Photographing your dog
- Want some pointers on how to take awesome shots of your dog? We can happily snap away but to a dog, having your photo taken can be downright boring. Having a big camera or even the unusual experience of a mobile phone shoved in the face will regularly cause a head turning away and not towards you. Try putting the camera down first. Let the dog sniff and investigate so it is no longer a suspect item. They won’t care as much once they’re familiar with it. Now you can get it a lot closer than before
The colour black absorbs light so it’s difficult to get the detail in the fur with black dogs. Reflection of light coming off the fur will help in this case. Cloudy days are fine as the light will be diffused but if it’s a sunny day work with the light behind you (and not behind the dog) or you may just get a silhouette. If possible avoid light from directly above (e.g. noon) as it creates harsher shadows which is less flattering. What about if you can only afford to use natural light and there’s not enough of it? A large sheet of white cardboard or equivalent can reflect extra light. You can enlist a buddy to hold it in a position where light bounces off onto your subject. A fast shutter speed is advisable with dogs. Consider starting with 1/400th sec at a minimum. Movement will make it difficult to obtain a great shot with your mobile phone.
Getting down low, level with your dog generally works better than shots of the top of their head. Being lower than their level can make them appear a little scary. Modelling is probably less exciting than something else they could be doing so experiment with sounds to get them interested or if you want to capture some perky ears. Let the session unfold, give your dog regular breaks and don’t forget high value ‘treats’.
Leah & Angela OMeara
Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane)