POD – 110913

This week has seen me chatting with some BIGTIME athletes (who I am busting to announce very soon), as well as some amazing sponsors and supporters; all contributing their expertise, time and good will to WOD Dogs and ultimately, RSPCA Qld. All will be revealed in the coming week! I thank everyone for their contact, support and assistance to date. It has been quite overwhelming, but I am looking fwd to chewing my way through this, sharing the process and end product, and making a pile of $$$ for the RSPCA Qld.

POD – 010913

Dear followers, friends and family.

I am about to embark on a (rather large) photography project. The project is a photo-book (hard copy and electronic versions) consisting of athletes and their dogs… named: ©WOD dogs. The book will feature select athletes and their dog/s in various training settings and poses. It will also consist of a short story about each feature athlete and their dog, outlining why health/fitness, and their dog are so important to them. ALL PROCEEDS from the book will be donated to RSPCA Qld Inc. (Inspectorate) to assist them in continuing their fight against animal cruelty with limited resources and support.

I am calling on everyone’s help to make this a success, and as such, I ask that you all share this with your networks and those you feel would be suitable features. I am also looking for sponsors for the book. Sponsors would have the opportunity to display their business logo on an athletes page and be credited also. Features are open to everyone through application. The application just needs to be a photo of you and your dog/s and a few words on yourself, your sporting/training background/achievements and why your dog, health and fitness are major parts of your life. Applications are to be emailed to me at: trav@thefitographer.me

The successful applicants will be contacted within 2 working days of receipt of their application and individual shoot details can then be arranged.

So, if you are an athlete, passionate about animal welfare and want to be published for the world to see… Here is your chance to do it and aid in the work of the greatest charity to ever exist.

Get sharing/applying… I’ll time you… 3, 2, 1, GO!!!

POD – 310813

I thought I had better post something significant and special for my 100th post!!! So here it is…

There are many reasons why I love Instagram so much. Among those reasons is the fantastic photography, and the positive community it continues to build creating exposure and connections across all industries. While many accounts are simply an ‘eye party’, a majority don’t have much purpose other than showing a person’s life in pictures (and a lot of the time, a sh*t load of ‘selfies’)! However, there are exceptions to this – Those who are doing amazingly selfless things in their life and really giving back, using Instagram as a platform to promote their cause… Given I have an obsession with dogs and their welfare,  one person’s account really touched me. Her story and plight is freaking amazing!

I stumbled across Jimena Hoyos‘ account a while ago. She takes some cool dog shots, but the coolest part is the story and meaning behind each dogs’ photo…

Jimena is a Colombian native (Bogota) who had grown up in a fairly lawless society where there was an over population of dogs, strays were almost an epidemic, and their was a prevalence of cruelty and neglect to both owned and stray dogs. Jimena left Colombia to act in America but returned frequently, and each time she came home, she would see the problem growing. She started taking pics of the dogs just for herself, and then one day decided that she needed to take action. Jimena fabricated a food dispenser (holding up to 40kgs of dry food) and installed it in the street to feed some of the homeless dogs. It was a success and so in order to continue to make and install more, Jimena came up with the genius and creative idea of making frames for her pictures out of scrap materials that replicated the environment they came from and then auctioning the pieces (you can see her work HERE). All proceeds went into her newly created charity, called ‘Gozques’ (meaning mongrel / mutt in Spanish). You can watch Jimena’s (and Gozques) story HERE.

So, after following each other for a while on Instagram, we decided to do a little collaboration. I was to edit one of Jimena’s pics… I asked her to choose her saddest, most meaningful photo and my challenge was to transform it into something that would make it even more meaningful, yet not a painful memory anymore. Jimena gave me a pic of an elderly dog… Jimena couldn’t even bring herself to tell me his story and so I knew it must have meant a great deal to her…

SO, drum-roll… Here he is – The before and after. I hope I did him and his story justice?!

Jimena’s pic:

 

My edit: