I don’t remember exactly when I had the pleasure of photographing Tamara Martin and Willow for a magazine article. It was quite a few years ago. The article was about Willow’s work in helping victims throughout the criminal process and Tamara’s part as her handler. After learning about this wonderful program, I offered my photography services to the HERO program in Alabama and have been honored to do photographs for them several times over the years.
The HERO program is a statewide Certified Facility Dog Program to assist in helping victims throughout the criminal process. The program is executed by the Office of Prosecution Services and funded by a grant reward through ADECA. Learn more about this wonderful program here: https://opsheroinfo.org/
Tamara called me in the fall last year because they wanted to send out Christmas cards. Tamara arranged for Santa to come and scheduled the Governor’s Mansion as our meeting place. The twelve Canine Companions came for the shoot with their handlers.
Here are some of the photos with Santa provided to the program and handlers:
Some of the dogs gave Santa some kisses which he graciously accepted!
We took a group photo of the dogs with Santa accompanied by more kisses.
While we were all together we took a group shot of the handlers and dogs as well as updated individual photos.
Sadly, Willow passed away a few years ago. Tamara’s new Canine Companion is Tahini and she provided my favorite image of the day:
If you need photographs for your non-profit program please contact me to see if we might work together. I currently provide volunteer photography services to local animal rescues and shelters, to service animals and their people, to crisis pregnancy centers and painted portraits to The Memory Project. You may view more here: https://photographybydiannapaulk.com/community-service/