Photos of dogs can usually be classified into one of two main categories - portrait, where the dog is still, or action, where the dog is doing something, moving around, often with lots of energy, and at great speed!

But what about the middle ground, the grey area?

What if an image mostly fits into the category of a portrait, but there’s also a suggestion of movement? A step, a paw raise?

Or what if the image can be defined technically as action, but the action is very slow and deliberate, rather than a crazy moment, frozen in time?

We like to call these images “slow action”, and that is what the Slow Motion challenge is all about.

As always, we had some incredible submissions. Here, in no particular order are our top 10 Slow Motion shots.

- Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Diane Gollowitzer | Dogs in Focus Photography

What a stunning silhouette, particularly the way the dog's paw and human's hand look like 2 pieces of a puzzle. Excellent use of slow motion.

Florence Araujo | Peanut and Bean Photo

Beautiful colours, gorgeous sky and a perfectly timed shot to capture the 'point'. 

Joanne Merner | Your Dog's Photographer

What a striking image! There's a dark, almost sinister feeling to it that works really well.

Karen Havenaar | Pr1mo Fotografie

This dog looks as if it's had a great time in the wet grass and is showing off its best trick in real slow motion fashion.

Kelly Pettitt | Kelly Pettitt Photography

There are a couple of wonderful slow action moments here, the obvious being the tongue. But there's also a back paw raised too. Beautiful attention to detail on the edit too.

Keri Nakahashi | Keri Nakahashi Photography

Light, airy and vibrant, this Slow Motion shot uses a wide angle lens very effectively to draw you into the dog's world.

Megan Thompson | Megan Thompson Photography

What a gorgeous foal! Great low angle and composition. The hints of movement in the feet give it what it needs to qualify as Slow Motion.

Nicole Crystal | Pooch Pix

What an adorable image. The foreground leads nicely to the puppy who looks like he's practicing his howl! Perfect slow action for this challenge.

Sarah Jones | Mucky Pup Photography

Beautifully edited image, great expression and the raised paw just gives you the hint of movement we are looking for to meet the challenge brief.

Suzy McCracken | Suzy McCracken Photography

This is such a fun, whimsical image and it is edited beautifully. The dog looks like it's having a lot of fun!

Emerge is the second series in our Unleashed Challenge courses and is made up of 12 challenges over 6 months. It’s open to anyone who has completed our first course in the series, Embark.

So 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 and we'll send you all the details when enrolment for Embark next opens in 2023.