All photos © Carol Beuchat.

Carol Beuchat started photographing dogs in 1999 while in South Africa as an Honorary Professor at the Univ. of Cape Town. Since returning to the States in 2003 Beuchat has been dedicated to dog photography full time. She explains, “Dogs are such interesting animals, perhaps more than we generally realize if we only see them as pets.  At the dog park, the leash is off,  the dogs are free to interact with each other (if the owners will let them), and what you can observe is real canine behavior.  I started photographing at the dog park while there with my own dogs, and I was astonished at the amazing facial expressions, the athletic maneuvers, and all the teeth on display while they played each other. As fierce as the dogs might look in photos, they are very careful not to hurt one another, and they even seem to calibrate the roughness of play to the size and age of the playmate.  I’ve come to really appreciate how differently dogs play with each other than they do with people, and also that providing dogs with the opportunity just to be with other dogs really enriches their lives.”

Beuchat recently self published DOGSPLAY: The Joy of Being a Dog, which is available in hardcover from Blurb or as an eBook on her website.

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© Carli Davidson

A portrait of Mane, a Dogue de Bordeaux. The disproportionately large head of this breed makes it an ideal candidate for Carli Davidson’s series “Shake,” an exploration of the unique shapes and textures created when dogs shake their heads. More images from Davidson’s series can be seen in the PDN Faces 2011 online gallery.

© David Allan Brandt

A Chihuahua and a Great Dane size each other up in this tense standoff. David Allan Brandt’s canine portrait was included in the winners gallery of the 2009 PDN Best Friends contest. The 2010 Contest is currently open for entries until October 15. A People’s Choice winner will also be selected.

© Jonathan Canlas Photography

A befuddled pooch deals with mixed emotions in this portrait of man’s best friend by Jonathan Canlas. More images from some of the best wedding photographers around can be seen in the Top Knots 2010 Winners Gallery.

We confess: Even when we’re knee-deep in producing a professional photo magazine, we’re easily distracted by pictures of cute animals. Here at PDN we’re conducting our second annual Faces contest, seeking today’s best portrait photographs. Below is a sneak peek at some early entries in the Animal Portraits category. These are not the winners of the Faces Contest. These are a few early favorites based on popular votes on the People’s Choice page. There’s still more great work being entered in Animal Portraits and the three other categories: Celebrity/Editorial Portraits (studio), Environmental Portraiture and Self-Portraits. The contest remains open for entries until April 7, 2009. Select winners will be exhibited at the PDN PhotoPlus International Expo from October 23 to 25, 2009 in New York City, and a winner’s gallery will appear in the December issue of PDN. To see more People’s Choice entries, or to enter the contest yourself, visit the PDN Faces portrait photo contest.

Photo by Camille Cier.

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