I developed an interest in photography at high school and completed a short course in black and white film photography in 1998. I loved it so much, I abandoned my dream of becoming a vet and instead went on to complete a Diploma of Photography, a two year TAFE college course in Toowoomba, Queensland. I then studied web (multimedia) and graphic design, and eventually ended up pursuing a career as a designer which I worked as for the next 5 years.

I continued taking photos with early digital cameras and film SLRs for my own enjoyment, then purchased my first digital SLR (a Canon EOS 350D) in 2006. In 2007, to help me get back into the swing of photography and improve my skills, I completed a 365 photo-a-day project which was the best thing I could have done. Picking up the camera on a daily basis and striving to see the world in a new way each day was just what I needed.

In early 2007 I met, fell head-over-heels in love with, and brought home a fawn Great Dane named Kaya. To document the first year of Kaya’s life I decided to start a blog and post images and stories about her life, told from her perspective.

The blog proved to be quite popular and I really enjoyed taking photos of Kaya and her doggy friends, so researched the idea of getting back into photography as a profession and specialising in dogs. I started out doing shoots for my friends’ dogs to build up a portfolio of work. I created a website to display my work, had some business cards printed up and attended events to get my name out there. It’s been a long journey but well worth the effort!

I like to try and keep images looking natural and timeless, so steer clear of applying presets and following editing trends. I go for vibrant (but not oversaturated) colour, beautiful lighting and make sure the subject is crisp, clear and separate from the background. I place emphasis on three main components – light, location and expression – striving to include all three in every image I take.

PreviousIy I've shot with a Canon 1D-X Mark II body but since 2020, I use a Canon EOS R5 and I absolutely love it! I'm obsessed with RF lenses and in my camera bag you'll find the Canon 70-200 f2.8L, Canon 50mm f1.2L and Canon 135mm f1.8L. The 70-200 is my go-to lens for action, but also for portraits when I need to hang back a little or shoot in a cluttered environment. I shoot with this lens probably 75% of the time.  The 50mm at f1.2 is an absolutely glorious lens, perfect for shallow depth of field portraits, and the 135mm is a perfect portrait lens.

I like to get exposure perfect in camera so shoot in full manual exposure mode (M) about 99.9% of the time. In highly variable lighting conditions I sometimes shoot in Manual with Auto ISO.

I use full time continuous autofocus (AI Servo on Canon) and on the new Canon EOS R5 - animal eye autofocus - which has been life-changing!

I use no artificial lighting or reflectors.

I use Adobe Lightroom to download, sort and finalise selected images from a session, and also apply basic adjustments such as cropping, white balance, highlight and shadow recovery, exposure, clarity, contrast and vibrance.

I then export the final images as PSD files to Adobe Photoshop and edit each shot individually, often using some time-saving custom actions I’ve created for further sharpening, colour and contrast. I’ll also do any pixel level editing such as the removal of leashes, background objects etc.

The final edited PSD files are then imported back into Lightroom where they sit ready for batch processing, depending on their eventual usage.

For a full rundown of the workflow I use and recommend, check out my Workflow and Editing Guide e-book.

Helping other photographers means they’ll produce quality work more quickly, helping our whole industry grow tall and strong and become more visible to the public.  If you fertilise and water something regularly, it will bloom into something that just can’t be ignored. That helps all of us! The more high-quality pet images people see, the more likely they are to take it seriously and want it for themselves. A day will soon arrive where pet photography is as ingrained a service as wedding or family photography, and when hiring a pet photographer is as commonplace as hiring a newborn photographer.

And no, I don't hold back any secrets. I'm genuinely addicted to lightbulb moments and come alive when I see others ‘get’ something for the first time. Integrity is central to what I do - the industry won’t grow until we’re all conversant in the same skills bringing joy to animal owners everywhere.

Besides, a lot of people come to me hoping to create images for rescue organisations and shelters. This can be actual life-saving work helping cats and dogs get new homes and I engage in this work myself. Building a generation of generous volunteers with a high standard of work that truly speaks to potential adopters will save lives. If there is any skill, any idea, any tip I can share that would give these animals a greater chance at a happy life – you’ll hear about it!