Rustic living room with a framed photo of a brown dog wearing an outdoor vest, wooden console table, lamp, books, leather armchair, and knitted throw blanket. 
HUNTING DOG PHOTOGRAPHY
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UPLAND & WATERFOWL

HUNT PHOTOGRAPHY

A TRUE PARTNERSHIP, DOCUMENTED

Before the first bird, before the first shot, there is a look that passes between a handler and their dog. No words, just trust built season after season.

I'm Jennifer Wakefield, a fine art dog photographer on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. I come along on upland and waterfowl hunts to photograph bird dogs, gun dogs and their handlers working together, wherever the hunt takes us.

The point. The flush. The retrieve.

HOW IT STARTED

I KNEW THEIR

PURPOSE

01

IT STARTED WITH TWO LABS

I was photographing portraits of two labs in my studio at an event, so the sessions were short and sweet. A chocolate and a yellow lab kept their eyes locked on their dad. They hung on his every word and moved the second he gave a command.

I was not in love with them because they were well behaved. I looked at the husband, and with a little knowledge of hunting clothes and outdoor brands, I asked if they were duck dogs. Did they retrieve waterfowl? Before he could answer, his wife asked how I knew. I had never been on a hunt, but I had been around enough working dogs to recognize that bond.

Black dog sitting beside a person wearing an orange hat outdoors 
02

THEN I WENT LOOKING FOR THE FIELD

That session was in November, and right after it I went looking for a local retriever club and for upland and waterfowl hunters. Thanks to Facebook, a few wives reached out to tell me about their husbands and their dogs. A few people let me tag along on upland hunts for pheasant and quail.

I headed to Traditions Duck and Gun Club in Aurora, NC, for duck retrieving, attended the Pink Hill Ruritan Club Tower Pheasant Hunt with the Neuse Retriever Club, and photographed retriever drills with a gun dog trainer in Richlands. I packed in as much as I could and soaked up everything from people who were as passionate about the sport and the partnership as I was, and generous enough to share.

Black dog running with a pheasant in its mouth
Hunter in blaze-orange gear carrying a harvested wild turkey and bow through a snowy forest 
the partnership

BRED FOR THIS

Pointing, flushing, and retrieving are bred into these dogs. Training adds refinement and repetition, but the drive is already there, and the breeders who protect those lines put years of work into them.

Have you ever watched a gun dog wait for their name to be called? Their whole body shivers, their teeth chatter like they are cold, and it is pure excitement. They were bred for that moment.

A handler and their upland or waterfowl dog are a true partnership. They look to each other. That is what I am there to photograph.

WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

BUILT AROUND WHAT

YOU WANT TO KEEP.

A hunting adventure usually runs longer than a portrait session, so we start with a conversation. Do you want the perfect retrieve for the wall, or a documentary album of the whole day? That answer shapes everything.

Bring your hunting buddies. I can photograph multiple handlers and multiple dogs on the same hunt, so grab your friends and make it a memorable day.

  • UPLAND HUNTS

    Tall cover. Bird scent. The Point.

    Pheasant, quail, woodcock, grouse, and dove. The dog locks onto a scent and the whole world narrows to one patch of cover. Then the flush, and a dog and handler working as one, on preserves and beyond.

    Tan dog carrying a colorful pheasant through a wildflower meadow

  • WATERFOWL HUNTS

    The wait. The release. The return.

    Duck retrieves and the waterfowl dogs who live for them. The patience, the explosion of the release, the water, and a dog coming home with the prize and a handler waiting at the edge of it all.

    Wet hunting dog emerging from a lake with a duck in its mouth

  • RETRIEVER DRILL SESSIONS

    One retrieve. Made to last.

    Sometimes the timing does not line up for a full hunt. Sometimes you already know exactly what you want: that one perfect retrieve, as a large canvas for your lodge. We plan a drill with birds from your recent hunt, built around the image you have in mind, and nobody has to follow you into the field.

    Black hunting dog carrying a pheasant in a field, with a blurred hunter and trees in the background

THE DOGS,

THE CHALLENGE, AND THE PEOPLE

I cannot schedule the light on a hunt, and the dogs could not care less that I am there. Their eyes are on the prize or locked on their handler, and once they are released, it is all about keeping up. Tracking a dog through thick grass, finding the right angle, being ready for the flush, I love the challenge, and I love watching dogs do what they were bred to do.

While my first introductions into this sporting world were all with men, over time I've started to meet more and more female hunters. They bring the same passion and knowledge, and often a similar appreciation for fine footwear as mine. Through these hunts I've also learned about the conservation work hunters and clubs are doing, and hunting and conservation often go hand in hand, which surprises a lot of people.

Black-and-white dog standing in snowy grass beside a tree, with a bright red arrow stuck in its fur.
Framed photograph of a black hunting dog retrieving a pheasant above a rustic wooden sideboard 
the artwork

THE HUNT,

ON YOUR WALL

Hunt clients love the same signature wall art my portrait clients do, and many choose a canvas with a digital painting effect for a den, lodge, or office. If you want the whole day, a fine art album tells the story from first light to the last retrieve.

view artwork options
Three hunting dogs moving through dry grass in a sunlit woodland
Framed photograph of a brown hunting dog carrying a pheasant in a field above a wooden sideboard with decorative vases. 
QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS ABOUT

HUNTING DOG

PHOTOGRAPHY

  • A hunting adventure is a custom session where I go along on an upland or waterfowl hunt to photograph handlers and their gun dogs working together: the point, the flush, the retrieve. It is documentary work, not posed portraits, and it is built around what you want to keep.

  • Yes. I photograph upland and waterfowl hunts and planted retrieves, and the dogs are bred for the work: pointers, flushers (including Boykin Spaniels), and retrievers. Bird dog, duck dog, gun dog, whatever you call yours. While I've gone on some wild hunts, most have been on preserves with farm-raised birds, and I'm ready for the right adventure.

  • Then we plan a retriever drill session around birds from your recent hunt. Some hunters also don't want someone following them, or don't want to feel responsible for another person around firearms. Either way you get the retrieve, the focus, and the working partnership, with nobody tagging along.

  • Yes, please. I can photograph multiple handlers and multiple dogs on the same hunt. Travel fees can be split among the group, and each person places their own order, whether that's an album of the whole group and the day or a focus on just their dog.

  • Yes. Many hunt clients choose one retrieve or flush as a signature piece for a den, lodge or office. Others want the whole day in an album. We decide together which fits what you want to keep.

  • Every adventure is custom, so there is no set package. Most clients invest around $2,500, depending on whether you want one canvas of the perfect retrieve or an album of the whole day. They usually run longer than a portrait session. We start with a conversation about what you want to keep, and I build the session and the quote from there.

  • Upland and waterfowl seasons are short, so don't wait. Reach out as soon as you have a date or a hunt in mind. I'm based on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina and available to travel, with travel fees possible.

  • Hunters often tell me they want their dog photographed doing the work they love. If your dog is a senior or facing a hard diagnosis, a Legacy Session can be planned around exactly that: a last season, a favorite retrieve.

  • I do not hunt, I am there for the dogs, and I love watching them do what they do. I am comfortable around firearms. I have taken gun safety classes, I have spent plenty of time on shooting ranges, and I am always up for skeet. I follow your lead on safety and on where I stand.

LET’S PLAN

YOUR HUNT

TELL ME WHERE YOU HUNT
Plan Your Hunting Adventure