Time for the Emerge wrap-up! Emerge is the 2nd class in the Unleashed Education challenge-based photography classes. Last year I began the program with Embark having no idea what to expect. I won’t rehash the highs and lows that came from Embark, beyond saying that that once I stopping focusing on the awards and really leaned into the journey, I had an amazing experience.
So, when I signed up for Emerge, I made sure that I had a clear goal – to keep discovering the joy in pet photography. Rather than focusing on any awards, I wanted to focus on having fun with people with dogs, exploring northern Utah for amazing locations to hike and take cool photos.
My planning for Emerge could have been a bit better, but I had two things I really wanted to focus on: 1) scouting out locations, and 2) practicing the panning technique, as I have seen it executed well and I really wanted to try it.
One of my favorite areas in northern Utah is the Mirror Lake Highway area of the Uintas, but since the road doesn’t open until mid-May (or so), I wanted to scout out other locations. I bought a Utah State Parks pass, renewed my America the Beautiful pass and began looking for people who were of a similar mind to go exploring. I hadn’t been to Antelope Island (in/near/by) the Great Salt Lake for ages, but since it isn’t too buggy in April, I thought I’d go look for locations there.
While Antelope Island is (as I learned) a place people visiting Utah really like to visit, I hadn’t really considered it in the past – too many bugs, too hot and dry in the summer, and the infamous ‘lake stink’. But, I have several friends who are landscape/wildlife photographers who love going to Antelope Island, and after talking with them and seeing some of their photos, I called a friend of mine who was going to be moving out of state soon and asked her if she wanted to join me.
I had an absolute ball. It wasn’t super hot, and in April, the bugs weren’t terrible. We saw several bison at a distance, but ended up hiking out to a rock outcrop that is an island when there is a lot of spring runoff (at the time we went out there was a small sandbar that let us get to it; when I went back later in the summer, the Salt Lake had receded enough that it was just a rock outcrop in the sand!) There were about a gazillion gulls on the rocks, and the dogs had a great time splashing in the water and bird-watching. (They didn’t chase the birds – they were wildly outnumbered, and it would have been a Hitchcock scene if they wanted to go after the birds!)
While I couldn’t use any of the photographs I took before May for Emerge, the first trip out to Antelope Island convinced me that I had definitely been missing out by not going out there before. I ended up finding a location for my ‘Framed’ re-shoot (I didn’t end up shooting until mid-October because of the aforementioned bugs, and a bison in the middle of the trail on earlier trips), and I realized that there was a reason people from all over the world visited Antelope Island.
While waiting for Mirror Lake Highway to open, I worked on my panning with June, and her trainer (and human sibling Ava!). June and her family helped me with some of the challenges last year, and I knew that June would be a great test candidate for panning. I had started photographing action with June in the winter because she’s such an amazing athlete, but when we got to May, I began working on my panning in earnest. Between my early trips to Antelope Island and meeting up with June and family in the evenings, I had realized that I was spending my free evenings in the best possible way – with wonderful people, dogs, and a camera. I actively made the decision that if my social life was primarily comprised of photography “dates” with like-minded people, I would be perfectly happy with that.
My submission for the first challenge missed the nature of the assignment, and I knew I’d have to resubmit. I was initially a bit bummed, but I took inspiration from all of my incredibly talented classmates and reminded myself of my goal to meet new people, and to spend time outdoors with dogs and my camera. I sent out a series of emails to my mailing list looking for models, and got a bunch of responses from wonderful people. For the second challenge I met up with a new friend at a location in Heber Valley I had just discovered the week before (photographing a client and her dogs for her bridal photos!) It was a wonderful session, and I was genuinely shocked to see that the image placed in the Top 10 for the challenge.
I had half-hoped that I might have one image in the 12 challenges that might make it into the Top 10, and by hitting that target so early in the class, I realized that I suddenly felt free – no pressure, no stress. Again, I hadn’t really expected to have any images in the Top 10, but there was obviously a part of me that had been hoping it would happen, and when it did, I realized I had met any ‘performance goals’ and now I could just focus on having fun.
Getting the Top 10 ‘out of the way’, I decided that I really wanted to see if I could tell stories with my images. While I missed the mark with my Under Cover assignment, I realized that in attempting to tell stories, I really needed to think about all of the elements of the stories – expression, colors, details. I played around with the Patient Customer waiting to check out with his basket of goodies, but ultimately decided that I wanted to tell Maddie’s story.
