1Congratulations on winning in the MUSE Photography Awards! Can you share a little about yourself, what inspired you to pursue photography, and how has your journey evolved since your first shot?
Thank you so much! My name is Grace. I’m a 23-year-old pet photographer from Missouri, USA. As a kid, I always loved being creative, and I picked up photography back in 2011. In high school, in 2016, I took a photography class and became even more obsessed.
Fast forward to 2020, I got my first dog, Nala, and realized just how much I enjoyed photographing animals. From there, I started to take it much more seriously.
2Can you share the story or inspiration behind your award-winning piece? How does winning this award make you feel about your journey in photography?
I have always been drawn to capturing dogs in motion. There is something so neat about freezing that perfect moment that happens in less than a second of time.
Winning this award makes me feel beyond incredible. It feels like all my time and hard work have finally paid off.
3How do you decide which photo to submit for a competition?
I choose photos to submit based on what I feel has the most impact. It can be hard though, as some photos may have impact to me, but not anyone else.
4What first made you pick up a camera?
In 2011, on a trip to San Francisco, my mom brought her Canon Rebel XTI. I had interest in using it, and I photographed everything that trip!
5What’s your favorite type of photography, and why do you love it?
Pet photography is my favorite, by far. Animals and nature just go so well together. It’s incredible to be able to capture amazing moments of our beloved animals that don’t live nearly long enough.
6What’s your go-to camera setup, and why does it work best for your projects? What’s your favorite feature?
My go-to camera set up is my Canon R6 mark II, with my 70-200mm 2.8 lens. The camera works best for my projects because it has the animal eye detection, which is super helpful for animal photography. The 70-200mm gives me that nice background/subject separation and really dials in on the animal subjects.
7If someone looked at your work, what’s the one thing you’d want them to feel?
I’d want them to feel emotion, especially compassion and love. I try to capture each pet showing their personality as best as I can. I want people to be able to feel each pet’s personality through the photo.
8What was the most challenging part of capturing your winning shot?
For my award-winning shot, the toughest part was making sure I got the perfect moment where the dog was in full momentum jumping into the water. An honorable mention was being in the water, chest deep, keeping my camera from falling in!
9Who or what has been your biggest influence in photography?
My dog has been my biggest influence. Because of her, I realized just how important it is to have beautiful photos of our pets before they leave this world.
10What message would you share to inspire photographers to participate in photography awards, and what advice would you give to help them excel in the competition?
Just enter the awards! You learn so much from simply entering. If you think you have a strong photo, submit it! Worst case, you learn something from it.
11What’s one piece of advice for someone just starting in photography?
Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t compare yourself to others.
12What role do editing and post-processing play in your creative workflow?
Editing plays a huge role in my photos. I have a fine-art style, so I take a lot of time perfecting that. Editing is where my creativity really shines through.
13How do you see technology, like AI, influencing the future of photography and your own approach?
In my opinion, AI can be useful, but also very bad. It is nice to use to remove tough distractions in my photos that I just can’t get down manually. But, to create a whole image that someone can’t differentiate from real or fake, is quite scary for my job in the future, as photography is what I do full time.
14If you could photograph anything or anyone in the world, what would it be?
I would love to photograph wild horses someday. I know this is probably pretty attainable, but it is still a big dream of mine!
