Courtesy of NZ Police Ten-One Magazine

Get low, stay focused on your subject and take lots of photos.

These are some of forensic photographer Senior Constable Alex Stammers’ secrets to taking great dog shots and, as the winner of all three photo awards in the 2026 Police Dog Trust calendar competition, he should know.

The competition gives NZ Police forensic photographers a chance to showcase their creative flair and talent, with images that best capture their incredible patrol and detector dogs.

Alex took out this year’s main prize with his cover shot of patrol and SAR dog Teo in full flight in pursuit of her favourite toy, (main feature photo above)

It’s one of Alex’s favourite submissions, but it took patience and multiple attempts to get.

“When I was doing the photos of Teo, she must have jumped about 15 times,” he says. “I’d follow her and then as she was coming up to jump, I’d take a series of photos.

“Some of her jumps were really good and some were like half an effort, but for that one she literally leapt. She just loved jumping into the water. When I saw it, I was like, yep, that’s the one.”

Two more of Alex’s photos were highly commended by the team of judges – headed by National Coordinator of New Zealand Police Dogs and Chair of the Police Dog Trust, Inspector Todd Southall – who didn’t know the photographers behind the entries until the winners had been chosen.

One is the above image of patrol dog Sam and his handler, Constable Andy Clarke, in a shaft of light, which features as the main image in November.

The other is a more operational shot of AOS dog Worg and his handler, Senior Constable Eric Roberts-Rush, in a mirrored room during a training exercise, which features on one side of the pullout poster.

Both reflect more of Alex’s top tips for getting the best shots of your favourite animals.

“A lot of it is patience, choosing a location and getting a really good spot,” he says.

“The main and most important thing is to get to their level. Get low, lie down or kneel down and photograph at their eye level. Don’t try to stand and shoot down, it doesn’t work.”

Taking lots of photos and being ready for the unexpected are also key. For example, in the photo of Sam and his handler, that dramatic shaft of light came and went in mere minutes.

This photo of three-year-old Ozzie and his handler, Ryan, which features in September, was also the result of an unexpected moment during a more formal shoot.

“I asked Ryan to get Ozzie to look at him. He looked at Ozzie to encourage him and Ozzie just put his paws up over him. It’s just a great moment.”

Alex is no stranger to winning awards for his work. His photo of Primo in the 2024 calendar won the top photo prize and his highly commended image of Constable Matt Morris and Ragnar from this year’s calendar recently took out the Police category in the International Police Association’s 2025 photo competition, see right.

But this is the first time any photographer has been awarded all three awards in the Police Dog Trust calendar competition.

“It’s pretty exciting,” says Alex. “I felt I’d done quite a bit this year, trying different ideas to have a strong portfolio of images, but you never know with the competitions.”

And it’s not just at work where Alex’s photography shines. He was recently shortlisted from more than 6,000 entries as a finalist in the New Zealand Geographic photo competition of the year, as was his 16-year-old son, Oliver. You can see their images in the carousel, above.

Now, with 2025 drawing to a close, Alex’s attention has already turned to next year and the 2027 calendar.

 “I’ve already got a couple of locations in mind and a few ideas, so we’ll see what happens.”

The calendar is still $20 and available to order through The Cop Shop 

Proceeds from sales aid the work of the Police Dog Charitable Trust, which helps give extra support to police dog breeding, research and development programmes, over and above New Zealand Police’s investment.

This article was originally posted in NZ Police Ten-One Magazine. Read the orginal article here.