We teamed up with 500px Ambassador and incredible dog photographer Iza Lyson, to launch one doggone amazing Quest centered around, you guessed it – dogs!

For this Quest, the 500px community was asked to submit photos of portraits of dogs with character. The photos did not need to be perfectly technical but they did need to capture the dog’s unique personality.

A message from Iza:

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your submissions. Looking at your intriguing and fascinating photos of dogs with personality really made my evenings great. But there were so many great photos that, unfortunately, it also gave me several sleepless nights as I struggled to choose a winner. After a thorough analysis, I have managed to pick a winner and I invite you all to see the winning photo as well as some of my top picks.

First Place Winner

Photo by Rodrigo Capuski

This photo definitely has that, “special something”. I adore the simplicity, warm colors, and brevity of this photo. It reminds me of holidays in their best and purest form. I really like the pose of this intrigued dog—it is clear he is enjoying the flowery meadow.

Runners Up

Photo by Silvia Sala

I have a soft spot for photos of not-really happy dogs, thrown into typically-human sceneries–especially ones that are associated with pleasant feelings. That is why I couldn’t stop myself from giving one of the “runner-up” spots to a birthday shot. This one caught my eye because of its minimalism, orderly arrangement of the scene, and this piercing, sad dog look, with a shade of disapproval. I can just picture him saying, “really human?”

Photo by Heather Wilson

Counterintuitively, taking a photo of a sleeping or relaxed dog is not as easy as it seems, since in most cases it ends up with the pet waking up or moving while we run to grab a camera. And taking a photo of a dog in an intriguing pose, while also paying attention to composition and colors is almost impossible, but here it happened! Congratulations!

Photo by Jose luis

When I think, ‘Labrador,’ I see this picture. It perfectly depicts the character of dogs of this breed, always happy and willing to play. It mesmerized me. And thanks to a fish-eye lens and a curved horizon, the author managed to create a dog world (dog planet?) – a world that I would like to inhabit.

Photo by Alexandre Marques

I really enjoy the composition and colors of this photo, they perfectly attract the viewers’ eye to the ridiculous facial expressions of the dogs. Their synchronization only adds to the charm of this picture.

Photo by Petr Hricko

This photo attracted my attention due to the pose of the dog, connecting its utility, raised paw and a sparkle in his eye with the incredible elegance of this breed. And well, THOSE EARS! Additionally, the line of trees guiding our eyes towards the dog only helps this photo.

Check out the entire Shortlist here

Read Iza’s blog post for tips on photographing your dog here

If you’d like to see more of Iza’s work, check out the following:

500px
Instagram

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