2019 Wrap-up
So at the start of a brand new year, and decade, I’m looking back at the year that was 2019. While I’m not great at blogging events and news as it happens, I find these wrap-up posts to be a helpful introspective exercise, as well as a great way to keep all my followers updated about what I’ve been up to throughout the previous year.
Client Sessions
With a focus again on teaching pet photography in 2019, I took on just a select few client sessions throughout the year. I found my favourite images from each session this year were definitely the dog and owner shots. I love finding creative ways to capture the connection between pets and their people!
All photos were taken with my Canon 1D-x Mark II camera body and all use 100% natural light.
Gigi and Christine
Gigi
Ollie and Kellie
Ollie
Gracie and Claire
Gracie
Darcy and Jet with their humans Ian and Elise
Darcy and Jet
Megan and Bijou
Bijou
Barkzealand
Our fourth “Barka” pet photography retreat took place in Queenstown, New Zealand from late March to early April. I teach these workshops with American pet photographers Nicole from Nicole Begley Photography / Hair of the Dog and Kaylee from Dog Breath Photography. This time around we had Craig from Furtography contributing by organising all our amazing dog models (we had over 100 models!) and also chipping in with some teaching as well.
At these retreats, we run two back-to-back 5-day retreats - the first week being people who have not attended a Barka workshop previously, and the second week being entirely composed of returning Barkas. Both weeks are so much fun - whether it’s meeting new friends in week one, or reuniting with old friends in week two!
I really should dedicate an entire blog post to these workshops as there is just tooooo much to include, but here’s a few favourite behind the scenes shots so you can get an idea of the sorts of shenanigans that go on at these super-fun events. We were so spoilt for amazing locations and gorgeous dog models in the beautiful Queenstown region of New Zealand!
Photo: Linda Palmer
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Photo: Georgia Wheeler
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Photo: Julie Gould
At these workshops our priority is helping our attendees with any questions they have and assisting them to get some amazing portfolio-worthy images. As a result, us instructors don’t always get to do a lot of shooting for ourselves, but we’ll often sneak in a few shots here and there! Here’s a few of the images I captured of our stunning dog models during the shooting sessions at Barkzealand.
Benson in Cromwell
Nina at Jackson Orchards, Cromwell
Tucker at Jackson Orchards, Cromwell
Chessie at Shotover River
Min at Shotover River
Barney at Arrowtown
Flynn at Arrowtown
Enzo at Arrowtown
Jess at Arrowtown
Maisie at Arrowtown
Rocky at Arrowtown
Tabasco at Arrowtown
Bonus at Shotover River
Ticket and Bonus at Lower Shotover River
Wallace at Lower Shotover River
Willow at Bob’s Cove
Willow at Bob’s Cove
Willow at Bob’s Cove
Our Barka attendees always leave feeling inspired and enthusiastic about taking their dog photography, and their pet photography businesses, to the next level. Here’s the group from week two - our “serial offenders” group - these guys have all been to multiple Barka workshops so we must be doing something right!
In my 2018 wrap-up I shared some of the gorgeous images taken of me and my little family by Craig from Furtography when he visited us in Brisbane. In the intermission between the two weeks of Barkzealand, I returned the favour and photographed Craig and his husband Chris, along with their personality-filled pooch, Ralph the Affenpinscher.
Action Superstar Sessions
Ongoing personal development is important when working in a creative field such as photography. Personal work enables you to explore new ideas, try out new techniques and further expand your skills and creative vision.
In 2019 I decided it was time for a mini personal project. It’s no secret I absolutely love capturing dogs in action, so I put out a model call for active and athletic dogs - bonus points for those who love to be airborne. As well as helping me to push my action photography skills and techniques further than is possible during regular client sessions, I also hoped to capture some images that were worthy of entering in the AIPP state and national awards.
In May, I saw a run of perfect sunny days coming up in the weather forecast, so I sent out a model call via my Facebook page and booked in shoots with 8 dogs (plus a bonus dog) over just five days.
