Awesome Pet Photography by Richie Schwartz

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Pet-Friendly Offices:

The Benefits and Best Practices

As devastating as the pandemic has been, a few positives have come out of it — and the rise of pet-friendly offices is one of them. Well-known companies like Ben & Jerry’s, BISSEL, Rover, Build-A-Bear, and many other employers around the US have already adopted pet-friendly office policies, and your workplace should probably follow suit. After all, dog-friendly offices are good for worker morale — helping to decrease employee stress, increase workplace happiness, and improve communication and collaboration between colleagues.

To learn all about the benefits of creating a pet-friendly workplace, check out this article from Pets Photography Studio.

Pets at Work Improve Employee Morale and Retention

As we mentioned above, pets in the office have been shown to improve workplace morale, happiness, and communication. And according to Tony McReynolds of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), employees working in pet-friendly offices are more likely to have a positive relationship with their managers and colleagues, stay with their employers for the long term, and recommend their place of employment to others. Pet-friendliness also helps to attract and retain workers, particularly millennial employees.

That said, not all work environments are suitable for animals. Here are some alternatives:

●       Organizing an annual Take Your Dog to Work Day event.

●       Offering pet insurance as a benefit to your employees.

●       Hosting employee happy hours at dog parks or pet-friendly bars and restaurants.

●       Making employer contributions to charities like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) or the SPCA.

If your company operates remotely, Rover.com shares some additional tips for creating a pet-friendly company. You could invite pets onto video calls and encourage employees to share photos of their animal companions.

Pets Make a Great Addition to Your Employee Benefits Package

Today’s employees desire so much more than healthcare benefits and two weeks of paid time off. They want flexible work schedules, the ability to work from home, and a chance to share their office spaces with dogs, cats, and other animals.

As such, a pet-friendly office policy can be a great addition to your employee benefits package. A well-rounded benefits package shows that you care about and respect your employees — as well as their varying wants and needs. You’ll not only attract talented workers but retain them for the long term.

Best Practices for Pet-Friendly Workplaces

If you’re interested in creating a pet-friendly policy for your office, start by conducting an employee survey. Get everyone’s opinion on having pets in the office — and depending on the results — determine whether to allow pets in the office every day, once a week, or once a month. Some employees may have pet allergies, while others may be fearful of certain animals (particularly dogs).

When you’re ready to move forward with creating your pet policy, there are many things to consider. For instance, the office will need to be cleaned more frequently, and you’ll need to designate a green space that can be used for taking dogs outside during the workday. Plus there needs to be a section in the policy that is protocol for how to handle that time outside to take dogs for walks throughout the day (how many breaks can be taken, how long outside time will be, etc.).

You’ll also need to determine which types of pets will be allowed (e.g. dogs, cats, and therapy animals), and which will be prohibited (e.g. ferrets, monkeys, and snakes).

Once you’re ready to create your pet policy, it’s a good idea to follow these best practices:

●       Require all animals to be vaccinated, well-mannered, and housebroken.

●       Require animals to be clean, groomed, and up-to-date on veterinary treatments.

●       Request written requests from employees who wish to bring their pets into the office.

●       Designate a pet-free zone where people with allergies or other concerns can comfortably work.

●       Inform all employees of the new pet policy and how having pets in the workplace can be good for business.

Pet-Friendly Offices Make Happier Workers

Not everyone identifies as an animal lover, but even those that don’t typically enjoy the company of dogs, cats, and other animals can reap the benefits of working in a pet-friendly office. Pets reduce stress levels, make us happier and healthier, and enhance our workplace creativity and productivity — all things that benefit us as well as the companies we’re employed by.

Pets Photography Studio was founded by  Pet Photography Specialist Richie Schwartz, a former Veterinary Technician and Dog Trainer based in NY. In 40 years, he has photographed over 100,000 pets and is known as "America's Most Experienced Pet Photographer". 

For pet photography information call 516-263-4821 or email: Woof@PetsPhotography.com

The Making of a Pet Photography Business

The Making of a Pet Photography Business
Pets Photography Studio was founded by Richie Schwartz, often referred to as "America's Most Experienced Pet Photographer."

After a successful 25 year career in photography in New York doing photojournalism, weddings/events, families/ kids, pets, schools, models and commercial work, Richie decided to specialize. As a former Veterinary Technician, Dog Groomer and Trainer, working with animals exclusively seemed to be a natural progression. In 2002 he joined forces with another photo studio based in Canada. Their plan was to partner with other pet businesses in the US and Canada, that already had a customer base which matched a common target market, namely pet owners who shopped in brick and mortar stores. The business model would create partnerships with other pet businesses to form mutually beneficial relationships.

