The love between a pet and its owner is really special. It brings out strong feelings and makes memories that last a long time. When taking pictures of this special bond, it's important to capture the real emotions.

Challenge number 3 of Empower is called connections. In this challenge we wanted to see images showcasing those relationships in a natural way. 

For this challenge we were joined by international dog photography superstar, our friend Alicja Zmysłowska. (If you don't know her groundbreaking work, you really need to check it out). Alicja set this challenge and joined us to provide feedback to our challengers.

We were blown away with the variety in the submissions, the storytelling and emotional content was wonderful. 

Well done to our top 10, this set of images beautifully showcase life with our pets beside us.

- Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Anna Dernsjö | Anna Karin Dernsjö Photography

The colours and tones have been handled beautifully in this image, giving a reduced colour palette that suits the mood of the connection captured between dog and owner. 

Chantal Levesque | Chantal Levesque Photo

The tones and colours have been handled beautifully in this image, providing a richly textured feel. The body language is soft and genuine and really captures the bond between dog and owner.

Hope Kuo

Clean and bold colours and a graphical feel make the visual communication in this shot clear, while the posing is delightfully unexpected!

Jennifer Patterson | Blue Moose Photography

We just loved the moment of everyday life captured in this image! The connection between dog and owner is clear and the setting and excellent use of light tells the story perfectly.

Keri Nakahashi | Keri Nakahashi Photogrpaphy

Splashing through the water in the sun with your dog, what could be more fun? This image perfectly captures the warm feeling of the location, while highlighting the bond between dog and owner.

Lindsay Baca | Lindsay Baca Photography

Doggy kisses are wonderful, and this image captures double the fun and affection! The yellow flower setting is gorgeous and the image has been edited beautiful for gorgeous skin tones, blacks and whites.

Lisbeth Ganer | LisGanerArt

Clever use of natural window light has been employed in this image to highlight the faces of both subjects, while framing brings them together and highlights their deep bond. Just beautiful!

Megan Purtell | Megan Purtell Photography

This image has immediate impact, with the posing and black and white treatment evoking a "ying and yang" theme of deep connection with all the feels!

Nancy Paynter

The connection captured in this shot is heartwarming, and kudos must be given to the photographer for the technical difficulty of working with the light to capture a well exposed and striking scene.

Pauliina Saarinen | Pauliina Saarinen Photography

We feel privileged to witness this intimate but joyful moment between man and dog, as they're highlighted perfectly by a shaft of light in the forest.

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.