Alison Fay Photography

About Alison Fay Photography

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I'm a pet and equine photographer based near Burnham-on-Sea, photographing dogs, cats, horses, birds of prey and smaller animals across Somerset and North Somerset.

I photograph dogs of every breed and every age, from brand new puppies to long-loved older companions, alongside cats, horses, ponies, donkeys, birds of prey, falcons, parrots, smaller birds, reptiles, hedgehogs and other small pets. I take on bonded pairs and small groups, working dogs and competition horses, rescue dogs and ex-racers, multi-animal households, and people who want to be photographed alongside their own animals. Puppy sessions are a particular favourite, as are sessions with older animals where the priority is something that reflects the dog or horse exactly as they are now.

Every session takes place at the client's own home, garden, stables, paddock or yard, or somewhere familiar to the animal in the wider landscape. I don't work from a studio. The approach is patient and unhurried; I move at the animal's pace, in a setting it already knows, with as little staging as possible. Nervous, reactive or senior animals often photograph best this way.

Travel within 35 miles of Burnham-on-Sea is included in the session fee. That covers the wider Mendip area, the North Somerset coast, the Somerset Levels, level and accessible parts of the Quantocks, and out as far as Wells, Frome, Chew Valley, Taunton and the Bristol fringes. Sessions further afield are by arrangement.

I also undertake event photography for dog events, equestrian events, country shows, rescue fundraisers and breed club gatherings across the South West.

Finished work is delivered as framed archival fine art prints on cotton-rag paper. Wall art is ordered separately at an in-person viewing once the images are ready, so each piece is chosen for a specific wall, room and finish. Commissions are by enquiry only.

Alongside my commissioned pet and equine work, I'm a wildlife photographer in my own right, with around twenty years photographing the birds and mammals of the Somerset Levels and the surrounding landscape.

Most of my wildlife work is made at Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath, Greylake and Swell Wood. My favourite subjects are birds of prey, particularly red kites, kestrels, barn owls and the white-tailed eagles now returning to the area, along with smaller woodland and wetland birds, the glossy ibis colony, and the deer that move quietly through the wetlands at the edges of the day.

The way I work is patient and slow. I tend to return to the same hides, edges and tree lines over months and seasons, learning where the light falls and where particular birds are likely to be, rather than chasing a species list. That sustained way of working is what I bring to my commissioned pet and equine sessions too, and it's part of the reason I work with animals in their own places and at their own pace, never staged.

I'm available for wildlife photography hire, whether for editorial commissions, conservation projects, or accompanying private clients who'd like to photograph a particular species or location. I also sell a small range of limited edition wildlife prints from my Somerset Levels archive.