Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs great photos of their fur baby in their home. If the dog toys thrown all around doesn’t give it away to strangers that dogs rule the house, these amazing photographs WILL!

Shagly Pet Photography has been around for 10 years. Mark Nardecchia is the sharp eye behind the lens and the amazing skills behind the editing. He will surpass even the highest expectations! He’s photographed 1000’s of pet clients, over 10,000 adoptable pets, and has helped raise over $100,000 for animal welfare groups in Dallas! (If you don’t have an idol, now is the time to choose… And Mark is your guy!)

He set out to pet, photograph, and play with as many animals as he could. This eventually lead to the “photo for photo” policy of every animal client photographed equals a rescue animal photographed! And what kind of dog loving bloggers would we be if we didn’t help Mark in his endeavors to pet and photograph as many animals as possible?! Of COURSE we’ll let him pet and photograph our pooches and of COURSE we’re going to help the wonderful world of shelter pets become more comfortable on camera.

Mark grew up in the wonderful town of McKinney, Texas. His mom will tell you his passion and creativity for art started flourishing when he was only 5 years old! He added a little color to the upstairs den by taking his mother’s oil paints and painting their dog, the floor, the curtains, the sofa… And voilà! A natural artist was discovered that day.

Mark has always loved dogs, photography, and being creative with the things around him, but it took time with before all three came together to make Shagly Pet Photography.

He was helping his wife’s business of finding St. Bernard’s forever homes by photographing them for the St. Cloud’s website! He took photos in hopes to better their circumstances and make them more visible to searching families… and it worked! This meaningful accomplishment lead him to taking a portrait of every dog St. Cloud rescues. And this even bigger accomplishment encouraged him to photograph other breeds.

So now, that’s exactly what he does! He continues photographing all of St. Cloud’s dogs, and also helps out with as many rescues as he can find! And get this… he uses all of the proceeds from every dog he photographs to fund rescue photographs. (Refer back to the second paragraph… IDOL!!!) 100% of net proceeds will save dogs’ lives. Yes, fur mamas, you read that right, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!!!

So, now you want to schedule a photoshoot with Shagly Pet Photography, right? And you’re wondering “where will he photograph my fur baby?”. You’re in luck! Mark photographs anywhere a pet will be comfortable. In your home, at the park, stables or choose from the beautiful pet friendly places he has available. What is most important is that your fur baby is ready to have a good time.

If you’re blind and haven’t read the above paragraphs and are wondering “Well, what makes Shagly so special?”, we’ll tell you more! In one word…shenanigans and his ability to connect with your pet. Before we started our photoshoot with Mark, he began by just getting to know us gals and our pups. Then, he tried catching our pups having fun and acting natural… Unfortunately, for him, my dogs just like to stare at birds! But that didn’t stop him from getting some PHENOMENAL shots!!! I’m telling you, even if your dog is quirky like mine and doesn’t care for the treats or the squeaky toys he brings, Mark still finds a way to get the best photos.

Congratulations! You’ve decided this is going to happen! Lucky you!!!  The first two pets are included and there is a $25 charge for each additional pet. Humans are welcome and encouraged to sit in on a few of the pictures at no charge. You should allow a bit more time depending on how many pets are in the session. And remember, 100% goes to saving animals’ lives!

If you’re still in question about how great he is at capturing your pup’s best side, stop overthinking it!! He knows a few tricks to get your pup to relax and have fun. PLUS he has a boat load of patience… and a small bag of treats and toys. Hehe. He has not found a pet that he couldn’t photograph. That is the beauty of lifestyle photography! He’ll just wait for them to be themselves and be there to take the photo.

A normal session is usually an hour to an hour and a half. We were there for about an hour! And we never felt rushed or out of place. Mark does a fantastic job at making everyone feel comfortable (and look and feel pretty)! He was great and helping us have the best poses possible. I think that meant a lot more to me than usual since I still have baby weight to lose. I think I needed help feeling comfortable more than my dogs did!

