The Beginning of Pawtastic Photography: How It Started | Sydney Pet Photographer
When I was younger I used to spend hours drawing. I would see something: a landscape, an object, my pets and I would itch to pull out my sketchpad to try and draw it.
I loved being able to create a piece of art that I could then hang on my wall and look at afterward. It filled me with a sense of pride to be able to display my artwork in my bedroom. Granted my gallery consisted of ripped out pieces of sketching paper stuck to the wall with blue tac... but I loved it.
Being able to see something that I had created, everyday, that told a story about my life and how I saw it resonated with me.
As time went on my sketches were replaced with prints from famous works of art that I enjoyed, Monet, Renoir (interspersed with magazine photos of whoever my latest crush was, of course).
And eventually it was my photographs that adorned my walls. The photographs that I had taken. Portraits, landscapes, friends and photos of my dogs.
All documented on my bedroom walls as I was growing up.
It was all a testament to the life I was living and the most important parts of it (as I saw it) were displayed all around me.
Unfortunately, somewhere in the process of growing up and becoming an adult, I looked around the walls of my place and couldn't see one photograph, one piece of art or anything that inspired me daily.
Somehow, without me knowing it, I had given up a part of myself that I had cherished growing up.
My life had been taken over by work (at a job that I liked but didn't love). And those creative outlets that I adored when I was younger, had simply faded away.
And the worst part was... I hadn't even noticed.
One day, art was something that inspired me daily and that I had to create and the next time I looked - it wasn't even present in my life. Not even a fraction.
I hadn't picked up my camera for years and forget drawing. I don't think I had put pencil to sketch pad since my Year 12 final art project.
I used to scoff at the adults in my life who told me (while I was still in school) that I should take advantage of school now, that I would miss it when it was gone, that it was the easiest time of my life.
I mean; 'what did they know'?
Turns out - a lot.
Don't get me wrong - school sucked for a lot of reasons for me. But what I did miss was the constant focus on my art.
I missed believing that I could turn this passion, this thing that fulfilled me into a career.
I missed believing.
And I missed creating.
Now there wasn't anything I could do about the time that I had wasted. The time that was already lost to me in a sea of ambivalence and responsibility.
But... I could start from now.
I could promise myself that I wouldn't put creativity in a box, only to be remembered fondly as I grew older with euphemisms like 'when I was younger...' I used to...'
I could make it my now!
I could make it a part of my life again by refusing to forget it.
And that's what I did.
I pulled out my old camera (that still took film btw - yes, I'm that old) and started shooting again.
I took photos of anything and everything. My family (which they hated me doing), my parents pets, landscapes, and animals.
I eventually upgraded to a DSLR and took off. Literally. I went travelling and took photos of everything!
It reignited a spark in me that I hadn't know was missing but was glad to get back.
I loved it!
When I got back, I still kept photographing. This time though, I was mostly drawn to landscapes and animals, always animals.
I took a couple of photography classes to test myself and I always found myself drawn to the same types of subjects.... pets.
There's something so open and free about photographing a pet.
They have no guile, especially dogs. They just express who they are fully :)
It was around this time as I was photographing all of my friends pets for fun, that I discovered that my friends husband was looking into hiring a pet photographer to take some photos of their dog as a present for my friends birthday.
Up until this point, I didn't know such a thing even existed!
I had never even heard of a pet photographer??
Here were people making a living doing something that I LOVED to do!
That I was already doing...
But they were paying people for it.
Can you say :: MIND BLOWN::
I got to researching straight away and discovered a whole new world!
Fellow pet lovers who were forging a path photographing pets for their owners.
They were showcasing their photography skills and love for pets by capturing images of other pet lovers beloved dogs and cats.
I immediately started to reach out to my friends and friends of friends to arrange pet photoshoots for their furbabies and to see if I, also, could turn my passion into a living.
And… that was the beginning of Pawtastic Photography.
Now I get to help people everyday create cherished mementos of their pets that they can place around their home, inspiring them daily with images of the most important parts of their lives.
And who doesn’t want to live in a home surrounded by what you love?
Are you ready for your own photos of your pets? I'd love to help you capture their spirit.
ARE YOU STALKING ME ON INSTAGRAM YET?
