Featuring flying ears, long flapping tongues, and crazy eyes, these shots are hilarious and always front runners with dog lovers. A must to include in any clients image gallery!

Capturing animals in action would have to be one of the most demanding types of photography. They move erratically, they're relatively small, and they're different colours, shapes and sizes. And that's before you even consider the extra challenges you have in directing and influencing their movement. Once you have the know-how though it's all down to practice. And for these shots, you won't get many complaints about that from your doggy subjects.

So stepping up the difficulty level as we tackle challenge number 8 of Embark is precisely what our challengers need. We absolutely loved providing feedback on some really fantastic submissions for this challenge. But here, in no particular order, we're sharing our top 10 images, along with a few thoughts on why we loved them.

Charlotte & Craig 🐶 📸 ✨

We provide video feedback on all images submitted for the challenge, and from there, we select our Top 20 and Top 10. Without further ado, here are the Top 10 images for this challenge!

Caryn Glover | Katiepal Photography

A dynamic moment, great point in the stride and it's sharp in all the right places. The green/brown colour scheme feels earthy and matches the dog well and the low shooting angle feels immersive.

Cynthia Hall | Cynthia Hall Pet Photography

What a happy, summery feeling image. The dog is perfectly placed in the composition. The expression is really joyful!

Jenny Johansson | Jenny Johansson Photography

This hits the Front Runner challenge brief really well. Good point in the stride, nice even light, engaging expression, sharpness and low angle are all on point!

Katie Pierce | @katiebatie13

What a fantastic, dynamic moment, bursting with energy. The expression is excellent and is where the viewer's eye rests.

Korina Joseph | Korina Joseph Photography

The lavender has been used well as a leading line. The point in the dog's stride is good and the focus is spot on. All making a really successful Front Runner action image.

Lori Veinot | @novatailsphotography

This is a great action shot and the dog's expression is excellent. The square crop works well.

Michelle Osborne | The Spotted Tongue Photography

This dog, flying through the air, looks so cool, as if to say "levitation? It's no big deal!" Perfect timing, great moment, and the simple foreground/background means the dog is the sole focus.

Natalie Clennell

There's a lovely autumnal feel to this with all the fallen leaves, the point in the dog's stride, the upstroke, is great and the expression is excellent!

Sam Rowe | Sam Coral Photography

This dog is just exuding joy! The expression, weird angle of the body and the muddy legs all lead you to believe what a fun time has been had on this adventure. The composition feels balanced despite the dog being off-centre and the simplified colour palette works well.

Theresa Camastra | Blackdog Studios

This is a great point in the stride and the ears forming a triangle is fun! The background is harmonious and the low angle really draws you in.

Embark is the foundation 6-month interactive challenge-based online dog photography course in our Unleashed Challenges series, focusing on helping you to learn new shooting skills and create more variety in your work.

Want to be the first to hear when Embark opens for enrolment each year? Register your interest here.