Ahead of National Volunteer Week (15-21 June), we talk to photographer Louise Hatton about her passion for wildlife and her experience volunteering for WWF. And for those who are thinking about giving volunteering a go, we bring you practical advice from Volunteering New Zealand on how to make sure working for free works for you.
"I've always loved animals... I used to volunteer for the SPCA in Nelson as a kid, cleaning out the cat and dog runs," says Louise Hatton.
When I ask how old she was when she did this, the speed of her reply is revealing: "Just as soon as I could drive there." Her straightforwardness suggests that, from her point of view, going to help animals was the natural next step after getting her drivers license.
Cleaning out pet runs is a somewhat less glamorous picture to her career today as a professional photographer. Hatton has photographed some of New Zealand's most prominent people including Sir Peter Jackson, and she is sought after by commercial and fashion clients.
What hasn't changed is her passion for looking after animals, and she now volunteers some of her time to take photographs for WWF New Zealand.
"For me it's about helping build awareness - before I talked to WWF I had no idea there were just 55 Maui's dolphins left. So it's good to help get the word out there more. You feel like you're helping - you're not just sitting there, you're actually making a difference. They let me have my input into the project - it's not just 'take this picture'."
Rather than going into the field to photograph wildlife, WWF is more likely to ask Hatton to photograph people: "Our campaigns are about getting people involved in conservation - whether that's changing to more sustainable ways of living, or signing a petition to save a species," explains Mike O'Connor, Communications Advisor at WWF New Zealand.
"Having strong photographs that get our message across is really important, and Louise has an eye for producing a photo that tells a story. It makes an instant impact and it triggers a response, and that's incredibly valuable for us. We work in partnership and that's true of our work with volunteers, with Louise we get the benefit of her input to the ideas at the start of projects."
Hatton recently photographed rugby players Victor Vito, Brad Shields and Reggie Goodes for a social media campaign promoting WWF's Maui's dolphin public sightings hotline, 0800 4MAUIS. Now, she's volunteering her time for a new project - producing black & white portraits of people who have signed WWF's 'Last 55' petition, to encourage more people to get involved.
It's an apt cause, because she feels strongly about protecting dolphins, but without the sentimentality: "We're lucky to have them. When I was four or five, we went swimming in Golden Bay and they swam around us. I was up on my Dad's shoulders. I always see them when I'm out on the Sounds. We were in a tiny boat and this massive pod of dolphins came up to us. One stuck its nose in the boat... I was pretty scared."
She says that she can find the time to volunteer because "with photography it's not a 9-to-5 job. Plus I'm such a people person, I need connection and I need to be busy."
Vanisa Dhiru, CEO of Volunteering New Zealand, says that the social connection is a common reason people volunteer: "For some people community connections, and networks and being social is really important. For some people it's just about giving. Others are just doing it for experience and the outcome is that they're doing something for the community."
Dhiru volunteers on the board of trustees for Inspiring Stories and the National Council of Women: "For me personally, being able to give something back in areas I have an interest in and for people I want to give back to, as well as gaining experience are both important for me."
The NZ General Social Survey 2012 found around 30 per cent of New Zealand volunteers and Dhiru believes this is in part because volunteering is part of the New Zealand psyche.
But she says that not every opportunity works out, and one of the issues is over-commitment: "Volunteers taking on a role without realising the time it will take is a common pitfall. The other pitfall is unmet expectations. For example if a volunteer wants to gain a specific experience, but actually the best thing for the charity is for them to do something else, which might not reach the volunteer's requirement for experience. It means you need to have a really good conversation up front."
She says budgeting the time is a good start to ensuring a volunteering experience goes well. "The first thing is understanding that you've got time to do it. Is there something in your life that perhaps you don't really need to be doing - could you do one fewer hour of watching TV a week, for example. Once you know how much time you have available, ask people in your community, your friends, your family, what volunteer causes are out there you could get involved in, because the best volunteering happens when there's a personal connection."
Something which holds true for Hatton's connection to WWF: "I knew the team through working at Ocean Design, and when I quit my job to take the risk to become a freelance photographer, I approached WWF at the same time, about six years ago. I've grown with WWF as a photographer."
