Cowbelly Pet Photography Seattle Blog

Exciting news fellow pet photographers!

I’m excited to announce the launch of a brand spanking new online network designed for, and run by, professional pet photographers! The network is called the Beautiful Beasties Pet Photography Network, and it’s now Live, and FREE, and open to all professional pet photographers the world over to join!

Created by yours-truly, Jamie Pflughoeft, owner of Seattle’s Cowbelly Pet Photography, this is a private website where niche pet photographers around the world can share images, get feedback, get to know each other, set up custom profile pages, post blog posts, share events, get advice, share ideas, participate in live chats, , comment on each other’s profile pages, and become part of the *international* pet photography community. Although the network contains a forum with a veritable plethora of categories, from photo tips to marketing to pricing and more, it is *so much more* than just a forum. It’s an awesome online network, in a beautiful package, where all niche pet photographers are welcome to come and share and further advance their careers. There are a ton of resources out there for photographers who shoot weddings and kids and families, etc, but very little for dedicated pet pros.

Here’s a screen grab of the Beautiful Beasties Pet Photography Network:

I am excited to spearhead this new venture, and as the admin and creator, I get to be active and contribute to the network and be a part of something really powerful for my industry. I have 3 other professional pet photographers involved as moderators: my local colleague J. Nichole Smith of dane + dane studios, Sarah Ernhart of Sarah Beth Photography, and Nicole Glazier of Paw Prints Photography. We are all super excited to meet everyone soon on the network!

The network is free, and open to all professional pet photographers to join, provided they meet the criteria below.

The network is private, and membership is by invite only, and all members will be screened pending approval by the admin and moderators.

Criteria for Membership:

ALL applicants must meet ALL FOUR of these membership criteria:

1) be a professional pet photographer (i.e. profiting from their services)

(or in the process of licensing a pet photography business. Must have proof of intention to run a business AND a portfolio of pet work- see #2).

2) have an online portfolio of pet/dog/cat/horse images (please don’t make us weed through blogs!)

3) have a demonstrated desire to create a career specializing in pet photography,

and for those who are already in business:

4) you must specialize  in pet photography as a niche business, as opposed to being a generalist who photographs multiple different types of photography

To *specialize* in a niche means that your photography, AND your marketing, logos, branding, etc, is in ONE area of expertise: in this case: PETS. If you are contacting us, please shoot pets and only pets. We are only accepting specialist pet photographers. (Please see the links to other forums below if you shoot other subjects along with pets.)

*Because of the volume of emails from people who don’t meet the criteria above, and because we are donating our time to this project, we are no longer replying to emails from those who fail to meet ALL FOUR of the membership criteria.*

We will also NOT accept:

• those who have committed copyright violations (photo and/or plagiarism)
• ebay get rich quick schemers
• writers fishing for information
• jerks
• meanies
• those with bad attitudes
• photographers who have acted in unethical ways
• those looking to market their product or service to pet photographers
• or otherwise nefarious wrongdoers

We have the right to refuse membership to anyone we deem.

All members must agree to the network’s Terms of Use upon joining, and agree to abide by the terms through the course of their membership.

To apply for membership, please send an email to forphotographers@cowbelly.com, with the subject line “Beautiful Beasties Network Application”, a link to your portfolio and website, tell ‘in brief’ why you want to join, and how long you have been a pet/dog photographer. Your email will be forwarded to all four moderators and pending your approval we will send you an email with next steps to get on the network.

And please be patient with us as we weed through the emails. We expect a large response, and are all busy busy photographers, so it may take us a couple/few weeks to get back to you, so we sincerely appreciate your patience!

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you on the Beautiful Beasties Pet Photography Network!

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FAQ about BBPPN:

Q: Is this a professional pet photography association?

A: No. It’s an online network and forum. Associations are licensed 501c non-profit organizations registered with the state and government that have member dues, association bylaws, a board of directors, searchable member databases, and offer tangible member benefits. This is an online resource for professional pet photographers, not an association.

Q: Do you charge for membership? What about in the future?

A: No, it’s free, and will remain that way.

Q: Why is  the network/forum only for professionals and only for pet photographers?

A: Because there are plenty of resources already out there for amateurs, and plenty for those who photograph weddings and kids etc,  but very few forums that are designed for those who only photograph pets. We have links to other resources for those who do pet photography as a hobby, generalists use it as an adjunct to other photography services, and/or those who don’t intend to make a career of photographing animals.

Links to other pet photography forums:

Check out the Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum: there you can get feedback on your images, help improve your pet photography skills, and network with like-minded pet lovers. For professional photographers who generalize (shoot weddings and kids and newsborns, etc) and also photograph pets, check out the ProPhotogs Forum, where they have a pet photography forum that is open to anyone to join. Lastly there is the professional pet photographers group on flickr, where you can share images and get feedback from other pros.

Q: Why is the network private?

A: When representing professionals, it’s of utmost concern to keep their information- forum comments, blog posts, personal information, etc- private. We respect professional’s trade secrets, their hard-earned knowledge, their marketing strategies, and all of the hard work that goes into being business owners and their desire to keep all of their information private.

Q: Why is there a screening process?

A:  Our experience with online networks and forums has been that it’s all too common for a forum to devolve into a place of negativity and cattiness. There are those who like to post anonymously, attack other members, position themselves as experts knowing more than anyone else, and some downright nutty people on the internet. We screen to keep those people out, to keep the quality of the network at it’s absolute highest, to preserve the positive attitude and helpfulness of the forum. We also screen to ensure that each member is a bonafide, practicing dog/pet photographer, not someone posing as one to try and get inside information for their own agenda, whatever it may be. This forum is not all things to all people and was never intended to be.

Q: What if I shoot families/weddings/products/seniors/kids and also pets?

A: At this time, we are looking to fill the network with dedicated niche pet photographers, as opposed to photographers who photograph other things and ‘also do pet work’. (Believe us when we say there are hundreds of photographers out there that only photograph pets)! Those folks are who this network was designed for. If you are a generalist and you do at some change your business to solely focusing on pets and have developed a solid pet portfolio, you are welcome to apply at that time. Otherwise, check out the links above. We think you will find them to be great for your needs.

Q: Why so exclusive?

A: The sign of any good business owner is realizing they cannot be all things to all people, and they would never try to be. This is the perfect example of that.