Happy Paws Studio pet photographer Julie Brown took home seven golds and three honourable mentions for her entries into the London Photography Awards for Fine Art Pet Photography.
The Forest Lake based photographer says the company’s founder Anne Neiwand is a landscape photographer, but “always had a passion for pets”.
Julie had no experience in photography before joining Anne four years ago, but since training and travelling with Anne, she’s quickly grown into one of the area’s most well-loved photographers.
This was her first time entering the London Photography awards, but Julie says she intends to enter every year.
The London Awards say the program “celebrates, honours, and recognises excellence in photography worldwide, and they want to commemorate “photographers who convey their creativity via the photographic medium”.
Gnocchi the “food-driven” dachshund took home one of the top prizes for his portrait titled “Anticipation”.
The pet photography business is “really rewarding”, Julie says.
“You can get so much affection and unconditional love from these animals; they come in, they want to be with you.
“And the look on the parents’ face, when you get that shot … it’s so rewarding.”
Julie says her husband Michael is their “wrangler”, and their subjects tend to “leave [his] best friend”.
“Sometimes dogs can be funny with males, then after they’ve sort of got used to him and they know he’s got the treats and everything, they don’t want to leave.
“They want Michael to go with them; they absolutely love him.
“It’s really interesting saying shy, timid animals come in, and then by the time they leave, they’re all over you and they’re licking your face and all sorts of things”.
Happy Paws’ 31 five-star reviews speak for themselves: Forest Lake loves Julie and her photos just as much as the London Photography Awards do.
