Even Kaylee Greer can’t believe this is her full-time job. The well-known commercial dog photographer and star of the 2018 Nat Geo show “Pupparazzi” spends six months a year traveling the country in an RV photographing shelter dogs for her nonprofit The Dog Breath Foundation. The foundation is a spinoff from her Boston studio Dog Breath Photography, which she opened in 2010. “It feels a little bit like a dream I haven’t quite woken up from,” she says, “like I stepped behind the cover of a storybook, just for a curious peek, and somehow wound up getting to stay forever inside its pages.”

Greer works with a team of seven for the nonprofit. She and her partner, Sam, travel in a 34-foot RV and handle photography, while two other teammates travel in a 25-foot Airstream and handle videography. Three others work remotely: a video editor, an audio editor, and a project manager who oversees logistics, scheduling, and communications with shelters. Brands like Freshpet, Frame.io, Pro Prints, Kuma Outdoor Gear, and Camp Bow Wow, among others, help fund the nonprofit’s work.

The foundation’s objective is simple: Take shelter dogs out for three-day epic adventures, create photos and videos of them in nature around America, and promote that content to the world. In addition, they provide a workshop for shelter employees on how to make better, more soulful photographs of the animals in their care. Canon, one of the nonprofit’s partners, also gifts each shelter a mirrorless camera and a lens: either a Canon R10 with the RF-S18-45mm lens or a Canon RP with the RF50mm lens, according to Greer.

Choosing the 14 shelters to visit each year is difficult, Greer admits. The foundation receives so many applications annually that it “slams us in the heart,” she says. The team reviews each to determine which shelters would benefit most. “Some shelters barely have websites, let alone decent—or any—photos of their adoptable dogs,” Greer explains.

Though their circumstances may be sad, the shelter dog subjects enjoy experiences planned around their greatest joys. “If they love water, then we are going to the most beautiful lake or river to swim in. If they love fetch, we are going to explore a wide-open field with plenty of tennis balls,” Greer adds. “It’s all about the wind in their fur, the sun on their backs, and being immersed in the world that dogs’ wild hearts were made for.” 

Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.