Top 10 Photos of 2023
2023 was an interesting year for me. Between opening The Ranch for dog boarding & daycare and taking nearly 4 months off for a total hysterectomy, I didn't photograph as many clients this year as in years past.
But, 2 images from private clients made into the Top 10.
I also competed in Emerge which pushed me to create several of my favorite images of the year.
So enough preamble, here, in no particular order are my top images from this year...
Glitter Girl - The Sparkliest Horse
My very first session of the year required a nearly 3 hour drive each way to photograph two horses, Glitter Girl & Kappy. GG & Kappy's mom had a brilliant idea to photograph them accented with glitter embracing Glitter Girl's name.
We used cosmetic glitter and vaseline to carefully apply the glitter to the horse's coat and added a little extra in post processing to create some really stunning images.
Callie - In the Golden Sun
Backlit photos are one of my favorite types of images to create. Something about dogs washed in golden sunshine feels magical to me. When I think about dogs in my mind's eye I always see them backlit by the sun's rays.
In fact, this image of Callie is one of THREE of my top 10 photos of 2023 that feature backlighting!
Callie came to me in March for her second photoshoot as we planned to create a full year's worth of season's in her album. We met at historic downtown Madison Georgia's cultural center which has some of the prettiest azalea blooms I've ever seen. This particular image was taken just at the end of our session and Callie was finally tired enough to sit. I love the look on her face and the soft round bokeh lights that remind me of fairy lights.
Spaced Out - Maple the Pharoah Hound for Emerge
Maple is one of my favorite dogs to photograph. In fact, Maple makes TWO appearances on thie year's Top 10 list. It doesn't hurt that her mom is a fantastic dog trainer and Maple's manners are top notch.
For this image, I was competing in the Emerge dog photography challenges on a challenge using negative space. I loved the way Maple both blended in and stood out in this image. The antique brick in downtown Rutledge, GA perfectly compliments the reddish orange of Maple's fur. Negative space always feel peaceful to me, so using a monochrome image felt like a great fit.
Unfortunately, I missed a bit of Maple's EAR duplicated in the image submitted from judging making this image fall just short of a winning finish in the competition. I corrected my editing error and this image still takes a spot in my personal Top 10 of 2023.
Photographing Black Dogs - Lizzie in the Forest
Photographing black dogs can offer challenges - capturing the dark rich fur while not loosing those gorgeous brown chocolate eyes in a black blob of pixels is one of the reason's clients reach out to a professional dog photographer. This image was taken at number 2 of Lizzie's 3 photo sessions.
We met at Athens, Georgia's Rainbow Forest to capture some images for Emerge, but then I spotted these two trees just down the hill and knew I would love to have them frame Lizzie's beautiful face. Luckily, the sun had just sunk below the horizon giving us beautiful soft non directional light.
Dog Hotel - Athens, GA Graduate Hotel
The only photo featuring one of my own dogs to make the 2023 Top 10 list! This was another photo for the Emerge dog photography challenges. This time our challenge was all about "Under Cover" - or being inside for the photos. I wanted to find somewhere cool with interesting furniture. The Graduate Hotel - a dog friendly hotel! - fit the bill perfectly!
They were kind enough to let us crash the lobby, set up lights, and photograph a couple of dogs. I love Mikey's expression in this final photo and he's practicing his newest trick "head down" which is one of my favorites to photograph!
Betty the Therapy Horse at Oconee Therapeutic Riding
One of the highlights of my year was getting to meet & photograph the therapy horses at Oconee Therapeutic Riding. The work that these horses do alongside the incredible trainers for children and adults in the community is inspiring. While I loved photographing all the horses, I especially loved this image of Betty coming out of the darkness and into the light.
Delilah - In the Wild Flowers
Even though I was just about 6 weeks post surgery, I still had a goal to finish my images for the Emerge dog photography challenges, so I planned a short session with my friend Michelle and her dog Delilah.
As we headed to our planned location I spotted one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Nestled at the bottom of the hill at Indian Creek Park (one of my favorite places to photograph dogs) in what I call the "meadow" was an explosion of wild flowers.
