Pet Parents, you are in the right place
We understand that what we do is about more than taking pictures, because what you’re looking for is so much more than just a photo.
Our pets sleep in our beds. We wake up to them nosing our hands or snoring on top of us. They follow us to the kitchen and beg for our breakfast. We arrange holidays and work schedules to spend as much time as we can with them. They make us laugh, occasionally we lose sleep over their well-being. They are our children, often fondly referred too as our fur-kids! Beck and I are just like you in this regard.
We understand the day-to-day thrill you get from the little things they do, sometimes only at home or under certain circumstances. The stuff you can only grab in a blur with an iPhone - if only you had a better photo. We know you want to keep those moments - not just pre-made poses in front of a stranger and a pretty background.
We know the beautiful sadness of pet ownership, the realisation that comes from many years of loving dogs and cats and letting them go. That while human children are meant to outlive you, our pets will only share our path for a time. And when they go, nothing means more than those images you keep. (We would give anything for more and meaningful photos of our childhood pets.)
We know how it is to go into a new situation and wonder how your pet will behave. Whether a shy rescue, outgoing puppy, or a frail oldie, we know you need someone who can understand them, connect with them, help them settle into the studio, and capture them the way you know them best, the true essence of who they are. The way you want to remember them forever.
Most of all, we know that when Charlotte our pug snores on my chest or when Harold sleeps with his tongue sticking out it brings joy that we can’t explain. But we don’t need to explain - because you have the same bond with your pet. We know this. We live it. We can capture it.
Our History - How Ken Drake Photography Began
Since 2006 I have only ever truly loved photographing animals, so that is all that we do here at Ken Drake Photography. We let other photographers handle the weddings, children, and landscapes.
The advantage to that kind of specialisation, though, is that you gain an intuition for every aspect of it - you know how to respond no matter what they’re doing because you’ve had thousands of similar situations before. Every pet is unique, but you can respond with agility when you have a large bank of experience.
I started capturing pet portraits professionally in 2006 in Perth, Western Australia as Zoo Studio. In 2009, my wife Beck and I decided we were going to move to Brisbane where my wife Beck joined me in my pet portrait business. She immediately added her sense of what our clients want, both from the photographs and the display products. She understood that our clients want their fur-babies with them forever, and that beautiful wall art showcasing them is a great way of achieving that. She just gets how people feel about their pets, because she feels that way too every single day.
In 2018, after 12 years, we sold Zoo Studio to deepen our love affair with all things animal related so we purchased a hobby farm in Tasmania. We added more chickens, some ducks and cows to our menagerie plus some rainbow trout for the dam.
After a short break from animal photography, we have relaunched as Ken Drake Photography in Tasmania providing pet portrait photography in Hobart and the North West coast. We simply could not live without the joy and creativity a pet photography business brings. We missed our tribe, meeting all the fabulous animals and their people, hearing their stories, capturing those connections and sharing special moments.
And so here we are with over 10,000 pets photographed, 150+ Photography Awards, $250,000+ in funds raised for animal welfare, internationally published books, numerous TV, radio & press appearances..…. the journey continues in Tassie.
(we had to pop some bragging rights somewhere right?)