Here’s some of my favourites, including images that were entered into either the state or national AIPP awards, and awarded.
Strive the Border Collie
Poppy the Boxer
Strive the Border Collie
Silver at the 2019 QLD AIPP Epson Awards
Silver with Distinction at the 2019 AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards (APPA)
Strive the Border Collie
Dixie the Australian Shepherd
Dice the Border Collie
Silver at the 2019 QLD AIPP Epson Awards
Bella the Australian Shepherd
Tess the White Swiss Shepherd
Silver at the 2019 AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards (APPA)
And while this next one wasn’t shot in 2019, I had won Silver Distinction for it in the 2018 State Awards, so decided to enter it in the 2019 APPAs, where it scored a Silver.
Niku the Husky, photographed during the filming of RealShoots Episode 6 in 2018.
In between all the action shots, I also captured some portraits at these sessions, that I really love.
Strive the Border Collie
Dixie the Australian Shepherd
Bella and Marvel the Australian Shepherds
Django the Koolie
And lastly here’s my very own Australian Shepherd, Opal. I did actually shoot an Action Superstars session with her and the frisbee, but she somehow manages to look completely bored and devoid of all expression in mid-air so her photos didn’t make the cut. 😆
There is something about this shot that I really love, so I entered it as a wildcard in the awards, however the judges didn’t agree and it wasn’t awarded. Ah well, still a gorgeous image for Fletcher and Opal’s 2020 wall calendar!
Queenstown snow dogs & snowboarding holiday
I can’t believe that in 12 years of photographing dogs, I had never photographed them in the snow!
I guess it’s not such a surprise since my closest dog-friendly snow park is down in Victoria, over 18 hours drive away. Instead of making the trek down south, in September 2019 I headed back to one of my favourite places in the world - Queenstown, New Zealand - for a combined snowboarding holiday / snow dog photography adventure.
I met up with Craig from Furtography and we managed to get a couple of our favourite Barkzealand models back to meet us on the mountain top for some cold but super fun snowy adventures!
First up was Enzo, one of a pack of four dogs owned by Lu and Tim of Oh My Fluffy Dog (awesome dog-themed apparel). I must admit I am a little bit obsessed with this boy, his personality is just as gorgeous as his stunning good looks!
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
Then we had gorgeous Benson, another of our Barkzealand models. His mum Merran is so much fun and endured frozen fingers so we could capture Benson pouncing on snowballs over and over again!
Photo: Craig Turner-Bullock
The snowy landscape was just incredible, I can’t wait to shoot there again someday!
When I first arrived in Queenstown I was doing some location scouting when I came across this handsome fellow, Nero, out for a walk with his mum - who also happened to be called Charlotte! We got chatting and next thing, Charlotte agreed to bring along Nero for a snow dog photoshoot. I loved the challenge of a black dog in the snow!
You can watch the Instagram Stories for my snow dog adventures here.
It wasn’t all about photographing dogs in the snow though, I did manage to get in quite a bit of personal holiday time during the two weeks as well. It had been a few years since I’d been snowboarding (I used to go nearly every year) so it was great to be back on the board! I stayed in Arrowtown in a gorgeous little historic cottage, with my oldest friend from school and her three daughters.
In no particular order, some highlights of my trip were:
Trying out a different and amazing NZ craft beer every night
Catching up with Craig for a few days and driving all over the place location scouting - including exploring a ruined mining town in the middle of nowhere!
Completing a 10km solo hike in the mountains behind Arrowtown
Eating good food... soooo much good food!
Relaxing in front of a roaring fire every night
Teaching my bestie Kym to snowboard on her very first trip to the snow
Watching all the trees start to blossom in Arrowtown (it was just coming into Spring when we were there)
Breathing the crisp fresh air (very different from smoky-at-the-time Brisbane)
Driving on the windy roads (I love driving) and taking in the amazing views around every bend
Editing snow dog photos over delicious breakfast and coffee at the local cafe two doors down from our little cottage in Arrowtown
So many of my favourite things, such a great (working) holiday!
