We wanted to know more about Elke and what drew her to become a photographer. She kindly shared her story: “I grew up in a photography and dog-loving family. When my first dog, Noodles, joined us in 2007, I felt I needed to improve my photographic skills to do justice to her beauty and charming character.
A few years after this, my husband and I took care of my mother-in-law when she was diagnosed with dementia. She was a lovely lady, but dementia is not that lovely. Two years into this journey I decided to look for a creative outlet to help me through this stressful time. I planned to start a one-picture-a-day project, beginning on 1st January 2010. But shortly before this, at Christmas 2009, I found my husband unconscious in the bathtub. The diagnosis was a severe brain hemorrhage due to a ruptured aneurysm.
I decided to start the project, despite my husband being in the hospital, or rather because of it, as I wanted to try to keep up a bit of normality and have something like a visual diary for my husband of that time while he was in an induced coma, and later on had no short-term memory at all for months. Often, my dogs found themselves in front of my camera which, alongside my photography, was a welcome distraction.”
Elke continued: “Thankfully, my husband recovered fully, but the care for sick and old relatives went on. Photography had turned into a passion of mine and I didn't want to stop taking pictures. More and more people asked me if I could photograph their dog too. Finally, I decided to try to do more of what I love (being creative with photography) and registered a business as a photographer. That was in May 2011. I worked passionately on improving my photography, marketing, and business skills. Nothing happened overnight. It was a slow but rewarding journey. After only a few years I was able to leave behind my job as a technical translator and now work full-time as a professional photographer specializing in pet portraiture.
My photographs of dogs have gained international fame, awarded with appearances on television, including the Good Morning America show, and features in publications worldwide, among them, National Geographic, The Daily Telegraph, The Huffington Post, La Repubblica, and many more. My work has also been on the covers of dozens of magazines, including The Sunday Times Magazine. This whole journey is very exciting and a challenge I'm very happy to pose myself.
So, I guess this is my silver lining story.”
Elke’s photography focuses on animal portraits and over time she developed a distinct style. We were curious to know more about the way she takes her photos. Elke wrote: “What I love about photography so much is that there are endless ways to be creative. When it comes to pursuing photography as a profession, I believe in specialization, though. I think it's very important to be the expert for one genre and one particular style or topic. Ideally, you want to be the first that comes to a potential client's mind when thinking about that particular subject.
I started out as an outdoor photographer. I loved being outdoors, in nature, with dogs. But I wanted to try everything. I decided to get some very basic studio equipment, although in those days I thought studio photography with dogs was boring! So, I tried to come up with something I found interesting, which was dogs pulling funny or emotional expressions.
These pictures gained a lot of attention, because they were a bit different. That was in 2014 and paved the way to me specialising in studio photography. I try to show funny, amusing, emotional pictures, as dogs are entertainers, too. They comforted me in bad times. They don't think about the past or worry. To show personality and emotions is my main aim.
But as photography is not only my profession but also my passion and hobby, I still try to find the time to try out different techniques and approaches. In my opinion, that's also vital to keep on working on your skills and not be stagnant in what you do.”
Since Elke has been photographing for a while now, we wanted her to share what she thinks sets apart an outstanding photograph from a regular one. Elke shared: “In my case, it's all about the dog. And showing character and emotions. Some of my pictures show the dogs with human-like expressions. Often we interpret these as such. Dogs can in fact smile in a similar way to humans, but there are lots of differences between canine and human facial expressions. Nevertheless, we tend to search for similarities between us and our best friend. That’s understandable as we feel near to them.
Dogs have a remarkable ability to adapt their lives to fit ours. In my opinion they know far more about us than we about them. We often try to make ourselves feel good by treating them like humans. A dog is a dog and not a human being. And this is in no way meant in a derogative way. Let’s put it this way: We should not treat dogs like or less well than humans, but differently. If we neglect their needs, this is when we fail, not by showing our compassion. Nevertheless, I can’t withstand the charm and dignity of a dog’s face wrapped in a woolen scarf or looking human-like in its best possible way.”
Elke continued: “Often the owners are more nervous than the dogs. Therefore, I either tell them politely to just sit back and relax or I turn them into my assistants. This way they forget about their nervousness. If I feel they don't upset the dog too much, I make them arrange and entertain the dog for me. Of course, for some situations you also need help. It's super difficult to try to get action shots from a dog that's not your own, when you have to direct the action yourself. Here I ask the owners to make sure the dog runs along a certain path or chases a ball. Often enough, though, I'm happy when it's just me and the dog.
When a client arrives in my studio I give the dog some time to sniff around, to explore the room, to get used to the sounds and atmosphere. When I think that the dog seems comfortable, I fire a test flash to see how the dog reacts. Most dogs don’t even flinch. If a dog is scared or insecure, it’s mostly because of the sound of the flash, not really the light itself. I put my flash to low power as the sound is more subtle. With lots of treats, we try to make the dog pose for my camera. You never know beforehand how the dog reacts. I take pictures of rescue dogs to find new homes. Some of them were never taught anything. They don’t know 'sit' or 'stay'. Nevertheless, some of them were the coolest models I ever had in my studio. If a dog is very sensitive and scared I prefer to take pictures outdoors where I can use a tele lens to capture the scene in natural light and from a distance. Here I might again need some help.
I've always got treats, toys, and some kind of noise-makers (squeakers, kazoos, hunting whistles, etc.) in my camera bag.”
And lastly, Elke added: “Please, always consider adoption.”
