Kaushik BathiaPhotography

Dog and Pet Photographer in North London

Dog walks on the Heath, lead-on sessions in Golders Hill Park, cats at home in Crouch End: pet portraits across North London, planned around the rules of each park. Kaushik comes to you from Northwood.

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The short answer

Where can I have a dog photoshoot in North London?

Good options include Hampstead Heath, where a dog off the lead must come back when called, Trent Country Park in Cockfosters with free car parks, Scratchwood's oak woods in Mill Hill and the Parkland Walk, where Islington Council allows dogs. Golders Hill Park and parts of Enfield's parks need a lead, and some sites need a photography permit. The drive from Northwood to your park is set out in a written quote before you book.

Google reviews

What families say

4.8 from 580+ Google reviews

In one word "AWESOME" We arranged a family photo shoot for six, four children and two adults.. the whole family was made to feel very comfortable (even allowing a change of clothes from smart to casual) and the children although apprehensive at first (being children) were literally in hysterics by the time we left... would definitely HIGHLY RECOMMEND and use again when everyones a little older...

Google review, 2016

Brilliant photography session with the whole family! Great service and would definitely recommend to anyone looking to take outstanding photos.

Dev V., Google review, 2016

Kaushik was great when he took photos of our wedding, and was equally great when doing a family studio session, involving entertaining 8 children (ages 0 up to 11).

Sean C., Google review, 2017

Read all the reviews on Google

The Heath

Dogs on Hampstead Heath and the lead rule in Golders Hill Park

Hampstead Heath is the obvious place for a dog portrait, and its rules shape the session. The City of London's byelaws require dogs to be under proper control, on a lead where signs say so, and out of ponds and areas where notices ban them. The Heath's Dog Walking Code of Conduct adds that a dog off the lead must respond when called and its mess must be bagged. A dog with a reliable recall can run on the open grass; one without stays on a long lead and is photographed in the meadow edges.

Golders Hill Park is different. Unlike most of the Heath, dogs there must be kept on a lead, and the park closes at night, so a session among its flower garden and duck pond is a daytime, lead-on portrait. The City of London also requires permission for professional photography on the Heath and offers a two-hour licence on weekdays only, which makes a Heath dog session a Monday to Friday booking. Read more on pet photography in Hampstead.

Corgi looking straight at the camera with its tongue out

Royal Parks

Primrose Hill and The Regent's Park: leads, playgrounds and permits

The Royal Parks set their own dog rules for The Regent's Park and Primrose Hill. Dogs are banned from children's playgrounds and must be on a lead next to the Boating Lake, the Winter Gardens and the Community Wildlife Garden, and the parks advise that nobody walks more than four dogs at once. In The Regent's Park, dogs generally do not need a lead if kept under control, except in areas such as Avenue Gardens.

Photography beyond personal phone use in the Royal Parks needs a permit, so a pet portrait on Primrose Hill's slope is booked against that permit's time and group limit. For a smaller, permit-free green space in Camden, the Victorian Camden Square gardens were divided after consultation so that about a third is a dog exercise area and the rest is dog-free. See pet photography in Camden.

Barnet's green belt

Totteridge cattle, Scratchwood oaks and the two-metre lead at Stephens House

Barnet has the area's wildest walking. Totteridge Fields, a seven-hectare nature reserve of ancient hay meadows off Hendon Wood Lane, is managed by the London Wildlife Trust, which asks visitors to keep dogs on a lead because cattle graze there. Scratchwood is a 57-hectare country park of ancient sessile oak and hornbeam crossed by the London Loop, and next door Moat Mount Open Space covers 110 hilly hectares with long views and the Leg of Mutton Pond.

In Finchley, dogs are welcome in the grounds of Stephens House and Gardens but must be on a fixed lead of up to two metres on the paths around the lower green and on the terrace, and are not allowed in the playground; the trust that runs the estate also asks for permission for non-private photography. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk, about 10 miles long and mainly flat, is an easy route for an older dog. More on pet photography in Barnet and Mill Hill.

Haringey and Islington

Highgate Wood, the Parkland Walk and Islington's dog-free corners

Highgate Wood, 70 acres of ancient woodland run by the City of London, asks visitors to keep pets under control and clean up after them, and its byelaws define dog-prohibited areas. Coldfall Wood on Creighton Avenue is 14 hectares of ancient woodland with a waymarked trail. The Parkland Walk, along the old railway between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, is London's longest local nature reserve, and Islington Council states that dogs are allowed on it. Priory Park in Crouch End is fine for dogs except its Philosopher's Garden, which is dog-free.

Islington's rules need care. Its dog control order, in force since October 2017, makes it an offence to take a dog into an area signed as dog-free. Barnsbury Wood does not allow dogs, and Gillespie Park allows them only in the section reached from the St Thomas Road entrance. Alexandra Park requires a photography permit from Alexandra Palace for every photographer, so a session there is planned once the permit is in hand. See Crouch End pet photography.

