How You Can Help Save Shelter Pets Lives With Your Phone or Camera

Award-winning photographer and author Aliza Eliazarov discusses how to take photos with your phone or camera that will help get shelter animals adopted! (Simple things like taking the pic outside!)
Aliza shares her tips in honor of INTERNATIONAL HOMELESS ANIMALS DAY which is tomorrow August 19th.


Aliza and her partner Edward Doty have a new book The Best Dog: Hilarious to Heartwarming Portraits of the Pups We Love coming out October 31st. The book features many adopted dogs with amazing stories.

Remember: Adopt Don't Shop!!

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. Whata great idea on I Heart Radio.
Welcome to Maria's MutS and Stuff.And with me is Aliza Eliyazarov. And
I hope I said your last namecorrectly. Eliza did I you did?
I did? Yay? Okay.Well, the big thing is you are

(00:23):
an award winning photographer and you havea brand new, gorgeous book called The
Best Dog hilarious to heartwarming portraits ofthe Pups. We love that you did
with your partner. Correct, that'scorrect? Okay, So you are you're
both photographers, is that right?Yeah? We met New York in photo

(00:43):
school at the International Center of Photographyin two thousand and eight, and we've
worked on a few projects together.Oh that's so cool. And of course
we have to give him props EdwardDody, Is that correct, Dody?
Yeah? It is? Yeah.Okay, So I don't want Edward to
feel like we we like them outso okay, Well this is great.
So what made you decide to dothis book? I know you have on

(01:07):
other books, but what made youdecide to put this book together? Well,
when we were making our first bookon the farm, or my first
book on the farm. We weretraveling all around the country and photographing heritage
and rare breet farm animals on location. And of course there's always a farm
dog or two or four on everyfarm, and my stock guardian dogs and

(01:32):
herding dogs are an important part ofevery farm, and even the house dog,
the farmhouse dog. And so ofcourse when we were there, every
farmer always requested, right that wealso take a portrait of their dogs,
because the dog is a heart,you know, even if you have a

(01:53):
farm full of a menagery of animals, right, the dog is the heart
of every home. Of course.Yeah, it's perfect, you know.
I have to give it kudos onthat because I never really heard it.
I never heard that, but that'sexactly what a dog is. You're absolutely
right. It's the heart of everyhome. Whether it's just you live by
yourself, you live with a giantfamily, uh, you live with kids,

(02:15):
the dog is always the heart ofthe home. I love that.
Yeah, it's true, It's sotrue. And yeah, and then I
was in New York. I wasliving in New York and I was an
in house photographer for bark Box,which is a company that made sure dog
toys and dog treats. Yes,so was their in house photographer for two

(02:35):
years, which was a dream job. And you know I spent for over
two years photographing photographing dogs playing,playing and eating treats. Yeah so that
doesn't suit you know, Yeah,yeah, that's fun. Yes, Yes,
it was super fun. And youknow they do a lot with helping

(02:57):
get dogs adopted, so we'd haveteam up with foster rapped out of foster
dogs, a shelter dogs that wouldbe part of our campaigns, and it
just made sense. It would justseems like the natural next step was a
dog book. It was in thecards. You know, it had to
happen, sure, And how longdid it take you to do because I
mean I saw I guess I don'tknow if it's called a preview. I

(03:20):
saw a little bit of the bookbecause I know it's not out yet.
First of all, they're gorgeous photosand they're just you know, dogs in
action and just dogs being so cute, so and there's so many So how
long did it take you to getall of those photos together? And then
actually, I'm sure you had tonarrow it down to what you put in

(03:42):
the book. Well, the makingof a book is just complicated. It's
such a project. Yes, yeah, it's so long. It's so long.
So this is my second book.I feel like I, you know,
from just from making these books,I feel like I have a master's
and how to make a book,you know. Yeah, no, yeah,
I'm sure. It's like making amovie. It really is. It's

