Yep – totally, completely, no-obligation free. You just need to enrol to take part.

Absolutely anyone in the Unleashed Education community! Whether you’re brand new to pet photography or you’ve completed all three of our Unleashed Challenge courses, this freebie is open to you.

You’ll get access to the challenge brief and full (exceptionally detailed) educational content when the challenge begins on 6 April 2025.

A lot of free challenges out there just throw out a theme or a title and leave you to figure the rest out.

Not this one.

You’ll get a 25-minute instructional video breaking down exactly what we’re looking for, how to approach the shoot, tips for posing and expression, plus examples to get your creative wheels turning. Prefer to read? We’ve got a full blog-style post covering the same content with images to guide you.

On top of that, you’ll get a cheat sheet PDF to take on your shoot, encouragement emails to keep you on track, a simple upload system, and a recorded feedback session where we review the Top 20 entries and choose a Top 10.

This isn’t just a quick social media trend – it’s a proper learning experience wrapped in a fun, free package.

This free challenge is open to everyone – from keen amateurs to seasoned pros.

You don’t need to be an experienced pet photographer to join in. We provide clear, practical guidance to help you understand and approach the brief with confidence.

That said, you’ll need to know how to operate your camera, as we don’t cover the basics of camera settings or functions in this challenge.

Nope! We’ve made sure things are fair and fun for everyone by splitting the judging into two tiers:

✨ Newcomer Tier – for anyone who’s never participated in one of our Unleashed Challenge courses (even if you've enrolled in Embark 2025). You’ll only be judged alongside other first-timers.

🎩 Veteran Tier – for those who’ve taken part in one or more of our Unleashed Challenge courses before.

So you won’t be up against seasoned challengers if this is your first time. You’ll be in great company with other newcomers – and we’re here to guide you every step of the way!

To get the most out of this experience, we recommend a digital SLR or mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. However, if you're shooting with an iPhone, that's fine for this challenge too!

While it’s not absolutely essential to edit your images, we strongly feel that editing goes hand-in-hand with shooting in this modern age of digital photography. Use whatever you are comfortable with - whether that be Lightroom, Photoshop, both, or something else entirely.

The challenge runs from 6–19 April 2025. That’s your two-week window to plan, shoot, edit, and submit your photo.

No, enrolment closes right before the challenge starts to ensure everyone has the same amount of time to shoot and submit their entry.

Yes – feel free to use your own pet if they will be suitable for creating the image you need for the challenge. You may also use a client's pet if you are in business.

The idea of this challenge is to encourage you to venture out and shoot specifically for the challenge, rather than just delving into your image library for an existing image to share!

Because that would kind of defeat the point, wouldn't it? 😅

All submissions will have the capture date checked, and any images taken before the start date of the challenge will not be accepted.

Yes – in a few different ways!

We’ll be giving recorded feedback on the Top 20 images, which is a brilliant learning experience even if your photo isn’t featured. You’ll get to hear exactly what we’re looking for, what worked, and how entries could be improved.

We also encourage everyone to get involved in the pop-up community space during the challenge. It’s the perfect place to share your work-in-progress shots and get feedback from your peers – a fantastic way to learn, grow, and see things from different perspectives.

And please note, Embark and our other challenge courses run a little differently, where Charlotte and Craig give recorded feedback on every single image submitted during the course.

Sure are!

✨ Newcomers (never participated in an Unleashed Challenge course before): Top 10 winners receive a $100 discount for Embark 2025.

🎩 Veterans (have participated in an Unleashed Challenge course): Top 10 winners receive a $50 merch store voucher.

After the challenge finishes, the pop-up group in the community will be removed and the challenge educational content will no longer be available.

If you have a question that isn't answered here, please feel free to get in touch with us.