FRAMES Photography Podcast with Valerie Howes

In today’s episode, W. Scott Olsen talks to Valerie Howes, a professional dog photographer based in Toronto, Canada.

You can listen to this interview using our podcast player below, but we strongly encourage you to subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app so that you don’t miss any future show episodes.

It’s possible your dog is a show champion (and I’m happy to photograph trophy winners), but I’m equally happy to work with your dog if it is untrained, camera shy, silly, anxious, grumpy, rambunctious, funny-looking… or any combination of the above. If you’re worried your dog might not be model material, rest assured… I’ve got you!

As a seasoned dog owner and foster, I’m confident that I can work with dogs of all temperaments, ages, and breeds. I believe all dogs are beautiful (underbites, extra toes, and all) and deserve to be the hero of their own epic adventure photoshoots! I have the patience, tricks, and techniques to elicit gorgeous poses and expressions from any dog.

My name is Valerie Howes, and I practice natural light photography to create dog portraits in natural locations. My birthplace is Scotland, my home base is Toronto, and I travel for photo sessions by arrangement.

I found my passion for photographing dogs in nature while living on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, with my big-and-little dog combo, Teddy Lennox and Piña. As a lifestyle and travel journalist, I’ve published photographs in major media outlets, including CBC, Toronto Life, Toronto Star, National Post, The Guardian, Reader’s Digest, Today’s Parent, and La Presse.