About

April 9th, 2014 - the day I cut off 16 inches of hair.

April 9th, 2014 – the day I cut off 16 inches of hair.

My name is Adri, I am 19 years old and I love Border Collies and photography. I fostered for my state’s Border Collie Rescue from 2011 to 2014, and have been into photography since September of 2012. I currently foster for Shine On Animal Rescue in Redding, CA.
I own one dog, a brown and white Border Collie named Nelly, and will have a foster dog or two almost all the time. I also have chickens, fish, and a cat called Buddy. He lives with my mom.

I adopted Nelly when I was 15 years old, she was my first foster dog. I fostered her with the intent of adopting. She had a lot of behavior problems when I got her, including wanting to attack every dog she saw, not being able to settle, and just in general very bad manners. There were some other issues that I won’t get into.

August, 2013

After adopting Nelly I fostered a couple more dogs for the SPCA, then started working with Border Collie Rescue at the age of 16. I am starting college soon and will be staying with my parents while in school, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to continue fostering while I’m in school. I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes!

I initially became interested in dog behavior and training as I started to discover more and more of Nelly’s behavior issues. I knew my parents were not going to pay for a trainer for a dog I had just gotten, so I was forced to learn on my own how to fix her problems. It took a lot of work and studying, but I have been able to turn her into a great dog. She still has more than her fair share of issues, but they are manageable. Living with a dog like Nelly means having to understand her limits and deal with her problems on a day-to-day basis. It can be very trying at times, but I would not trade this girl for the world.

August, 2013

I worked with Border Collie Rescue for over 2 years, and in this time I encountered many dogs that had behavior issues. It’s been anything from simply jumping up, to biting and/or herding people. Most of my dogs lately have been “project” dogs that require more training than most. It’s a constant learning experience, each “problem” dog presents me with new challenges that lead me to learn more about canine behavior and training. Before I started working with dogs I had no idea how complex training was – the professional trainers all make it seem so easy! I do not plan on becoming a professional trainer, I just don’t have the patience for it. I would say that training is more of a hobby for me, one that I’m constantly learning more and more about!

November/December, 2012

I plan on posting articles about dog training on this blog at least once a month, maybe more. If there’s anything specific that you’d like me to write about, feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion!

Regarding stuff not related to dogs:

I was verbally/emotionally abused my entire childhood, which has led me to attempt to raise awareness of child abuse. I think that most everyone knows that it’s happening, but they don’t do anything about it. They don’t want to face the fact that millions of children are subject to abusive and/or neglectful homes. I am also an advocate for LGBT rights and equality – I believe that unless a person is doing harm to others, what they do is none of anybody’s business.

I am a vegan, and no, that does not mean that I am a PETA-worshipper! In fact, I am extremely anti-PETA. They are a despicable organization that preaches animal rights but kills almost every adoptable animal that they get their hands on. Learn more about that by clicking HERE. PETA claims that unlike most shelters, they take in every animal that is brought to them, and that is why so many are euthenized. What people don’t realize is the majority of shelters are required, by law, to do the same. And yet one of the shelters I work with euthenizes less than 10% of their animals. There is no excuse for how PETA acts.

Be sure to check out my “My Foster Dogs“page to see some of the nearly 30 dogs that I have fostered since I was 15 years old.

I’m not really sure how to end this post…I wanted to end it with a bang! but I am seriously drawing a blank right now.
So… BANG!

That’s the best I can do.

73 thoughts on “About”

  1. Hey Adri, thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my post on butterflies. I am so amazed at the work you’ve been doing with dogs, I have a special place in my heart for them (I have two golden retrievers.) Keep it up!

    Reply

  2. Wonderful for you, Adri! I am deeply touched by your compassion for animals, and very impressed with everything about your blog. Great photography, great design. Keep the posts coming. And thank you for your interest in Gwichyaa Zhee.

    Reply

  3. What a lovely young woman you are be doing a very important job. For ii is a job to foster but it is rewarding to do so and I applaud you. I hope to rerurn but not sure yet if I can take on another blog to support with my comments. If I follow someone I prefer to do it right and to offer a comment when an article is posted.

    Thank you for the like on my blog..

    Reply

  4. Adri, thank you very much for your gracious compliments. I think it’s a great thing you’re doing with your fostering. The world need more people like you.

