Elke Vogelsang, a professional photographer living in Hildesheim, Germany, takes intimate and playful portraits of her three dogs that will rival any of the sharp closeups we see in major magazines. Her photos portray their models with grace, personality and sometimes just a bit of humor.
“My favourite artist is nature, which I try to imitate while adding my own personal view of life, the universe, and everything in between,” writes Vogelsang. And in a way, this influence is clear in her work – her pictures try either to display her dogs “as nature made them,” that is, with as little as possible distracting from their natural features, or to display them in natural surroundings.
In both cases, her portraits are warm, intimate, and sometimes even a bit silly. And it's clear, judging by how beautifully they pose, that her dogs – Noodles, Scout and Loli – are excellent and patient models.
Vogelsang is a professional photographer, so she has a ton of other great photographs to look at. Be sure to check out her website and 500px, and if you like what you see, you can find her prints here.
For more information about her photos, check out her exclusive Bored Panda interview below!
"We always had dogs in our family and my mother is a photography enthusiast herself. So I always had a camera with me on all school excursions and holidays," Vogelsang told Bored Panda.
"When my first own dog, Noodles, joined us a few years, I felt the need to improve my photography to be able to capture her beauty and character."
"After a stressful time due to the illness of a family member, I needed something like a creative outlet, which I found in photography."
"I fell more and more in love with photography and call myself addicted to it now."
"We now have three dogs and all three of them are well trained 'photography companion dogs' as I call them."
"Because of the many dog pictures I showed on the internet, I had more and more people asking me if I could photograph their dogs, too. So I turned my passion into a profession and couldn't be happier. That's three years ago now."
"They all love to pose, because they know they get something for it, a treat or play. But it's great to have three dogs to choose from."
"All three are very different in character. One is very eager to learn and you could teach her any trick. That's Noodles. But she lacks a bit of steadiness."
"While you can make Scout sit anywhere and she will wait for ages, doing her own thing, like sniffing the wind, watching the scenery, enjoying the sun. But she won't do every trick."
"Loli is super cool, acts like a diva and as if all the world's a stage and he should be the only player. But it's hard to get a different look from him, since he sits there waiting, ready for his close-up, looking bullishly into the camera, waiting for his reward."
"But they love it so much, the hardest thing is actually to get the others out of the picture, when it's not their turn."
We'd like to thank Elke Vogelsang for giving us her time and answering her questions. Be sure to check out her website!