I have lived here for 10 years now and have never seen the wildflowers like this. Typically the field is regularly mowed and while beautiful with grass and trees and filtered sunlight, it had never been this fantasy land overrun with flowers.
Once we hiked down, I realized why it hadn't been mowed - several weeks with LOTS of rain had left the entire meadow floor soft and muddy which kept the lawn mowing tractors off. We set Delilah up and I photographed this one image before hiking back up the hill absolutely exhausted, but so happy with this photo.
I spent a lot of my recovery driving over to the park to walk among the flowers until they were finally cut. It still feels a little like a magic trip to Narnia.
Golden Golden Retriever - Feather at the Farm
Here we are with another backlit image from 2023. This time it's Feather the gorgeous Golden Retreiver photographed for the Bokehlicious challenge in Emerge 2023. Bokehlicious was all about capturing those little round circles of light in the lens. My vision for this challenge needed a golden dog to play into the colors of golden sunset bokeh.
Luckily my friend Marilyn has the MOST gorgeous young Golden Retriever named Feather AND she was willing for me to come kidnap Feather for the afternoon to photograph her at my sister in law's farm in Rutledge, GA. This image is everything I imagined in my mind and I love the way it turned out!
Double Trouble - Double Pharoah Hounds for Emerge
For the Double Trouble challenge in Emerge I really wanted to find two dogs that looked as much alike as possible. It's harder to find a more beautifully matched pair of dogs that Maple & her daughter Party.
I tasked their mom Hannah with practicing having the girls standing facing each other based on my very technical concept drawings (saracasm, lol). Be sure to click over the Facebook the see the before & after.
This image not only made a Top 10 in the Emerge challenges it finished as the NUMBER ONE image for the Double Trouble challenge.
Shake! Shake! Shake it off! - With Twyla the Chocolate Lab
For my final favorite image from 2023, I thought we could have a little fun! This isn't my usual image style, but I love about competing in the Unleashed Dog Photography challenges is adapting my style to fit the brief. I'm using all my favorite colors for dog photography - browns and greens - and mixing in some great expression with the one little tooth sticking out - and finishing it with a really dynamic SHAKE from Twyla!
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Yes, Even Your Dog Can Have Professional Pet Photos
How do you know if your dog can have professional pet photos?
Maybe you worry that your dog is too:
Hyperactive
Reactive
Untrained
Blind or deaf
Timid, Afraid, or Nervous
In this blog, I’m going to share some tips & tricks I’ve learned as a professional pet photographer to help EVERY dog succeed during our dog photo session!
My Dog is Hyperactive
Do most of your dog photos look like a blur?
Having a dog that seems to be always bouncing off the walls can be tough. You’ve probably found that the best photos you’ve managed with your phone are sleeping pictures because everything else you try results in a blur across the screen.
Here’s where working with a professional pet photographer with professional level gear will really make a difference in photographing your dog.
Super fast shutter speeds are capable of almost literally freezing time - we’re talking freezing the flutter of a hummingbird wing fast. There’s a reason camera bodies & lenses matter - and a super fast shutter speed for your hyperactive dog is one of them!
My Dog is Dog or People Reactive
Having a reactive dogs is probably in the top 3 reasons people wait on hiring a professional pet photographer, so you’re not alone.
When your dog struggles with seeing other dogs out on a walk or is unsure about meeting new people; it’s scary to think about having him photographed where other dogs might walk by or he might react to the photographer holding a giant eyeball (camera lens) right in his face.
If your dog is people or dog reactive - or just easily overstimulated - you should definitely hire a professional DOG photographer.
As someone who has worked with reactive dogs (both as a photographer & foster mom) I have taken professional dog training classes to help me set these dogs up for success.
By using a longer focal length I can be 20 or more feet away from your dog throughout the session keeping the pressure low. I understand dog body language and can read what your dog is saying.
A professional pet photographer is also an expert at removing leads - so your dog remains completely safe just a few feet from you at all times and you still receive gorgeous images where you never know there was once a leash.
And lastly, I can help you find a location that’s suitable for whatever your dog needs. We can rent a private venue ensuring we’re the only people and dogs on the property or we can use a studio where we can be safely inside throughout the session.