Maddie and her Mom live in Kamas, and there is a bus shelter on the main road into town that I kept looking at, thinking there was a story there. After missing the story for my initial submission, I really thought about Maddie’s story. She is a senior dog, rescued as an adult, and found an amazing home. So, I went on eBay and found a vintage suitcase (because Maddie is a classy lady!) and put travel stickers on the suitcase, showing that she had come from the Best Friends Sanctuary and was going home (HOM is an actual airline city code for Homer, Alaska, but it works phonetically!). It seemed only appropriate that she be taking a Greyhound bus to her fur-ever home. Maddie’s Mom was thrilled with the image, and I was pleased with the final image (although the bus shelter isn’t architecturally ‘square’ and I spent way too many hours trying to get the lines to look mostly straight..).
With the panning assignment, I had spent enough time with June and family that I had something I was pleased with. This image reminds me of the landspeeder Luke and Obi Wan were in on their way to meet Han Solo. Yes, my brain goes there. What can I say? June’s family were thrilled with the image, and I presented them with a print as a thank you. And yes, I was beyond thrilled to have another image that made the Top 10. But, even with this Top 10, I wasn’t chasing awards. I realized that I was having fun connecting with people and their dogs, and that was incredible.
For the next several challenges, I met up with other people who had reached out to me through my model calls, and began to set up adventures. By this time, the Mirror Lake Highway was open, and I was going up into the high mountains for photo locations, but I hadn’t given up on Antelope Island. I discovered that by July, while it was hot, it was slightly less buggy than May, particularly if we stayed away from the water. One of the people I met had 4 dogs, and friends with more dogs. One of her dogs is Ludo, a super-friendly, super-sweet Great Dane. Ludo was up for adventures, and I initially thought that his multicolored nose would make a great detail shot. But when we reached the top of Buffalo Point, I noticed that one of Ludo’s flanks looked an awful lot like some of the Bonneville Conglomerate rocks on the island. This was one of those images that I hadn’t planned, but was so pleased to actually ‘see’.
Ludo and his Mom were also great hikers, and struck and excellent pose as the sun set, giving me an amazing silhouette.
Through Ludo’s Mom, I met another wonderful lady and her dog Tucker. Tucker is also an agility dog and loves the water! We met up twice at Jordanelle Reservoir and ended with images for both Slow Motion. The Shake image was photographed in the fall, and the light was absolutely magical.
I also had the opportunity to share my love of exploring with people who hadn’t explored the Uintas with their dogs before. For the bokeh challenge, a long-time client of mine was excited to take her Yorkies into the high mountains for the first time ever. The Yorkies and their mother had a great time, and we were able to enjoy an amazing sunset!
Since I really like the idea of ‘little dogs in the big world’ I encouraged another friend of mine to bring her little dog up to the Uintas for her photo shoot. The session was amazing and we had a lot of fun exploring the Soapstone area of Mirror Lake Highway. As we were getting ready to head back to Kamas, we caught the last rays of sunlight coming up the canyon, and her dog Sammy was magical in the light. I loved this image when I first took it, and when I had to re-submit my Highs and Lows image, I knew this would be the one. To my great surprise, the image won the challenge at the end of the class wrap-up!
While I loved Embark, Emerge was an even better experience for me. Not because of the Top 10 placings, or even winning a challenge, but because I came in with a mindset that allowed me to focus on the joy I get from photography, and exploring locations in northern Utah with fellow dog lovers. Many of the people I met up with this summer were people I had never met before, and yet developed friendships with many of them, sharing the bond of the love of dogs and the love of exploring the incredible natural beauty of Utah.
I’ve posted a lot of images here, because I’m having a hard time explaining how amazing Emerge was for me. Yes, there was the stress of trying to perfect images before the challenge deadline, and the bit of anxiety when each feedback videos showed up in my feed, but that wasn’t overwhelming. By focusing on my own growth as a photographer, the relationships I was building, and all of the amazing places I explored, I have continued to fuel my love of photography. Instead of feeling burned out and tired, I am so excited to go out and explore many of these same locations in winter with old friends and new.
Emerge is the second class in the challenge-based education program offered by Unleashed Education – you have to start with Emerge – and I would encourage any pet photographer (or even any photographers with an interest in pets) to sign up for Emerge. It will push you and test you in ways that you couldn’t even imagine. But for me I was able to embrace the struggle and get out of my comfort zone. In getting out of my comfort zone I have started on the path to creating incredible images. I have more confidence in my skills, but even more importantly, I am confident that my ability to continue to grow as a photographer is limitless, and that is a powerful feeling.
Dogumentary Pet Photography
