2025 Recap: The Year of Saying "Yes" to Wild

 

A Year of Adventurous Dog Photography (And One Bison)

If you had told me that someday I’d spend a Tuesday evening hanging off the back of a moving ATV, heart pounding against my ribs while trying to lock focus on a thousand pound “pet” bison named Zoomie, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Fortunately, this job has a way of leading me into the most beautifully unpredictable places.

Zoomie was preparing for a big move to join the herd at the Southern Plains Land Trust, and her owner wanted to capture their time together before she transitioned to the wilder life she was meant for. There’s just something so profoundly humbling about being in the presence of a creature so prehistoric and powerful. Even as she stood there, docile and sweet, those massive horns were a constant reminder that I was guest in her world.

It was a thrilling, high adrenaline start to a year that turned out to be defined by one recurring theme: the beauty of saying yes to the wild.

Cinematic wide shot of a bison standing in the vast Colorado landscape under a dramatic sky, captured by adventure photographer Allison Mae
A pet bison named Zoomie walking in a field in Boulder, photographed by Colorado dog and pet photographer Allison Mae.
A dramatic, low-angle shot of a bison during a pet photography session with Allison Mae.
Allison Mae documenting a pet bison named Zoomie in Boulder, Colorado, highlighting the connection between humans and prehistoric plains wildlife.

Safety first, but a quick moment to say hello to Zoomie. There is nothing quite like the weight of a 1,000-pound bison standing right next to you to remind you how lucky you are to be here.

 

Chasing Monet in the Mountains of Crested Butte

Speaking of the wild, my annual pilgrimage for Crested Butte dog photography was nothing short of a dream last summer. To truly experience the high country in all of its glory, I started the hiking session with my clients while the rest of the world was still asleep. There’s a certain kind of magic that happens in the predawn indigo that is just indescribable. It’s a peaceful, anticipatory stillness that makes the sunrise feel like it’s just for you.

We forged ahead through the morning mountain air, and as the light began to spill over the peaks, the landscape came alive. We found ourselves in a sea of waist-high wildflowers that looked like less of a hiking trail and more like a Monet painting come to life. Slashing colors of lupine and paintbrush stretched as far as the eye could see, our footsteps punctuated by the sound of a tumbling waterfall in the distance, and towering peaks playing hide and seek in the cloud shadows.

It was joyous, adventurous, and completely invigorating. It’s those moments, balancing on logs to cross rushing creeks and getting our boots dusty to find the perfect angle, where my “job” disappears. It just becomes about the sheer, energized joy of being alive in the middle of it all, counting ourselves lucky to witness such indescribable beauty with our beloved dogs by our side.

A dog and its owners hiking through waist-high wildflowers in Crested Butte, Colorado during a summer pet photography session.
Crested Butte dog photography: A dog jumping through waist-high wildflowers in the Colorado Rocky Mountains during a summer adventure session with Allison Mae.
A vast landscape view of the Crested Butte backcountry during peak wildflower season, featuring rolling hills of purple lupine and red Indian paintbrush under a dramatic Colorado mountain sky.
A couple and their dog hiking through a sea of purple lupine wildflowers in Crested Butte, Colorado, captured during an adventurous mountain photography session with Allison Mae.

When the Forecast Lies (and sometimes it’s better that way)

Usually, “heavy rain” makes this Denver dog photographer want to reschedule. But this year, I had a branding session for dog trainer, WolfPack Planet, that proved why you should never let a little water stop you.

We were just minutes into our session when it started to drizzle… and then pour. But my client was a total pro, and as we moved higher up the mountain, the weather did something miraculous. It didn’t just clear, it transformed. The rain broke into dramatic, heavy cloud formations that caught the golden hour light in a completely unique way.

The resulting images were cinematic. It was a good reminder the best light often lives right on the edge of questionable, and that some of the best small businesses are run by people who aren’t afraid to get a little muddy.

A cinematic Colorado mountain landscape after a heavy storm, showing golden hour sunlight breaking through dark, dramatic cloud formations over a dog photography session with Allison Mae.
An environmental portrait of a dog trainer from WolfPack Planet giving dogs a treat, captured in the moody light immediately following a heavy fall rainstorm.
Professional dog trainer from WolfPack Planet working with dogs on a mountain trail during a rainy branding session in Colorado, featuring dramatic low-hanging clouds and a moody, adventurous atmosphere.
Dramatic sunset light hitting a dog trainer and their dog during a stormy mountain branding session in the Colorado Rockies.
 

Always Imroving my Dog Photography: Nova Scotia

Even after years of providing dog photography in Boulder and Denver, I still get that “first day of school” feeling when I have the opportunity to learn from other incredible photographers. This past year, that feeling took me all the way to Nova Scotia for an Unleashed Education workshop.

There’s something so inspiring about being in a completely different environment and talking shop with other pet photographers who are just as obsessed with dogs and art as I am. I came home with salt in my hair and a renewed fire for the work I get to do every day back here in the Colorado mountains.

A whippet poses in a beam of light on a fall trail during an Unleashed Education workshop in Nova Scotia. Photo by Allison Mae Photogrpahy.
A brave dog sitting stoically in front of a powerful, cascading waterfall, captured in a cinematic landscape photography style by Allison Mae.

Behind the scenes at Uisge Bàn Falls.

A portrait of a border collie in the fiery autumnal colors of Cape Breton.

Saying goodbye to friends, old and new, in Halifax.

 

Looking Toward 2026 (and more wildflowers!)

Looking back on 2025, I’m struck by how lucky I am that my “office” changes every week. I’m already starting to fill the calendar for the coming months, and my heart is already leading me back toward those gorgeous wild blooms in July.

If you’ve been dreaming of a dog photography session that feels more like an adventure and less like a stiff photo shoot, whether that’s in the foothills of Denver, the open space of Boulder, or chasing light at the tail end of a summer storm in the Rockies, I’d love to have you and doggy best friends along for the ride!

Contact me and we’ll go find some magic in 2026.

 
Dogs, Other AnimalsAllison SchwickerathComment