York Dog Photography: Meet the Dogs who Turned it On for My Camera
March saw me visit York as part of my huge dog photography project nicknamed ‘Angels of the North’. What is this? I hear you ask. Well, I’ve decided to tour 12 northern English cities to celebrate all things dogs and all things Northern. By the end of July, I’ll have completed 60 dog photography sessions (five in each city), photographed at least 60 dogs – often more, since some sessions feature multiple dogs – and gathered everything I need to produce a 2026 dog photography calendar. A portion of the profits from calendar sales will go to a dog charity that helps canines in need.
Having already visited York to conduct some dog photography model sessions all the way back in January, I was all fired up to return and capture some show-stopping portraits of a whole new set of dogs in March. The historical city of York left me spoiled for choice for beautiful backdrops for dog photography, but I was also determined not to repeat the exact same set of images I captured earlier in the year. Turns out, I need not have worried as this time the sun was determined to up the ante for me as it is now rising so much earlier in the day.
A Weekend in York: Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed
Back in January we were looking at a sunrise past 8am, some very overcast skies and bitterly cold temperatures. Read all about those sessions and see their results here. This time, the sun was up much earlier and proving itself to be exceptionally fierce even by 7:45am, which left me shadow-seeking and working with the bright light where it was physically possible to do so. I’m not afraid of an open sky and bright sun, as my time as a wildlife photographer on the open plains of the Masai Mara will attest to, but for my style of dog photography I do prefer the natural softbox of an overcast sky.
I met some absolutely wonderful humans again this time in York - some new and familiar faces, each full to the brim with stories and anecdotes about their dogs. I also photographed some very young dogs, a couple still technically puppies, but thankfully myself - and my camera - stayed two steps ahead of them at all times and I was able to work with their bouncy unpredictability to get some great images!
Here are some phone pictures of the backgrounds and locations I used for these sessions. You will probably know the vast majority of these spots if you have been to York already, and might be able to identify them in the final images I share in these posts:
Both weekend days were bright sunshine right out of the gate, in contrast to Newcastle in February and Liverpool the weekend earlier which essentially gave me night-and-day conditions on the Saturday and Sunday.
The Dogs of York and Their Portrait Locations
Saturday: Minster and Museum Gardens
As the sun is rising earlier and earlier, so am I. With my first session at 7am, I anxiously had one eye on the brightest sunrise I’d ever seen (I exaggerate, but it was bright!) while waiting for my first dog Hank. An exceptionally large German Shepherd, Hank truly is a magnificent looking dog. He only had eyes for his tug toy, which I used to my advantage throughout our session together. Truly a ‘tongue-out’ GSD, I find it hilarious that the only image I have of him with his mouth closed happened to be an action shot, but here we are, I wouldn’t change any of the images for the world.
Hank’s level of training was unmatched, and it was a privilege to work with him and his handler. We achieved so much in only 30-minutes, as well as fighting the super bright sun, I think Hank and his human deserve a big old round-of-applause. From speaking with his human, I learned more about Hank’s training, and can see the hours of work that have been dedicated to working him. He’s an exceptional dog, preferring to work for his tug toy and not paying any mind to food, and could clearly go all day if there way an opportunity for him to do so! I am going to have a really hard time deciding which of the images makes it into the calendar.
The force was strong with the next dog I was lined up to meet - Anakin (pictured left). Oozing personality, Anakin was so much fun to photograph, and his colouring worked so well with the locations I had picked.
Now we were in post-8am territory, so a lot of my session was improvised as spots I had wanted to use were now unshootable to achieve my softer style of work. However, I am not complaining one bit - I can definitely see a huge departure from my dark and moody days and now I’m firmly in my pastel era and I’m not mad about it one bit.
That being said, I did make use of bright sunlight on one location where an absolutely huge puddle created the perfect opportunity for a mirror-like reflection. I quite like the brighter end result (right) as it looks as though I could have used off-camera flash to achieve the effect. Something a bit different.
The last dog I photographed on Saturday was Edie - a stunningly beautiful Bracco Italiano, a breed I had never photographed before. She came along to her session with her human who I had met earlier in the year, as I photographed their two gorgeous Italian Greyhounds, Luca and Delilah, back in January. The location we held the session in remained the same - Museum Gardens - but I didn’t repeat the same shots with Edie. Our session was super relaxed, and I managed to capture a whole range of expressions and poses from Edie. Initially, she was extremely engaged in the strange noises I would make, offering eye-contact and head tilts. She truly has the my soulful eyes, made all-the-more-adorable by her velvety ears framing her face.
