I recently completed a six-month dog photography challenge called Embark offered by Unleashed Education, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. As a dog photographer, I wanted to find inspiration for personal projects, improve my skills, and try new creative ideas. I also saw it as an opportunity to take more photographs of my own dogs, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

Throughout the course, we were given a new challenge to work on every two weeks. It was exciting to try different concepts and connect with other talented pet photographers in the group. The two-week deadline for each challenge kept me motivated and I was always looking for new opportunities to shoot and experiment.

The personalized feedback and subsequent competition aspect of the challenge really kept me motivated. Not only did I finish the entire challenge on time (all while shooting for clients), but 9 out of 12 of my images placed in either the Top 10 or Top 20, one of my images won the Get Down challenge and my overall portfolio was awarded highly commended. I still can’t believe it!

Starting in March, I'll be diving into the follow-up set of challenges called Emerge and I can't wait to get started! This time, I'm excited to focus on working with other people's dogs, so I'm on the lookout for some furry models to join in on the fun! If you're interested in participating, be sure to scroll to the end of this post and enter your details in my brand new model database.

Let's make some amazing photos together!