Winning the Bronze!

Wow wow WOW!!! For the past six months I have been participating in Unleashed Education’s Emerge program. It went by in a flash. (That’s a little photographer humor for ya! 🙄😂) It is the second in a series of dog photography education courses aimed at improving skill and variety while photographing dogs. It is a worldwide “classroom” where extremely talented students commune and are tasked with creating an image against a certain theme every two weeks; those images are then critiqued by world renowned dog photographers (& educators) Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock. Once again, the curriculum was a pure delight – okay, with a dash of stress and frustration too, but that’s how we learn, right? 😅 When I started the course, winning the bronze (or any medal!) wasn’t on my mind. I simply focused on pushing myself, experimenting with new locations, techniques & ideas while striving to stay true to my own style. No easy feat, lemme tell ya!

Throughout the 12 challenges, I was thrilled to have nine of my images make it into the Top 10. I am SO EXCITED to announce that my portfolio came in in Third Place!!! 🥳🥂 (In a joint placing with the incredibly innovative Lisa Olson of Pets R Family.)

Charlotte & Craig (or C2 as I affectionately call them), are incredibly tactful instructors. Their feedback was consistently insightful, pointing out the positives in each image and offering actionable suggestions to take them to the next level, whether in the shooting phase or post-processing. I valued their critiques so much that I didn’t want to miss a single feedback video – hence my running biweekly calendar appointment, "Cocktails & C2" 📷🍸 With a tasty beverage in hand, I’d settle in to hear their thoughts on alllll the images from each theme. I tried to play along and predict what they were going to say, and even when I thought I had it right, they’d usually surprise me with fresh observations. It never got old! My fellow Emergers were off-the-hook creative & talented, and it was incredibly inspiring to see the diverse ways each person interpreted the themes.

It kind of became a thing to photograph my drink/viewing date with the feedback video. LOL. So here they all are.

Here are all my individual challenge submissions and the feedback received.

Challenge 1 - Framed

Framing your subject is a fantastic, no-mistaking way to bring attention straight to your subject and as we kick off with the first Emerge challenge, that is what we are looking for. Framing allows you to introduce extra eye candy to the image in the form of colour, texture and an impression of place and purpose. You can frame your subject in so many ways by using items in the foreground or background, nature or urban settings, doorways, foliage - the options are endless!

When I was brainstorming for this challenge about six months ago I had a strong idea… I wanted to put a dog in the natural cutout of the Siamese Twins formation at Garden of the Gods. But, time passed and I had a rethink. 😉 Although I could have created a unique and amazing photo at GotG, I felt I would be relying too much on the epic location/scene instead of creating a super photo in a “boring” location. So that’s how I ended up in a drainage ditch, lol. Queso and I pass by this spot fairly regularly on our walks, so I asked him to test it out for me, then brought his buddies Trestle and Addie out for a session. To kick it up a notch, I brought along some water to pour on the ground, not realizing that the dogs’ feet would fling it into the air – that was such a happy surprise!

“Emerge”

FEEDBACK: “Love the circular frame and the little splashes. Having the pet doing something, instead of just a static portrait, is quite nice. The splashes add a nice sparkle to the dark frame behind the dog. Great texture in the dog, super focus on the eyes. Nothing to change about the edit.” It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: The tonality in this image is great. The dog walking towards the camera really engages the viewer and the little splashes highlight against the dark tunnel are a lovely little detail.

(Yes, I double-dutied this image with 52Frames 😉 #worksmarternotharder)

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Challenge 2 – Spaced Out 

Negative space in an image can help emphasize and balance the main subject, giving the subject room to breathe and preventing the image from feeling cluttered. For the Spaced Out challenge we wanted to see images which utilize negative space in the composition.

