Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan McBride.
Hi Ryan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been a professional photographer for over eight years now, though the origin story is less “five-year
plan” and more “my camera roll got embarrassing.” As a flight attendant, I was constantly snapping
pictures wherever the job took me — a habit I clearly inherited from my dad, the family’s unofficial
paparazzi at every birthday and holiday. Then one ordinary trip to Costco turned into an impulse
purchase of a Canon Rebel T3 for $300 — that camera still sits on my desk, like a shrine to bad financial decisions that turned out great. I signed up for an online class at San Diego City College that same week, and that was it. I was hooked, and my phone finally got a break.
The A+ in class financed the upgrade: a Sony A73, a beautiful full-frame camera with a very fast writing
speed and dual memory card slots. ( I now shoot with A74, just know it’s a
very good camera.) It was sharp, it was fast, and it went everywhere with me — landscapes, friends,
family, and, more and more, random dogs I’d meet on the street.
The real turning point was conferences, including Shutterfest with Sal Cincotta, a
phenomenal fine art photographer who took my raw enthusiasm and actually taught me technique —
working with models and couples, building fine art portraiture. That education gave me confidence, which
matters in this business more than any lens does.
Around the same time, my volunteer work as a paramedic took me on medical team trips to Vietnam and
the Philippines, where I kept running into wild, local street dogs who — unbothered and apparently
camera-ready — would just walk up and pose. Stranger love, no audition required. Back home, I started
stopping dog owners on the street and asking for a few shots. Nobody ever said no — a dog on a leash is
basically a built-in icebreaker — and I’d text over the photos and get back some version of ” I can’t believe
that;s my dog.”
That’s when it clicked, and Pawsomeshots was born. My goal became simple: create unique, timeless
fine art photos of dogs that give their people a lasting, emotional keepsake — not just a nice picture, but a
piece of their family’s story.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? Yeah, no. The biggest adjustment wasn’t the learning curve
for lighting or editing software. It was taking on extra shifts as a flight attendant and on
the ambulance just to bankroll a business with no guarantee of repayment. I sank
money into gear and rented studio space to shoot free sessions and build a portfolio
before I had a single paying client. That’s a very specific kind of turbulence. No training
course prepares you for that math. To that, I’m still working full-time in my other careers
and in the final stages of completing my B.A. in Liberal Arts, because apparently that
math problem wasn’t enough of a “thriill” on its own!
Time management became my real teacher. I had to learn to make business-minded
decisions and, for now, trade time with friends and fun trips for time spent building the
business. That means saying “no” more than I’d like, which, if you knew me, is basically
its own personal growth arc.
Getting the website exactly right has taken longer than I expected, too. Everyone tells
me to let A.I. handle it, but I want something custom, professional, unique, and
authentic that sounds like me. My new site will be user-friendly, so it does justice to the
fine art photos it showcases. Quality takes time, and that time is happening right now.
Confidence is a skill to build, and it requires focus. Stepping into a crowded field of
talented photographers and putting my work out there was intimidating, plain and
simple. Every photographer sees the world through their own camera lens, and I’m
pulling up my camera and my chair to that professional table. What has given me the
confidence to sit at that table are my clients’ testimonials.
At the end of the day, trading security for uncertainty shaped the photographer and the
person I was meant to become. It’s the reason Pawsomeshots exists, and for that, I’m
genuinely grateful.
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.”
— Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), A League of Their Own
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Pawsomeshots is a fine art studio photoshoot for your dog and you, creating fine prints
that fully capture your fur family member’s unique personality. It’s also a great,
enjoyable experience for all of us during that intimate time of focused photography.
Pawsomeshots’ studio is located in East Village, downtown San Diego, and I am also
mobile and can come to a local studio near you if that is more convenient. Anywhere, globally!
The photoshoot is customized to your dog and to you. The usual session is 2 hours.
Depending on your dog, I like to allow about a half hour for your pup and me to get
acquainted and “read” each other. The environment, with lights and new sounds, takes
a moment to feel comfortable. I want everyone, regardless of how many legs they
have, to feel welcome and confident – and always safe. I want to learn what words their
dog likes to hear, what treats they enjoy, and how they like to play and relax. We have
fun with treats for both the pup and the family, and soon the dog’s personality comes
through. It’s a joyful experience and one that sparks lots of laughter!
In the next hour and a half of the session, I take a lot of shots! We end up keeping only
the best of the best and edit those to create fine art prints, ranging from acrylic, metal or
framed canvas in a variety of sizes. Each package includes digital files for the family’s
phone to use with friends and social media.
As a tribute to all the wild, friendly dogs around the world who have inspired me to
create and build Pawsomeshots into a company, 10% of my sales from each
photoshoot go to specific dog rescue organizations: Animal Pad of San Diego, Frosted
Faces for Senior Dogs, Helen Woodward Animal Rescue, and IFAW. I also donate my
time to the San Diego Humane Society, taking photos of dogs after their intake. Why? High-
quality, friendly photos dramatically increase adoptions by showing a dog’s unique
personality.
In addition: Dogs 7 years or older (seniors) get an hour-long shoot with me for a
discounted “Senior Package,” including a small print for lifetime memories.
Here’s what sets me apart from other dog photographers. My convenient studio
location, plus the fact that I am mobile and can go wherever the dog family is located.
The experience with Pawsomeshots creates a fun, happy time for my clients that none
of us will ever forget, while creating a fine art piece or album for their homes.
My fees are fair and transparent. I want my clients to feel the value of their time with me
and their dog, creating a lifetime of memories, joy, and love.
What does success mean to you?
Success, to me, isn’t a finish line. For my multiple careers, it’s what happens in the middle.
When shooting a client for Pawsomeshots, it’s the moment when a dog who wouldn’t come
out from behind the sofa twenty minutes earlier is suddenly leaning into the camera like we’re
old friends. That shift is the success moment. Years of walking into someone’s worst moment
as a paramedic, and a few years of reading a stranger’s body language thirty thousand feet up as a
flight attendant, taught me how to slow down, stay calm, and earn trust fast with people, and it
turns out, with pups too. Though I’ll say, talking down a nervous Chihuahua is a very different
skill set than talking down a nervous passenger: one of them bites less.
Building Pawsomeshots from scratch hasn’t been easy. Leaving the comfort of a paycheck to
bet on my camera, a car full of dog treats, and a wardrobe permanently covered in fur has
tested me the same way paramedic training did, just in a much “slobberier” uniform. But each
time a client opens their gallery of my shots and sees their dog’s personality captured in a way
they’ve never seen captured before, I know my bet is paying off. That reaction, that mix of
surprise and pure joy, that is success. The rest of it- growth, bookings, recognition- follows from
my getting that “success” moment right, one dog at a time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pawsomeshots.com
- Instagram: pawsomeshots_sd
- Other: website is just about done
