Attempting to represent our three dimensional world through a two dimensional medium such as a photograph is no easy task, but that’s the challenge we take on every time we shoot.

Depth is defined as the perceived distance between the closest and farthest objects in a scene.

By including a visible foreground, middle ground (which is often the subject itself) and background, you build up a three-dimensional feel to your images, making them more dynamic and immersive.

For this Empower course challenge we wanted to see our challengers create images with depth. As you will all have come to expect, we had an incredible set of submissions. Here, in no particualr order, are our top 10.

- Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Sarah Jones | Mucky Pup Photography

A stunning scene captured perfectly, the layers of bluebells are offset by the  bold appearance of the background. The black and white dog has been edited nicely and really stands out in the scene - we love that tail!

Rebecca Williams | Rebecca Williams Photographer

The light and shadows give this tons of depth. The dog is well contained in it's environment and has a beautiful stance and alert expression.

Megan Purtell | Megan Purtell Photography

This unusual location has been perfectly manipulated to create the required foreground, middle ground and background layers. The dog's windswept appearance and delightful scruffiness add interest.

Kim Hollis | BARKography

The soft, pastel light tones are delicious, serving as a contrast to the sharpness and depth of the dog's arresting gaze. A simple image with stacks of impact.

Keri Nakahashi | Keri Nakahashi Photography

A unique take on creating depth, a crashing wave provides foreground interest and those unmistakable shapes of palm trees in the background give a tropical feel. Great concept!

Jennifer Patterson | Blue Moose Photography

A magical forest scene has been crafted here through use of soft, ethereal layers and the perfect posing of the dog in the scene. Absolutely beautiful editing.

Helen Green | Helen Green Photography

Simplicity is the theme of this image at first glance, then on closer inspection we noticed many different levels of depth that have been expertly used to draw attention to the subject. Beautiful work!

Diane Gollowitzer | Dogs in Focus Photography

This image has a wonderful fairytale whimsical feeling about it. Beautiful light and composition and the floating dandelion seeds at the extra touch of magic.

Christel Wellens | Fotografie Christel Wellens

A glorious mix of copper, bronze and pewter tones give this image a timeless feel. There are multiple layers to create depth, leading lines, and even framing of the subject with the background tree makes this image work on many different levels.

Chantal Levesque | Chantal Levesque Photo

Clever use of light, location and colour has given this unique image a sense of cosiness with a slightly ominous twist! The branches provide interest and are the key to creating depth and enhancing the composition.

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.