Speaking About Animal Behaviour For Photographers at The Canadian Imaging Conference

The cover photo for my presentation on Animal Behaviour for Photographers. The family of the these two adorable Boston Terriers ordered a big metal print of this photo of them licking their lips in anticipation of treats, and has it hanging in their dining room!

Recently, I did something WAAAAAY outside my comfort zone. I agreed to be a presenter at the 2024 Canadian Imaging Conference, put on by the Professional Photographers of Canada in Victoria, BC.

The idea was terrifying to me. I am not a public speaker. I still remember attending my first Canadian Imaging conference, which was only 7 years ago, in 2017, and being soooo intimidated by all the “real” photographers. I could barely bring myself to speak to anyone there, I was afraid they’d ask me a technical question about photography that would expose me as the fraud I felt like on the inside.

I even won a Best in Class trophy that year at the awards gala, which went a little way towards soothing my imposter syndrome, but I still went back to my hotel room afterwards to drink wine and call my mom, rather than celebrating with the other attendees. If you had told me at that point that I would be one of the speakers at that same event 7 years later, I would have called you crazy, with zero hesitation.

Prepping for success in a pet photo shoot has a lot to do with knowing your subjects and choosing the right locations, activities, and yes - treats to keep them happy, stress-free, and motivated.

A year after that first conference, I took a major leap in my life. I quit my job at an animal shelter in Toronto, where I had good pay, union seniority, medical and dental benefits, a pension plan, and 4 weeks of paid vacation. I was burnt out and miserable and realized one day that I was more afraid of a future where I stayed than I was of any future I could envision if I took the leap and left. I bought my house near the Bay of Fundy in rural New Brunswick in the summer of 2017, and moved there permanently in March of 2018 to be a photographer full-time.

It hasn’t been all roses since then, but I’ve never regretted the move for a second. Being self-employed can be stressful, but I have learned to lean into the things that scare me most and that is why I agreed to speak at Canadian Imaging.

My one caveat was that I didn’t want to speak about technical stuff: cameras, and settings, and light ratios. There are photographers way more knowledgeable than me on all of those subjects. I truly believe that my superpower, the key to my success as a pet photographer is that my 25-year career as a vet tech has provided me with such a solid foundation in animal behaviour. That’s what enables me to predict what the animals in front of my lens are going to do next, and helps me ensure that the session is a fun and positive experience for them and their families - and that is what I capture in my photos.

So that is how I came to speak about animal behaviour at a professional photography conference …

One of the most uncomfortable parts of my presentation was having to share many of my own “misses” - photos that I captured of animals showing signs of stress.

Overall, the experience of speaking at Canadian Imaging was wonderful. I got a lot of very positive and supportive feedback from the attendees, most of whom seemed to find it somewhere on the scale between entertaining and useful, which is all I could hope for!

There are certain accomplishments in my life that I draw strength from when I need a boost of confidence. Hiking the Inca Trail in Peru as an overweight 35-year-old smoker (with bronchitis!), moving across the country to teach in a college vet tech program in the early 2000s with zero teaching experience, quitting the aforementioned shelter job to become a pet photographer, and now I can add public speaking at a national conference to that list!

I’m so thankful to the conference committee for having faith in me, and reaching out to me to be a presenter in the first place. I’m very glad I did it … and now I give myself permission to never put myself through the stress again in the future!