Business + Marketing


Craig Turner-Bullock’s 20-Year Pet Photography Career

March 21, 2023

By Abbey Pleviak

In this episode of The Portrait System Podcast, host Nikki Closser speaks with Craig Turner-Bullock, a native of Guernsey Island, who currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. Turner-Bullock shares how he has created a profitable 20-year career out of pet photography. 


Growing up on a tiny island in the British Channel, Turner-Bullock always felt different and took refuge in art, photography, and his family’s many pets. They had parrots, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, lizards, snakes, and one dog named Lassie. Turner-Bullock’s first job after leaving school was in a bird zoo and he became the head keeper there, practicing his photography while documenting the animals in his care. When the zoo went out of business in 1996, Turner-Bullock went to work in the film processing lab of Boots pharmacy, learning how to work with film negatives, including using color theory to do color correction. A few years later, he began doing photography as a side gig. Like many other photographers, Turner-Bollock initially took all kinds of jobs, but soon realized where his true passion lay—pet photography. Since 2001, he has worked exclusively with pets.  

[Read: 3 Tips on How to Photograph Pets in Costumes]

Turner-Bullock says, “There are pets everywhere. You just have to work out a way to get to those people who love their pets. You know, for people in the States, you have the highest pet ownership per capita in the world, and I guarantee you that in your town there are enough clients out there for you to make a full-time living just doing pet photography. It’s just about how you reach them.” 

Turner-Bullock is not fond of chasing down clients on social media or with a lot of phone calls. His preference is to focus on a few in-person events that cater to dog owners. At these events, he takes pictures of people’s animals on the fly and posts them to Facebook. This demonstrates to owners that he is able to befriend their animals and capture great pictures of them, and they are often curious to book a full session. 

[Read: Roberto Valenzuela’s Biggest Business Breakthroughs]

When it comes to finding commericial clients, Turner-Bullock is very intentional about which vendors at trade shows he makes connections with. During a trade show, he doesn’t try to strike a deal, but rather makes a gift of some kind of sweet treat and suggests meeting for coffee to discuss business at a later date. From working with small businesses, he has garnered attention from mid-size businesses, and from there has been contracted by large businesses. 

Turner-Bullock has also published several pet photography books and has online and in-person educational courses for those interested in pet photography with his teaching partner Charlotte Reeves. 

Portrait of Craig Turner-Bullock in circle on promo for pet photography podcast.
© The Portrait System

To learn more about Turner-Bullocks pet photography, visit Furtography. To learn about his educational offerings, visit Unleashed Education

The Portrait System Podcast helps portrait photographers navigate the world of photography, business, money, and much more. Hosted by Nikki Closser, the podcast is powered by The Portrait System, a comprehensive, online educational platform that teaches all aspects of running a successful portrait photography studio.