Through persistent and skillful negotiating efforts, their team was able to enter into contracts and collaborate  with the two largest pet supply stores in the US. That milestone was a game changer. They grew Great Beginnings Photo and it's subsidiary Pet One Photo into the world’s largest pet photography company. As Operations Manager, Richie was in charge of day to day operations, overseeing a staff of 40 photographers taking pet portraits at 600 Petsmart and Petco stores across 30 states. These two companies alone accounted for over 50,000 photo sessions each year.

In 2006, Richie left that company to open his own Pet Photography business in New York using a similar business model but on a smaller, more localized scale.  Richie, pitched his idea to PETCO and got a contract that put his studio in over 80 locations in NY, NJ, and CT.

In 2010, he had taken on the same role for national chain Pet Supplies “Plus,” servicing stores in NY, NJ, CT and PA. In 2013 Schwartz's studio partnered with Petland Discounts, a local pet supply store chain with over 100 stores in the NY area. His studio has worked with other major pet supply chains such as Pet Valu, as well as dozens of independent pet businesses such as grooming salons, doggie daycares, dog boarding kennels, pet stores, and animal hospitals.

On a personal level, Richie has been recognized both for his photography and his contributions to the community. He provides free photography for several Pet Rescue organizations.  Richie was named to NBC Universal's Petside.com’s list of Top 25 Pet People of 2010 along with Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, for his charity work with animals and his impact on the welfare of pets.

• 2018 - Named Pet Photographer of the Year (NY Pet Fashion Show)
• 2017 - Society Paws Award for Professional Pet Photographer (NYC)
• 2022 - SEVEN time winner: Best Pet Photographer on Long Island competition (LI Press) 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022

He has been featured on TV and radio and in magazines and newspapers such as Modern Dog Magazine, American Dog Magazine, Pet Home Magazine, Pets in the City Magazine, Metropolitan Magazine, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, and the Cats In Sweaters Calendars and book.

Richie is not only an acclaimed pet photographer, but he is an admired educator as well. He offers classes, mentoring, and coaching in Photography,  Sales, Starting and/or growing a  Photography business, Marketing for Photographers, Partnering for Pet Photographers and more. He is available for general business coaching and/or mentoring as well. He provides workshops and seminars both online and at various venues.  Richie runs several Facebook groups for Professional Photographers with topics ranging from technical skills to sales to customer service. He is also available as a public speaker on a variety of related topics. As of early 2022 he has a social media following of over 50,000 followers.

His Social Media includes:

Twitter / YouTube / Facebook / LinkedIn / Instagram

My first Instagram photo to get over 1,000 likes!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgOXSbMhPsD

Documentary Profile of Pet Photographer Richie Schwartz

Reasons Why Professional Photographers Cannot Work for Free

Dear potential photo buyer,

If you have been directed to this page, it is likely that you have requested the use of an image or images for free or minimal compensation.

As professional photographers, we receive requests for free images on a regular basis. In a perfect world, each of us would love to be able to respond in a positive manner and assist, especially with projects or efforts related to areas such as education, social issues, and conservation of natural resources. It is fair to say that in many cases, we wish we had the time and resources to do more to assist than just send photographs.

Unfortunately, such are the practicalities of life that we are often unable to respond, or that when we do, our replies are brief and do not convey an adequate sense of the reasons underlying our response.

Circumstances vary for each situation, but we have found that there are a number of recurring themes, which we have set out below with the objective of communicating more clearly with you, and hopefully avoiding misunderstandings or unintentionally engendering ill will.

Please take the following points in the constructive manner in which they are intended. We certainly hope that after you have had a chance to read this, we will be able to talk again and establish a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Photographs Are Our Livelihood
Creating compelling images is the way we make our living. If we give away our images for free, or spend too much time responding to requests for free images, we cannot make a living.

We Do Support Worthy Causes With Images
Most of us do contribute photographs, sometimes more, to support certain causes. In many cases, we may have participated directly in projects that we support with images, or we may have a pre-existing personal relationship with key people involved with the efforts concerned. In other words, each of us can and does provide images without compensation on a selective basis.

We Have Time Constraints
Making a leap from such selective support to responding positively to every request we get for free photographs, however, is impractical, if for no other reason than the substantial amount of time required to respond to requests, exchange correspondence, prepare and send files, and then follow-up to find out how our images were used and what objectives, if any, were achieved. It takes a lot of time to respond to requests, and time is always in short supply.