Wyatt is a dog for whom life can be scary. He’s tiny and cute and fluffy and really flipping adorable, and that means people cross his boundaries a lot. They want to touch and cuddle and smoosh his fluff. But that’s really scary to Wyatt, and he wants to say no, and he can’t. So Wyatt’s mom is his voice and his advocate.
Wyatt’s mom detailed during our planning that Wyatt is nervous of strangers and he battles a lot of anxiety and reactivity. And then before she got Wyatt out of the car she spoke to me again so I would be prepared for Wyatt’s needs. She brought all his favorite treats and his emotional support grandma to help too.
We rented Heartwood Acres, a beautiful private wedding venue in Eatonton, Georgia for his session so we didn’t have to worry about strangers or other dogs during his photo session. I never touched Wyatt during our time together. In fact, I mostly ignored him. A few times he approached me for a sniff and we just let him do his own thing, no pressure. And Wyatt had a great time!
He’s happy and relaxed in his portraits. He ate tasty snacks and quickly learned the click of the shutter worked like clicker training and the treat was on the way right from mom who was just feet away on the other the end of the leash.
Working with a professional dog photographer means working with someone who has the skills and understanding to let your dog be themselves.
My Dog Has No Training or Manners
“But my dog doesn’t even know how to sit!”
I hear this all the time - and guess what? Your dog doesn’t have to know any commands to have a successful professional pet photography session.
Sure, having some basics can help move the session along, but there are beautiful images to be had of your dog just doing their dog thing. Dogs standing, walking, running, climbing, and exploring all make for beautiful natural poses - with NO training required.
I’ve spent years working with shelter & rescue dogs photographing them for their adoption pictures - like Dunkin pictured here. Many of these dogs not only have no training, they are dealing with a new place, new situation, and new people. My experience getting photos of these
My Dog is Blind or Deaf
Whether your dog was born with a disability or has lost his vision or hearing due to advanced age - you can still have beautiful professional pet photos.
As humans, we process the world through our eyes (that’s probably why you're drawn to professional pet photography - you like the way it looks.)
Our dogs however, process the world through their NOSE.
When working with any dog, but especially those that are missing another sensory input, knowing that dogs see the world with their incredible sniffer, is an invaluable tool I’ve learned as a professional pet photographer. On more than one occasion I have arrived home smelling like I use tuna fish scented lotion and liverwurst eau du parfum.
We can direct your dog’s “gaze” by drawing their nose.
Here adorable Philomena and her brother Vito pose on the bridge at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Vito has been blind since he was young due to a genetic condition, but his nose is still top notch.
My Dog is Timid, Nervous, or Afraid
I’m an introvert and my wife says she spent the first 6 months of our courtship just trying to get me to talk to her.
Meeting new people in new situations can be hard for us as people - even when it’s something we want to do and when we understand that it’s just butterflies in our stomach and the new thing is actually going to eat us.
Dogs don’t experience that the same way. Shy dogs can’t reason that if they just get brave and say hi they might be rewarded with a new friend (or some tasty morsel).
And your dog probably isn’t thinking about the beautiful pictures you’re going to have together.
So here’s what I do as a professional dog photographer: I focus first on making this a fun & positive experience for your dog.
Maybe that means I spend the first 10 minutes of our session just letting him sniff everything in my camera bag and maybe the next 5 minutes is about clicking the shutter and handing out treats before I ever bring the camera to my eye. Like we did with Bonnie the sheltie pictured above.
Or maybe that means we choose a location we know will be quiet and where you can take a couple practice walks to get used to the area in the weeks leading up to our session.
Or maybe it just means your dog needs more space during the session and I’ll use my long lens and calm inside voice so he’s comfortable.
Or maybe you both attend a few Pet Portrait Events first to warm up to me and the “game” of having their photo made.
We will work together to make your dog successful!
After more than 10 years working with dogs, I can confidently say I can photograph even your dog. Not only do I know that even your dog can have professional pet photos - I guarantee all my work. If I can’ deliver images you absolutely love - I’ll refund 100%.