Meet the Sheffield photographer using the city’s iconic landscapes as a background for her creative work

Rowan Williams is the creative spark behind Sheffield’s Pooch & Pineapple Dog Photography company which creates colourful, eye-catching photos packed with personality for dog lovers and pet brands.

Rowan has been a professional photographer since 2015 and lives in Sheffield with her rescue dog George – a Rottweiler-Mastiff cross.

Having previously worked in marketing and qualified with The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Rowan has a strong focus on creating images that truly capture the essence of her clients, whether that's a beloved pet or a pet business.

After working in the corporate marketing world for ten years, Rowan turned her passion into profit by retraining to become a photographer and now specialises in taking colourful, natural photos that are packed with personality.

She works with pet owners and pet businesses to create photos that will want to be treasured forever and strives to tell stories with her images.

The 39-year-old discovered her love for photography whilst volunteering at Mayhew – a London based animal charity and animal shelter.

She’s photographed every part of their work, from the animal welfare officers working with the London homeless, in the kennels and cattery, to the busy vet clinic.

With weddings cancelled due to Covid-19 and the lockdowns, Rowan had a lot more time on her hands and began to expand her business by photographing more dogs after an increase in people wanting photographs of their furry friends.

She has now started work on a new project which involves photographing dogs at iconic locations across Sheffield, highlighting the many beautiful and iconic areas of the city – she is also calling on Sheffield dog owners to get involved.

So far, she has taken snaps at locations including Kelham Island, Park Hill flats, the Botanical Gardens and has incorporated other iconic Sheffield themes into her work.

Speaking about the project, Rowan said: “I've put together a really long list of locations; I've got about 55 of them so far. I've got a really good mix of Sheffield's post-industrial heritage, and I have already done Kelham Island but would like to do more around Neepsend and Attercliffe. One of the locations that keeps coming up, time and time again that people always say is Forgemasters; they really kind of associate that very strongly with Sheffield.

“It’s really quite an interesting creative challenge, and I like the idea of capturing a beautiful photograph of a dog in a very kind of like post-industrial landscape, which is one of the reasons why I've done this project.

“The person who came along to the Kelham Island shoot really loves their photos; they were surprised and blown away with actually what could be achieved and how nice their dog looks in that environment.

“Another spot that I've done already was the Botanical Gardens, which was really easy because obviously they are amazingly well-kept gardens and they're super green, and there's lots of different variety there as well. I was more interested in the architecture of the big conservatory they have there because that's very iconic to Sheffield. It’s definitely one of my favourite photographs from that shoot.

“I've done a couple of shots around the Park Hill flats, and then also at the South Street Park, with the views over the city. Those photos were taken at sunset, and it was just really magical because the sun was setting over the city. We've got this lovely summer sun shining onto the Parkhill flats and really kind of illuminating them and all their beautiful colours. There were two dogs, one of them was a Borzoi, which is a large ancient breed of a dog that looks very majestic in itself anyway, standing in front of these very kind of like 60s looking very brutal architectural flats; I just really liked the contrast of that. Then the other one that I've got is a beautiful picture of a lurcher looking quite fluffy, but the sun is setting behind her, and then you can see the scope of the city behind her, and that's again another favourite photograph.”

After taking on an end of life dog called Tula in the summer of 2020, Rowan realised the importance of taking photos of pets that can be used as memories in the future.

She said: “Last year I took on an end of life dog, and that underpinned the importance to me of having beautiful photographs of your dog; she was only with me for eight months, but I did still really fall in love with her and when she died the photographs that I had taken off her were the only things that were left and that really drilled the point home for me that this is actually what's most important about photography. When I initially was getting into dog photography, I kind of thought it was a bit silly and a bit frivolous, but after losing Tula, I had all these beautiful photos that I have kept as memories of her.”

Rowan is now helping dog owners across Sheffield photograph their dogs and has shared her tips to capture the perfect picture of a dog.

Revealing her tips for dog photography, she said: “Take your dog for a walk before you try to do anything with them; that way, they have had the opportunity to run off any nervous energy that they might have, and they can do their business as well.

"The second thing is to have a squeaky toy or some treats available on you before you even start and get your dog really interested in you, so grab a toy and have a play around with your dog, talk to them, stroke them, get them looking at you and knowing that something good is about to happen next. When you're ready to take the photo, get down really, really low. Often, during a photoshoot, I will very often lie on the floor literally on my belly with my camera on the floor as well. If you take the photograph from their level, things look a lot more interesting from that perspective, rather than taking it from an average human height perspective.

“The last point is, if you're struggling to get your dog to look at you make lots of noises, you can be as silly as you want. Make high pitched noises make low pitched noises, or you can even say words that they might respond to, like cat or squirrel or treats or anything like that just kind of get them looking at you, take the snap, as soon as the photographs have been taken, reward them.

“Like I always say on the photoshoot, it's important to pay the model, and with dogs, you have to make the photo shoot fun and relaxing, so they can be as high energy, or as old and doddering as they like. As long as they are enjoying themselves on the photoshoot, for example, they're getting played with, or they're getting treats, they will keep on giving you what you want for the photographs.”

To find out more about Rowan and her business, you can visit her website at www.poochandpineapple.com/ or follow her Instagram account @poochnpineapple

Anyone wanting to sign up to take part in the Dogs of Sheffield project, can apply at www.poochandpineapple.com/dog-model-application/