06/09/2025
2 years ago I was in Vegas to speak at Shutterhound Conference.
2 years ago today I was on stage in front of hundreds of professional dog photographers top give a talk, including a live demonstration with two gorgeous models, about photographing dogs in the studio.
I'll come back to Shutterhound in a bit but this seems like a good as time as any to do a post introducing myself if you are new around here.
I'm Ewan and I've ran Mutley's Snaps for 11 years now, that makes me an OG, certainly amongst Scottish Dog Photographers. I'm certain I was the first to have a studio in Scotland dedicated to pets.
I live with my wife Claire who has a successful business doing small business branding and websites - she helps keeping my stuff looking good and generally keeping the wheels on the tracks. Although she isn't happy that my website is long over due an update and someone wont get her the stuff she needs to update it.
We have two Devon Rex cats, Fen and Zepp. They are strange looking little dudes. They don't have the full coat but just have a wavy undercoat, well Fen has a wavy coat some of the year other times he is bald(solidarity with me). They are friendliest little guys. Super needy. They want to be with you 24/7. Zepp will scream in my face if I'm not giving him attention and Fen will leap onto my shoulder out of no where. I love these two so much.
Then we have the newest addition, Ruckus, who is a year and a half old working lines golden retriever. The working lines have a lovely red coat and tend to be a bit leaner with a longer face than the show line goldens. He is a good dog but he drives me crazy for some reason. I've never had a dog that has been so attached to me, I guess it's a working lines thing, I'm his person. Apparently working lines goldens mature slower than labs, looking forward to getting out the other end of the hormone hell 😅
If you go to my website you will still see our boxers Buk and Rora on the about page, we lost them at the start of 2020 - it was devastating. They were our entire world and every time I've went to add the cats or Ruckus I get upset and can't. This year I'll need to put my big boy pants on and update that page.
Once upon a time I went to university and got a mathematics degree. I can't tell you how grateful I am that life lead me away from that to photography. I love photographing dogs(and pets), I feel so privileged to get to do what I do. It's also lead to some crazy and amazing things.
I feel kind of icky writing this but...
I've some how come to be a respected industry expert in the dog photography world wide.
The wee boy that was chronically shy growing up in a rough housing estate in Dundee...
A few years back I got a message asking if I could keep a secret(I can't), that there was a big dog photography conference being organised in Las Vegas with the "rock stars of the dog photography world" and would I like to speak at it? My initially reaction was - wow this is crazy being asking to do something like this, I'm so honored, ermmm no way I can fly to Vegas to speak on a stage 🤢I eventually thought I was unlikely to ever get an opportunity like this again and even though the thought of it terrified me I said yes. I didn't book my flight until about a month before so I could still chicken out.
It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Turns out being on stage in front of hundreds of people talking about something we were all passionate about wasn't scary at all. I will be forever grateful to be asked to be a part of something so special ❤
I've also just finished judging the International Pet Photography Awards 2025 - the winners are being announced at the ceremony next week.
(Dear pet photographers use the zoom in feature to make sure your focus is where it should be and that you haven't made masking errors...)
I also host dog photography retreats in Scotland, Woofventures Reatreats, where we help other professional photographers work on their craft.
I feel so blessed to have been giving these opportunities and that other professionals have placed their faith in me!
I offer both location and studio sessions.
I've had a few studios over the years but this last one is definitely the one. The studio is now in our garden. It makes life so much easier, it's a 5 step commute from my back door and the building can't be sold like the last studio was. I have always been by appointment only, so having it at home makes sense.
Writing these types of post helps to drum home how lucky I am that I get to do the thing I love most as a living.