One thing that really stood out to me, was that he has a page dedicated to helping you get ready for the shoot. It’s called “What To Expect”. READ IT!!! It has sooo much information and knowledge! I’ve NEVER seen such a detailed page on how to prepare for a photography session with your pup. This page is pure GOLD!!! Go check this out for lotsss of great tips! I’d say even for taking amateur photos of your fur baby for IG!

http://shagly.com/faq/

Now, let’s get down to Mark’s fundraising project. The following information was given directly from Mark and has not been edited in any way.

 

Rescue High

“Rescue High is a fundraising project to generate awareness by showing off the beauty of rescued dogs with 3,300 adopted dog’s photos, from across the country, placed in a high school yearbook.

Why 3,300 you ask? Well, 3,300 is ONLY .1% of the the ASPCA shelters yearly average of 3.3 million dogs that enter rescues each year. The goal to photograph just .1% of the 3.3 million beautify rescued dogs will visually quantify for people how many dogs need homes every year to avoid euthanasia. The goal is to break through to our communities and change the habit of buying dogs from breeders to adopting from rescue organizations.  

 

The Book

Rescue High is a book with 3,300 rescued dogs photos placed in a high school yearbook.

The photography will mimic school photos focusing on rows of headshots with their names down the sides.

We will be including school activity photos with dogs in starring roles. Activity photos will be captured as behind the scenes at the shoots or pets at the rescue facilities and all events related to the photo days.

The back pages that are usually filled with signatures and quotes will be from the owners as if it was signed by the dogs themselves. I plan to collect hand written stories of fun things people’s pets do or ways they have enhanced their lives. I will take my favorite of these and fill in the back pages as if people had signed it that way.

It will be bound like a real yearbook.

These quotes will be posted next to each dog’s photo on the blog for the book.

 

What I need from the groups I work with.

I will need access to your email lists so that we can solicit people for the photo sessions. I will need help finding a locations for the photo sessions. Examples would be boarding facilities, pet stores or any facility you have access to that has a 15×15 space that is relatively private. This is where I will set the studio. Then we will need 3 volunteers to help me (1) hold the dogs leash for the photos (2) check people in (3) enter the dog’s name to the photos just taken. A network of influencers that can show off their dogs photo.

 

The current list of cities:

Los Angeles

San Francisco

San Diego

Seattle

Portland

Washington DC

Chicago

Denver

Boston

Phoenix

Orlando

New York

Philadelphia

Nashville

Dallas

Austin

Houston

 

The Benefit

Cost of one dog photography is $50, half goes directly to the sponsoring rescue event.  It is estimated that 100 dogs a day would be a comfortable estimate, with $2,500 benefiting the sponsoring rescue per day.  A total Rescue High project donation amount is projected at 1 million benefiting various sponsoring rescue organizations across the country.

Each participating rescue will receive a “most likely to” that we will be auctioned off at a $1 vote with 100 people participating per day. A conservative average of 200 votes per person should net $20,000 for each day of shooting. The collective off 3,300 with photo sessions and voting gets us to $800,000. The hope is to collect a hand full of influencers per rescue to help push up the vote numbers we would need to get over the $1 million mark. There are also so special money raising options for Prom King and Queen, Homecoming King and Queen and Valedictorian and Salutatorian. All of this goes directly to the rescues, foundations and groups associated with the project.

An effort to find a match grant for that donation will be made. As well as a dollar to vote system for the most likely to section of the book! Money raised from this effort will be handed directly to the rescues.”

http://galleries.shagly.com/rescuehighdallas

Since he set out to pet, photograph, and play with as many animals as he could in the world, we gals challenge you to help him continue his goal! Schedule your pet photography session today and help save some lives!!! Until then, do yourself a favor and go check out the galleries on his website. The photos we spotlighted today are only a portion of the super cute photos Mark has taken.

Note: All images in this post are the copyrighted property of Shagly Pet Photography. These photos may not be used without express permission from the owner/photographer.