Currituck photographer Brooke Mayo has just published her second book, only this time her work is not going to the dogs.

Two years ago Mayo published a book of photos featuring swimming dogs. This time she’s reaching out to parents and photographers with an interested in capturing those smiling babies.

“Basically, how to start a baby photography business and how to do marketing and things like that,” says Mayo of her new book, “Shake, Rattle and Shoot: The Business of Baby Photography.”

But parents don’t dismay, Mayo says this book is for you, too.

“If you want to learn how to take better pictures of kids, dogs, anything like that, it’s a very basic how-to book,” she says.

Mayo will be at the Renee Landry Studios in Southern Shores Saturday, 2:30 p.m. to sign her book.

Mayo grew up in New Bern, spending summers on Corova Beach on the Currituck Outer Banks. After she graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in photography, she would spend a year in New York City as an intern for several notable photographers, shooting nudes and dancers.

But the crashing of the waves at Corova Beach would call her back to North Carolina. That’s when she decided to start her own business, tapping into the lucrative wedding industry as a shooter.

Mayo made her entry into the publishing world with “Diving Doggies: A Celebration of Play Underwater.” That project began with Mayo’s dog, J-Bird.

J-Bird had taken clothes from the floor, moved them to her bed and then wrapped himself up in the laundry pile. The image of J-Bird was enough to move Mayo to grab her camera.

So her muse, a dog, set in motion a series of photographs featuring dogs at play, mostly in and under the water.

A photographer shooting photos of babies isn’t all that atypical. And so it would be a mini muse that would set Mayo’s latest book in motion, her own baby.

Back in 2010 Mayo’s own daughter, Poppy, was born.

Naturally, the new mother began focusing her lens on her daughter.

Potty training, for example, was something she found amusing to shoot.

“Things, I don’t think that unless you’re a parent, you don’t realize all of the fun things they do,” says Mayo.

So she began shooting photos of her child and eventually began shooting them of other children. Then a publishing company approached her, asking her to do a book.

Mayo describes, “Shake, Rattle and Shoot” as “a how-to kind of text book.” And that she is reaching out to other photographers, telling them how to start their own business shooting babies, doesn’t seem to bother Mayo.

“Better to give good advice,” she says. “They come into it being a professional.

“I’d rather have competitors or other new photographers come in with at least information on how to be a good photographer.”

As for parents and other amateur photographers, this book will teach them about shooting speeds, positioning the baby, working with newborns and shooting at a variety of angles.

“It gives you an idea of where to start and how to do it,” say Mayo.

Mayo has also been teaching classes to parents on shooting photos of their children. She covers how to get the proper exposures and so much more that someone shooting with a digital camera might not consider.

With the advent of the digital camera, folks might take for granted that shooting is simply a matter of point the camera and click. But Mayo points out in her book and classes that there is so much more to technique than just that.

Even she had to learn to use the digital camera years ago.

Starting out shooting with film, Mayo quickly adapted to the digital format, finding that she was receiving almost immediate gratification.

But, she says, there is work to be done on the computer, editing those photos. It’s something different from film since she worked directly with a lab back then.

If you’re interested in Mayo’s book, or would like to find out more about her classes, you can logon to her website, www.brookemayo.com.