(04:03):
like making a movie. Sure.Yeah. And so at first we we
just well, we got when wegot when we decided to do this book,
we hadn't even adopted our dog yet, and it was deep COVID,
and we really pitched this book beforewe got before we got our dog,

(04:25):
Ducky. And then we adopted Duckyand who was a great Parentmese border Collie
mix eight pounds, and we startedresearching it and it was still deep COVID.
So the project ended up taking somuch longer because of COVID COVID restrictions

(04:46):
for our last book, and howwe work, as we usually travel to
different locations and we photographed them people'shomes and we go to people that it
became apparent after months and months oftrying wait it out, that it wasn't
going to be possible. And thenwe waited even a little longer, and

(05:08):
then Omicron came up, and thentravel things everything, of course, so
it ended up being a little moreregional and photographing and studios than going into
folks homes just for safety reasons.Sure, so it got a little stretched
out because of that. But overall, like from pitch to publication day,

(05:33):
I want to say it's three years, but the majority of the book was
probably done in a little over ayear. Wow. I mean, that's
that's a lot, and that's alittle Does that make sense, you know
what I mean? Because of COVIDhas gotten away. I mean, COVID
gotten I have so many things andso many professions like yours. But then

(05:54):
to actually get it to down toa year, that's that's actually pretty good.
Know Was it hard to narrow downto the photos you decided to put
in the book? Oh yeah,I'm sure right, that was. You
know the term kill your darling,it's hard to kill your darling? Yes,

(06:15):
and yeah it's hard. I love, you know, I love every
dog I photographed. I thought inlove with every animal I photograph I love.
Of course, a little bit ofmy heart goes into everyone. I
feel a connection, and that's reallya part of my process as I photograph
is I always try to take thetime to be really centered and quiet in

(06:39):
the presence of every animal and reallyspend time looking at them and observing them
and connecting to them and waiting tosee what kind of is illuminated to me.

(06:59):
And there you meekness of personality,or the way they they're, the
way they start, the funny waythat was sick, or wage their tail
or cock their head or whatever,or I get to see after spending a
few after spending a few minutes oror a few minutes or even an hour

(07:23):
with an animal, you see yousee their personality. And for me that
my work is all about forging aconnection between the animal and the observer and
the viewer of my photograph and theviewer of my people who view my work.
So I try to do that firstand really really see that and really

(07:44):
forge that connection so I can capturethat on camera. Yeah, and I
think that's why you are so goodat it, because I think, and
I won't I'm not going to generalizeand say most photographers, but I think
many photographers who are taking photos ofanimals are just doing it as opposed to
You're very passionate about it and thefact that you you bond with the animal

(08:09):
and that comes across and in thephotos. Thank you, But it's true.
I mean I just from what Isaw. I mean that's and then
you're describing it and I'm like,yeah, that makes complete sense. You
know, I appreciate that. Well, it's it's also a unique skill,
and I think that you're probably toohumble to admit that you have it,

(08:31):
but as an outsider looking and hearingwhat you're saying, I think it's a
very unique skill. And it's notjust being a photographer. It's you got
like the soul of the dog comingto you. Yeah, you know,
kind of like a person. Yeah, yeah, thank you so much.
I really appreciate that. Yeah,that's what I try to do. I

(08:52):
don't try to just take a cutepicture, even though some of them are
cute. And I think I forgedthose skills by photographing farm animals. Actually,
people who are like you know,would never consider a pig, you
know, a pig or a turkey, or just stop to consider the animal.
I my job was to get theperson to really book at a turkey

(09:16):
or a pig or an animal thatthey would never consider as as as a
being and and bring out that personality. And so that's was so much harder
to do with ducks and and ingeese and turkeys and cows and and you

(09:41):
know, all of the farm animals. So I really I honed my skills
doing that. Okay, but thatmakes sense, that makes sense, yeah,
of course. And honestly, Ithink you know, and it's I
mean, for me personally, Idon't eat meat. So when I see
a photo of a cow or apig, it's just like a gorge just
animal to me, you know,just because you're looking at it so closely,

