Pet Photography
Firstly, you will love the pictures and proudly show everyone with a "
,I took this picture " comment every time. But these pictures have another very important use, insurance, a means of enabling your dog to be found if it is lost or goes missing. Your chances of having your lost dog returned safely are greatly increased by posting a picture on our Missing Pet Register.
Taking pictures of dogs can be tricky because they move around so much and, unlike humans; they don't understand the concept of a posed photograph. If you want to get good pictures of dogs the most important thing is time and patience with your dog.
First, turn the flash off. The flash from a point and shoot camera comes directly at the dog and is very unnatural and unflattering. Even if the dog's expression was perfect and the background was perfect and everything looks great, it would have looked that much better had the lighting been natural.
Using a digital camera, just set your camera to its automatic setting (if it has an action or sports mode use that one), so it automatically sets the aperture and shutter speed, let the camera do the work.
Select a setting that is as plain as possible, like the grass of your backyard, the sand on a beach or a solid colour carpet in your house. A place where you can utilize natural light is best, if outdoors either early in the morning or late in the day when the sun is very low.
Start taking pictures (or actually, just pretend to) of other things and ignore your dog. Stay fairly close to him but do not acknowledge him. Recognize that most dogs will simply come toward you when you raise a camera to take a picture of them so act like you are busy photographing other things but out of the corner or your eye, watch them. Also keep quiet and make sure no one else is around to distract him. You need to wait until your dog is either focused on something else or is tired so let your dog relax and do whatever he does naturally. It may take 10 minutes, or it may take an hour but if you are patient, he will calm down and look very natural. Slowly follow him and start taking photos, moving very slowly and being very quiet. If he does something cute, slowly focus the camera and take the shot. Do not make any quick moves. When the dog is in an acceptable pose, take as many pictures as you can as quickly as you can.
If you want to get one with his ears up and alert, do not start screaming like a madman and getting him all excited. If you wait long enough something will get him to perk up. Or you can try and be very subtle and can make one or two very faint clicks or "psst" sounds, but that is it. Just be subtle. You only want him to perk up, not think you are calling him or want to play with him.
Take tons of shots. Using a digital camera there is no reason not to take a million pictures, you just never know which ones will be the winners and the odds are in your favour if you take hundreds, versus dozens.
Lastly, do not use any treats. They get your dog excited and focused on you, which is what you do not want. If he is not doing what you want, you need to wait, period. Eventually, he will lie down, if that is what you are after. Or if you want him to perk his ears up, he eventually will, if you wait long enough, guaranteed.
So 1) be quiet, 2) patient, 3) have a lot of time, dedicate a morning or evening to photographing and you will finish with some great shots.
James Jay
Pets Bureau
Pet Photography
By: Pets Bureau
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