Kimpton snapper's 1,000 dog picture challenge for charity

Simon Wallace is hoping his One Thousand Hounds project will raise £1,000 for animal charity Blue Cross.

Having he originally set himself a target of 100 pictures, he quickly realised he could do more, and has currently captured more than 400 photographs.

The first picture of Simon's One Thousand Hounds project. (Image: Simon Wallace)

"Rather than setting myself a New Year’s resolution, I set myself something bonkers to do, so I decided to photograph 1,000 dogs this year," he told this newspaper. 

"It was originally 100, but a few days in I thought I could get it done quite quickly, so I decided to up it.

"Someone then suggested that I should start selling the pictures, which I wasn’t keen on doing, so I decided to set up a JustGiving page to allow people to donate, and money will go to the Blue Cross at the end of the year.

Simon has snapped plenty of smiling dogs. (Image: Simon Wallace)

"It’s pretty much me taking my camera with me every time I take my dog for a walk, and I just stop and ask other dog walkers if I can take a picture of their dog."

Simon has some favourite breeds he likes to photograph too, continuing: "I have a border collie, so whenever I see a collie I will try and get a picture, but that’s my personal preference.

"I like taking pictures of the rescue dogs. I’ve taken a few pictures of dogs that have come from Romania or Turkey, and they’ve got bags of character.

Some dogs didn't look too happy about being photographed. (Image: Simon Wallace)

"The working dogs are great too. It’s hard to pick a particular favourite, but I took one of a corgi that I really love."

The Blue Cross has been helping sick, injured and homeless pets since 1897, and is a cause close to Simon's heart, with a site located in his home village of Kimpton.

"We’ve got a Blue Cross site just down the road from us, so they are very local to us and it’s such a good cause," he said.

"They do such good work with dogs and with all animals that are in need. I really hope we can raise £1,000."

To donate to Simon and the Blue Cross, visit www.justgiving.com/page/onethousandhounds.

Simon has currently snapped more than 400 dogs. (Image: Simon Wallace)

Plenty of action shots have been taken. (Image: Simon Wallace)

You can donate to Simon's Just Giving page. (Image: Simon Wallace)