Enfield

Enfield's 2025 dog orders at Trent Park, Forty Hall and Chase Green

Enfield Council's Public Spaces Protection Order No. 3 of 2025, in force from 23 October 2025 for three years, requires dogs on a lead at all times in listed places including Chase Green Gardens, the walled garden and front lake at Forty Hall and the Trent Country Park Water Garden. Order No. 5 bans dogs from areas such as the playground, tennis courts and splash pool at Town Park and the playground at Trent Park. Outside those spots, Trent Country Park's 320 hectares of lime avenue, lakes and woodland give plenty of off-lead room, and the two main council car parks by the Cockfosters Road entrance are free.

Whitewebbs Park, 99 hectares with an ornamental lake formed from an abandoned stretch of the New River, and Hilly Fields, with pollarded oaks and the Turkey Brook on its northern edge, are quieter choices. Along the River Lee at Tottenham Marshes, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority asks for dogs under close control and signposts the lead-only areas. A session lasts around 45 minutes to an hour. Travel from Northwood is quoted before you book, and the price is given on request; the Northwood studio suits calm or elderly pets. See Cockfosters pet photography and the pet photography page.

Planning

Planning around North London

01

Recall on the Heath

Hampstead Heath's dog code says a dog off the lead must respond when called, so dogs with a shaky recall are photographed on a long lead in the quieter meadows.

02

Golders Hill Park on a lead

Dogs must stay on a lead in Golders Hill Park, which also closes at night, so sessions by its duck pond and humpback bridge are daytime and lead-on.

03

Cattle at Totteridge Fields

The London Wildlife Trust asks for dogs on a lead at Totteridge Fields because cattle graze the hay meadows, which makes it a calm, lead-on setting.

04

Two metres at Stephens House

Stephens House and Gardens allows dogs, but on a fixed lead of up to two metres on the paths around the lower green and the terrace.

05

Gillespie Park's one section

Gillespie Park, Islington's largest nature reserve, bans dogs from most of the site; they are allowed only in the section reached from St Thomas Road.

06

Trent Park Water Garden

Since October 2025 dogs must be on a lead in the Trent Country Park Water Garden, while the wider park's lime avenue and lakes leave room to run.

Dog walks and parks in North London

Parks and their dog rules across North London, each with its source, so you can check leads, dog-free areas and permits before the session.

  • Hampstead Heath: Hampstead Heath is a 320-hectare (790-acre) ancient heath managed by the City of London Corporation, running along a sandy ridge from Hampstead to Highgate, and the view over London from Parliament Hill in its south-east corner is protected by law. 1
  • Cherry Tree Wood: Cherry Tree Wood is a 5.3-hectare park opposite East Finchley station, a remnant of the medieval Finchley Wood bought by Finchley Council in 1914, with woodland, grassland, a playground and a cafe. 2
  • Priory Park: Priory Park on Middle Lane (N8 8LN) has held a Green Flag since 2003 and has a café, play areas and a dog-free Philosopher's Garden. 3
  • Highbury Fields: Highbury Fields is Islington's largest park at 11.75 hectares, with a bandstand, playground, tennis courts and a café, and is designated a Site of Local Importance to Nature Conservation. 4
  • Forty Hall Estate grounds: The Forty Hall Estate is a 273-acre Grade II listed landscape with an ornamental lake, medieval fishing ponds, a walled garden and one of the oldest Cedar of Lebanon trees in England. 5

Sources, facts checked October 2026

  1. Hampstead Heath - Wikipedia
  2. Cherry Tree Wood - Wikipedia
  3. Priory Park | Haringey Council
  4. Highbury Fields - Islington Council
  5. Gardens & parkland | Forty Hall Estate

Town by town

Pet sessions across North London

North London towns with their own pet photography pages are listed below, with miles from Northwood.

Good to know

Pet photography in North London: questions answered

On most of the Heath, yes, if the dog responds when called, as the Heath's code requires, and stays out of ponds and signed areas. Professional photography on the Heath needs City of London permission, offered as a two-hour weekday licence, so plan a weekday session.

Yes, with the dog on its lead throughout, because Golders Hill Park is one of the few parts of Hampstead Heath where a lead is required. The park also closes at night, so sessions there run in daylight.

Yes, with a Royal Parks permit for photography. Dogs must keep out of the playgrounds and stay on a lead near the Boating Lake, the Winter Gardens and the Community Wildlife Garden. The open slope is fine for a dog under control.

Yes. Alexandra Palace requires both amateur and professional photographers to hold a permit for photography in Alexandra Park. Once the permit is arranged, the 196 acres of parkland, woodland and boating lake make a good dog walk.

The two main council car parks by the Cockfosters Road entrance are free, and the park is about ten minutes' walk from Cockfosters station. Remember the Water Garden is lead-only under Enfield's 2025 order, as is the playground ban.

Yes. Cats are photographed on their own terms, usually in the room where they feel safest, by a window. Muswell Hill is about 11.6 miles from Northwood, and travel is set out in writing before you book.

Allow around 45 minutes to an hour. That gives a dog time to settle on a walk it knows, and the session ends before the animal is tired. Bring favourite treats, a toy and a towel if the walk is muddy.

Your photographer is Kaushik Bathia, a fellow of both the BIPP and the MPA with five European Kodak Gold Awards, working from the studio he opened in Northwood in 2001.

Pets in North London

Pick the walk your dog already loves

Tell us your pet's name, temperament and favourite park, and Kaushik will check the lead and permit rules there and reply with a time and a written quote including travel.

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