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.

We saw some terrific story-telling images in the submission, and several silhouettes created using techniques we haven't seen before in the challenges.

Our top 10 are fantastic and we hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we did! Congratulations to the photographers who created them. Here they are, in no particular order.

Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Amy Hodson | Wander Pet Photography

A very nicely captured silhouette showing the dog off beautifully, look closer and you can see an anticipatory drool coming from the tongue! The framing of that dramatic sky really works well to keep the viewers eye in the image.

Brittani White 

What a great image showcasing this dog and owner at play. The light is gorgeous and catches the water falling away from the dog like crystal. The silhouetted figures have great shape and connection.

Desiree Nickerson | Born 2 Run Photography

What a fantastically well executed idea. Each moment is essential to the story and the placement of each dog creates a shape that is a graphic as a whole and keeps the viewers eye dancing around the image. The sunburst is very welcome and allows the light to separate the darker elements, like the owner, from the darker areas of background.

Ginger Wick | Ginger Wick Photography

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.

Helen Daniels | Not Just A Dog Photography

Fantastic light and colour and the dogs stance perfectly showcases the against that epic sky.

Juliette Bercovici | Juliette Bercovici

A beautifully captured silhouette. The burst of light on the dogs chest is perfectly placed, the explosion of colour give it life and the cinematic result is echoed perfectly in the 16:9 ratio crop.

Lisa Hanley | Odd Quad Photography

This is a very lovely moment in time. The hints of warmth around the edges of the dogs fur echo the warm light behind. The hazy light adds atmosphere and the composition is great. And who doesn't love a little blep of the tongue!?!

Lisa Olson | Pets R Family

This is a very interesting take on the silhouetto brief! It's captured very nicely the kittens are all in interesting and cute poses and isn't really something we've seen before in this challenge. 

Melissa Schiestel

There is so much to love about this silhouette, but the best thing about it is what the photographer added to the scene; the dancing dog. what a great idea and a humourous and heartwarming result.

Shandess Griffin | Shand and Your Dogs Photography

This is a technically perfect silhouette! Bags of personality, the colour are vibrant and rich, the blacks, black. The depth the various layers of grass adds is a lovely touch that adds a painterly quality.

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 with 12 challenges running over 6 months. 

Much more than just a challenge, Then 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.