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!
The network is free although we request donations to keep the networking going, and open to all professional pet photographers to join, provided they meet the criteria below. All applicants will be screened by the admin and moderators pending approval.
Criteria for Membership:
ALL applicants must meet ALL THREE 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. Blog posts don’t quality as a gallery. Must be an actual gallery portfolio online. Ideally with more than one or two different dogs in it.
3) Be a *specialist in pet photography as a niche business, focusing solely on pets, as opposed to being a *generalist who photographs multiple different types of photography. (See definitions below). If you are a niche pet photographer, all of your galleries on your website will be of animals. This is what we look for when screening.
(Specialist: a person who concentrates on a specific area; narrows focus to one thing; and/or practices a specialty exclusively. Generalist: a person whose knowledge, aptitudes, and skills are applied to a field as a whole or to a variety of different fields ( opposed to specialist).
*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 THREE 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
- 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, but we welcome and encourage $10 annual donations to pay for the new Ning premium services that host the network.
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 and landscapes, etc, along with photographing pets, but very few forums that are designed for those whose sole photographic passion is photographing pets. We’ve listed links below 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:
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.
ProPhotogs Forum: for professional photographers who generalize (shoot weddings and kids and newsborns, etc) and also photograph pets, check out this forum where they have a pet photography forum that is open to anyone to join.
Professional pet photographers group on flickr: 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 and/or weddings and/or products and/or seniors and/or kids and/or landscapes and/or fashion (etc) 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 who make a living only photographing 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, the three other pet photography forums listed above will 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.
