We've reached the final challenge of our Emerge course and as with all the Unleashed Challenges, we're ending with a fun one, 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.

The resulting Shake! images our challengers submitted didn't fail to put a smile on our faces.

Here are our top 10 Shake! images, in no particular order. Well done to the photographers.

- Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Amy Hodson | Wander Pet Photography

The super low angle of the camera really draws you in to this moment. which is timed perfectly, the ears swooshing are fabulous. The centring with subtle leading lines are great compositional elements. 

Dawn Orr

Beautiful light, simple colour and a wonderful moment. The low angle allows the water to be isolated against the dark background so they become more visible.

Desiree Nickerson | Born 2 Run Photography

This sequence is pieced together expertly, with the water droplets seeming to merge into each individual dogs space. The all ears to no ears sequence is justified and each brings something interesting tot he resulting image.

Erica Schomaker | Ash and Alder Photography

This dog hasn't just ben playing in the water, look at the mud splashing everywhere! The single visible eye is nice and sharp and the timing is great for this Shake! moment.

Ginger Wick | Ginger Wick Photography

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!

Julie Cork | J Cork Photography

What an endearing series, each frame is individually very strong. Together the serve as a lovely story of this little corgi Shake!

Juliette Bercovici | Juliette Bercovici

What a unique shake shot! Wide angle, low and IN the water. The eye is sharp and the motion blur adds a really nice dynamic. The wooden structure acts as a frame too. 

Lisa Hanley | Odd Quad Photography

This show has a really lovely curve and flow from the bevelled surface of the water to the flapping ear. Sharp, simple and very effective. This is a great example of a Shake! shot.

Lisa Olson | Pets R Family

Wait a minute, did someone intentionally use the Unleashed brand colours to score bonus points?!? Aside from the awesome colour, the dog is in a great cyclical flow of the shake, and that has allowed all that water to create a frame that is not unlike a galaxy pulling you in to the centre. A fantastic and original take on this challenge brief.

Shandess Griffin | Shand and Your Dogs Photography

This image is very well captured, the flow of water really allows the eye to circle around the image. The edit is beautifully handled with great black and the rich tones in the background are beautiful.

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.