ABOUT ME

Hello & welcome to Spirit Paws Pet Photography, my name is Helen Sampson and I’m a Photographer based in the City of Bristol and working across the whole of the South West, Wales and the South East.

My deep passion and love for animals led me into a career for over 10yrs as a Director & Photographer in the Natural History Documentary & Film industry. Working alongside some of the finest Producers & Cinematographers in the business, I travelled to remote corners of the globe to capture stunning landscapes and incredible wildlife behaviour for Disney, Netflix, Apple & Sky audiences worldwide.

Then, 4yrs ago…… I got my Bernese Mountain Dog Maximus……. and I fell completely and utterly in love!

I have always loved dogs, through childhood I had a Golden Retriever and throughout my adult life I’ve always sought out interactions with our paw legged friends - from hanging out with street dogs in India to looking after friend’s pooches during the holidays. But, when I got my very own Maximus, he made me recognise, more than ever before, how incredibly special the bond is between owners and their dogs. Their unconditional love, their enthusiasm to be by our side, their ability to communicate deeply with us on so many levels, and their pure & unique spirits utterly enrich our lives with so much joy, entertainment, loyalty and companionship. They truly are the most precious of friends.   

So, a few years ago, I decided to turn my attention and expertise towards photographing our beloved dogs. The sad reality is that time flies and their life is short… too short for a relationship we wish could last forever. I wanted to use my photography skills to create beautiful and stylised portraiture of our dogs which would capture the essence of their unique personalities and gift dog owners with photos worthy of framing for their homes or keeping in a family album, to cherish as loving memories forever. 

All of us take thousands of photos and videos of our dogs on our mobile phones but there’s a vast difference in quality between those and a professional portrait. Professional photography is more of an art-form, combining expertise in photography with meticulous editing skills to create an artistic impression of a photo in a variety of styles to your liking, and of the highest quality. 

I just love pet photography, and if you like what you see in my portfolio, I would be honoured to photograph your beautiful, handsome, quirky, cute, fun-loving, adorable pooch!