(10:05):
obviously different than if you can't seeit up close, because you know
it's an animal, but meaning likeif you see a beautiful photo of it
like yours, and you can seehow beautiful the animal is, like the
different colors and the you know,on their skin and the wrinkles or look
at their eyes, and I thinka lot of people miss that, yeah

(10:26):
you know, yeah, yeah,So anyway, I'm sorry, I don't
mean to go off on that tangent, but but no, I just think
that your book is just so gorgeous. So let's talk about because I know
you also are very involved with theHumane Education Department for the New Hampshire SPCA.

(10:46):
So you do a lot with rescueand I know so many like I
did so many people. I know. We find our dogs, cats,
we find our pets through you know, what is it called pet Finder Shelter
Pet Project meaning through photos of petsof dogs and cats. And as a

(11:07):
photographer tell me, because I thinkit's very very important that even for someone
who wants to volunteer at a rescue, who's an amateur, but taking a
good photo is really key to gettingthat that pet, that dog or cat
adopted. Correct, key, yeah, key, yes. I mean we've

(11:28):
all been on pet Finder and seenseeing a photo that's in some dark room
at night and you're like, whatwhat's his photo? You know, you
see the photo with blurry it's thisIt is horribly lit. You're just like
this isn't this guy's not going toget it almost makes you upset seeing the
photo correct, right, So yeah, so it's everything. I mean,

(11:52):
first of all, lighting, youknow, lighting, good lighting outside.
You don't have to be a masterand lighting. You cook great picture on
a sunny day, Take the dogoutside on a sunny day and get the
light in their eyes and get agood photo on a bright sunny day.
I think that is the easiest thingto do. You want light shining on

(12:16):
the dog's face, You want acatchlight in the eyes, you want you
want to get light on the animal. Ideally, I would say even after
a walk or a play session,their their face is going to be opened
up because they'll be panting a littlebit, so it will look like they're

(12:37):
smiling. Yeah, how big widesmile. That makes a person connect to
the dog. Right. So theother thing is photograph the animal. Photograph
the dog and a variety of situationsso that the potential adopter can envision their

(13:00):
future life with that dog. Somaybe the dog is curled up on a
little blanket and they can picture themcurled up on the picture themselves curled up
with the dog because the dog iscurled up in a cute little donut on
a blanket, right, Or thedog is playing and running, and then
they can get good You get agood action shot and people can say,

(13:22):
oh, I could go running withI can imagine myself running with this dog
or hiking with this dog and beingoutside with dog. Sure, right,
you know, you get a dogdoing something a little goofy and maybe that
they are making a little funny faceand it makes them laugh. You know,
a good photograph, no matter ifit's of anything anything, a good

(13:43):
photograph elicits emotion. It makes youfeel something, It makes you laugh,
it melts your heart, it remindsyou of something. You know, there's
a connection in an emotion. Itshould elict it in emotion, and it
could be funny and it could beideally, it's a few different things to

(14:05):
show the range of the dog's character. Right, So, this dog loves
to play. This dog has thisgreat smile. This dog has these giant,
goofy paws. This dog has aspecific, a specific little marking in
the shape of a heart on itsbutt, or beautiful long eyelashes. Get

(14:28):
close on the dog, especially witha dark dog, well lit, close
up, get in the fake getup in that face so you could just
see that schmushy, beautiful dog rightin its eyes. You know. No,
that all makes sense, And allof these tips for someone who's volunteering,
they could do it with their phone, correct, Like, they don't

(14:48):
need a big expensive camera. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, you could do
You can do so much on thephone right now, and it's really it's
like take it. Don't the worstthing you can do with just stand there
with your late knees locked from oneperspective and just look down at the dog

(15:09):
and snap. You need to getdown with the dog. Shoot from multiple
angles. Get creative, Lie onyour back, have the dog's rooling over
your phone and you have your cameraand your face. I mean like,
if it's a jelly dog that willlook hyspherical, get them sitting lying down,
you know all that, get variety, multiple angles. Move your body.