Third time’s a charm, eh? That’s how many times I’ve tried to make this light shaft work for me photographically. Since I’ve been there twice before, I thought I had it all figured out. Note to self: never think that. 🤣 Photography is an art, and there are lots of variables to contend with every.single.session. I scheduled the session too early, so the shaft wasn’t where I expected it to be, so we (adorably!) killed time shooting elsewhere in the area until the shaft had moved into a more reasonable position. This is Kenny, a ridiculously cute nine-month old miniature Australian shepherd. His older brother Andrew was along as well showing him the ropes (working for my snacks! LOL). But it was this regal and relaxed image of Kenny that really pulled me in and made me select it for my negative space submission.

“Light Shaft”

FEEDBACK: So graphical! First reaction - I love that slice of light, and the dog’s in such an unfortunate place. (I was dying laughing, because I didn’t want the shaft to divide Kenny either!) But then went on to say… actually, the way the ears pop out in the dark, and the nose pops out in the light, it’s really cool – quite a brave composition to use. It’s very retro, giving an 80’s feel with that bold diagonal strip. The dark triangle on the right balances the image as does the paw shadow. The dog looking towards the light is gorgeous. Love the boldness of it. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: “What a bold and unconventional placement of the subject in this scene. It results in an image that is striking. The diagonals and pose, very well seen and captured.”

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Challenge 3 – Highs and Lows

We're on Challenge number three of Emerge, Highs and Lows. The use of high key and low key imagery is very common in the world of art and photography. Their popularity can probably be attributed to them being a relatively easy way to create a mood and elicit an emotional response from the viewer. High key imagery tends to bring with it more positive emotions. It’s bright, airy, clean look is a perfect way to convey joy and happiness. On the other hand, low key images tend to have a more serious or dramatic mood and can even go as far as feeling dark and ominous. For Highs and Lows, we asked our challengers to create images in either a high or low key style.

Talk about challenging… ULTRA white dog (the whitest I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting!), in a bright environment. This is Travis, and YES he’s as soft and fuzzy as he appears. 🥰

“Land Cloud”

FEEDBACK: So many delicious white tones here. Love the pose, great moment, with that little paw tucked up. Being able to see the difference between the white-white of the dog and the very bright of the background, seeing all of those really nicely handled tones in the whites, it’s just lovely. It’s a great spot chosen, for the right dog, for creating something high key. It’s been really well imagined, and really nicely edited. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: The pairing of model and location is perfect in this high key image, with the whites handled beautifully and additional interest provided by the hint of movement in the dog's pose.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Challenge 4 – Under Cover

They say a home is just a house without a dog. Those of us with dogs know this very well, I bet you can’t wait to get home for those joy filled cuddles! We went Under Cover for this one, asking challengers to photograph pets indoors, or under a roof or structure of some kind.

I didn’t want to hold this session in a home, so I reached out to Chris and Mallory of Fiction Beer Company in Parker to see if we could hold a session there. They agreed and offered up their dogs as models. 🤩 I absolutely adore this image, but the instructors had a tough time deciphering it. 🤣

“Stranger Than Fiction”

FEEDBACK: It’s confusing to me! It’s quirky. I love the books and the depth, and the different colored eyes of the dog and the expression, and the boots, but where are the legs coming from? That’s a barstool, and I suppose the legs would be out that far if they’re sitting on the stool, but it seems disjointed. Do we need the barstool? If the person had their legs on the footrest of the barstool would that make more sense? I would really like to leave out the barstool and have her tightrope walking on the footrest. It’s a really cool concept, I really like it, it’s so weird because of the books randomly there. It’s really well lit, and a good angle, but I’m not getting the full story. It feels a bit too strange and I’m spending too much time thinking about the logistics rather than enjoying the aesthetic qualities of the image. I’d like to see it reworked because this could be really awesome.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Instead of adjusting the image to include more legs/context, I opted to re-submit an entirely different image 🍺:

Challenge 5 – Pantastic 

Panning is the technique of following the motion of something as it moves from side to side across the scene in front of you. Using a super fast shutter speed will freeze the motion sharply, but can mean the image lacks interest. Using a slower shutter speed when panning gives you the unique ability to be able to combine frozen motion, with blurred motion, in the one shot. For the Pantastic challenge, we wanted to see our challengers nail the technique.