    I also meant what I said in my reply to your comment. I have to admit that I hate offering without being asked. I fear coming across as some full-of-himself-internet-know-it-all. But one of the biggest surprises I’ve gotten since starting my blog(a surprise in itself), is that quite a few people have asked for my help with their photography(who me, really? I can’t be that good). But an even bigger surprise is how much I really enjoy helping.

    Anyway, enough babbling from the idiot from NH. The offer is there, it’s never an imposition, really.

    By the way, your banner image put a huge smile on my face! 😀

    Reply

    • Thank you!!
      No worries, I don’t think you come across as a “full-of-himself-internet-know-it-all”. 🙂 I appreciate the offer, and I will take you up on it if I have any questions! Photographing dogs is definitely my strong point, and I’ve had a lot of people ask me for advice on taking pictures of their dogs. I always think the same thing you said. “Who, me? Are you serious?”
      I love constantly working to improve my pictures, then looking back at the ones I took when I first started in photography, and seeing how far I’ve come.

      Reply

      • You are very welcome! My door is always open 😀

        Photograph what you love and it will show, it’s that simple. By the way, if you’re ever interested in earning a little extra money on the side, pets are third behind only brides and babies when it comes to what people will spend their money on. Heck, before I was interested in photography we had someone photograph our dogs 😉

      • Well, giving your services away for a worthy cause is ok. To a point. Assuming you have any interest at all in earning some, or all of you income with your photography, getting paid is the name of the game. Once you’ve photographed half the pets in the county for nothing, getting the owners of the other half to pay you is going to be tough. Not to mention repeat “business” from someone you’ve already given freebies to.

        If you haven’t read it already, here’s a post I wrote about receiving image credit as “payment” for the use of a photo. I think it has value in regards to giving your photos away for free for any reason. http://jeffsinonphotography.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/photo-credit-is-worthless/

        For what it’s worth, my wife, who gets what ever photo she wants because she lets me go out on my photo adventures pretty much whenever I want, and since we draw names at Christmas time, the person who’s name I draw, are the only people I’ve ever given one of my photos too. But I seriously would love to never touch a wrench again, and earn all of my living with my photos.

      • That’s a very good post. The only reason I was doing photos for this couple for free is because I’m not confident in my abilities yet, I have very little experience with photographing people and none with photographing people WITH their dogs. They did offer to pay me but I declined because I don’t want them paying for photos that might not turn out well!
        After this I will be charging for anyone that wants pictures done(or pictures of their pets), including people who have had them done in the past for free. The only exception being dogs that are up for adoption with the rescue I work with, and possibly other rescues/shelters if they request and I have the time.

      • I completely understand your reasoning in a case like that. And definitely in the case of the foster dogs and shelters. I think the experience with come soon enough. Me personally, I go to great lengths to NOT photograph people :-D. Occasionally I’ll include a person in a landscape to give a sense of scale, but then I don’t really have to worry about lighting, posing, etc.

        Good luck with the pet photography, assuming your banner image is no accident, I think you’re going to be very good at it.

      • Thank you! I’m finding that I like photographing pets much more than I do people. I don’t think I want to do it for a living, but it’s an extremely addicting hobby and hopefully it’ll eventually bring in enough money to support itself(damn cameras and equipment are so expensive).

      • You’re preaching to the choir sister, on both counts. Though it’s very rare, I’ve walked away from some truly gorgeous light because there was no way to capture the scene with the composition I wanted without having people in it. Fortunately, even though I often photograph in very touristy areas of the state, most tourists haven’t even started breakfast by the time I’m leaving a location. Now that’s not to say I won’t get a few grab shots of people when I’m out photographing, usually the people I’m with, but for my “serious” images, no thanks.

        You do NOT have to tell me how painful in the pocketbook this wonderful hobby/passion/business is. As primarily a nature and landscape photographer, I good tripod is a must. And when hiking to the top of a mountain, weight matters. If you want to have a stroke, go price a good carbon fiber tripod like a Gitzo(what I use), or Really Right Stuff. And that’s just to hold the damn camera. And then if you want something better than the kit lens, oh boy, the sky’s the limit. By the way, I buy used whenever I can. If you’re a Canon user I can point you to the forum where I’ve bought all but the first of the four bodies I’ve owned, and two of the boat load of lenses I’ve bought, sold, traded, in the last five years. Tip, don’t buy a used body from a smoker. Unless you yourself are one. It never occurred to me to ask before, but for the first 3 months I owned my current Canon 7D I just about wanted to puke every time I put the camera up to my face. Smelled like an ashtray! No, not a smoking fan, nasty!

