They say a home is just a house without a dog (or other pet). Those of us with pets know this very well. If you're reading this, we wouldn't mind betting you can’t wait to get home for those joy-filled cuddles after a hard day at work.

The Under Cover challenge in Emerge is all about capturing pets in the home environment, indoors or under some kind of roof.

We had such a high standard in the images submitted for this challenge. Lots of great storytelling and some excellent outside-the-box creative ideas too.

These images are our top ten picks for this challenge. Well done to all the photographers for creating such fantastic images that really evoke the emotion we all get from the pets in our lives.

Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

Nicole Hrustyk | Pawtraits by Nicole

What a fantastic pose and expression! This Under over location feels a little futuristic which we really enjoy.

Allison Schwickerath | Allison Mae Photography

Beautiful colour harmony and this expression is so wonderful. The tight composition draws you straight into that super-sharp eye.

Becky Huddleston | Becky Huddleston Photography

There's a great sense of place in this image, we can see all we need to get the story without the location distracting you from the subject and its judgemental gaze! 

Shannon Moseley | Shannon Moseley Photography

Lovely soft palette, a very simple, but perfectly executed portrait. Gorgeous glossy eyes and a wonderful expression.

Valerie Howes | Wild + Ruff

What a cool location and the way the image is split in half diagonally adds a really interesting dynamic. The yellow tones inside and outside tie those 2 halves together brilliantly.

Christel Wellens | Fotografie Christel Wellens

Gorgeous expression, we love the fact this dog is perched so close to the edge of the bench. The framing is excellent too.

Jeff Rooney | Hightail It Photography

This is a lovely portrait with a really engaging expression. Great sense of the location and complementary colour palette. 

Magda Szklarska | Your Best Furiend Photography

It doesn't get more Under Cover than this! Fantastic textures and the detail on the nose is great.

Megan Purtell | Megan Purtell Photography

This has a lovely feeling of a lifestyle of adventure about it and is a great interpretation of the Under Cover challenge brief.

Nancy Paynter 

The colour pallete is stunning and the image is really well crafted yet feels totally organic. It's a fantastic example of an environmental portrait of a dog that fits this challenge perfectly.

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 April 2024.