Thinking I could use a single frame for two assignments, I double-dutied this session with a recent 52Frames prompt. After all, Line From a Song and Pantastic could come together if done right! My vision was Bob Seger’s “Running Against the Wind”, using Oliver and Lydia’s flowing fur to emphasize both themes. I ended up submitting a different image entirely for 52F (puppy Bees Knees was too cute to pass up!), but then I backtracked and prepped this frame for Emerge.

“Against the Wind”

FEEDBACK: “Well someone likes a challenge, don’t they?” 🤣 Chose a speedy dog for a backlit action shot. LOL. It’s lovely and sharp in the face. Love the fur flying off the back of the dog. I feel like this is a reasonably high shutter speed. These kind of dogs run really quickly, so even with a higher shutter speed we see a little bit of motion blur, the light and the color palette are really lovely. The composition is good, and even though the dog is scrunched up, with these long legged speedy hounds this pose shows how much power is in their motion. The back legs and front legs crossing over so dramatically shows the length of the stride that they’re taking and is a great alternative to a stretched out pose. The editing note was to remove the eye-catching foreground highlight just under Oliver’s paws. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: The power of a hound in full run can be expressed through an outstretched body position, but also in this moment with the legs crossing so dramatically. A great moment to showcase a panning technique, with the adding challenge of using backlight, which has been used very well here.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

The updated image after I made the adjustments they suggested:

Challenge 6 - All in the Details

Since our pets are such unique looking creatures, they will always have particular features that their owners love. We’re sure you’ve heard clients talk about their favourite bits of their dogs before, the weird, quirky or cute parts that make them unique. So for the All In The Details challenge, we wanted to see challengers get up close and personal. Capturing images that showcase these special and unique features of a pet.

I really love how Queso’s fur looks when wet (he gets full-on spiral curls!), so that was my intended focus for Details. And it just so happened that my birthday landed during this week, so that meant I got a “free” helper for a photo session! 🥳 We popped down to the creek, and Queso happily splashed, rescued sticks, and dug for rocks while I tried to get close enough to him to focus on his fur. 🤣 I had quite a few shots I loved and thought were interesting, but this one kept bubbling to the top for its uniqueness factor.

“Curly Q’s”

FEEDBACK: This is a great one, I love the level of detail and sharpness. It looks like fresh spaghetti hanging on a rack. Really sharp and loads of detail, even down to the little water droplet. The square crop works well. One of them felt the green gap at the bottom right of the image was a bit distracting, coupled with the dark triangle which draws the eye. They both found it fun and shortlisted it. During the final whittle it came sooooo close to a Top 10, but after a further discussion of the lower right corner (one not bothered by it since the dark bit is the back tendon of the leg moving forward which supports the swinging tail), and when they placed it against similar wet-curly-fur image, they noticed my image looked a bit too green by comparison. In order to evaluate it independently, they opened it up on its own, and wiggled the sliders to magenta and blue which they felt improved it, so it was nosed out of securing the last Top 10 spot. 🤪

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

I fixed the color cast they noticed, but I ended up submitting this image in its place – it just makes my heart SING… Queso's delicious wet sworls move me. 🥰

Challenge 7 – Silhouetto

We're up to challenge number seven of Emerge, Silhouetto. Silhouettes eliminate textural detail and black out facial expressions, relying instead on the pose and body language of the dog to tell the story. The simplicity of a silhouette helps the subject stand out as the feature of the image, but the lack of detail in the shadows also creates a sense of mystery, leaving the finer details to the viewer's imagination and allowing them to create their own story.

