When Photographing a Cat Brings International Acclaim

Photo by Stephanie Millner

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - "Pets are people too," says photographer Stephanie Millner of Alexandria.  "My clients want something timeless that honors their pets - whether cats, dogs, birds or - well, something more exotic.  It's my responsibility to give them that."  
 
Millner has a long history of working in the photographic industry, and has shifted her specialty to photographing the furry and feathered in the past three years.  
 

Photo by Stephanie Millner

Until six months ago, her studio was based in Alexandria with a strong client base of local DC-area residents.  
 
However, her husband’s military orders have relocated Millner across the Atlantic Ocean to Rome, Italy.  
 
Her career shift has been a positive one. "I was a little concerned about moving my business to focus primarily on pets," Millner says.  "But I really love animals, and I think it comes through in my work."
 
This year, her entry case for the 2010 International Print Competition was filled with prints of studio portraits – all pets owned by local area residents.  
 
The goal at Print Competition is to earn a merit for each of the four prints submitted.  A photographer attains the award "Photographer of the Year" when all four prints merit, a rare, and significant accomplishment in the career of a professional photographer.  
 
All merited images enter PPA's renowned General Collection.
 

Photo by Stephanie Millner

Millner's images, however, were not simply accepted into the 2010 General Collection.  
The Photographer of the Year Awards have five levels of acceptance; the level of the award is determined by how many of the four merited images are accepted into the PPA Loan Collection - a photographic collection which represents the year's "best of the best" in Print Competition.  
 
The Loan Collection travels the world for one year, and is displayed at photographic exhibitions, conventions, and other photography events worldwide.  
 
Acceptance into the Loan Collection is the highest possible honor; it's a very prestigious accomplishment for a photographer.  All four of Ms. Millner's pet images were accepted into the 2010 Loan Collection, earning her the award "Diamond Photographer of the Year."  
 
She is one of only seven photographers worldwide to hold this title in 2010.  The prints selected for the Loan Collection get published in book-form by Marathon Press.  
 
This year, nine animals – including six dogs, two rats, and a hairless cat -from Northern Virginia will be featured in the 2010 Loan Book in Millner’s entries.
 
What does Stephanie say regarding this honor?  
 

Photo by Stephanie Millner

"I was so excited I could barely see straight," she effuses.  "I made my husband read it again, because I thought I might be hallucinating."  
 
She says that she owes much of the credit to her clients, though - they're the ones who are "just so darn cute."  
 
At 27 years old, Millner is the youngest photographer ever to attain a Diamond Photographer of the Year.  She is an active participant in International Print Competition, as well as Professional Photographers of America.  She earned her Craftsman Degree (Cr.Photog.) earlier this year for significant contributions to the industry - through speaking on, naturally, pet photography.
 
"I guess my habit of playing with every dog I meet has finally paid off," Millner says.  
 
Millner relocated to Rome Italy six months ago from Alexandria.  Her studio specializes in fine-art pet portraiture, as well as photographs general portraiture and weddings.  
 
She photographs weekend-long pet events internationally, and will be holding multiple Washington DC-based events starting in early 2011.  
 
For more information, visit the studio's web site at www.stephaniemillner.com or call the studio’s international hotline at +1-703-349-6269.