(15:33):
It's not just the dog moving.You need to move right. You
need to shoot. You need toget low. You need to move you
know, if you're standing in thewrong place and the lights behind you,
shift around, so the lights onthe dog. If there's a weird distracting
something in the background, move yourbody so really the viewer is looking at

(15:54):
the person, not the trash canbehind the dog or whatever. Yeah,
that makes perfect sense. It makesperfect sense because it's so key to getting
you know, the dog the catadopted. It's really yeah, it's almost
you know, it's like it's likeI feel like their photo is their resume
kind of you know. Yeah,yeah, and every that's the thing,

(16:18):
taking the time because every dog,every animal is different, Every dog has
a utile bit of unique, uniquepersonality or unique traits. Spend the time
to find it, you know.Yeah, And shooting in a variety of
locations inside, outside, a varietyof shots, multiple angles and source.

(16:44):
If your pot shooting with your phoneand you need to get light and you're
you can't for some reason shoot outsideand it's and it's not good light and
you need additional lighting. Have somebodyelse put on their flashlight on their phone,
on their phone flashlight mode and shinethe light up from their flashlight from

(17:04):
their phone onto the dog. Andit's like this, it's an external light
source. Wow, that's genius.See, that's why you're so good at
what you do. That's brilliant.That's something like, oh I never thought
of that. Oh yeah, youcould do that with anything. Sure,
especially even if you're you know,even if you have a few people,
two people shine their flashlights. Youknow, it's just ad light right right

(17:29):
now. That's brilliant. See,that's why you do and that's why you're
so good at what you do.It's true, it's true. So when
is your book when is it officiallyout? Publishing day is October thirty first,
perfect on Halloween. Okay, yeah, that is so perfect? And
where can my listeners get it?Anywhere you buy books? Okay, that's

(17:53):
good. Everywhere and anywhere from Thebook is published by pay by ten speed
Press, which is an imprint ofPenguin Random House, So you can get
it on the Penguin Random House site. You could get it on Amazon,
you can get at your local bookstore. Get it absolutely anywhere, Okay,
And I know that. And Idon't want to put you off by asking

(18:14):
you this, but I want toask you, so, is is there
anything next? I like, what'snext? Even though this isn't even out
yet, so I shouldn't even askyou that, But meaning, do you
see another book from photos that didn'tmake this one? That didn't make The
Best Dog? Or you know parttwo? Marie? I know it's just
I know, but Maria, Icould spend the rest of my life talks

(18:37):
and their stories. Sure are youknow? I would? And I would
if I could. We'll see Okay, yeah, I will. All right,
No, that's perfect, that's perfectbecause I know I hate to ask
like what's next when you're like,seriously, we're talking about this book's not
even out yet, but no,because sometimes I know that when photographers because
they have so much and it's like, well, I'm thinking of making a

(18:59):
series. I'm thinking, you know, but yeah, and you know,
it's not like you're ready to stopdoing what you do because you shouldn't because
you're so good at it. Soso yeah, I'm sorry to ask that,
but well, good luck coming upcoming out on Halloween. That's excellent
the best dog hilarious to heartwarming portraitsof the pups we love, and I

(19:22):
love it just seeing the preview ofit. I can't wait to see it
and get it when it comes out. So thank you, Eliza so much
for sharing your knowledge and your expertiseand your talent and skill with all of
us, because you really are doing, probably more than you realize that you're
doing, to get so many dogsadopted and getting there forever homes. So

(19:48):
for those of us on the otherside of it, we thank you for
that. Thank you so much,Maria, I so appreciate it. It
was so nice talking to you.Gator operator and this part see later were Regator