Whoa, I wasn’t prepared for the time investment on finding the right location for a silhouette! 🤣 It seems pretty straightforward, right? Simply put your subject in front of the sky – easy! Except it isn’t. 🤪 The location needs to be facing the right direction: west for a sunset session, or east for a sunrise session, and ummm, ‘sunrise’ isn’t really in my vocabulary, LOL. The spot needs to be free of distractions OR it needs to have features that will enhance the composition. I picked out several location possibilities, only to discover during the session that they were less than ideal. In a panic, I location scouted some more, and thankfully Amy and Toni were accommodating and went out with me a second time in order to get what I envisioned.

“Moon Salutation”

FEEDBACK: Goodness. This is amazing. I love this. It has huge impact. Love the exaggerated wide angle. The color treatment of the sky is really interesting and shows the whole gradient from those warm tones through the purples to the cool blues. None of the clouds are interfering with the shape of the dog. Framed nicely, love that you can see the moon. There was some discussion about possibly shooting from a different angle in order to see both arms – which they understood is difficult is in Warrior 1. – being picky, stating not much to improve. Except taking out grasses by the dog’s foot (which was an intentional decision to leave in, because I thought they added interest 😊). Further discussion revealed that seeing the face/profile of a person is quite important in a silhouette. (In hindsight, I could have asked her to put her hands in high prayer, and tilted her head back to look UP.) They considered the possibility of opening up to Warrior 2 and giving the dog a stroke/pat but recognized the trickiness of the dog’s position at that point. They stated they were being really really picky and offering suggestions to take “a freaking awesome image to an absolutely outstanding, unreal, incredible image” – brainstorming ideas to take it even further. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: A fantastic dog and owner shot, filled with personality that tells us something about the dog, owner and their relationship. All silhouetted against that beautiful sky.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

This is the updated version after their feedback.

Challenge 8 – Slow Motion

Photos of dogs can usually be classified into one of two main categories - portrait, where the dog is still, or action, where the dog is doing something, moving around, often with lots of energy, and at great speed! But what about the middle ground, the grey area? What if an image mostly fits into the category of a portrait, but there’s also a suggestion of movement? A step, a paw raise? Or what if the image can be defined technically as action, but the action is very slow and deliberate, rather than a crazy moment, frozen in time? We like to call these images “slow action”, and in this Emerge challenge, we asked challengers to expand on this concept with their very own Slow Motion shot!

This photo came about because a friend posted a photo of her new puppy Remy, and I have zero willpower when it comes to puppies! 🥰 I reached out and asked if Remy would model for me, not having a clear vision… just confident that I would be able to capture something. And something cute at that!

“Young Gardener”

FEEDBACK: Awww, lovely, really sweet. The movement is good. Such a little puppy in a big world, and the inclusion of the foliage on both sides pushes that point home. Tidy up some of the fallen grasses on the ground and edge, as they draw the eye. They tried to figure out what’s happening with the plane of focus – the nose and the whiskers are really sharp, sharpness in the eyes but nothing else on the plane of focus of the eyes is in focus, and the ground just in front of the dog is in focus. Potentially some head swapping and sharpening stuff happening. (Note: no headswap was done. 🙃) Thought it would be more successful if the nose wasn’t so sharp. Suggested reducing the sharpness of the nose in order to make the eyes the sharpest thing. But agreed it does work as-is, and they were being picky. The dog is edited beautifully, love the story, “Honey I Shrunk the Puppy” kind of look, and it made the shortlist.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Here is the updated version after addressing their feedback.

Challenge 9 – Mirror Image

Emerge challenge number nine is called Mirror Image. Capturing an image with a full reflection is so much fun to do. You can use a mirror image in so many ways that enhance an image and add a little touch of magic to them. They can add symmetry and balance to a composition and they can even be used to trick our eyes. Whether reflections are a sharp mirror image of their real life counterpart or a softer, ethereal representation that loosely resembles the shape and colour, reflections rock!