        One more FYI before you go selling a kidney to buy a pro lens. Of the almost 50 prints I’ve sold in the last two years, the majority were made through a cheap ProMaster(rebadged Tamron) 17-50 f2.8 lens that I bought used for about $275. 90% of those prints were at least 16″x24″ and as large as 20″x30.” Pro level gear is nice, and while the build quality and and a few other features of the $800 Canon 17-40 I replaced that lens with are really nice, the images quality is not $500 better.

      • WOW, I just googled “Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod” and my jaw about hit the floor! That is really expensive!

        I always buy used. After my 18-55mm kit lens broke(hated that thing anyways) I got the Nikkor 18-200mm VR. It’s about $850 new but we got it for about 450. I’m in love with it – it’s a bit slow to focus(but I’m wondering if that might just be my camera) but besides that it’s perfect for everyday use. I can get nice bokeh on the long end of the zoom, I have the option to zoom in to 200mm(which I do a LOT) and can still go down to 18mm if I want to.

        I really want to upgrade my camera body, right now I have the Nikon D50. It’s been great as a beginners camera but I’m so ready to upgrade. I have been eyeing the Nikon D3s, it’s so amazing. Virtually noiseless pictures up to 12,800 ISO? Geez, I can only dream of the types of shots I can get with that camera. I’m the “go big or go home” kind of person. I figure…I’m never going to stop with photography, I’m obsessed. If I’m going to be saving up my money for a new camera, one I’m going to be using for a very long time, I want the best of the best. I want something that will still be considered an awesome camera many years from now. Maybe wanting the D3s is unrealistic, but a girl can dream, right?

      • Smart girl! Let the suckers pay full price 😀

        My recommendation, take a look at the D800. The D3, like Canon’s 1 series bodies are big and weigh a ton. After my first 40D I wanted to try a full on pro body, so I picked up a used 1D MkIIn. I hated it. The picture quality was amazing, the auto focus was simply awesome, but carrying it on a hike sucked! Heck, a single battery was about the size of 3 of my 7D’s batteries.

        However, I’m not sure of the max frame rate of the D800 vs the D3. Which for fast moving subjects is important. If it’s like 8 vs 10 fps, I’d go with smaller/lighter body with a slightly slower max fps. And I’m a big, 6’1″ 215lb guy.

        My next, used, body will be a 5D MkIII. Full frame, smokin good auto focus, outstanding high ISO performance, in a normal DSLR size body. Lastly, for now, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Rick Sammon regarding noise, that I live by. “If the picture is so boring that you notice the noise, you’ve got a boring picture.” If you ask me, the religion of high iso / low noise is for pixel peeping photographers with nothing but time on their hands.

      • Good quote, definitely something to think about.

        The way I see it, by the time I have saved up enough money to potentially buy one of these awesome cameras, there will be a lot of new ones for me to consider, too. At the rate I’m going I should be able to afford it by the time I graduate. college. A really, really long time(Hint, I’m only now doing my last semester of high school this fall).
        I’m not sure if weight would be an issue for me. When I’m taking pictures, I hardly ever drag the camera around. It’s usually just driving to a location and then doing the photoshoot. I can’t really do hikes and all that. That definitely is something to consider though – I think the best thing to do would be to actually get my hands on the cameras I’m interested! I wonder if the camera store in my town would let me test out different camera bodies.

      • That’s the best part of buying used, when the next “Latest and greatest” comes out, the price of the former “L-a-G” usually goes right in the toilet, on both new and used.

        As long as they have it on hand, I can’t imagine the local shop wouldn’t let you at least handle one. Probably wouldn’t let you take it out of the shop though. Another option is rental. I’ve used Lens Pro To Go http://www.lensprotogo.com/?gclid=CPPyvLzg47gCFcie4AodvUUA-g a few times for lenses. Their customer service is awesome, they’ll ship pretty much anywhere, and their prices are in line with any of the other rental places out there. That way you can shoot with the best gear, factor the rental cost into the price you charge for the shoot, and never actually have to own it. Plus, you can test out pretty much anything you might be thinking of buying before you plunk down the cash. Usually you can rent something for just the weekend too.

