A shelter photo often decides who stops scrolling and who moves on. For many dogs and cats, that single image becomes their first real chance to be seen.
Adam Goldberg saw that problem up close, then built his work around changing it. Through AGoldPhoto and the Stronger Shot Adoption Photo Program, he helps shelters replace rushed intake images with portraits that show personality, trust, and connection.
We sat down with Adam to learn how professional shelter pet adoption photography supports adoption visibility, strengthens shelter storytelling, and gives overlooked animals a better chance to meet the people meant for them.
Adam, for readers discovering your work for the first time, who are you, and what set you on the path from web designer to shelter pet adoption photography?
My name is Adam Goldberg, and I live in Tampa, Florida. I’m married to my wife, Mary, and we have a 3.5-year-old son, 2 senior dogs, Bee and Rigby, and 1 senior cat, Sierra.
I worked at an animal shelter in South Florida from 2013 to 2015 and taught myself photography, including photographing shelter animals. Originally, I was hired to manage the shelter’s website and social media, but once the website redesign was finished, they asked me to revamp the shelter’s photography program too.
After working there, I took a corporate job in marketing and didn’t really enjoy it, so I started volunteering at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay in May of 2016, just to take adoption photos, to help shelter pets get adopted.
Once I posted those photos on my social media, people started asking me to take photos of their pets too. It didn’t take long for me to see this as a business opportunity to pursue.
Before you ever stepped inside an animal shelter with a camera, what experiences were quietly shaping your relationship with animals and the rescue world?
I wasn’t a photographer before working at an animal shelter, but having countless shelter dogs to practice on really shaped my relationship with shelter dogs.
At that animal shelter, my task was photographing Pit Bulls, mostly, and I didn’t know much about them. I only heard negative things about them in the media, but once I spent time photographing them, I fell in love. They’re usually the sweetest and most loving dogs at the shelter.
Photographing them in a way that sheds that negative reputation became addictive.
There's a moment for most founders when something clicks, a specific experience that makes the status quo feel unacceptable. What was that moment for you inside a shelter as a pet photographer?
When people said to me that they knew tons of wedding and portrait photographers, but no pet photographers, that was a signal that I was on to something. I’ve learned that if you zig while others zagging, you’ll get their attention.
Building AGoldPhoto Pet Photography into a recognized brand takes real commitment. What specifically drew you toward animals as your photographic subject, and what kept you there?
People tend to hate being photographed, and everybody loves photos of dogs, whether it’s theirs or a shelter dog. I got tired of people complaining about how they looked in photos, so I knew that working with animals would be a stop to that.
Most shelters still rely on intake photos taken when animals first arrive, often in poor light, stressed, and disoriented. Walk us through what you saw when you first encountered these images and why they concerned you.
It’s really difficult to get a good photo of a shelter dog when they first arrive, which is at intake. Their life can depend on a first impression to an adopter, and if I can help a shelter dog or cat make a good first impression, that can make the difference in them keeping their life or being overlooked and forgotten. I have a real knack for reading animals and capturing their personality in a way that makes them more appealing.
In the world of online pet adoption, how much does a single photograph actually influence whether someone clicks on a listing or keeps scrolling?
It’s very important to ensure that a pet is captured in a way that shows their personality. It’s not easy to do, of course, but if you have the skills, knowledge, and patience, that photo can make a huge difference in the life of that animal.
When you started working directly with shelters, what were the most common photography and marketing mistakes you noticed in how adoptable pets were being presented online?
A common mistake is photographing a pet from a top-down angle. You don’t get the correct size of the dog when you do that.
Take us back to the beginning of the Stronger Shot Adoption Photo Program: what gap were you trying to fill, and how did the concept take shape?
Stronger Shot solved 3 problems.
- Pet shelters usually rely on volunteers or staff to take photos of shelter animals. Shelter staff wear many hats, and there is a constant flow of pets, so it’s hard to keep up with everything on top of everything else on their plate. Volunteers often come and go, and it can be hard for shelters to keep volunteers long-term if they also need to spend time making a living. Stronger Shot solves that by paying photographers.
- Photography is an expensive hobby, so we help pay photographers for this important work, and it incentivizes them to keep going to the shelter every month.
- Brands want to work with shelters, but they don’t know how, or their expectations are too high. Brands want exposure for the product donations they give, but it’s hard for shelter staff to meet those demands, and even if they could, the quality of the content isn’t always suitable for the brand.
The name "Stronger Shot" carries real weight. What does that phrase mean to you, and what does it represent for the animals and the people working to save them?
The name “Stronger Shot” came to me as an idea in the shower.
We could replace that awful intake photo with a new photo, which literally gives them a Stronger Shot, but it’s also giving them another “shot” at adoption. I’ve been doing the concept of Stronger Shot for 10+ years, but once the name came to me at the end of 2023, it really resonated with people.
How does the Stronger Shot program actually work inside a shelter, from identifying which animals need photography to how those portraits end up in adoption listings?
It can vary from shelter to shelter, but we usually focus on the pets who have been there the longest, senior dogs, bully breeds, etc. We don’t usually photograph puppies or highly adoptable dogs who don’t need the help.
When you first brought this idea to shelters, what kind of reception did you get? Were they immediately on board, or did you have to make the case?
The majority of shelters love and welcome the idea. They need to have the space for us to set up a small studio, 10×15 ft. at a minimum, and be willing to provide at least 3 volunteers to help with the shoots.
You've photographed thousands of shelter animals at this point. What measurable shifts in adoption interest have you seen when professional portraits replace intake photos?