While my dog photographer friend Heidi was in town, we knew we wanted to tackle a session together. In the Unleashed challenges, she’s in the “grade” ahead of me and needed a location for Night while I needed a Reflection spot. I thought this splash park might be suitable for both briefs (I’ve been itching to use it with a dog, ever since I used it in 2017 with a human 🙃), so we popped over one evening to investigate and discuss logistics. It looked amazing!! So we rounded up a model, the lovely Drift, and made it happen. We showed up just as the sun was setting, to hundreds of people attending a concert in the park. And oodles of kids using the splash pad. 🤣 So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until after an eternity it cleared out and we were able to get started. And then the technical challenges presented themselves – focusing at night, color changing water (some colors brighter than others, some colors more pleasing than others), changing volume of water (the lower the spouts, the better the reflection), getting the speedlights aimed properly to illuminate Drift, and getting Drift into position and focused on me at the optimal water level and color. 😅 I managed to get some frames I really liked, but I thought I might be able to improve upon them, so after Heidi headed home I asked if Drift would be willing to frolic for me again – she agreed! 💦 And, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but the technical challenges were the same, LOL. For this image, I ended up blending two frames -as Drift broke her stay and came dashing towards me just as the water spouts were the right color and height. 😂 I’m happy with how it came together, but I’d love to hear how I could have done better!!

“Adrift”

FEEDBACK: Ooh, that’s pretty cool. It took a minute to figure out that it was a fountain at night. Love the purple. Nice creative take on the brief. Framing in the purple works nicely, the dog’s lit pretty nicely too. I would love to see the catchlights a little higher. It was lit from below or front-on, which makes no harsh shadows under the chin. I feel the lighting is consistent with the scene as the water is lit from below also, so the lighting is consistent if not conventional. Amused that the dog has four eyes in the reflection, showing reflections can be wild and crazy. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: This is a fantastically creative take on the Mirror Image challenge brief to create a reflection. The coloured water fountains make a great frame and the dog is cleverly lit in the same way the light illuminate the water.

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Challenge 10 – Double Trouble

What’s better than one dog? Two, of course! Dogs are social creatures and many dog owners have more than one, so at some point, pet photographers will need to have some tricks up their sleeves to help capture pairs of pooches posing perfectly (say that fast after a glass of wine or two!) So for challenge number 10 in Emerge, we sent our challengers out to create images with Double the Trouble!

At Dedisse Park in Evergreen, Aussies Gibbs (10.5) & Jax (4.5) showed me their mad posing skills. They were seriously skilled at buddying up and holding super cute arrangements. They loved all my noises, especially the cottontail call, and when I used it, 95% of the time their mouths would close and their heads would tilt in the same direction. It was hilariously sweet. 🥰 And when they weren’t serious and trying to figure out what the heck I was doing, they were all smiles, like here.

“Double Trouble”

FEEDBACK: (after the squealing and wanting both of them 😂…) Great pose, great expressions. Suggested the crop come in from the left a little bit, because of the Jax’s body pose, and come up from the bottom a little to eliminate the dirt. Heads contained in the thirds space works well. Minor tweak, the light is catching on their paws, so bring down the exposure a tiny bit on those so they aren’t the lightest part of the dogs. Really nice job getting detail in the whites, the soft light helps, the whites and the blacks look really good. Fix up the brown bits of grass intersecting with the dogs’ legs. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: What happy pups! The posing here is fantastic, lovely soft light and we definitely see Double the Trouble with these two!

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

This is the updated image after addressing their feedback.

Challenge 11 – Bokehlicious

How we love a background brimming with colourful, sparkly bokeh! These bubbles of light create a beautiful effect and add interest and life to a soft, out of focus background. This is the penultimate challenge in Emerge and we are here to celebrate all that delicious sparkly light.