Part way through Edie’s session, as we walked deeper into Museum Gardens, she couldn’t help but notice the numerous grey squirrels darting across lawns and up trees. This brought a whole new side of her out, laser-focused and excitable, which I ended up using to my advantage to take some more breed-specific images of her. She was kept safely on a lead as she could have easily darted away from us at any moment to frolic across the grass in pursuit of squirrels she could never catch, but having her attention on something else made for super images. At several points she would raise up a paw, almost pointing, which contributed to a sense of dynamism in some of the final images. In the image shown above, she has her left front paw slightly raised off the ground and her eyes are firmly fixed on the lawn behind me. She looks totally majestic on the steps of York Museum and matches the grandeur of the building perfectly.
Sunday: The Shambles and Old Streets of York
You can’t come to York and not take a photograph on The Shambles. Well, in January I actually didn’t use The Shambles as a location in my sessions here. I know right, sacrilege? However, for the calendar sessions I just knew I had to work this iconic location and it had to be with the right dog. Enter Thor. A boxer puppy with unmatched excitement for absolutely everything in life.
Thor’s human had ‘warned’ me about his exuberance, asking me multiple times if I was sure about picking him for a session because he is just so excitable. When we met, one of the first things she jokingly said to me was, “you can still change your mind, you know?” just after Thor had greeted me with unmatched enthusiasm. No dog is too excitable or boisterous for me, and even the vivacity of Thor didn’t frighten me. Quite the opposite, actually. It was so easy to get his attention because, well, everything did, and I took full advantage of his curiosity to get eye contact and the holy grail of poses for me - the head tilt.
We took full advantage of The Shambles being empty at this super early hour on a Sunday, capturing this portrait of Thor fitting right into the tonal browns of the historic street. We spent 30 minutes walking and talking throughout the streets of York, taking some more photographs in the empty streets. Thor’s human used to be a dog walker, and we clicked instantly talking about our complete love of any and every dog. The session was a joy from start to finish!
My final dog of my calendar sessions might be small in size, but his presence and personality is huge. Benny the toy poodle, only 8 months old and full of live and love. He is the most adorable little cloud with the softest hair I’ve ever felt. Whoever grooms him needs to share their shampoo secrets, immediately.
We took things at a super relaxing pace. We used some familiar locations, but I took plenty of opportunity to see what different things would work with a smaller dog such as Benny. One of my favourite shots of him incorporates a little bit of nature with a bit of historic architecture, using a lovely extended tree root with the impressive Minster in the background. It took a couple of attempts before taking any photographs to encourage Benny to pop both of his front paws on the root, but at soon as he realised a snack was at the other side of it he was more than happy to oblige, and I think he absolutely nailed this pose.
Benny is a beloved family dog, absolutely adored by his humans - especially their children. I was told they really wanted to come along to the session, and I would have loved to have met them, but I finally did when I saw their cute and curious faces pop up on the screen when it was time for Benny’s online image reveal. It was so lovely to read Benny’s human’s words in her Google review, and I love that even a 30-minute mini session can be a relaxing and enjoyable experience for people. I’m such a firm believer in how a calm environment is invaluable to better dog portraits - it truly does show in the final images.
I had one more very special session to shoot that weekend in York, but Benny’s session marked the last of my calendar session in that city. By the second week of March, I had had already finished 20 / 60 calendar portrait sessions, 4 / 12 cities complete, and photographed 23 dogs for the project to date. I’ll never get tired of shooting in the historic city of York, and travel back their quite frequently for personal bits and bobs, so if you love my work in the city and are interested in a session, reach out to me and let me know as we could definitely co-ordinate something that coincides with one of my future visits!
Featuring York’s Dogs in the 2026 Photography by Frankie Calendar
All the dogs photographed in York will be featured in the 2026 Photography by Frankie charity calendar. The images their owners chose as a thank-you gift might not be the same ones that make it into the final calendar, but every dog will have a place in the month celebrating York’s Angels of the North.
I’ve contacted a charity I’d love to support with this project, and I’m hoping I can share more about them soon. They provide a very special service that’s closely linked to something I care deeply about, so I’m hoping to confirm everything in the next few weeks.
What’s Next for Angels of the North
In April, I’ll be photographing at two more stops on my journey: Durham and Lancaster. I’m now recruiting for May’s destinations, which will be Leeds and Chester. I’ve also started receiving emails from dog owners in other northern cities who are keen to take part. If you’d like to be the first to know where I’m heading next, make sure you’re signed up to my newsletter.