Interview with Ina Jalil from Australia

BY Sean May 25, 2023

Ina Jalil | MUSE Photography Awards

Ina Jalil

Ina Jalil’s love for photography knows no bounds as she has since pursued her passion full time to devote her love to pet photography!

I got into photography back in high school when I took the photography class and did dark room photography. It amazed me how the images starts to appear on the paper as it develops. Since then, photography has changed and I always love doing photography as a hobby when I'm not working in my government job.

I bought my first DSLR after I finished university in 2007 and started doing some side hustle job like family photography, new-born events and also weddings.I also loved taking photos of my dogs but didn't realise pet photography was a thing until after my heart, my dog, Mac was gone. I couldn't find a professional outdoor pet photographer when Mac was dying, so after he passed I decided to do pet photography.

It started as a part time business alongside my full time job but early in 2022 I quit my full time job as a business analyst to pursue pet photography full time and I am loving every moment.

I'm mostly self-taught but also learn from amazing pet photography education resources like Unleased Education, Hair of the Dog Academy and the Pet Photographers club.

Yes, when I was 13 using the film. I also had used the point and shoot back then. I can't remember exactly what I took.

Sony A1 Mirrorless body, Sony 135mm F1.8 GM lens, Sony 85mm 1.8 lens, Tampon 28-75mm F2.8 and Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 plus Godox AD200 pro or AD400 pro.

To bring out the essence and characters of the dogs and pets I photograph and the unique story of them and their owners.

Natural, vibrant, warm.

I am so happy to have been the Gold Winner. It means a lot to have my work recognized internationally.

This was a shoot for a client I did last year. My photos are usually done at sunset during the golden light but it had rained and was quite a gloomy day. It was wet too and there were a lot of puddles. We still went ahead and used the puddles as part of the shots to create reflection and movements in the water. I chose to enter these as it's different to my usual work in that it really works in a black and white format rather than my usual vibrant warm colourful photos.

It makes me want to be even better and go out there and create personal projects that challenges me and takes my work to the next level.

Kaylee Greer, Craig Turner-Bullock and Alicja Zmyslowska.

Practice, practice, practice! Just keep practicing, refine your style and find your style.

Keep working at it, don't worry if you fail, just get back up again.

Just taking action and keep on moving forward. Collaborate with others, share and help others to improve your art.

Always be open to advice even from an industry totally different to you, there's always ways to apply it.