Gravity-defying canine and brooding bovines: Meet the winners of the International Pet Photography Awards

As anybody who has ever tried photographing their pet will attest, capturing the right shot is less complicated stated than carried out. The winners of this 12 months’s International Pet Photography Awards make it look easy.

Founded in 2019 by Australian photographers and educators Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock, the annual competitors has grown into what the organisers describe because the world’s largest skilled pet pictures awards.

This 12 months’s version attracted greater than 4,200 entries from photographers in 48 international locations.

From that discipline, a panel of 27 judges named Australian photographer Callie Soden International Pet Photographer of the Year, the competitors’s highest honour. Soden additionally received the Creative and Studio classes.

The competitors celebrates all the pieces from split-second motion photographs to fastidiously composed portraits throughout 12 classes, together with Action, Canine Portrait, Feline Portrait, Documentary, Pets & People and Rescue. Four new classes additionally debuted in 2026: Commissioned Portfolio, In-Camera Artistry, Phone and Studio.

Each winner’s choice is tallied from their three highest-scoring pictures relatively than a single shot. The International Pet Photographer of the Year, in the meantime, is determined by combining the best scores throughout 5 photos spanning any class.

From canine held in heavenly poses and statuesque cats to horses, frogs, owls, rabbits and a photogenic cow, listed here are a few of our favorite photographs from this 12 months’s competitors.

“Many of my artistic images feature my rescue dog, Schnuffi. She’s a little whirlwind and happily goes along with every crazy idea I have,” Glomb says of the picture above, a part of her portfolio within the Action class. She took it utilizing her automotive headlights for gentle.

Belinda Richards’ playful portfolio started as a lighting check with a pal’s cat, Moosha, and ended with a collection of photographs displaying Moosha’s mercurial angle. “She gave me so many expressions and poses that I had to put together something showcasing her complete personality,” Richards says.

“These images were created to inspire deeper respect and appreciation for all animals, especially those we so often overlook,” says Open Portrait winner Jennifer Chassagnol.

To see extra endearing pet photographs – together with a video showcasing the highest 100 highest-scoring pictures this 12 months – go to The International Pet Photography Awards’ winners page.