Passion to profession: how Nadia Koegelenberg built a thriving pet photography business

AS THE PET industry in South Africa continues to boom, Nadia Koegelenberg, the photographer behind the lens at Moonrise Creative Studio, was able to blend her two most loved passions, animals and photography, into a blossoming business.

- ASHLEY LECHMAN

Koegelenberg's Moonrise Creative Studio specialises in photography and graphic design, applying her Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication to good use.

“While I explore all avenues of photography, my heart belongs to pet photography, a passion inspired by my two beloved dogs, Maverick, a loyal German Shepherd-Labrador mix that doubles as my shadow and Hudson my sweet Pittie who's really just a baby in disguise,” Koegelenberg told Business Report.

The young photographer said that entering the highly competitive world of photography was anything but easy, as she stepped into the industry after her university days.

She said, “I found myself competing with seasoned photographers who had years of experience and connections, and made connections, but work was never consistent as I had hoped. Deep down I constantly compared myself to others, wondering what it had that it took to make it in the industry.”

Finding niche

But for aspiring owners, it is often at their lowest and darkest days when they are in with a mentality to double down and cultivate their skills to help them develop further, something that proved to be true for Koegelenberg.

It was only when she opened up to final year university photography project, the woman behind the lens said she felt a spark of joy and clarity.

“I realised that as I flipped through its pages, I realised that this was where I was meant to be.”