“Do You Have A Question?” That’s what Eilah’s mom asks her to get those adorable head tilts. Along with talking about tomorrow, bunnies, and chickens. 🤣 Eilah and her sister Juliet have been my go-to models since I met them at the Breckenridge Houndvision workshop in 2021. They will pretty much do anything their mom asks of them, and they are gorgeous to boot, so it’s SUCH an easy choice to call on them again and again. BUT, I thought I should probably get experience working with other dogs 😅, so their mom got the word out about me and the result is a model database chock-full of similarly capable dogs. 🤗🥳 Anyway, it has been too long since they’d been in front of my lens, so I reached out to see if they could help me find some bokeh. I’ve never shot SPECIFICALLY for bokeh before; sure it happens fairly regularly when I’m backlighting, but this was the first time I set out to create with intention. I chose this location, a horse jump storage area, because there were “logs” they could climb on for interest & elevation, and the trees were oriented correctly to filter the sunlight in the late afternoon. Once we arrived, it took me foreverrrrr to decide which jump (and lens!) to use. While I was figuring that out, Juliet was excitedly on the hunt for a rat nestled in one of the jumps. And when I came over to announce that I was finally ready, Juliet grabbed the rat and threw it straight at me, in a nice, lobbing, slow-motion arc. The critter landed at my feet and the screaming commenced. 🐀🤣 Once we all recovered from the screams and laughter, we started the actual photography portion of the session. I had intended to use my OCF, but in the commotion, I forgot to turn it on. So I have lots of great unlit images – which is totally fine, I can process them so they look great – it just wasn’t my intent. Once I realized it wasn’t firing, we got the girls back up on the jump for another round, and for this particular image, my light didn’t fire. LOL. #bestlaidplans But, I love the result, and the session is one that I won’t soon forget!!

“Do You Have A Question?”

FEEDBACK: Oooh, this is nice, pretty. Great expression on the dog, lovely and sharp. Beautiful bokeh all across the background. I love the pose and expression. Fantastic, composition works really well with appropriate negative space on the left to capture the energy of the dog’s pose. Color harmony is beautiful, good catchlights. Not much to critique, maybe a tiny bit yellow. (Note: I was stressing about how warm it was – which I only noticed AFTER I submitted!! 🤪) It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: A stunning pose and expression are front and centre here, the bokeh throughout the background add that little touch of magic the only bokeh can!

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

The updated version based on their feedback:

Challenge 12 – Shake!

We've made it to the final challenge of Emerge, Shake! Shaking off water is a distinctly animal thing to do, and also a behaviour that can look super cool when captured in a photo. Water droplets flying, drool strings extending from flapping lips, ears askew and rolling eyes - capturing a dog mid-shake is the ultimate in freezing a moment in time.

I have taken approximately 7,532 images of Queso shaking. So whyyyyyy was it so difficult to get all the elements to come together in a single frame for this challenge?? 🤣 We went out multiple times to try to get the perfect image – a task he did not mind one bit!, but I kept coming back to this one that I took back in July. I really liked the shape the water droplets made; and to me, he looks like a supermodel shaking his mane. LOL.

“Splash of Swagger”

FEEDBACK: I love how the crop has been done to encompass all of the splashes, it’s nice that they are not cut off in any way. The angle is really nice and low to the water. I like the golden tones and the green, it’s a really simple color palette, the trees allow the water to stand out nicely. I like the sharp droplets, and the motion blurred ones, and the out of focus ones -all adding depth to the image. A very very good shake shot. It made the Shortlist, then the Top 10. 🥳

Written feedback: What a moment, the composition and aspect ratio perfectly allow for allllll of that water! low angle to the water, lovely body positioning. Excellent result!

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

Annnnd, that’s a wrap! Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I’m so glad I took part. I can hardly wait to continue my journey with the follow-on Empower course!

Ginger Wick Photography is an award winning dog photographer specializing in creating beautiful custom artwork of dogs & their people. Based in Parker, CO serving the Denver area.