The old adage ‘never work with children or animals’ has not deterred a single German photographer, who has made it his life’s work to photograph one of those groups – dogs.
Christian Vieler, 52, from Selm, is a professional pet photographer and estimates he has taken photos of more than 5,000 dogs in the last ten years.
Are In the latest collection, puppies stick out their tongues, some hang out and others show just the slightest glimpse of pink.
Vieler, who has 459,000 Instagram fans, says he realized early on that he prefers dogs as subjects to people.
Lipstick, powder and dog: Dog snapper Christian Vieler, 52, from Selm in Germany has photographed more than 10,000 dogs in the past ten years
He says: ‘When I started taking photographs, I was completely new to all the techniques and didn’t want to use human models for practice as I was never sure if the results would meet expectations.
‘Then I started exploring every camera technique with my dog Lotte. The tongue photos are a byproduct of the portrait sessions I do with almost every dog.’
Before starting, The Snapped worked as a journalist ‘Vieler Photography’, and one of his most famous collections is a series called ‘Dogs Catching Treats’.
There’s a whole lot of tongue going on! This beautiful golden dog has a heart-shaped tongue
Vieler’s latest collection features dogs with their tongues out, including this pair of cheerful-looking pets
Bad hair day: This perfectly coiffed pet breaks the honeyed coat with a glimpse of their pink tongue. Right: This dog licks his lips when he sees something tasty
Vieler’s own beloved dog Lotte made him appreciate what brilliant subjects dogs create, he says
Tongues as long as their ears! These cute dogs couldn’t look happy if they tried, but cute will do
Commenting on the collection’s success, he said: ‘You need a bond with the dogs to work with them.
‘If you don’t have their attention and their willingness to work with you, it’s quite difficult to take emotional photos.
‘You need an idea of what you want as an outcome. Sounds simple, but that affects the way you work with the dog in the studio.