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.

Here, in no particular order are our top 10 images from this challenge. Well done to the photographers who created these beautiful bokehlicious images!

- Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Dawn Orr

So much fairy light sparkle! The dog is lovely and bright too, with the balance of light sources being expertly handled for a fantastic result.

Desiree Nickerson | Born 2 Run Photography

There's a lovely soft feel to this and the warm colour palette helps give this image a warm inviting feeling. 

Erica Schomaker | Ash and Alder Photography

What gorgeous golden sparkle! The shape of the bokeh follows the form and position of the dog's head beautifully. 

Gabriela Ciobanu | LightStories

There is so much detail in this cat's pin-sharp eyes, you could get lost investigating them for quite some time! The soft bokeh echoes those big round eyes and it works beautifully in this image.

Ginger Wick | Ginger Wick Photography

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

Julie Cork | J Cork Photography

There's loads of sparkle here! The action shot and expression of the dog give the image an energy that works well in this location.

Kendra Stautz | Wild Woof Photography

Beautiful colourful bokeh, a great expression and the light has been well handled to give detail in the dark areas and draw the eye to the expression.

Lisa Olson | Pets R Family

A very cute and creative take on the Bokehlicious challenge brief. The large bokeh in the foreground adds depth and the colour palette is well thought out and executed for a wonderful harmonious result.

Melissa Schiestel 

The lemon and lime bokeh work well here giving an otherwise plain background some interest. The dog is lit really nicely too.

Shandess Griffin | Shand and Your Dogs Photography

Well this is Bokehlicious! Stunning colours, beautiful composition and those different sized orbs of bokeh add a little depth and allow the eye to flow through the image.

Are you ready to transform your pet photography in just 6 months?

The Unleashed Challenges are a series of 3 interactive challenge based courses, Embark, Emerge and Empower. Each one has 12 challenges running over 6 months. 

Much more than just a challenge, the Unleashed Challenges are an invaluable educational resource that will help you build up a go-to list of shots to help create variety in your work. Designed for anyone to be able to complete whether you just want to photograph your own dog or you are a professional pet photographer.

If you'd like to know more, head over here to register your interest.