Meet Shawn Valentine | Pet Photographer & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shawn Valentine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shawn, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk, to me is a very powerful element in my life. I use it to push me to strive in uncomfortable situations, it always me to find my passion in areas I never knew existed. I enjoy risk taking and I think everybody should. Risking my career as a video producer to start my own business was super scary and very uncomfortable. You are risking money, time, friends, relationships, your home, and even your sanity. But with all that at stake, you find yourself. You find what you are capable of doing. You find the importances in life. You find your desires and your flaws. It’s crazy how scary it feels starting something new from scratch when you have lived being comfortable for so long, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Usually every job has it’s ups and downs, but being a dog photographer to me is always up. Yeah some days can be a little more stressful than others, but just playing with these pups can change the way you look at life. They have such amazing energy and just want to make you happy. I’m most proud of working with adoption shelters and trying to help as many dogs as I can to get adopted. I got where I am today because I wanted to take studio photos like I did with humans and I realized there isn’t a lot of studio dog photographers in my area, so i niched down and took that path. Yeah it was tough because I didn’t know if that’s what people wanted. Is it something that can become a long term thing. A lot of sleepless nights. In order to overcome challenges I faced, I just kept my head down and put the work in. If something didn’t work, I changed it. I did the research. I put the time in. I did and do what it takes to try to be successful at this. I want the world to know about my brand is just to show how important animals are to us and I will do everything in my power to make sure they all have homes to go home to.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend came to Colorado, I would take him to some of my favorite places to eat. Me being a vegan, places I love to eat is Watercourse Foods, City O’City, and The Burrowing Owl. Then some hiking spots like Blue Lake, Snow Flake Trail, and Herman Gulch Trail. After that we would get some drinks. Some great places are Red Leg Brewing in Colorado Springs, Cherry Cricket in Denver, and maybe some pizza too at Woody’s in Golden. Finally take him to Red Rocks for a concert, Ball Arena for a sports game, and maybe a day of camping in the mountains of Boulder.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Honestly, I give a big shoutout to my fiance and to my two amazing dogs. Without them I would have never have taken the turns I have that led me here today. Brandi, she has been there for me more than I could imagine. She helped me follow my dream in every way possible. She has a career and still finds the desire to help me when I need it most. My dogs, Nolan and Slevin. Slevin passed away last year but he was the reason I took the path of becoming a dog photographer. When I needed to practice photoshoots for humans, I used him for stand ins. When COVID came around and we couldn’t be in the same room as other people, I took pictures of him and Nolan. That led me to take photos of family dogs and so on. Just the love and passion they gave me helped me feel very lucky and I am very grateful.

Website: https://dogsinframes.com/

Instagram: dogsinframes_co