2024 Reflections and Pet of the Year
The 2024 Pet of the Year Finalists.
I know that 2024 was a year of struggle for many, so I almost feel bad saying it, but it was a pretty great year for me.
I got to photograph so many amazing pets and make some wonderful pet lovers very happy, but I guess those things are a given because I have the best job EVER.
Beyond that, I achieved some personal and professional goals and had a few fantastic firsts. One of those highlights was having my first opportunity ever to photograph the Northern Lights, not a common occurrence in Southern New Brunswick! Even more amazing was that I had multiple opportunities to photograph them throughout the year, and I even managed to photograph Jewell, the Ibizan Hound in front of the Aurora Borealis! Definitely a bucket list photo shoot.
Some of my favourite photos of the Aurora Borealis in Albert County, NB 2024. Jewell, the Ibizan Hound at Cape Enrage, The Anderson Hollow Lighthouse, The Harvey Hall, and The Sawmill Creek Covered Bridge.
Next was my biggest speaking engagement to date, my presentation on Animal Behaviour for Photographers at the Canadian Imaging Conference in Victoria, BC.
That led to a couple of other online presentations for camera clubs across Canada, and then being asked to submit a photo editing tutorial to the EditPalooza Summit, alongside some of the biggest international names in pet photography!
I sold several large prints of my images of Canadian Parks to a law firm in Ontario, to decorate their conference rooms named after their favourite parks.
Glacier National Park BC, Lake Louise AB, and the last 2 are in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario.
I won two Best in Class awards, for Animals and Fine Art at the Eastern Canada Image Competition, which makes me feel pretty good heading into the nationals coming up soon. I also had all 10 images that I entered into the International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards score Bronze or higher, AND I received my 2nd Master’s Bar from Professional Photographers of Canada, and my 13th professional Accreditation in Animal Study.
On a personal note, we made some major breakthroughs with our own dog, Iris this year, partly in thanks to our discovery of the Harness Lead. It’s the only product we have found that she both can’t escape from and doesn’t hate. It has been a game changer in house training and building her confidence. It’s also a great tool for sessions, because it is much more easily removed in photoshop than a traditional harness!
Iris was wearing the harness lead in this photo, but of course I removed it in Ps, as I always do!
Last, but not least, 2024 was my best year yet in business, with many repeat clients, but also lots of new ones, including one who travelled all the way from Ottawa for her session with me here in Albert County, NB!
There were a whopping 24 finalists this year, in my 2024 Pet of the Year Contest (and I only just now realized that 24 finalists was the perfect number for ‘24)! How could I possibly choose among them? I could not, so I put it to a vote.
After 3 weeks of featuring each of the finalists on social media, and watching the votes pour in, our winner was decided!
Willow the Havanese was prepared to be the winner, she was already wearing her party hat!
I will do a full proper feature on 2024 Pet of the Year, Willow the Havanese, soon! She had a stunning puppy session in the fall of 2023, followed by her 1st Birthday session at the beach in the summer of 2024, and deserves a whole post to herself.
Wishing you all the very best in 2025!
Recently, I was asked to submit a video showing my photo editing process to the Hair of the Dog Academy Edit-Palooza Summit. It was a huge honour to be included alongside 40+ of the biggest names in pet photography, worldwide!
You can watch me edit this photo of Kelley and Declan from Snugapug in Edit-Palooza!