We’re working on the best data collection methods.
As of Q1 2026, our preliminary data compared the difference in adoption rates between the dogs we photographed vs the dogs we didn’t. It shows something interesting!
- First, we’re photographing the more difficult to adopt dogs like terriers, black dogs, and seniors.
- Second, we can maintain the same or better adoption rate of the more difficult to adopt dogs vs the highly adoptable dogs.
Is there a particular dog or cat, a long-stay resident that everyone had written off, who finally found a home after getting a Stronger Shot portrait? What happened?
We photographed a dog named Lilac, who was overlooked time and time again. She looked very sad in her kennel, and she needed to be the only dog in the home. We posted her photos and ran a week’s worth of Meta ads to her profile, and she got adopted a few days after the campaign ended.
Senior dogs, pit bull–type dogs, and other stigmatized animals consistently face longer stays in shelters. Why does professional pet photography matter especially for these pets, and what have you seen it do?
Professional pet photography helps these difficult-to-adapt dogs. But since we’re also creating videos for them, they’re catching the eye of people who may have never stepped foot in the shelter, or they’re more likely to end up on their list of potential dogs when they may not have otherwise. These dogs need creative ways to get people’s attention, and these new photos and videos do just that.
From the pet shelters you work with, what does the feedback actually say about how improved pet photography moves the needle on online engagement and adoption inquiries?
The anecdotal feedback we get is that Stronger Shot is making a huge difference. One of our partners, Texas Humane Heroes in Austin, Texas, claimed that they had people waiting for them to open to adopt one of the dogs we photographed, which doesn’t happen very often. They’ve also seen an increase in foot traffic since starting with Stronger Shot.
A pet shelter is one of the most stressful environments an animal can be in. What's your approach to helping a dog or cat settle down enough to show who they really are in front of a camera?
We help them settle down by keeping the vibes in the photo room as calm as possible and try to keep the energy low and use only a few words at a time, like sit, stay, and lie down, for example. Moreover, we also use high-quality treats and cheese to keep them motivated and ensure they’re having fun too. We never want to force a dog or cat for photos; we listen to their body language to decide whether to keep the shoot going.
What visual ingredients, light, framing, expression, and context, make a shelter portrait genuinely emotionally compelling rather than just technically decent?
We try to portray a happy expression whenever possible. And, we also like to show human interaction in the behind-the-scenes videos we make, which we have found perform well online, too. Showing human interaction could be a subconscious signal to an adopter, and it helps them visualize themselves interacting with that pet.
Walk us through a real session inside a shelter. What does your workflow look like from the moment you arrive to the moment you hand over the final images?
We have volunteers who bring the dogs from their kennels to the photo room. Once in the room, we let them sniff around, but we try to limit human interaction until we get the winning photo. In addition, we see if they can sit, which most do, by giving them a high-value treat. We also trigger the flash while their leash is on to see how they handle it. Most of the pets don’t care about the flash, and once that is determined, we take their leash off, and the shoot begins.
Over the years, have you seen a genuine shift in how pet shelter leadership thinks about photography, moving from an afterthought to an actual part of their adoption strategy?
I think shelter leadership has always known that photography is important, but may have lacked the resources to make it a priority, whether that’s time, space, or talent.
For pet photographers who feel pulled toward rescue work, what skills and mindset do they actually need before walking into a shelter with a camera?
It takes a lot of patience, persistence, and compassion to be comfortable doing work like this.
Many pet shelters are running on tight budgets with no photographer on staff. What practical, low-cost steps can they take right now to improve how their animals look online?
Shelters could use any modern cell phone if they don’t have a photographer on staff, but getting them outside of the shelter environment is a good first step. Use a blank wall instead of the clinic or their kennel. Photograph the dogs at eye level vs from up above and use lots of treats to get their attention.
How can shelters weave together pet photography, storytelling, and social media into something that actually drives adoptions, not just likes?
Shelters can focus on as much detail as they have about each animal to try to appeal to an adopter. Leaning into that pet’s backstory and also their personality would help a lot.
Programs like Stronger Shot thrive on community. What can local businesses, veterinary professionals, and individual photographers do to expand adoption visibility for shelter animals?
Social media is so powerful. Sharing in local groups can help a lot, but also mobilizing a foster network could help too. Lots of pet shelters are also offering slumber parties, doggy day outs and other short term foster programs to help get the dogs out of the shelter environment for more enrichment. When a dog is more enriched, it may show better in its kennel vs a dog with no enrichment and that could make or break an adoption.
Where do you want Stronger Shot to be in ten years, and what would it look like if the program achieved everything you've hoped for in how America adopts shelter animals?
My goal is to serve 100+ shelters while building strong recurring support from brands and sponsors, so the program can eventually sustain itself.
For anyone reading this who has never adopted a shelter pet before, what do you want them to take away from your work and from the animals waiting behind those photographs?
Just because a pet is in a shelter, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with them. It means that the person who had them before could no longer care for them properly.
Finally, where can people follow your work, support the Stronger Shot program, or get in touch if they want to collaborate?
Thank you, Adam, for giving PETBIZS readers such a clear look at the heart and strategy behind Stronger Shot. Your work reminds us that shelter photography is not about making animals look perfect. It is about helping people see their personality, softness, confidence, and chance for connection.
For shelters, photographers, veterinary teams, pet brands, and local businesses, your message is powerful: better adoption visibility starts with better storytelling. One photo may not solve every shelter challenge, but it can help the right person stop scrolling and see the pet waiting for them.
