Happiness is Colorific — Behind the Scenes
When the Embark challenge brief said "Colorific," I knew immediately what I wanted to make.
Something bright. Something joyful. Something that felt like the kind of photograph that makes people stop scrolling and say oh.
What I didn't know was that the final image would require me to sit down in a pile of trash and debris behind a parking lot in Suwanee, Georgia.
Worth it.
What Is the Embark Dog Photography Challenge?
The Embark Challenges come from Unleashed Education, founded by two of the world's leading pet photographers and educators — Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock.
The premise: professional pet photographers around the globe are given 12 creative briefs. Each one requires making a single photograph that fits the challenge theme. Images are submitted by deadline, judged by working professionals, and ranked — with Top 20 and Top 10 placements and written feedback on every entry.
Colorific was challenge one.
Meet Rabun — The Rescued Dalmatian
I knew Rabun before his mom Jennifer did.
Back in 2017, I was the director of the Humane Society of Morgan County in Madison, Georgia when the Georgia Department of Agriculture asked for our help with a puppy mill being shut down. On site: dozens of purebred dogs in concrete runs with no access to grass, cleaned only by hosing waste out the back and down the hill — which is how authorities had been notified in the first place.
Rescues came together. Dalmatian puppy Rabun was one of those dogs.
He was taken in by another rescue, vetted, and eventually adopted by Jennifer. He has thrived. Excellent frisbee dog. Great with kids. Loves to paddleboard. Obedience superstar.
When I started looking for Embark models and Rabun's application came across my desk — a black and white spotted dog for a brief about color — I knew immediately.
The First Attempt (The One That Didn't Count)
Jennifer and I met at sunrise at a new mural installation in downtown Monroe, Georgia. We made really fun images. I was happy with what we got.
Then I checked my dates and realized I had photographed him one day before the challenge window opened. None of the images would qualify.
I had to call Jennifer and ask — sheepishly — if she'd get up before the sun again.
Not only did she say yes, she emailed me a list of murals in her town of Suwanee that she thought I might like. I clicked the link to the rainbow mural and knew immediately we had our location.
Getting the Shot
My original idea was to position Rabun right in the center of the rainbow. We started there. It wasn't working — the composition felt flat, too obvious, too centered.
One of the things I love about challenge work is that the goal is one image. That constraint forces you to slow down and really look. To move around. To notice what's in the frame that shouldn't be, and what's out of the frame that should be in it.
I noticed the bright yellow parking poles near the mural's edge.
I realized I could use one to block half the mural — creating a clean wash of yellow that pulled the eye directly to Rabun in the scene, with the full arc of color carrying the viewer right to his face.
So I sat down in a pile of trash and debris, because that was the angle, and the angle was right, and sometimes that's just the job.
The Final Image
Rabun smiling in front of a rainbow. Spots and stripes mixing in the best possible accident. Yellow leading you straight to him.
The image earned a strong placement in Colorific.
But honestly, what I remember most is Jennifer driving back out at sunrise a second time without complaint. That kind of generosity — from clients, from the dogs — is what makes this work possible.
