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Amy Hodson
Nov 236 min read

THE INTERNATIONAL PET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS!

At Wander Pet Photography, every session is more than just capturing a moment—it’s about crafting art that speaks to the unique personality and bond of every pet. This year, I’m excited to share some incredible news: my work has been recognized for the second year by the International Pet Photography Awards!

I entered 21 images in 2024, which you'll be able to see individually below along with their scores!

These awards are not just a competition—they are a celebration of creativity, technical skill, and the shared passion of photographers worldwide for showcasing the beauty of pets. It’s both humbling and thrilling to see my images recognized, and I can’t wait to take you behind the scenes of this exciting journey.


What Are the International Pet Photography Awards?


The International Pet Photography Awards is the most prestigious platform for pet photographers globally. Open to professionals and enthusiasts alike, this competition brings together the best in the field to celebrate the artistry of pet photography. It provides photographers like me an opportunity to showcase our work, gain constructive feedback, and grow in our craft.


This year’s competition saw a staggering 3,621 entries, submitted from photographers all around the world. These images represented a diverse array of pets, ranging from dogs and cats to horses and exotic animals, each beautifully captured to tell a unique story.


Key Features of the Competition

The competition is built on a strong foundation of fairness and artistic integrity, ensuring that all entries are judged purely on merit. Here are some highlights from the entry guidelines:

  • Eligibility: Images must feature pets as the primary subject. While humans or props can be included, they must enhance the story and not overshadow the pet.

  • Submission Rules: Photographers can enter multiple categories, and each image must be taken while not under instruction from other photographers. This allows for a wide variety of creativity and storytelling, but omits images taken during creative and instructional workshops.

  • Judging Criteria: Each image is scored on several factors, including technical excellence, creativity, composition, and emotional impact.

  • Feedback Process: The feedback process is driven by a panel of 18 incredible judges from across the world. These judges are the best-of-the-best in the pet photography industry. Two judges provide detailed critiques for each submission, offering invaluable insights into strengths and areas for growth. The overall score is an average of assessments from five judges.

These guidelines allow the competition to foster a supportive and inspiring environment for photographers to push their limits and create truly remarkable work.

My Results

This year, I submitted 21 images, and I am ecstatic to share that 20 of them received awards! This marks a significant improvement over my results last year, and I couldn’t be prouder of this achievement.

Here’s a breakdown of my results:

  • 2 Silver Awards: These images scored between 80 and 84, showcasing a high level of technical and artistic excellence.

  • 13 Bronze with Distinction Awards: These photographs achieved scores between 75 and 79, reflecting exceptional creativity and skill.

  • 5 Bronze Awards: These entries scored between 70 and 74, highlighting strong artistic merit.

  • 1 Pro Standard: While this image didn’t reach the awards level, it still met the competition’s rigorous professional standards.

Out of the thousands of entries submitted this year, only 463 images earned a Silver Award and 914 achieved Bronze with Distinction. This context makes me even more grateful for these results and inspires me to keep honing my craft.

Why Do Photography Awards Matter?

For me, participating in the International Pet Photography Awards is about far more than winning accolades—it’s a vital part of my growth as an artist.

Constructive Feedback

Each image I submit receives personalized feedback from two judges. This critique provides insights into what worked well and areas where I can improve. As a photographer, it’s easy to get attached to your own work, but having fresh eyes evaluate it is invaluable.

For instance, judges might praise a photograph for its emotional impact but suggest refining the lighting or composition for even greater effect. This kind of feedback helps me see my work from new perspectives, challenging me to continuously refine my skills.


Receiving constructive criticism on your work is a lot like working out. It might hurt (a LOT) the first few times you do it... but the more you get it worked into your routine, the more addicted you will become to it and the STRONGER you will become! Artists who seek feedback on their work will without a doubt grow faster and stronger than their peers who do not.

Artistic Growth

Since I am blessed to work with amazing clients, I often use images for competition that are created during client sessions. However, some are created when I go out to shoot with a dog model to specifically create competition images. Model sessions are what I like to call "shooting with intention" and nothing can replace the artistic growth that comes from those. Every image is an opportunity to learn and experiment!


