The Podcast for Pet Photographers
Listen free below, or join the Club for access to extended episodes
S14E14 | This is what success in the UK looks like as a pet photographer
Today’s guest is a videographer turned pet photographer after documenting his mum's senior dog for the last 6 months of her life. Fast forward to today, his website is ranking page one of Google in the highly competitive London market, and his layered marketing approach converts super well thanks to a refined enquiry process. I’m talking about Alex Class and if you want to know what building a successful business looks like- tune in!
S11E03 | Behind the Winning Images: A Panel Discussion with the 2021 Photography Award Winners
If you were seriously inspired by the award winning images in the 2021 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards, then you won’t want to miss this very special video episode. It’s a deepdive discussion with the Category Winning photographers, Travis Patenaude (Action), Esther Rybczynski (Open) and Jackie Eke (Portrait). I asked them all about their process for choosing competition images, found out the stories behind the photos and got their best advice for other pet photographers.
S11E02 | 10 Things I Learned as a Pregnant Photographer
This episode is a bit of a niche topic, but when I became pregnant, I discovered that there was really very little content out there about how to handle pregnancy and maternity leave when you are a fulltime solopreneur/photographer. To be honest, I felt a bit lost - when should I finish up shoots? How do I handle clients? When do I need to start back again? In the hopes that it will make someone (you?) feel less lost in the future, here’s ten things that I learned as a pregnant photographer.
S10E11 | Sarah Stangl Raised Her Swiss Dog Photography Prices by 75% - and Business Boomed!
When Sarah Stangl was faced with the unnerving realisation that her pet photography side hustle was not profitable enough to become her full-time job, she knew she’d have to either raise her prices, or quit altogether. She took the leap, bumped her prices by significant 75% and focused on creating incredible hiking dog photo experiences in the Swiss Alps. Tune into our in depth interview with Sarah Stangl of Abenteuerhunde to find out all about her European adventure dog photography business.
S10E10 | Four Ways to Boost Your Business with Personal Projects
Whether you're just starting out in the world of professional pet photography, or you're a seasoned pro, a familiar trap that many of us can fall into is creating photography for our clients and not ourselves.
Creating a personal photography project will not only reignite your passion for your craft, but it can also seriously boost your business.
Tune into this week’s episode to learn about four ways personal projects have helped increase my client base, revenue and marketing strategies.
S10E04 | Changing up your session offerings to suit you better with Angela Schneider
Like most of us, Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography in Spokane, WA, offered “standard” pet portraits in her local park. With some downtime during Covid, she rebranded to a name that suits her, and then took a moment to think about what she really enjoys and her adventure sessions were born.
S9E04 | How to Add Digital Painting to Pet Photography Business with Lesley Davidson
Tune into this latest interview episode to find out everything you want to know about digital painting for pet photographers - whether it’s Lesley’s best tips for learning yourself, how you can hire a “ghost painter” if (like me) you’re not a digital painter and in the extended episode we brainstorm different ways that you could successful integrate this service into your existing business model.
S9E02 | Thinking Outside the (Category) Box for the Awards with Saskia Rosebrock
With entries now open for the 2021 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards, we thought it would be the perfect time to chat with the 2020 Category Winner, Saskia Rosebrock of SasR Photography. Saskia wowed the judges with her outside the box interpretation of the ‘Pets and their People’ category and in today’s episode she shares her own experience with entering - and winning - during the awards, plus her journey as a landscape-loving dog photographer.
S8E04 | Travelling the World as a Professional Pet Photographer with Alicja Zmysłowska
I don’t know about you, but a career as a professional, travelling artistic dog photographer sounds pretty close to a dream job! Our latest interview guest has carved out a name for herself in the photographic industry with her instantly recognisable style and dreamy travel dog photography - it’s none other than Alicja Zmysłowska! Tune in to hear the story behind her inspirational career journey, insights into developing your own signature style and tips for building your name and following when sharing images online.
S8E01 | What we learned from 2020.. and what 2021 will bring..
Podcast co-host, Kirstie McConnell shares her top 3 take aways from our 2020 interviews, and what she’s implemented as a result, and shares exciting details about the upcoming Pet Photographers Conference.
S7E05 | How to Raise Thousands of Dollars AND Build Your Business, with Jessica Wasik
Jessica Wasik focuses on celebrating the joy and love between Pittsburgh pets and their people. In addition to capturing pets through playful portraits, high-energy action shots, and small moments in time, she is also the mastermind behind an annual pet calendar contest which has welcomed hundreds of entries and raised tens of thousands of dollars for Pittsburgh's local rescues and non-profits and in this episode, we’re finding out exactly how she manages that!
