How to photograph your doggo
March 2019’s photo competition theme is a popular one, we thought we’d show you the best ways to capture your dog with the best results. It’s harder than you think to get a decent photograph of your dog, so we’ve put together a list of things to help you get that outstanding shot of your furry friend!
Fast Shutter Speed
Dogs can move fast, and increasing your shutter speed is the best way to freeze your subjects in action, reducing the noise and blur around your images, capturing your pooch in motion. Slow shutter speed could create some creative pieces, with a blurred silhouette, but for clarity, in motion, a fast shutter speed works best.
Capture their personalities
We all know dogs have their individual personalities, lazy, slow, energetic or fast! There’s no point trying to make your sleepy dog run, equally there’s no need to try and make your energetic puppy sit and pose nicely. It’s the dog’s individual personalities that make the photos unique, and this is what you need to capture.
Angles Angles Angles
Try to get your dog from multiple different angles, not just running directly at the camera! Capture your pets side profile whilst running or sitting still to fully fill the length of the photo especially if you’re shooting landscape. Front on capturing would suit portrait photos well as this would fill the shot.
Get down to their level
Show life from a dogs point of view! Their angle of life is completely different from ours, and getting down to their level could produce some really creative images.
Photographing Black Dogs
Whether you own a black dog or have ever attempted to photograph black animals, you’ll know its notoriously hard to get their features to show, so below we have some tips and tricks to get them to stand out.
Background
Having the correct background colour that offers a good contrast between the foreground and background helps make your dog stand out. The best sort of lighting is not from direct sunlight unless you’re looking for a silhouette type shot. Green and blue, the grass and sky and yellow cornfields are the best colours to help make the foreground stand out.
Flash
Oddly enough, use the flash for a close-up, typical summer’s day shot to bring out the dark shadows of your dog, and expose the outline more upon a contrasting. With the flash on, take multiple shots as you’ll never get it right the first time!
Time of day
Correct lighting is imperative, but like the background, it must contrast with the colour of your dog to ensure the outline can be seen. A summers day is perfect, providing contrasting colours to the dog’s hair colour, whereas an evening shot or a cast-over day would be too dark, even for flash.
Backgrounds
We’ve already discussed the background for black dogs, but it remains the same advice for any dog! Keeping the contrast in colours ensures that the outline of your dog can be captured, along with the hair colours.
Fun
Your dog needs to have fun. It’s the expressions the dog is portraying that set them apart from the rest, alongside showing their personality. Try including balls, ropes and toys to ensure that they’re having fun, getting exercise and are actively engaging with and near you so you can get a good shot!
Photographing your animals could seem like a stressful task, but it’s making you spend time with your animal! Taking the dogs out to the garden r down to the park means they’re getting the exercise they need, whilst having fun, and you’re taking some excellent photos! Be sure to reward your dog after the photo-shoot to ensure you have the models booked for the future.
