I love it when Clear the Shelters day rolls around; it's exciting to see the shelter buzz with people, and animals that have lingered walking out the door with their new families. While it's now nationwide, the event started in Irving, Texas in 2015 and included a handful of North Texas cities such as Dallas, Ft. Worth, Lewisville, Southlake, Grapevine and more.  

Since 2015 I have split the day between Coppell Animal Services and Adoption Center and the City of Carrollton Animal Services and Adoption Center because I volunteer at both and I could never choose between the two.  This year however, the Coppell shelter was closed for renovations so I was able to spend the entire day at the Carrollton shelter working as a volunteer directing people through the shelter, answering questions and giving training advice when asked.   

In addition, I documented the day in a photojournalistic style, both for the City of Carrollton to use in their media and marketing materials and for myself as a hobby.  I arrived early to catch the preparation and stayed until closing trying to make a portrait of each pet that was adopted (the smiling faces on the dogs AND the people says it all, you'll just have to image the cats were smiling inside the boxes).  The images you'll see are a departure from my family and pet portraits, but they tell a story and are representative of the genuine feeling and emotion of the day; I hope you enjoy this video and if you're interested in a portrait of your family or pet (or both!), you can contact me here.