For most people, retirement means slowing down. For Kelly McNamara, it meant finally having the freedom to decide exactly what she wanted her work to accomplish. After spending 25 years as an attorney, she retired from law in 2025 and turned her attention to something that had long mattered deeply to her: animals and photography. Today, McNamara is an award-winning professional pet and equine photographer based in Southern California. Through Kelly Mac Studios, she creates what she calls heirloom-quality “heARTwork,” focusing not only on the animals in front of her camera but also on the relationships people build with them.
Yet the biggest difference between her old career and her new one may not simply be the subject matter. Thanks to her pension, McNamara says her photography business does not need to generate significant income for her life to work, giving her the unusual freedom to build animal welfare directly into its purpose. Rather than treating charitable work as something separate from her business, she decided early on that giving back would be part of its foundation. That philosophy eventually took her much farther than a photography session ever could: to Spain, where she volunteered to help five rescued Galgos begin the journey toward their new lives in the United States.
Scroll down to follow Kelly’s story, and then meet the sighthounds whose portraits became part of her new photo series: Love at First Sight(hound).
More info: kellymacstudios.com | Instagram
As the dogs’ flight patron, Kelly was responsible for all five of them throughout the long journey from Madrid to San Francisco
The rescued dogs were Beto, Marcelo, Maru, Nerea, and Abelardo. McNamara served as their flight patron, accompanying all five from Madrid to San Francisco and taking responsibility for them throughout the trip. Organizations such as SAGE (Save a Galgo Español) rely on volunteer flight patrons because rescuing a dog in Spain is only one part of the process. For Galgos destined for homes or foster families in the US, someone still has to help bridge the thousands of miles between the shelter and the people waiting on the other side. SAGE describes flight guardians as volunteers who accompany rescued dogs on direct flights while the organization handles the necessary paperwork, crates, and other arrangements.
For dogs like these, getting rescued in Spain is only the beginning, finding a way to transport them abroad can be another major hurdle
Nerea was one of the dogs making the journey and Kelly remembers first seeing little more than her nose pressed against her crate
The need for that kind of help becomes easier to understand once you know a little more about the Galgo Español. Sometimes called the Spanish greyhound, the Galgo is an ancient sighthound breed, although Galgos are not actually closely related to English or Irish Greyhounds. They tend to be lean endurance runners with long bodies, streamlined heads, and a reputation for being gentle, quiet, and surprisingly relaxed at home.
After crossing thousands of miles together, Kelly and the five Galgos finally arrived at San Francisco International Airport
Volunteers and rescue supporters were waiting on the other side to help the dogs continue toward their foster or adoptive homes
Their lives in Spain, however, can look very different. Galgos have traditionally been used in rural areas for hunting and hare coursing. Many are treated primarily as working animals and are discarded once the relatively short hunting season ends or when they are no longer considered useful. Some are abandoned, others end up in municipal shelters, and rescue groups regularly encounter dogs that have been left to fend for themselves after suffering neglect or mistreatment.
Beto, Marcelo, Maru, Nerea, and Abelardo had each been given the chance to start a very different chapter of their lives
These elegant dogs could now also show the affection that sighthounds are also known for when living in a caring home
Rescue organizations spend enormous amounts of time getting these dogs to safety. Some frightened Galgos living loose may take weeks or even months of patient feeding and observation before rescuers can get close enough to secure them. From there comes veterinary care, rehabilitation, foster placement, adoption arrangements, and, for dogs heading abroad, international transport. SAGE, the US-based nonprofit connected to McNamara’s journey, works with rescue organizations in Spain and helps place Galgos and Podencos with families in the United States.
Nerea later became Ripley, a name Kelly says she has more than earned in her new life
The experience stayed with Kelly and eventually inspired a much larger photography project devoted to sighthounds
McNamara knew she could not adopt a Galgo herself. Her life simply was not set up for it. What she could do, however, was use the skill she had chosen for the next chapter of her own life: photography.
She called the resulting series Love at First Sight(hound), combining her love of photography with her commitment to animal welfare
Kelly photographed 26 dogs representing 14 different sighthound breeds for the project
That realization eventually grew into Love at First Sight(hound), a fine-art photography project centered on sighthounds. McNamara brought together 26 dogs representing 14 different sighthound breeds, photographing their elegance, personalities, and sometimes wonderfully goofy quirks. Each portrait is paired with a carefully crafted love letter inspired by conversations about the dog being photographed, turning the collection into a celebration not only of how these animals look but also of what they mean to the people who love them.
The collection goes well beyond Galgos, bringing together the remarkable variety found across the sighthound family
From towering Borzois to sleek Greyhounds, every breed brought a completely different presence in front of Kelly’s camera
Importantly, the project was never intended to feature only rescue dogs. McNamara wanted to bring together sighthounds from different backgrounds, rescues, beloved family companions, and purebred dogs alike, because the audience she hopes to reach extends beyond people who already know about the situation facing Galgos. Someone might first be drawn in because they love Whippets, Borzois, Greyhounds, or another sighthound breed, then discover a story they had never encountered before.
Long legs, narrow heads, deep chests, and powerful bodies reflect what sighthounds were historically bred to do: pursue prey by sight and speed
Yet their athletic appearance can be deceptive because many sighthounds are also famously gentle and content to spend plenty of time lounging
In that sense, the beauty of the portraits serves another purpose. The photographs invite people to stop and look closely, while the larger project introduces them to dogs whose circumstances might otherwise remain far removed from their everyday lives.
Kelly wanted the portraits to capture more than the dogs’ elegance, making room for their playful and sometimes wonderfully goofy personalities too
Not every dog featured in the book is a rescue, and that was a deliberate choice
That approach also reflects the broader philosophy behind McNamara’s photography. Her work celebrates animals that already have loving homes while using those same images to help animals still waiting for theirs. Love at First Sight(hound) supports SAGE, which rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes Galgos and Podencos, and works with shelters and rescue groups in Spain. The organization also helps arrange medical care, international transport, fostering, and US adoptions.
Kelly hoped that celebrating all kinds of sighthounds could introduce the Galgos’ story to people who might never have encountered it otherwise
Each portrait is also accompanied by a personalized “love letter” inspired by the bond between the dog and the people who know them best
What began with five dogs making an international journey therefore became much more than a single act of volunteering. For McNamara, the experience helped crystallize what she wanted her second career to be about: using the freedom she gained after leaving law to put her time, camera, and creative work behind something she cares about.
For Kelly, photographing animals has always been as much about their relationships with people as it is about creating a beautiful portrait
Her background as an attorney may seem far removed from pet photography, but retirement finally gave her the freedom to build a career around that purpose
Instead of treating charitable work as an occasional addition, Kelly designed her photography business so animal welfare would remain at its core
That makes Love at First Sight(hound) both a celebration of beloved dogs and a way to draw attention to those still waiting for safety
Proceeds from the project support SAGE, which helps rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome Galgos and Podencos from Spain
What began with five rescued dogs on one international flight ultimately became Kelly’s way of using her second career to help many more
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