a voice to animals who had no other way to speak for himself. And so, The Greatest Adventure was born. The idea was to travel across America to overburdened animal shelters, find dogs who had been overlooked for far too long, and tell their stories to the world through the power of photography. We would take them out of their cages and into the world on their ‘Greatest Adventures’ — to climb mountains, swim in rivers, canoe across lakes, bound joyfully through endless fields of wildflowers.
“We would film and photograph all of that magic, and use the resulting images and video to send that dog on his true Greatest Adventure — finally going home.”
Kaylee Greer’s style is bold, in-your-face, almost comic book-like, full of vivid color and dynamic light in epic locations. She describes her trademark style as inspired by the jubilation, whimsy, chaos, and unadulterated joy of a happy dog.
It’s this passion that led her to create her own magnum opus, a project that she calls “The Greatest Adventure.” What began as just her traveling to photograph nearby shelter dogs has morphed into a full nonprofit called The Dog Breath Foundation.
It wasn’t long before her devotion and dedication grew the project into viral proportions. She has since partnered with big brands like Canon, Adobe, B&H Photo, Westcott Lighting, and Platypod Tripods. She authored a tutorial “Dogtography: A-Knock-Your-Socks-Off Guide to Capturing the Best Dog Photos on Earth” and is the star of National Geographic WILD’s three-part television mini-series “Pupparazzi.”
Now more than 12 years in, she has assembled a team to travel across America, giving workshops to shelter staff and volunteers and teaching them how to create epic photos just like hers. Her project even caught the attention of Canon, who partners with the nonprofit and donates a professional camera and lens kit to each shelter Greer works with.
Her project’s mission, as well as her own personal passion, is photographing adoptable dogs in a way that connects with the viewer, ultimately leading to their adoption.
As Kaylee Greer embarks on The Greatest Adventure, she’s opened her process to PetaPixel readers for a peek into how she has turned one person’s dream into a fully-fledged operation to save dogs, one photograph at a time.
With the tricky logistics of a cross-country mission like this, Kaylee Greer and her team utilize a custom recreational vehicle (RV). Part home, part portable studio, the RV fully supports her project while a documentary team follows closely behind in an Airstream travel trailer producing the project’s eight-episode Youtube series.
As they travel from shelter to shelter across America photographing dogs, Greer keeps a lightweight kit. Her favorite tools of the trade are her Canon EOS R3 with its animal eye autofocus, Canon RF 10-20mm, 135mm, and 50mm lenses, and Profoto B1 to balance the ambient light. Plus, the necessary stinky fish treats and peanut butter.
While she controls the gear and lighting, Greer describes how she prefers not to try to control the moments on set too much. She employs an intuitive, unscripted approach that works with the individual dog’s personality.
“We travel to a location that represents that dog and what he loves. If I’m working with a dog who loves the water, then we head to the ocean — for example — so he can splash and play and truly let the best parts of himself shine! The trademark look to my work relies pretty heavily on wide-angle lenses,” she describes.
“I like to focus on action, movement, and the whimsy of the completely unplanned chaos of a moment. So, you’ll often find me observing and shooting what is naturally happening in front of me, rather than trying to pose, manufacture, or script a moment. It’s all about the magic of a dog being a dog.”
Once Greer feels happy with the photo shoot, she heads back to her RV and iMac to process the photos. She uses Lightroom for culling and RAW adjustments, and Photoshop for things like leash removal. As these are adoptable shelter dogs, they’re always photographed on leash for safety reasons. With her portable studio, Greer prides herself on a fast turnaround time to help the shelter dogs get adopted as soon as possible.
Kaylee Greer describes the images that seem to help dogs most as centered around two themes: the “magic of dog” or the “spirit of adventure.” These themes seem to speak most to viewers but also showcase how special each individual dog is.
Compared to the usual adoption photographs of a dog in its cage at the shelter, hers shows the animal’s potential. This rings especially true in her pictures of pup Wheelbur in Lake Tahoe, California. A partially paralyzed dog that may be overlooked in a shelter setting due to his use of wheel-assisted movement, the photos show just how active Wheelbur really is.
Greer explains, “Most of my images are shot in epic landscapes, often in extreme weather or wrapped in wild, swirling light. For me – dogs belong in nature. It’s where they came from – where they thrived thousands of years ago as they’ve all descended from their wolf ancestors. So seeing a dog in a breathtaking landscape feels like the most natural place in the world for them to be.”
Her background in commercial photography selling a product directly relates to how to best showcase dogs, like marketing. Instead of the unhappy, chaotic environment of a shelter, they are transformed into the aspirational hero of an epic scene.
Her work truly employs the textbook concept of a “hero shot,” a term used in photography and cinematography to describe a visually striking photograph with a strong main character. Greer uses this technique from commercial photography and directly applies it to her work with the dogs.
In describing one of her favorite series ‘IncrediBulls,’ she explains her thought process almost as if rebranding and remarketing a misjudged dog breed.
“Within the dog rescue world, I am particularly and overwhelmingly in love with Pit Bull Terriers as a breed. As an artist and a creative, I often feel like I’m drawn completely outside of the lines, and so I empathize with the Pit Bull and relate to feeling misjudged, mislabeled, and misunderstood. With that said, I started a series years back called ‘IncrediBulls,’ which features Pit Bulls as superheroes. It showcases amazing and exceptional Pit Bulls who have performed a real-world act of heroism that has placed them in the media and the news in a public way.
Effectively, these specific dogs are helping to flip the stereotype of Pit Bulls on its head — and are showing the world the softer side of this breed that I know and love so much. My series stars these same dogs — but as I see them — as proper superheroes, all donning capes and leotards in incredible, fairytale locations. As any furry, potato-shaped superstars should be, right?”
There’s a saying that everything happens for a reason, serendipity, and that is truly seen in Kaylee Greer’s transformation from a commercial photographer to a passionate advocate for dog adoption. By showcasing the dogs as what they can be outside the walls of the shelter, she helps open the eyes of potential adopters.
Looking ahead, Greer expressed her enthusiasm for continuing her nonprofit, The Dog Breath Foundation, with their rescue road trip, The Greatest Adventure. Calling it her life’s purpose, she shared that she’ll be leaving again in just a week to be on the road again for three months working with animal shelters across America.
“Changing lives is what my camera was meant to do. To shine a light on those who sit alone in the darkness. Because every good dog deserves a second chance.”
Image credits: Photographs by Kaylee Greer, The Dog Breath Foundation.
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