How to Take a Good Photo of Your Dog

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By Barbs2bits
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Ch. Briarwood's Foxtrot CD

Your favorite picture of your dog does not have to be a portrait of his nose. In this article I will share some tips for getting a good photo of your dog.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

digital camera
willing helper

Step 1

Use a digital camera. You want to take a lot of shots. I have hundreds of dog show photos taken by professional photographers and for each picture that they sold, they took up to 10 shots. As an amateur I take at least twice that number of shots to get a few good ones. Film is too expensive.
Step 2

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Recruit a helper, it will pay off. In this picture of four German Shepherds, while it is not a great picture, we did at least get everyone looking in the same direction with ears up. I could not have done that without a helper.
Step 3

GSD puppy

The single most important thing that you can do to get a good picture is to get down to the dog's level, at shoulder height. This can be challenging with a small dog, but well worth it. What usually happens is that you try to get the picture, the dog is all over you and you give up and stand up to get the shot.

Be patient, the dog will get bored with trying to get you to play and that helper that you asked to help you will make the shot possible.

This picture of a German Shepherd puppy was taken from above and you can see that the body and legs are distorted by the angle. The picture still turned out cute, saved by getting a profile of the puppy's head, but it could have been a better picture.

The picture of the German Shepherd at the beginning of this article was taken at shoulder height and at right angles to the dog's body.
Step 4

Goldmine's Tapestry of Tarot JC

Getting action shots is done the same way, but more planning is needed. You need to map out where the action will take place and be ready. This shot of an Afghan Hound on a lure course was taken without a telephoto lens. I selected the spot I wanted, set the height and angle and waited for the dog to move into the frame. Then took as many shots as I could.
Step 5

Briarwood GSDs

Be adaptive to the situation. This picture of three German Shepherds looked like it was never going to happen. The dog on the right was young and excited and just could not hold still. We tied him to the tree, had the other dogs lay very close and he was able to hold still long enough to take a few shots. The heads all look nice, which was what the owner wanted. I edited out the chain that you can see tied to the tree before giving a print to the owner.
Step 6

Taking pictures of dogs is like taking pictures of very small children. You can't force it, you have to coax out the picture you want. Set things up for success, be patient and then be quick.