Photographer's talent rescues abandoned animals

>>> finally tonight the power of a picture. when a florida photographer pointed her camera at a stray dog . she is making a difference for hundreds of animals now. 4-year-old collin smith's parents already had their hands full just looking after a preschooler. the last thing they had in mind was getting a dog until they saw that first unforgettable photo of cali , a 2-year-old pit bull mix that had the good fortune of being rescued by a professional photographer, jinger montileon. jinger couldn't keep her, so to find cali a new family she did what came naturally. she had the dog post, snapped her picture and posted it on her facebook page.

>> there was one picture of her with cali that had reading glasses on it was just adorable.

>> reporter: exactly the reaction she was looking for. some one who would fall so in love with cali 's photo shea would then fall for the dog itself.

>> jinger has a way of taking pictures where she can capture the personality of the dog. she did that with cali .

>> reporter: jinger makes her living, photographing miami's mansions, high end condoses and pricey yachts up for sale but when she saw how a good photo of cali won the dog a hope, she began pointing her lens at rescue animals.

>> hi.

>> i had a skill. i take photos. i'm a photographer. so i wanted to give back.

>> reporter: debbie day says jinger's photos are making the difference between life and death for the dogs at her rescue group .

>> it is a color, depth, flat. warm, fuzzy.

>> reporter: a strong contrast to the mug shoufts animals available at shelters, poorly shot pictures usually taken soon after a frightened or lost animal is caged. since she started last summer, jinger's photos have helped place hundreds of homeless pets. the humane society of america says more than half of all dogs and cats that enter shelters each year don't survive. that's some 4 million animals nationwide. and the problem is getting worse. not better.

>> the pace with which people are adopting has not kept up with the number of animals surrendered. it's a race against time every single day.

>> reporter: a race, jinger is helping lucky dogs like cali win.