Pet rescue photography, events and fundraising
In 2019 I continued my commitment to giving back, donating my time to adoptable pet photography and fundraising events. I photographed some adoptable dogs for Shamroq…
Then in August I once again ran the photo booth at Shamroq’s annual Mally Muster fundraising event. My co-photographer was Kelly from Hairypants Photography and we had the most gorgeous “Out of this World” space-themed backdrop, hand painted and donated by Danni. Working with another photographer is great, because you can be each other’s assistants and work together to get the very best shots!
Each dog owner receives a lovingly edited, high quality digital image. To give you a look behind the scenes, here’s the editing process for some of the images, sped up 5x to give an insight into how much work went into these photos - and just because it's kind of entertaining to watch.
In July I once again photographed the dogs for the Peninsula Animal Aid calendar. We had two afternoon’s worth of shoots on the Redcliffe peninsula and I met many lovely dogs who had found their forever homes through this wonderful organisation. There are still a few calendars remaining and you can grab yours on the PAA website here.
PAA calendar star - Roxy the German Shepherd
PAA calendar star - Missy the Papillion
As always, Santa Paws day was the biggest fundraising event of the year for Peninsula Animal Aid, and it’s all thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who dedicate their time and skills to make it such a success. Oh - and what would Santa Paws be without Santa! For the second year running our amazing Santa generously donated his time for the event.
You can watch the Instagram Stories from the Peninsula Animal Aid calendar shoots and the Mally Muster here.
Published images
I feel honoured to have had my work published in Dogster magazine again in 2019.
This year, along with quite a few smaller images on the inner pages, I’ve had another contents page and one more cover - featuring none other than my own little furry terror - Opal the Australian Shepherd! She was only about 11 weeks old here and I’m so happy she was chosen for the special “Puppies!” edition of the magazine.
Location scouting in Tasmania
My final trip of the year took place in the only state in Australia I hadn’t yet visited - lucky last - Tasmania! I met up with Craig from Furtography and we spent a busy but amazing few days exploring the area around Launceston, location scouting for our upcoming Style Lab Workshop which was to take place in January 2020.
It’s exciting to travel and explore new locations, and while these location scouting trips are heaps of fun (we always eat lots of amazing food) they are also a really important contributor to the success of the photo shoots during workshops.
Actually being able to visit the locations and sometimes even test them out with dog models is invaluable and gives us an insight into just how well they’d work in a very challenging group shooting scenario. Hollybank Forest near Launceston was one of our location candidates and thanks to local pet photographer Deb from Furbabies and Friends Photography for hooking us up with Comet and Blaze - two gorgeous Aussie Shepherds - who were our test models at this location.
If you’d like to see more of our location scouting trip in Tasmania, you might like to check out the fun Instagram Story I created on my Learn Pet Photography Instagram account.
Aussie Aussie Aussie
And what would a wrap-up post be from me without a healthy dose of Australian Shepherd love?
I didn’t photograph my own two furry terrors nearly as much as I would have liked during 2019, but I did manage to get a few shots that I love and they’ve made it into Fletcher and Opal’s annual wall calendar for 2020.
I actually took this one during our camping getaway at New Years, on the first of January 2019, and initially didn’t edit it because I cropped too closely to the front of the image. While looking for calendar-worthy images, I rediscovered it and spent quite some time in Photoshop reconstructing the front of image, to give the dogs space to “jump into” in the composition.
Totally worth it, right?
On a whim, I took Fletcher and Opal into the city for an urban shoot one afternoon on a public holiday because I knew it would be quieter than usual. City shoots aren’t usually my “thing”, but I found some interesting spots to shoot and ended up with some shots I quite like!