S7E03 | Ease "Photographers Back" as Kirstie McConnell shares some Pilates Stretches
Co-host Kirstie McConnell was a pet photographer for 8 years before moving to Italy this year. Before her move she always studied to become a Pilates instructor and now teaches classes online to her clients around the world. As a photographer herself, she understands the aches and pains that come with the job, when you don’t give your body the attention it asks for! And so she has created the FOCUSED Pilates program especially for photographers. Next program begins in November. Find out more here.
S6E12 | The Personal Photo Series Medley (how seven different photographers are using photo projects in their business)
If you ever feel like you’re in a creative rut, or you have a photo series that you’d would love to evolve into something bigger, you’ll definitely want to tune into the season six finale - it’s a Medley episode!
Hear from seven different photographers, each with their own unique success stories and insights into Personal Photo Projects. We’ve combined interview highlights from our chats with Andrew Hellmich, Jack Jackson, Jennifer Zapatka, Diana Lundin, Erin Bonilla, Craig Bullock and JB Shepard for this inspiration-packed episode.
S6E11 | Photo Series and Book Deals with Diana Lundin
After working as a reporter, a television producer and a website editor, Diana Lundin returned to photography, her first love. She began photographing her neighbours’ dogs and cats in 2013 and knew squeaking plush toys and waving pheasant feathers would be something she would be doing the rest of her life.
In this episode we chatted with Diana all about photographing a series of work, and how that turned into book deals! Her first photography book, “Dogs Vs. Ice Cream,” was published by Familius in August 2019 and she is under contract for a second book to be published in 2021. She hopes to turn the Dog Noir series into a book.
S6E08 | Winning the 2020 Pet Photographer of the Year Awards with Sara Glawe
When Sara Glawe won the 2020 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards with an outstanding 3 out of 4 entries placing in the Top 25 Shortlists AND two images picked for the Judges’ Choice Awards, we couldn’t wait to chat with her and find out all about her story! We learned that Sara Glawe is a German pet photographer with a passion for colour harmony, and that she balances her thriving Arts with Heart business with a full time job. Tune into this episode of the Pet Photographers Club podcast to hear all about Sara’s tips for entering (and winning) the awards, how she taught herself about colour and so much more!
S6E01 | Photographing LGBTQ People and their Rescue Dogs with Jack Jackson
Beautifully timed with the end of Pride Month, we’re starting this season learning all about the Don’t You Want Me project. This documentary photographic series showcases the beauty and resilience of LGBTQ+ people with their rescued dogs. Jack Jackson, co-founder of the project (and fellow member of the Pet Photographers Club!) joined the podcast to tell us all about it.
Don’t You Want Me is a global social impact photo project - think Humans of New York, except with powerful queer and trans narratives combined with cute dogs - the project is bringing people to tears.
Photographers, dog lovers and humans on a mission Jack Jackson (Toronto) and Deb Klein (UK via Brooklyn) have joined forces to tell these powerful stories. In today’s episode, we chatted with Jack to find out their inspiration behind the project, the impact it’s having in the community and their goals for the future of DYWM.
S5E01 | Incorporating mood in your images with Marchien Heidstra
We first stumbled across the beautiful work of Marchien Heidstra when she won the Pets and their People Category in the International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards. She specialises in a fine art approach to natural light pet photography. She also teaches other photographers how to create that creamy post-processing style with her editing workshops.
S4E12 | Media Features and Growing your Following with Alex Cearns
Alex Cearns has won over 250 awards for business, philanthropy and animal photography. Houndstooth Studio and Alex’s work is frequently featured in magazines and on television. She is also a published author, keynote speaker, wildlife photography tour leader and brand ambassador. And on top of all of that, she runs a highly profitable pet photography studio in Perth, Australia.
S4E10 | Developing a Signature Style with Chad Dahlquist
You’ll recognise the bright and colourful signature style that Chad Dahlquist brings to his work, whether he’s shooting in the studio or on location. His career as a photographer has included commercial work, weddings, head shots and families - but his move into pet photography back in 2017 brought a whole new passion for photography to his business.
S4E08 | Creative Publishing and Licensing for Pet Photographers with Ron Schmidt
Ron Schmidt has captured the hearts of dog lovers worldwide. His colourful, creative and quirky photography can be found commercially and throughout the publishing and licensing industry and if you’re a fellow pet photographer, we have no doubt that you would instantly recognise his work.