As part of my Amplify series, today I am featuring friend and award winning photography Ellen Zangla. Ellen specializes in pet photography, and does an incredible job capturing the personality of each animal.
I don’t remember exactly when I met Ellen, but it was definitely through my wife Joanne. Both Ellen and Joanne are animal lovers and have done lots of work for a variety of animal rescue groups where we live in Virginia, and they move in many of the same circles.
Ellen lives in Hamilton, VA and has been pursuing photography for more than thirty years. In 2009 she decided to merge her love of animals and her love of photography, and began taking photos of pets and animals. Though she also did family photos and high school portraits, Ellen soon move to exclusively photographing pets, and sometimes pets with their people.
I may be a bit biased about Ellen’s work, since she has photographed many of our animals over the years, and I could fill up this feature with all photos of our crew. No matter whose pet she’s photographing, Ellen has a way of capturing animals, and anyone who has ever tried to take a photo of their own pet will know just how hard it is to get a decent photo of an animal. As I browsed through her photos, it was so difficult to just select a few. She has so many amazing photos.
Ellen typically takes photos outside, especially when working with dogs, and will often use her own backyard as the setting. But she is flexible and easily adapts to taking photos inside, especially for animals that can’t be outdoors. Ellen is a master and takes beautiful formal portraits of animals, but it’s the more candid ones that I like — the dog peeking over the fence, the action shot of the dog jumping, or the intimate moment between a kitten and her human mommy. These more informal images particularly pull me in.
Cats and dogs probably make up most of her pet photography, but Ellen never shirks from a challenge, and has photographed rabbits, guinea pigs, lizards, and even chickens.
Though she photographs mainly pets, Ellen has also turned her lens to capture some stunning views of wildlife and nature whether in her own backyard or out somewhere in the wilderness.
Probably more impressive than her skill with the camera and capturing images of animals, is Ellen’s generosity. Ellen has a huge heart, and dedicates a good bit of her time to helping animals in need, including the four legged family members that she has rescued and adopted over the years. Her generosity doesn’t stop there, and she has used her photography to raise tens of thousands of dollars over the years for a variety of local animal welfare and rescue groups. Teaming up with the likes of Leesburg Veterinary Hospital, Woofie’s, Happy Hound, and Dog Day Afternoon Ellen has done community photoshoots such as Santa Paws and Paws and Claus where pets and their people can have their photo taken with Santa. Her work has benefited the Leesburg Veterinary Hospital Pumpkin Fund, Friends of Homeless Animals, Lonely Hearts Animal Rescue, and many others.
Her biggest fundraising adventure most likely is her Tails of Loudoun County coffee table book. In 2018 Ellen began photographing more than 200 pets for the book as a way to raise money for two local animal welfare groups, Friends of Loudoun County Animal Services and Loudoun Community Cat Coalition. Along with the photos, Ellen has included stories of the animals. It’s a beautiful book. Published in November 2019, Tails of Loudoun County has raised nearly $30,000 to help local animals.
Ellen’s photographs are truly wonderful, and they are such a gift to pet lovers. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little peek into Ellen’s work. To find out more about Ellen and to see so much more of her work, please check out her website and social media platforms.
Find Ellen online:
Website: https://ellenzanglaphotography.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellenzanglaphotography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenzangla/
Tails of Loudoun County Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TailsOfLoudounCounty/