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\nSelf-taught canine and equine photographer Jess Wealleans has been awarded the title of PetPhotographer of the Year at the 2020 MPA International Awards (MPA stands for Master Photographers Association). All of Jess\u2019s images made it to the final round of judging, with the winning photograph being of Alfie, a six-year-old border collie. We caught up with Jess to find out more about her competition success, and why she is confident that photographers can still earn money from photographing pets \u2013 despite the challenges of the lockdown.<\/p>\n\n
Were you surprised to have done so well in this competition?<\/strong> What were the biggest lessons you learned entering?<\/strong> Can you expand on that?<\/strong> What are your best tips doing well in pet photography competitions or related print competitions?<\/strong> What camera body and lens did you use?<\/strong> What about your editing process?<\/strong> Despite the pandemic, do you still think there are opportunities for pet photographers to make money? <\/strong> You can find Jess\u2019 highly successful YouTube channel here. <\/a>For more information on one to one sessions and future workshops , see Jess’s website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jess Wealleans, named PetPhotographer of the Year at the 2020 MPA International Awards, shares the secrets of her success, and why she still thinks money can be made from pet photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":142382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[374,39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-142378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nYes I was really surprised by the amount of images that got into the finals \u2013 13 in the end. I was watching the awards on Zoom, and completely covered my face, but I was over the moon. This was also the first time I had entered a print competition with my pet photography.<\/p>\n
\nThe biggest lesson was to be very objective \u2013 just because you love an image or clients love it, doesn\u2019t mean that it is the right choice. I went through the competition criteria very carefully. Because it was a print competition, I went for images with deeper and more muted tones, as they fitted what would get the highest marks. So I didn\u2019t choose anything that was very heavily saturated.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nImpact is really important, and you also get marks for points of attention. If there is too much drawing your eye, like very strongly saturated colours, the image might lose points. I also learned that more original takes on pet photography tend to score higher, rather than very predictable scenes. Print competitions are about originality and story telling – does it evoke a strong emotion.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/P_JESSICA_WEALLEANS_013-571x400.jpg\")
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\nFirst, make sure the closest eye of the dog is tack sharp \u2013 most people struggle with this, but it\u2019s really important that it is the sharpest point. The nose should be in focus too. Second, pay attention to the expression of the dog \u2013 if the dog looks bored, you should cull the image. The expression has to evoke emotion Third, the angle of the shot is really important. Try to get below the eye level of the dog in most situations. I\u2019m always saying to my students, get lower, get lower get lower \u2013 that brings you into the centre of the dog\u2019s world. Composition is really important too. Remember the rule of thirds and don\u2019t chop off parts of the dog\u2019s tail, ears, feet and so on. That is a real no-no. Finally aim to get a catchlight in both eyes.<\/p>\n
\nAll the winning images were shot with same camera and lens \u2013 a Sony A7R III with the 70-200mm f\/2.8 G lens. The Sony has incredible eye-detection AF, and you can see it locking on in my YouTube videos \u2013 it\u2019s so accurate. I did some shooting recently with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and I really missed the Sony \u2013 the resolution is amazing.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/P_JESSICA_WEALLEANS_003-630x400.jpg\")
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\nI took these winning images in a wood, shooting at ISO 1000 so I needed to reduce the noise a bit. I use Topaz Labs Denoise AI for this. I find that in Lightroom, the noise reduction would also soften off a lot of detail on the dog, and it was the same in Photoshop. I find Topaz must better. I use Denoise AI on a low, subtle setting; it completely strips noise from the background area, but the AI is smart enough to keep the the details on the actual dog \u2013 it cleans up noise from AROUND them.<\/p>\n
\nI was a full time dog photographer and also taught photography, then I had a change in personal circumstances that required me to get a full-time job in marketing. At the moment, it\u2019s about 50\/50, as I have gone back to shooting commercially and also pushing my courses. There are still good opportunities for pet photographers and some people I know are bringing in \u00a31500 to \u00a32000 in sales over a month. The most important thing to remember that is photography is only one part of running a successful photography business \u2013 you need to be on top of your costs, marketing, how you frame and present the images and so on. The business side is so important.<\/p>\n