"Grace" Dog Art Print

About Photographer Ron Schmidt

Ron Schmidt's first photo shoot was at age 11, using an old Yoshika that his uncle gave him. The pictures he took were of wildlife explorations around his suburban New Jersey neighborhood. That day, he took his first animal photos — of city squirrels and his dog, Nicki.

As he grew up, Ron's interest in photography also grew, and he attended the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, graduating with a BA degree. After graduation, Ron spent a few years in New York City assisting high profile fashion and celebrity photographers — a job he found exciting, but not especially fulfilling. He branched out on his own in 1999 and found his niche creating unique images of dogs. His first subject — his dog Indy.

Today, Ron enjoys the creative process of sketching out an image, and the production work involved, from prop building to casting the "perfect" dog for the shot. Seeing the end result — the sketch coming to life — is the most exciting part of Ron's job. Ron's list of clients is indeed impressive — he has photographed dogs for Orvis, MasterCard, Tyco, Jaguar North America, Schering-Plough, NY University, AT&T, Rogers, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, and Random House.