A Maple Ridge pet photographer’s work has won her international acclaim.
Shandess Griffin’s striking image of a lab leaping off a dock won her first place in the 2025 International Pet Photography Awards, which is a worldwide competition.
“It is the biggest pet photography awards in my industry, so to be considered a finalist in the action category and the creative category was such an honour,” she said. “To have actually won the action category was beyond my wildest dreams.”
Judges take an entrant’s three highest-scored images to determine finalists.
She entered the image of Levee the Labrador retriever in the creative category, explaining it a composite made from four shots put together into a single image to create a leaping sequence. It captures the moment of a water dog doing what it loves.
There were only 30 images out of 4,011 entries which received gold scoring, and the Lab’s leap was one of them. She was grateful to Levee’s owner .
“I am always so grateful when a client allows me creative freedom during their booked sessions to play and come up with ideas like hers,” said Griffin.
Griffin has working with dogs for more than 20 years, and in 2018 she started photographing them professionally through her business Shand and Your Dogs Photography. She is self taught, but passionate about photography and canines. She is based in Maple Ridge, but travels all over the Lower Mainland, and her business even takes her out of province.
Griffin has a unique perspective on how people love their pets, and photos of them.
“The unconditional love a dog gives you is a gift, and to get to work with so many amazing clients who love their dogs so much they want me to capture their memories forever is an honor I take to heart,” she said.
“I have been loved by six dogs over my adult life, and my deep love and respect for them is what drove me to share my passion of capturing dogs and their personalities for other people.”