Welcome to the second post in my Embark Pet Photography Challenge Series! Each challenge pushes me creatively—and this one was no exception. The theme this round?

"Get Down."

The goal was simple: capture a photo from the lowest possible angle. Easy, right? As a professional dog photographer, I usually shoot from a low vantage point anyway. It brings you into the dog’s world and makes portraits feel more immersive and connected. So I thought this challenge would be a breeze. Spoiler alert: I ended up doing three separate photoshoots before I got the image I was happy with.

Here’s the final image I submitted for this challenge—taken during my third and final attempt after lots of trial, error, and learning. Scroll down to see behind-the-scenes moments and hear the full story behind how I got the shot.

My first attempt was with Lucky, a beautiful Australian Shepherd. I used my 70-200mm lens and got as low as I could—only to realize I was too low. The grass completely blocked my view of Lucky! After making some quick adjustments, I still captured a shot I’m really proud of.

Although this photo met the challenge requirements, I personally didn’t feel I had gotten low enough to really make it stand out. The photo turned out beautifully, but I wasn’t quite satisfied—it didn’t feel like my strongest take on the challenge.

Even though it wasn’t the final image I submitted, I still love how this portrait of Lucky turned out. Here it is:

So, I decided to try again—this time with my husky, Jaja. I found a beautiful winding path lined with trees that I thought would make the perfect backdrop. This time, I switched to my 24–70mm lens, thinking the wider field of view would help me capture the curve of the path as Jaja walked toward me. The vision in my head? Epic.

The result? Not quite.

What I didn’t account for was how getting low changes your field of view. At ground level, the curve I was so excited about completely disappeared. On top of that, I was too far from Jaja to get that creamy background separation that makes dogs pop from their environment. And—lesson learned—I left my lighting gear behind, thinking I wouldn’t need it. Big mistake. The lighting was too dark, and most of my images were either blurry or lacked impact.

I’d show you photos from my second attempt… but I was so embarrassed by how poorly it turned out that I deleted them all in a moment of frustration. Sometimes what you imagine just doesn’t translate the way you hoped—and this was definitely one of those times!

These were my key takeaways from round two:

Be flexible. Don’t force the composition in your head. Analyze your location and adapt.

Distance matters. To get that gorgeous background blur (aka bokeh), make sure your background is at least twice as far behind the dog as you are in front.

Use the right gear. The 24–70mm wasn’t the best lens for this setup. A longer focal length plus a wide aperture gives better separation.

Always bring your lights. Even if you think you won’t need them. Having backup never hurts.

They say third time’s a charm—and thankfully, that proved true.

For this third attempt, I returned to the same forest path I used in the second shoot. But instead of trying to capture Jaja walking around the curve (which didn’t quite work out), I found a straight portion of the path and had him pose rather than walk toward me, and this time I used my 70-200mm lens to help create more background compression and that dreamy, blurred backdrop I was after. This setup gave me a much better angle and more control over the composition.

I attached my light to a boom arm on a stand, positioned slightly to the left between me and Jaja, with the arm reaching just over the path. I angled the strobe to light him from the front while dialing in my settings to darken the background and let the flash do the shaping.

The result? A beautifully lit portrait of Jaja with a dramatic streak of light across the plane of focus—exactly the image I’d been trying to create all along.

Here’s a look behind the scenes at how it all came together:

When feedback day arrived, I was nervous but hopeful. I didn’t make the shortlist this time—and the reason? Ghosting. 😩

While cloning out distractions in Photoshop, I accidentally duplicated a part of Jaja’s ear into the background. I had looked at the image so long I didn’t even notice… until it was too late. That faint ghost of an ear is now going to haunt me forever—pun intended. A simple mistake that cost me—but a valuable lesson learned all the same.

The image I originally submitted for the challenge had this ghosting mistake—but I’ve since corrected it. The version shown at the top of this blog is the updated, final image.

Despite the hiccups, I’m proud of this image and everything I learned along the way. These challenges are helping me grow not just as a dog photographer, but as a creative thinker. I’m excited to keep sharing the process with you—mistakes and all!

🐾 Stay tuned for Challenge #3 coming soon.

📸 And if you're in the Clarkesville, GA area and want your dog to be part of an upcoming challenge, feel free to message me! You’ll get a digital copy of the final photo we create.