AWARDS 2021

Back in 2017 when I was driving to my unloved student job in the morning, I always crossed a river called Ruhr. I love this river - it gives my home its name (ruhr-area) and I have always lived near it my entire life. This particular spot is always really foggy and so moody, that my heart ached, longing to take photos there some day, when I would not have to work. Well, one day a dear friend booked me to take photos of her young dog. Skadi was very wild and young at the time and didn't like to stand still - except for that special moment. I was standing around 60m away, letting them have their space and moment. It was honestly one of the most beautiful mornings I have ever had. Right next to my old job that I was able to quit, because photography was going so well, with a friend and a rescue dog, ... this photo means a lot to me.

I took this image during a visit of Amrum, one of the Northern Frisian Islands. My friend and her dogs accompanied us. We had a great time with our 4 dogs, exploring this beautiful place. This image shows Watson a lovely Sabueso, a Shelter dog from Spain, my fried adopted in 2015. It is so hard to capture him, he doesn't like it at all. So I tried to be aware of a special moment. And it came, when he suddenly just sat there and enjoyed his surrounding, gazing into the distance. My exifs were'nt perfect, the sun came out, I had to be fast......but I knew, I catched a lovely dreamy moment which can tell a story. Sometimes the perfect moment is not the one we plan, but the one we catch by intuition.

13th August - sounds like an unlucky day, but not for me. This day I put my dog and myself onto the last plane from Poland to Norway, which was landing without the mandatory 10-day quarantine. I stood on Norwegian soil with tears of happiness in my eyes. It was time to make my dreams come true! Next few days I was traveling with my friend trough eastern Norway. Two girls, three dogs, one big adventure. This picture was taken during our trip, while we were hiking on Prest mountain. Unexpectedly the sun came out from behind the clouds, so I threw all my luggage on the ground, took my dog (and my bravest model) Opium and started taking pictures so as not to miss this magical light.

For me living with a dog is about creating a very special connection. The reason I do agility is because I love to communicate with my dogs even at high-speed and high on emotion. When we run everything around us disappears and it becomes just us. Our speed, our movement, our communication. It's all about the team and how well you work with each other and how well you can read each other. With my little border collie boy Nio I share a very special bond. When I got him I was doing a gap-year and spent 356 days 24 hours a day with him. That was the most powerful thing that brought us so close. He's able to foresee every movement of me and reads me like no other dog. But the same is also the other way round. We trust each other with no doubts. Since this dog is my little mini-me and we burn for the high-speed movements it was very clear to me that when I'll get the chance I need to capture him. So at one training I wanted a friend of mine to run with Nio just for the dog walk so I'd be able to take some pictures. This was harder then we thought since Nio was not enjoying running with someone else for the first runs. But after a while I got it! I captured his perfect movement! His eyes focused already on the next obstacle, his feet high in the air, perfectly stretched to get the fastest and most controlled movement. This picture means so much to me. It combines all my passions: photography, action, agility and of course my dog.

This is a photo of my Border Collie, Daisy, flying into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. I had actually just purchased the Nikon Z6II the day I took this photo back in April. I went out with my dog just to test how precise the new focus was and to figure out some settings. I honestly didn't want to get into the water because it was 35 degrees out, but I threw my dogs Frisbee with my left hand and she went flying into the freezing cold water. My saying is, if the dog goes into the water, so do I haha! She was having a blast while I was watching her and I noticed the power and intensity she had jumping into the water so I decided to make a very calculated move. After the 1st attempt and making some adjustments, I placed her frisbee in a specific spot on the water, told her to stay, and positioned myself back where I knew I was going to get a stellar photo if she continued to jump like she had been doing. I gave her call command and she flew! I knew I had captured something special right at that moment, but I was completely frozen laying in the water so I didn't really review it in depth until I returned home, and uploaded everything into Lightroom. My eyes filled with tears because what I had captured on camera was something I have been working so hard to achieve ever since I started my photography journey. This photo shows the focus, power, and determination of the border collie breed and the fact that it was my girl in this photo makes it so special to me.

In this artistic edit, I wanted to challenge myself to try to approach processing it in a way that I had never edited before in an attempt to set my work apart from the other insanely talented photographer who attended with me this morning. By pushing a relatively basic and easily overlooked photograph into something surreal and harmonious, I managed to create one of my all time favourite images.

I packed my mobile Studio,a backdrop and some rods and went to this so familiar pug breeder called Mopszucht vom Schweizer Herz. Claudia, the dogmum welcomed me with her 4 sweet pug puppies. Kiwi, Klemens, Knut and last but not least - Kairo wich now dropped in this exiting story of the finalist in studio at the dog photography award.

Of course pug puppies already spread this sweet cute effect - so with that photo session I didn’t want to distract much from the charming and so tender faces and shiny fur. I chose a very natural colored backdrop and with the old kitchen scale I had the perfect accessory. For me it was important, that the puppies where always safe. With some wool I prepared the bowl and put one by one in it. Kairo was the bravest and he sat very calm in it and looked sooo curious. I definitely had a sweetness overload. And so do hopefully all, while looking at this picture!

This photo shows my Beagle, Kayne who passed away on March 18, 2019. The photo was taken exactly one year before his death. The confident demeanor and arrogance in this photo gives him the nickname Don Vito Corleone. His self-portrait on the wall is reminiscent of his father, from whom he learned all his tricks. That this photo has a chance to become the winning photo means a lot to me and is a beautiful memento of my best friend.

The first sentence, when I set my eyes on Liz can't be printed, so I shut up and just carefully admired each evolution of this dog. I knew I needed to capture something very special, because the art was ready.
Photo shoot in Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro. Thanks to the handler Toni Brum and the talent of Liz (Funny Girl Brum Abdala).