It’s that time again. I honestly can’t believe that 2025 is almost over. Time flies (like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana… sorry! I couldn’t help myself)! Which means that it is time for my personal choices of ‘Best of 2025’. These may not be the ‘best’, but they are my favorites. And they are in no particular order, as I love these all for different reasons.
I love this image for so many reasons! Yes, I love how I finally managed to get the rim light around the guitar, and how I got the lighting set up to get Bella reflected in the guitar. But, what I love about this more than anything is that I discovered with some work, Bellatrix, my youngest dog, who focuses on dogs on the street in our neighborhood to the point of obsessive barking, can be redirected to focus on other things (when there aren’t other distractions around).
The camera was on a tripod and I moved to direct Bella’s gaze where I wanted it. I have never had a dog where I could use a tripod before – once she sat, she stayed there. She even put up with the sunglasses for 15+ seconds at at time without knocking them off. I’m pleased I got this photo to workout how I envisioned it, but more than anything, I’m so proud of Bella for being such a good model!
Yes, I am proud that this image won the ‘Highs and Lows’ challenge in Emerge. But I really love that I put a bunch of work into the detail on Sammy’s fur, and that it really worked out well. The texture on his fur is exactly what I was going for in post-processing, and it really inspired me to continue working on the details when processing images, particularly big images for print.
I also love this image because this gave me the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend and to spend time with her. Photographing dogs outdoors is definitely a large part of my social life, and I love that I am able to connect (and reconnect) with people doing something we enjoy, in stunning locations, with their animals. It is really the perfect way to spend time. with people!
For the State Fair, this was titled ‘A Nice Piece of Tail’ for a chuckle. I don’t think the judges appreciated the title, but that’s okay!
I love this image in part because I was so proud of myself for ‘seeing’ this. A friend had done a presentation on abstract photography at the Park City Photography Club, and really inspired me to look at patterns and colors in a way that I hadn’t really thought about before.
I was working on a totally different idea for the Emerge ‘Details’ challenge when I saw that Ludo’s flank was so similar to the Bonneville Conglomerate rock on Antelope Island that I knew this was going to be the image I wanted. I spent a lot of time working on the details of his fur in post-processing, but the colors of his leg and tail and the colors of the rock are absolutely true to life.
This image came from a couple looking to find ‘Alaska-like’ scenery in Utah with their two senior dogs. They were looking for a location that was accessible for their 15+ year old Husky, as well as for Cooper (about 10 years old), pictured here. The weather was quite cold, but the dogs loved the temperatures, and after getting the photos the family wanted, I knew I wanted to get some portraits of Cooper alone because his coloring and fur was so interesting.
I love the contrast of this warm, fuzzy, happy dog against a pretty stark winter landscape. Jordanelle Reservoir is an amazing place for photographs in all seasons, but I particularly love winter there. It is close to Park City, and yet pretty quite, and really magical.
McKenna belongs to a long-time friend and client, and is usually a bit more wild than her sister Rizzo, who featured in last year’s ‘Best of’ post. Rizzo and McKenna (and their Mom) are always willing to indulge me in my experiments, and while the primary goal of the three of them visiting Park City this fall was to get photos on Main Street in the early morning, I thought since they had arrived the afternoon before, maybe we could take a trip up to the Uintas.
McKenna and Rizzo are both tiny dogs, and definitely more used to urban enviroments, but they are troopers, and once we got up to the Duchesne Tunnel campground, they were ready to show off their skills. Both dogs are teeny little things, and I really wanted to go with a ‘woodland creature’ vibe. It didn’t take a very big stump for McKenna to look like she was surveying the world.
After their mountain adventure in the evening, the girls met up with me on Main Street and we were able to photograph them as ‘girls about town’, complete with hats. I hadn’t done a lot of evening+morning shoots before, but as they were stayin in Park City over night, this was perfect! And Rizzo and McKenna’s Mom learned the photography term ‘bokeh’ during this shoot so it was a success for everyone!
Ludo (of the many-hued flank) and his canine siblings live close to Antelope Island, and he and his Mom joined me up there for many adventures this summer.
This particular image happened while I was actually looking for another image (this happens more and more, and it is cool when I see something I didn’t expect!) Ludo is a majestic dog, and I really love photographing dogs interacting with the landscape. Here, he is absolutely surveying the entire Great Salt Lake. I love the color of the light, the color of Ludo and the rocks, and the light and shadow on Fremont Island.
I won’t lie, I am also pleased that this image won the Animal Portrait category at the Intermountain PPA photo competition and helped me earn the Intermountain Photographer of the Year award.
I met Tucker through Ludo’s Mom, because spending time with people and dogs outdoors with my camera really, truly is one of my most favorite ways to spend time.
One of the challenges in Emerge was ‘Shake’, where, fairly obviously, a dog should be shaking off water. I had tried this a couple of times over the summer, but in a bit of a failure to plan, I got to September and realized that I didn’t really have a good shake photo. Tucker, who I had already photographed a couple of times, was more than happy to come play in Jordanelle Reservoir. The temperatures were a bit cool as the sun began to go behind the mountains, but being September, we got magical light. I absolutely love this golden light and water everywhere (yes, we were all soaked!). He also has stunning eyes that were really sharp in this image, and help to make this one of my all-time favorites.
My highest scoring competition image to date, earning an 87 (Excellent) score. June is one of my favorite models; she lives very close to me, and she and her family were willing to let me ‘practice’ my panning techniques on her. While working on panning, I couldn’t help but be amazed at June’s athletic skills, and got several high-speed action photos. I just love how she looks like she’s launching herself right up the side of the hill!
This image I love because it was one of my first serious attempts at telling a story through one photo alone. Maddie is a very senior pittie who had been rescued by her Mom when she was about 6 years old. I wanted to see if I could tell a story of her journey. I found an old suitcase on eBay, and then found some old-style travel stickers, and learned how to make my own luggage claim tag. If you aren’t able to zoom in enough, the main sticker on her suitcase is from the Best Friends ranch in Kanab, and her luggage tag shows she is going HOM (and that would be phonetic for home, rather than Homer, Alaska, as the IATA airport code would suggest). Needless to say, she is taking a Greyhound bus from her shelter to her new home.
Not a dog photo! Tucker’s Mom works for Utah’s Hogle Zoo, and invited the Park City Photography Club to the zoo for a tour. Since the photography club (we are small but mighty!) is always looking for outings where we can all go make photographs, this was a great opportunity. It was an amazing tour, and as we were getting ready to leave, we walked past the seal/polar bear area and saw the seals were happily swimming past the windows where you could see them underwater. I was amused how these two were almost always together, and for the most part not swimming belly-down as I would have expected.
I particularly like how I have the tail of the one in front, and the front part of the seal behind, almost like a wrap-around photo.
There are so many other photos I could have included, but I wanted to keep this relatively short. However, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has helped me in my photography journey this year, from the old friends and their dogs who helped me explore the outdoors of northern Utah, the new friends who met up with for adventures (and rapidly become old friends!), the clients who help support my work and my volunteer efforts for Salt Lake County Animal Services, as well as everyone who comes out to Petapalooza for photos to help raise money for Salt Lake County. I appreciate you all so very, very much, and you and your pets make the tapestry of my life richer through knowing you. Thank you so very much!
Happy New Year to everyone, and I look forward to more adventures in 2026!
Dogumentary Pet Photography
