"arf"mazing race fundraiser | burlington pet photographer

After many days of preparation, and weather watching, the day finally came for the Burlington Humane Society's "ARF"mazing Race fundraiser at Spencer Smith Park on Lake Ontario. The skies started out gray, but the rain held off and the sun even made an appearance. This was my first time attending an event as a vendor, and it was a great experience. I was the only pet photographer in attendance and I met tons of dogs — breeds I had never seen before! — and their people. Being a little on the shy side, it was an opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone, and I quickly realized it's pretty easy talking to so many dog lovers, being one myself.

A huge thank you to my supportive hubby, who not only constructed a screen to display my photography and was on hand to help set up my tent, but also had the very busy job of entertaining our 18-month-old son that morning. And to my awesome friend Jane who made me blush all day with the kind words and amazing promotion she did for my business.

Here are a few of the furry faces that popped by the Happy Tails Pet Photography booth to say hello. I'll be posting an album of these photos on Facebook, so if you see your four-legger here, hop over to the Happy Tails Facebook page and tag yourself so all your friends can see how awesome you are for supporting such a great cause!

Needless to say, there were A LOT of smiles.

I also met some breeds for the first time like a Peruvian hairless, below centre, and a Chinese crested hairless, below right. There was also the biggest doberman I have ever seen!

My favourite part of the day was the alumni parade. All the dogs who had been adopted went up to the front of the stage and had their names announced. I loved it because I saw lots of faces that I've photographed as a volunteer, and almost all of the new owners said they adopted because of the photo they saw on the website. One example is Dot — there is her adoption photo below as a puppy, and to the right is Dot at the ARFmazing Race. What a difference! I especially like how her ears grew in — one up, one down.

This tiny Teddy bear pomeranian named Stitch was a huge hit — yes, that is a real dog and not a stuffed animal. That is some cute!

This little monkey was my last visitor of the day and one of my favourites. Every booth had treats, but even with what I'm sure was a full belly, the temptation was still there!

This was my first ever vendor booth and I put a lot of heart and soul into it. I had these 5x5 cards printed to accompany my business cards. I wanted them to be totally unique and have the same playful vibe that Happy Tails is all about. There were four different sayings on the front — each a different reason, from the dog, for why they deserve a photography session. On the back of each was a different photo and my info. My super talented hubby, an amazing graphic designer, designed them for me and I wrote the copy. Totally different, and I think, kind of cute!

Here's my booth - there's lots of pink!

My hubby also constructed this screen to display my photographs, which were 12x18 in size and mounted on eco-board. He made the frames with 1x2 pieces of wood, added hinges painted them white and then stapled chicken wire to the back of them. It actually worked out really well because it was a windy day and this allowed the wind to blow through. My high-tech way of hanging the images — paper clips.  In the future I might add some pretty fabric behind the panels.

 

I tried to research vendor booths to see how other people put them together, but I really couldn't find anything related to pets and photography, so I came up with all of this on my own. And because I was on a tight budget, most of my booth was borrowed or DIY'd. I'm pretty proud of the way it came out. Of course I forgot to get a photo of me in my booth ... next time I guess!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the shelter and for taking the time to stop by my booth!

Wags,

Stacey