Instagram was pretty much invented for people to post pictures of their cats, but there are some accounts which are truly inspirational and far more worthy of a follow than others.
If you can’t have a good day without seeing at least one picture of a furry friend, then we’ve got just the thing for you here in this list. We’ve picked 10 of our favourite pet photographers with superb Instagram accounts for you to have a look at.
All of the accounts here are by professional pet photographers who make at least some of their living from photographing the animal kingdom (aka living the dream). They’ll really show you how it’s done, the angles and compositions that work, and even the expressions that really garner the most attention.
As a bonus, if you’re thinking of taking up pet photography - whether for your own special friend, or professionally - all of these accounts will give you so much inspiration that you’ll never be short of an idea or two.
You can find lots more inspiration by searching for and following specific hashtags, we find #petphotographer, #petphotography, #dogphotography and #catphotography to be good all rounders, but if you are interested in specific breeds or types of animal, it’s worth doing a hashtag search for those too.
1. Jason Allison
https://www.instagram.com/jayallisonphoto/
Based in Durham, UK, Jason Allison is an award-winning pet photographer, with his most recent award being the Guild of Photographers Pet Photographer of the Year. Follow his feed for adorable shots of his most recent clients - pretty much exclusively dogs.
2. Gerrard Gethings
https://www.instagram.com/gezgethings/
This quirky photographer has gained notoriety for his “Do You Look Like Your Dog?” And “Do You Look Like Your Cat?” series, in which he matches quirky dogs and cats with equally quirky humans. Follow for shots from the series, as well as cute snaps of his own border terrier, Baxter.
3. Elke Vogelsang
https://www.instagram.com/wieselblitz/
This well-known and well-respected pet photographer has grown a huge following over the years for her distinctive style. She actually has two accounts, one for dogs (@wieselblitz) and one for cats (@wieselcats). Expect highly animated animals captured with tonnes of energy to brighten your day.
4. The Dogist
https://www.instagram.com/thedogist/
Are you even a proper dog-lover if you’re not following The Dogist? One of the most notorious dog accounts on Instagram, photographer Elias Weiss Friedman’s beautiful work has been turned into best-selling books and calendars. The Dogist finds dogs while Friedman is out and about, with each post giving you a little bio of their life. Simply beautiful.
5. Breath of Wild Air
https://www.instagram.com/breathofwildair/
If gorgeous tones, beautifully blurred backgrounds and gorgeously captured dogs are your things, then this is one account to follow right now. Each image truly is a thing of beauty and tells the story of Loki, Journey and their owner and pet photographer Emily Abrahams.
6. Bellasoka_Photography
https://www.instagram.com/bellasoka_photography/
Munich based photographer, Karoline Metz, has named her dog photography business after her two adopted dogs. In this account however, she posts pictures of all her recent clients spanning across a huge number of breeds and characters. Each one is beautifully captured and full of charm.
7. Learn Pet Photography
https://www.instagram.com/learnpetphotography/
If you want to up your own pet photography game, this is a great account to follow. Run by professional photographer Charlotte Reeves, the name of the account is pretty self-explanatory. There’s lots of different types of tips and tricks, as well as examples of some of the effects you could achieve yourself.
8. Herbie @ NL
https://www.instagram.com/herbienl/
Professional cat photographers are a little harder to find on Instagram than dog photographers - probably because it’s certainly a tricky task to get pets to pose for anybody. However, one account we like is Herbie @ NL, a sweet ginger cat photographed by professional photographer Gabriella Oravecz.
9. Carli Davidson
https://www.instagram.com/carli_davidson/
Very well-known for her “Shake” series of - you guessed it - dogs and puppies shaking, Carli’s dog photography is full of energy and creative vision. She also photographs other types of animals, both domestic and wild, so she’s well worth a follow for animal lovers of all kinds.
10. Shaina Fishman
https://www.instagram.com/shainafishman/
A commercial photographer based in New York City, Shaina mostly photographs cats and dogs, but occasionally another type of pet (such as a rat) pops up. Her images are bright, light, and fun and are pretty much guaranteed to brighten up your feed.