Of course there were creek adventures, and lots of fetching, running and playing that is such a huge part of my dogs’ lives that it just has to be captured and remembered.
And just like last year, this year I also got together with some other Aussie Shepherd owners for a group shot - we upped the game with a group of ten this time!
We moved to the country!
Just before Christmas, my husband and I moved into our new 40 acre property in Kurwongbah, about an hour north of Brisbane city. My husband and I had been searching for the perfect place for a few years, and when this hilltop hideaway came up, we jumped on it and made it happen. It’s always been my dream to live on acreage where I can have lots of animals, including once again owning a horse, but this time having it on my very own property!
I just love peace, quiet and space, and this place has oodles of that.
When we moved in at the start of December, the area was in drought and everywhere you looked, it was brown. Dead grass, dead plants, bushfire damage, empty dams and dry, dry, dry. On Christmas Eve, we received the best possible house-warming gift from Mother Nature - rain! Over the next few days we received around 80mm of the precious wet stuff, and what a transformation we saw on our new property as it came to life.
This is the view looking north from our front patio.
And this is how that same view looked after some rain - what a transformation!
Here’s the view from the “arena” area looking back up towards the house. The photo on the left is from Christmas Day, then on the right is a month later, after plenty of follow-up rainfall.
This is the view looking down into the horse paddock. It was basically just dead grass, dirt and rocks before when we moved in. You can also see on the fence line in the distance some blackened trees where a bush fire had gone though a couple of months prior to us buying the property.
Then a month later - totally transformed - complete with a full dam! See the tree on the left in the paddock? It’s actually a European Elm. It was so confused with the hot dry start of summer, it had lost all its leaves. Rain gave it a new lease on life and it’s looking super healthy now, so I might even have some yellow Autumn leaves to admire this year!
In addition to lots of land to play with, I also have some more room in the house and have converted the rumpus/family room at the back of the house to a new business suite, including my office space, meeting area and guest bedroom with ensuite. In 2020 I am planning to introduce all-inclusive in-person mentoring packages - including accommodation - and I can’t wait to welcome pet photographers from around the world to share my new home for a few days.
It even gets the furry terrors’ tick of approval (they are especially enamoured with the new rug).
Did I achieve what I set out to?
In 2018, after a rather hectic year spent finishing off big projects and cramming in as much as I possibly could, I said in my wrap-up:
“Towards the end of 2018 I came to the realisation that while it's super rewarding to accomplish large projects, it's also really important to have a good work-life balance. There are only so many hours in the day and though it's possible to "borrow" extra work hours from your leisure, exercise and family time, time and time again I've been reminded that you almost never end up paying them back.
“In 2019 my mission is to refrain from getting into more "time debt" and in the process, see if I can also pay a little bit back into the "me" time bank.”
So, did I end up banking some more into that all-important “me” time bank?
I definitely did.
Along with everything business related I achieved in the year (including launching my new Learn Pet Photography website) I also found time - actually, made time - to spend more time in nature and with my dogs, go to the beach, get away camping with my husband, balance some rocks (seriously meditative, I recommend it), complete some long hikes, relax in front of campfires, attend a medieval festival (in full Viking attire no less), read books and generally do a lot more self-care.
Mission accomplished!
What’s in store for 2020?
With a fresh new start in a new home, in a new area of town, my number one aim is to re-jig my business accordingly. There’s a big shake-up of my services to private clients on the way, that will help me restore my client/teaching balance this year.
I have a couple of big trips to Europe coming up this year as we’re running two Barka workshops in 2020 - Barklander in Scotland in May, and Barkelona in Spain in October. Cannot wait for those!
I also have a bunch of ideas and plans for more learning materials and services to help pet photographers all around the world improve their shooting and editing skills, through my website Learn Pet Photography.
Oh - and a horse. A horse and lots of trail riding is also in store for me this year. So freaking excited for that!
Thanks for reading yet another epic yearly wrap-up post, have a great year and I hope our paths cross in 2020. 😉