Yep – totally, completely, 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.

Nope! We’ve made sure things are fair and fun for everyone by putting you into one of two tiers when you enrol, automatically:

✨ Newcomer Tier – for anyone who’s never participated in one of our Unleashed Challenge courses (even if you've enrolled in Embark 2026). 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!

Definitely! The free challenge is open to everyone in our Unleashed Education community.

You'll be automatically placed in the Veteran tier, and if you make it into the Top 10 in the tier, you get $50 credit to use in our merch store!

Yes – in a couple of different ways!

We 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 (some of them very experienced) – a fantastic way to learn, grow, and see things from different perspectives.

We’ll also be providing recorded constructive feedback on every single image submitted – this is a brilliant learning experience for you! You’ll get to hear if your image met the brief, plus some constructive critique on your shooting and editing.

We highly recommend not just skipping to your own image, but watching the entire video from start to finish. You'll pick up a wealth of information – previous challengers have said that this is the best part of the whole experience!

You’ll get access to the challenge brief and full (exceptionally detailed) educational video when the challenge officially begins on 3 April 2026.

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, a helpful community, and recorded feedback on your entry!

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 (including focusing and exposure), as we don’t cover the basics of camera settings or functions in this challenge.

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 3-17 April 2026. 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.

Sure are!

✨ Newcomers (never participated in an Unleashed Challenge course before): Top 10 winners receive a $100 discount for Embark 2026.

🎩 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.