Leading dog photographer Kaylee Greer is using the power of the medium to help transform the lives of "long forgotten" shelter dogs in the US.
Early last year, she founded a non-profit organization called The Dog Breath Foundation, and the summer of 2024 saw her and her colleagues undertake an epic 10,000-mile road trip across the country – branded ’The Greatest Adventure' – in an RV.
The initiative sees Greer and her team visit a shelter and take the longest-resident dog on a mini-break in the great outdoors, filming and photographing the ensuing fun they all have.
Upon returning the dog to the shelter, The Dog Breath Foundation team trains the shelter staff how to take stand-out photos of dogs, which can be used to help find forever homes for the animals.
Greer has secured some major partnerships for The Greatest Adventure: Canon donates the camera equipment that gets left with the shelter staff, and Frame.io, Adobe's cloud-based video collaboration app, is on board, too.
The Dog Breath Foundation has made six films of The Greatest Adventure so far, which can all be viewed on its YouTube channel. These include 'Val's Greatest Adventure'.
Val – a cattle dog mix – is a resident at the Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab, a non-profit based in Moab, Utah, which provides care for an estimated 500,000 stray dogs from Native American reservations in the 'four corners' area – Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
The film follows her being taken on two days of amazing adventures: strapped into an all-terrain vehicle [ATV] for some canyon exploration, followed by a canoe trip on the Colorado River (as shown at the top of this story).
Despite having lived at the Underdog center for 497 days at the time of The Greatest Adventure's visit, Val is an instant hit with the team, soon winning praise as "a 10 out of 10 perfect dog", and she really embraces being taken out on her adventure.
It was also a great experience for everyone involved – Greer and her team were joined by Ashley Park, Underdog's Rescue Events coordinator, and Cameron Bonitto, a certified canine training and behavior specialist.
"Most of the dogs we've worked with have been in the shelter for at least one year, waiting behind the bars of their cages for someone to notice them," says Greer.
"But a couple of the dogs have actually hit their two-year mark in the shelter with no interest."
The aim of The Greatest Adventure is simple: to search for forgotten, overlooked and in-need, long-term shelter dogs whose stories desperately deserve to be told.
Opting to do this through the power of photography, The Greatest Adventure team has put 10,000 miles on the tires of its branded RV, so far traveling from one coast of the US to the other and back again.
"When we get to any given corner of America, where we choose a shelter to work with, we go to that shelter and take its longest-term dog out of its cage and into the world," Greer explains.
The dog then gets to enjoy activities like climbing mountains, swimming in rivers, boating across lakes, riding open-air trains, hiking wild trails, riding canoes, exploring canyons in ATVs – and more.
The adventures are documented by Greer's trademark still photographs and also in 4K video, using a selection of Canon cameras: the EOS R3, EOS R5C and EOS C70.
Canon has been donating camera and lens kits to each shelter, which the shelter staff and volunteers get to keep after receiving a two-hour workshop from the Dog Breath Foundation on how to take eye-catching and effective photos for dog adoption.
"Most shelters don’t have the resources to obtain professional-level camera gear on their own," Greer explains.
"So with these tools in their hands, they can continue to do this life-changing photography work for hundreds – thousands, even – of dogs who will come into their care in the future.
"The Greatest Adventure project aims to give a voice to those who have no way to speak for themselves – and to remind the world that there are incredible dogs everywhere who are waiting patiently for a second chance."
And fortunately, Val has had hers – a couple living in Colorado adopted Val soon after they watched the film. Given how adorable Val is, they probably didn't even paws for thought!
So after 611 days of waiting for adoption, Val has found a new home – that's the power of photography to change lives, whether human or canine…
Visit The Dog Breath Foundation website to find out more about the initiative, and to support its mission.
Read more A longer version of this story appears in issue 292 (April 2025) of Digital Camera magazine, which is on sale now. See below for our best subscription deal!
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