I'll tell you what Mick, I'm not into Petography at all but these are some of the best animal images I have ever seen.  I wish now I had brought my Rotti and Bull Mastif to you whilst they were alive.

Thanks very much Ross!! I think if you have a connection with something you always get the best out of it. I am in the early stages of this business and just trying to get my name out there. I think it'll work but the marketing is the tough bit!!!!

I have to mirror Ross's comments Mick...those are some stunning images and I think you will go far with this. The marketing effort is well worth it.

Have you done a Google Place Page and set up a LinkedIn account for your Wagtail site yet?

Thanks a lot Nick your comments are much appreciated! i have not got either! but will have by the end of the week!! I have a Google Place Page for my Mick Ryan Photography site but not for Wagtail so will have to use my Mothers address for that!!! Never ever been on Linkedin!! but will have a look straight away! Thanks.

Marketing is totally new to me, being a Professional Cricket Coach for the last 10 years i've not really needed those skillls!!  I've decided to give that up now an go for it regarding photography. I have survived Cancer and 2 broken legs in the last 5 years so it has changed my outlook somewhat!! But really need to get to grips with the marketing side of things.

Wow Mick, you have been through it so good on you for following your dreams. I  read a shocking post from a young man over at the forums on ATP this morning that made me think and now yours gives me renewed "gusto" for living life to the full and not worrying too much about silly things!

Good luck with it and maybe the business section will help you in your quest!

Thanks Nick., have just read that post and always strikes a cord! it is basically what happened to me so will get in touch with him as it is important to hear from people who have got out the other side.

I was a month from meeting my maker 5 yeas ago but was given the all clear last October, maybe we should think of something ATP wise to raise awareness? I was a very lucky man, and I am glad ! had the "balls" to go the doctor when i did!

Thanks again for the feedback and will be spending my day trawling through the business section!!!

Beautiful photos!

Go for it Mick and all the best to you in your new venture. Once you have looked cancer or any other life threatening condition in the face it certainly does change your whole outlook on life and your values change radically...what used to seem important becomes insignificant and now that you have found a new passion all I can urge you to do is to follow your dreams.

Thanks Tracy and Lorna for your kind comments!!!

"I was a month from meeting my maker 5 yeas ago but was given the all clear last October, maybe we should think of something ATP wise to raise awareness? I was a very lucky man, and I am glad ! had the "balls" to go the doctor when i did!"

Congrats on the all clear Mick, must have been a huge relief!

My mother in law went through all this a couple of years ago and now every time she gets ill, it is worrying. She is currently battling a bladder infection...

I feel so great about the type of people we have as members here, everyone is very compassionate and caring which makes for a brilliant community...

As for raising awareness, I am all ears and even though my time is fairly limited these days, I would help any way I can.

One awareness I am keen on promoting is the amount of cr*p us humans put into our bodies nowadays...smoking, booze, poor diets, rubbish food, chemicals etc and a lot of it is not our fault. We are not always told what goes into the food we eat and we are certainly not told of the consequenses as much as we should be!

Good for you, Mick, in following your dreams---it's not given to us humans to know the time of our passing, generally, so we should (as the song says) "live like we're dying".....which, we are.

Hi Mick your images are great,sometime in April I will be attending a dog show in Reading for something different.How effective is it to work with Kabota ?I have not really looked into it much.

Thanks Paolo. That's a hard question, if you use Actions within Photoshop then you will find Kabota useful but they are expensive and if you only use them now and again it may not be very cost effective. I love the digital fill in flash and a couple of other actions. It may be worth downloading a few free actions first and see if it's something you may find useful. Look at MCP you can get a few   free downloads.

Hi Mick,

Reading all of the comments from above, I'm interested to know where you are now with your photography business (nearly a year on)?  Has the pet photography taken off - your photos are certainly stunning!  Which marketing techniques did you feel worked best for you?  I'm just trying to get to grips with all of that now.

Stuunning set of images Mick

very nice images.