Preparing entries for the competition encourages me to think creatively, push boundaries, and explore new techniques. It’s a chance to step outside of my comfort zone and strive for excellence.


This process ultimately results in a better experience for my clients. By growing as an artist, I can deliver even more stunning and meaningful images that capture the essence of their beloved pets.


Building Community

The competition also connects me with an incredible community of photographers. This is a community of supportive, kind and beautiful humans who cheer each other on with every click of the shutter. We may all have diverse backgrounds and beliefs - but we all have one thing in common: The desire to improve so we can capture the best images we possibly can of our furry subjects of choice.


Seeing the work of other artists from around the world is both inspiring and motivating. It’s a reminder of the diverse ways we all interpret and celebrate the beauty of pets.


A Look at the Global Competition

To put my results into perspective, here are the overall statistics for this year’s awards:

  • Gold Awards: 24 (scores between 90 and 94)

  • Silver with Distinction Awards: 128 (scores between 85 and 89)

  • Silver Awards: 463 (scores between 80 and 84)

  • Bronze with Distinction Awards: 914 (scores between 75 and 79)

  • Bronze Awards: 1,220 (scores between 70 and 74)


These numbers highlight the incredibly high standards of the competition. Achieving any award in this context is an accomplishment, and I’m honored to have so many of my images recognized.


MY AWARD-WINNING IMAGES

Let's take a look at my award-winning images, listed from the lowest to highest score!


  1. "Autumn Vibes" - Portrait Category - Score: 69
Dog laying down in the leaves is peeking out with one eye covered.
Shea peeks at me from behind the beautiful fall foliage. Even though this image didn't receive an award, I still adore it. There is something about it that makes me feel so at peace.

  1. "Peek-a-boo" - Portrait Category - Score: 72
A dog peeks through the tall grasses during her session.
Sunny, a Bernese Mountain Dog/Golden Retriever, peeks through the tall grasses during her session.

  1. "TICAN SUNSET" - Portrait Category - Score: 73
dog stands at sunset as a silhouette
Ruger, a beautiful Belgian Malinois, poses on the rocks at Playa Hermosa Beach, Costa Rica during sunset. The judges particularly like the little bit of drool you can see coming down from his tongue.

  1. "PARTY TIME!" - Portrait Category - Score: 73
Dog jumps with a stick facing the camera
Maker, a stunning and highly awarded agility champion, parades by my lens with his stick of choice. The score of this image surprised me, since it scored a 90 in a different competition earlier this year. However, these judges definitely know what they are talking about, and the feedback was valuable! They would have preferred if the edit had been more "bright and cheery" to match Maker's hilarious expression.

  1. "I'VE GOT YOU" - PEOPLE + PETS Category - Score: 73
Young lady and her horse are posed at golden hour in the fall.
Gracie posed with her absolutely stunning horse so beautifully this day. The connection between the two of them was so very strong!

  1. "INCOMING" - ACTION Category - Score: 74
Golden Retriever runs straight at the camera
Gatsby is quite possibly the most GORGEOUS Golden Retriever I have ever worked with and man can this girl move! We had a ton of fun on this trail during an early spring morning session.

  1. "Double POINT" - ACTION Category - Score: 75
German short-haired pointer runs straight at the a camera.
Lenny, a handsome German Short-haired Pointer, bounds straight for me lens. This shot needed some fast action from me as well, because Lenny didn't really have breaks. Getting this shot requires me laying down with my lens as low to the ground as possible. As soon as he got "too close", I would pull my lens down and roll to the side! This location is one that we haven't been able to shoot at in almost a year while they make enhancements to the park. We can't WAIT to see what we can create there once it's finished.

  1. "LEGENDARY LOVE" - PEOPLE + PETS - Score: 75
Woman and her dog snuggle in the autumn color.
This beautiful lady just so happens to be my best friend. It was a joy to capture this moment of her with HER best friend. The love between these two is legendary, and you can see it in their snuggles. Seeing images like this reminds me why I do what I do. To capture the legendary love we have for our pets.

  1. "THE DAYDREAM" - PORTRAIT Category - Score: 75
Small dog looks up into the sunlight.
Meet Pringle! Who you will actually see twice in this gallery of images. Pringle is a dapper little gentleman, who weighs in at about 5 lbs. The temperament and disposition of this guy is perfectly reflected in this image. He's sweet, laid back and thoughtful.