        I hope when you say “I can’t really do hikes and all that,” it’s because there isn’t anywhere nearby, and not something that physically limits you. But in your case, the weight may not be an issue for the type of shooting you do. I do still drool over Canon’s newest 1Dx, but I still don’t think I’d ever go back to a 1 series body for all the reasons I mentioned before. Though if I won the lottery… 🙂

      • I’ve considered rental, but seeing how I’m not actively booking paid photoshoots it just seems a bit expensive to me for a test run. And even if I was booking paid photoshoots, that’s money that could go toward buying the camera!

        Unfortunately, I can’t do hikes because of chronic illness(es). There’s plenty of places around and a TON of trails, but it’s not possible for me to walk for long periods of time.

  5. Dear Adri: I appreciated your comment about our foster dog. But more that that I enjoyed reading your blog. The way you write, it sounds like you’re having fun with your photography as well as your fostering, proud of your mom, too. Taking on a foster animal can be a big job. It sounds like you’re up to the challenge. The Dog World is lucky to have folks like you to help. I look forward to following your blog and learning more about your fosters. 🙂

    Reply

  6. Adri – What you are doing is wonderful! Thank you so much for commenting on my blog about “My Dogs Help My Recovery”. We have three pugs, two of which “rescued us”. Keep up the great work & the great blog!

    Reply

  9. You have important interests and a great niche, Adri. More power to you, and thanks for taking a look at the Hammer Home Street Photography Project.

    Reply

  11. Thanks for shopping by and liking my posts, love Riley’s eyes and I might have to quiz you about keeping chickens som time, keep up the good work and great blog

    Reply

  13. Thank you for liking my post.
    You seem to have got your head round your childhood issues – well done. I too have found my animals to be very therapeutic. My son and I both have rescue dogs – Lilah wasn’t badly treated just unwanted – that’s what comes of taking on a breed that you haven’t researched. Staffies ain’t easy but they’re wonderful fun and very loyal. Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  14. Thanks for the like on my blog. Nice photos you have here. My folks have two Labs and a Bernese Mountain Dog. I would love to have a dog, but I go away to often.

    Reply

  16. Adri, your view on my blog led me here. Lovely shots of your pawpals, and fairplay for what you are doing with the Rescue and fostering. At the risk of sounding condscending, It is really fantatstic to see someone of your age, concentrating so much time on something other than themselves, Keep it up and I am now following your blog

    Reply

  22. Thanks Adri for the “likes”.

    Your story is amazing. I love your compassion for kids and animals. I’ve had a few dogs that could have used your help, lol!…but the crazier they are the more I love em. I’ve been a foster parent for the past twenty years or so, and so making sure kids get a fair shake has always been on the bottom of my heart. Anyway, I think you are doing a great job and I wish you well. Regards ~ Dave

    Reply

  23. Hi, Thanks for dropping in on my blog. I am in Australia and a long way from CA. But why don’t you check out http://midwesternplants.org/ in Illinois who is a total Border Collie fanatic. Tell her Suchled said to say hello.
    I actually like border collies as well. and being from a farming family they are great as sheep dogs. Check out youtube for some amazing pics of the most intelligent dog God ever made.
    Love your blog

    Reply

  27. Hi, thanks for liking my Wagging School blog about dogs. Border Collies are great dogs. Not for everyone though. They need mental exercise as well as physical exercise. People don’t give them what they need, and I guess that’s why they end up as rescues. I teach Treibball, which is great for all those frustrated urban working dogs.

    Kaye

    Reply

    • Definitely. One of the main reasons they’re surrendered is for biting, almost always a child, but another common reason is that they’re just too much for their owners to handle. People don’t understand how much mental exercise they really need! They turn into little terrors without it!

      Reply

  29. congratulations for your great work. I’d like to put on the ‘International Organization Pet Trainer’s site a page of your rescue and your work or publish everything you consider helpful.

    Reply

  30. Hi Adri you already have your link on our web site. we would like to have a photo with your presentation to be published or if you want we can copy it from your web site

    Reply

Leave a reply to That Girl With Border Collies Cancel reply