Pleas of “We Have No Money” Are Often Difficult to Fathom
The primary rationale provided in nearly all requests for free photographs is budgetary constraint, meaning that the requestor pleads a lack of funds.

Such requests frequently originate from organisations with a lot of cash on hand, whether they be publicly listed companies, government or quasi-government agencies, or even NGOs. Often, it is a simple matter of taking a look at a public filing or other similar disclosure document to see that the entity concerned has access to significant funding, certainly more than enough to pay photographers a reasonable fee should they choose to do so.

To make matters worse, it is apparent that all too often, of all the parties involved in a project or particular effort, photographers are the only ones being asked to work for free. Everyone else gets paid.

Given considerations like this, you can perhaps understand why we frequently feel slighted when we are told that: “We have no money.” Such claims can come across as a cynical ploy intended to take advantage of gullible individuals.

We Have Real Budget Constraints
With some exceptions, photography is not a highly remunerative profession. We have chosen this path in large part due to the passion we have for visual communication, visual art, and the subject matters in which we specialise.

The substantial increase in photographs available via the internet in recent years, coupled with reduced budgets of many photo buyers, means that our already meager incomes have come under additional strain.

Moreover, being a professional photographer involves significant monetary investment.

Our profession is by nature equipment-intensive. We need to buy cameras, lenses, computers, software, storage devices, and more on a regular basis. Things break and need to be repaired. We need back-ups of all our data, as one ill-placed cup of coffee could literally erase years of work. For all of us, investment in essential hardware and software entails thousands of dollars a year, as we need to stay current with new technology and best practices.

In addition, travel is a big part of many of our businesses. We must spend a lot of money on transportation, lodging and other travel-related costs.

And of course, perhaps most importantly, there is a substantial sum associated with the time and experience we have invested to become proficient at what we do, as well as the personal risks we often take. Taking snapshots may only involve pressing the camera shutter release, but creating images requires skill, experience and judgement.

So the bottom line is that although we certainly understand and can sympathise with budget constraints, from a practical point of view, we simply cannot afford to subsidise everyone who asks.

Getting “Credit” Doesn’t Mean Much
Part and parcel with requests for free images premised on budgetary constraints is often the promise of providing “credit” and “exposure”, in the form or a watermark, link, or perhaps even a specific mention, as a form of compensation in lieu of commercial remuneration.

There are two major problems with this.

First, getting credit isn’t compensation. We did, after all, create the images concerned, so credit is automatic. It is not something that we hope a third party will be kind enough to grant us.

Second, credit doesn’t pay bills. As we hopefully made clear above, we work hard to make the money required to reinvest in our photographic equipment and to cover related business expenses. On top of that, we need to make enough to pay for basic necessities like food, housing, transportation, etc.

In short, receiving credit for an image we created is a given, not compensation, and credit is not a substitute for payment.

“You Are The Only Photographer Being Unreasonable”
When we do have time to engage in correspondence with people and entities who request free photos, the dialogue sometimes degenerates into an agitated statement directed toward us, asserting in essence that all other photographers the person or entity has contacted are more than delighted to provide photos for free, and that somehow, we are “the only photographer being unreasonable”.

We know that is not true.

We also know that no reasonable and competent photographer would agree to unreasonable conditions. We do allow for the fact that some inexperienced photographers or people who happen to own cameras may indeed agree to work for free, but as the folk wisdom goes: “You get what you pay for.”

Please Follow-Up
One other experience we have in common is that when we do provide photographs for free, we often do not receive updates, feedback or any other form of follow-up letting us know how the event or project unfolded, what goals (if any) were achieved, and what good (if any) our photos did.

All too often, we don’t even get responses to emails we send to follow-up, until, of course, the next time that someone wants free photographs.

In instances where we do agree to work for free, please have the courtesy to follow-up and let us know how things went. A little consideration will go a long way in making us feel more inclined to take time to provide additional images in the future.

Wrap Up
We hope that the above points help elucidate why the relevant photographer listed below has sent you to this link. All of us are dedicated professionals, and we would be happy to work with you to move forward in a mutually beneficial manner.

Author: Tony Wu

Note to photographers: You can use the above text under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please ensure that you include a link to this page.  https://photoprofessionals.wordpress.com
 Text by Tony Wu. 

Celebrity Pet Photographer Richie Schwartz : Is Professional Photography Really "Worth It"?

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