  1. "THE GUIDE" - PORTRAIT Category - Score: 75
Great Dane looks back over his shoulder to lead you down a pathway in the woods.
Cayde, a handsome Great Dane, posed perfectly on this trail on an early spring evening. I particularly loved the story-telling in this image. The expression and body position makes me feel as though I can trust Cayde and that I should follow him anywhere he might lead me.

  1. "Land HO!" - PORTRAIT Category - Score: 75
Dog stands on a tree stump among a sea of green
This image was created during a model session with a couple of local photographers here in Indy. Molly, a beautiful Aussie, was doing her best "look out" impression in this massive sea of green.


  1. "SAY What?" - PETS + PEOPLE CATEGORY - Score: 76
Boston Terrier poses in front of her family with a head tilted to one side.
Is there anything cuter than a head tilt? Iris has them for DAYS!

  1. "The BEAR CUB" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 76
A puppy poses on a mossy fallen tree trunk in the woods.
This image was created of our puppy shortly after we brought him home. His name is Brutus, but we affectionately call him "Brutus Bear".... just look at that little bear cub on his first grand adventure!

  1. "SOUL SEARCHING" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 77
It's Pringle back for his second featured image, and this one resulted in a Bronze Distinction! This time, he is staring straight at us with those beautiful brown eyes of his.

  1. "THE JOURNEY" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 77
Gatbsby is back for her second featured image! The depth on this image worked really well for the story I was conveying, but I missed the mark on positioning and needed to be just a step or two to the left

  1. "A STUDY IN MOTION" - ACTION CATEGORY - Score: 78
Lenny is back with his second featured image! This image was created with intention. I knew the exact location, post and effect that I was going for. The main feedback I received here was to watch my highlights, as the judges thought I lost some details in my whites.They also felt that I could have done a little more painting with light to bring out more drama to the scene.

  1. "LEAVING THE SHIRE" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 79
Creating panoramic images is one of my absolute favorite ways to showcase my client's dogs in this great big beautiful world. When I showed this image to his mom, the first thing she said was "He looks like Frodo leaving the Shire! Off on a grand adventure!"

  1. "NATURE'S FRAMING" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 79
Baby Brutus is back for this second appearance! This time, we saw a perfect little Bru sized tree nook, so we asked him to do "front" inside of it. We taught him his modeling commands day one, so he was very willing to pop in there for us! However, he wasn't the most comfortable in that position - and it shows in the image, which was the main feedback the judges had for me.

  1. "SUMMER'S Breeze" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 79
One of my absolute favorite images of recent years! This handsome fellow is Bean, and is always up for modeling whenever I need a happy water-loving dog. This image was created on a beautiful early Summer evening in one of our favorite locations.

  1. "AGAin?" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 81
As a Retriever, Brutus has been a "stick dog" since the day we brought him home. These "baby stick" for our baby Bru got a lot of play on this particular afternoon. Although this image is simple and was merely shot in our back yard - it shows that grand locations and scenery aren't needed to create captivating shots of our best friends.

  1. "URBAN LOOKOUT" - PORTRAIT CATEGORY - Score: 83
This dapper gentleman is named Smitten. #Swoon! He is quite possibly the best trained dog in all of Indy! I was so thankful that he and his mom were able to meet me for this shoot. Interestingly enough, this image is SO far outside of my comfort zone and it was my highest scoring image of the year. How about that? Maybe I'll schedule some more urban shoots in my future?

Gratitude and Looking Ahead

This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing clients who trust me to capture their pets’ personalities and the furry friends who make my job so rewarding. Your support fuels my passion and inspires me to keep creating.


As I look ahead, I’m excited to continue growing as an artist, exploring new techniques, and delivering even more extraordinary images. Competitions like the International Pet Photography Awards are a reminder of why I love what I do and how much there is to learn and achieve in this ever-evolving field.


Here’s to another year of creativity, community, and, most importantly, celebrating the pets who make our lives so much brighter!


Interested in seeing more images from the International Pet Photography awards? CHECK IT OUT HERE!

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