By
Lesley Rootham
1. Think Before you shoot
Following your Dog around with a camera is a great way to capture some Candid once in a lifetime shots. However planning a shoot is also a good way to get good shots that you will want to keep. When planning a shoot set yourself some objectives - capture your dog when he's at his favorite activity for example, now if your Dog is the lazy type you will want to catch him lying in the Sun, or Dozing in his basket, so plan your shoot around that, if he's friendly, photograph him with people, and if active, get some action shots.
Capturing these special moments will take some planning - action shots will require an assistant to throw a ball, for example & shots with his favorite people will require them to cooperate as well. Remember that getting good shots takes time & planning & set aside some time for Photography with your Dog.
After all no time spent with your favourite pet is wasted!
2. Where to shoot
Think where to shoot as well. How many times have you got the perfect shot - but with a distracting background?. Always consider the background of your shots. Ultimately you don't want your backgrounds to be distracting from your main subject - usually the best locations are the plainest ones - green grass, the beach, or a room with plain walls and plain carpet can be ideal. A good rule is that if the different elements in the background of the shot don't add to it then avoid them. When planning action shots you'll need to pick a place with sufficient space for your Dog to run, jump and play in, which has an appropriate background and which does not require you to shoot into the light. You will need to think about the time of day to shoot as well, shots which incorporate low sunlight - morning or evening sun can give magical light and magical shots as well.
If you are going to capture your Dog in a quiet moment, in her basket, for example, then consider the available light levels and the backgrounds that are available. Reposition the Basket or change the background to eliminate distracting elements & adjust the lighting to enable you to hand hold your camera and add mood to the shot. Do this in such a way as to allow the shoot set up to be in place over a number of days. Come back and shoot him as many times as necessary to get the shot. Your patience will pay off!
3. Get Close
Get in close to capture your Dogs character & mood.. Of course getting close is not always easy, especially if you have a Dog that likes to come to you when you get close to it, but you should try close ups as the detail that can be gained and the mood that can be captured by an up close and personal photo shoot with your Dog can really make the shot. If you can't get close to your Dog use a zoom lens. The added benefit of the long focal length will be that it will help with isolating your Dog in terms of depth of field (i.e. give you a blurred background so that your Dog is the centre of attention).
4. Get down and dirty
Get down on your Dogs level where you can match them eye to eye. Photos taken by a photographer standing up and looking down to their level mean the shots end up having a very 'human perspective'. Getting down to your Dogs level means you enter their world and get a glimpse of what life looks like from their perspective - you'll be impressed by the results as they reveal more character and will have more intimacy.
5. Framing
Dogs, like humans, look different from different angles and varying your framing can bring different perspectives to your photographs. In your shoot take some tightly cropped facial shots (even focussing right in on single features like your Dog's eye, nose, ears, or whiskers) but also ensure that you take three quarter body shots as well as full body shots. For facial shots its essential that the eyes (or a single eye) is in Focus.
6. Light
Any photographer knows that light is what makes a photograph. Natural light is best for Dog photography since using flash can distract and frighten your Dog and also gives rise to red-eye problems. However if you Dog has dark fur using stopped down fill flash can help bring out the colour. Flash is also good for isolating your dog from its background & for stopping action so don't discount it entirely. White or light coloured Dogs bring their own problems - careful metering in direct sunlight will be required to avoid over exposure.
7. Spot metering
Dogs with dark fur can result in blown out backgrounds - if this is a problem then use matrix mode & bring up the shadows in Post processing.
8. Freeze the Action
Use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action when photographing your Dog when it's on the move. Action shots of your Dog chasing a Ball or Frisbee can reveal some really unexpected facial expressions. Set your camera to shutter speed priority & your camera will automatically pick the aperture to get a correct exposure. Full manual mode with a fast moving subject is a challenge since your Dog may move rapidly through areas with different intensities of Light. Use burst mode to increase the chances of a sharp shot. You will need an efficient auto focus system to get a sharp shot of your Dog running straight towards you, so use burst mode here, too.
If auto focus is a problem, try pre focussing on a predefined spot & then get your Dog to run through the focus area - friends and family members are helpful here as they can encourage the Dog into the focus zone. Don't forget to vary your perspective for action shots - getting down low and photographing a running Dog can capture some stunning images.
1. Think Before you shoot
Following your Dog around with a camera is a great way to capture some Candid once in a lifetime shots. However planning a shoot is also a good way to get good shots that you will want to keep. When planning a shoot set yourself some objectives - capture your dog when he's at his favorite activity for example, now if your Dog is the lazy type you will want to catch him lying in the Sun, or Dozing in his basket, so plan your shoot around that, if he's friendly, photograph him with people, and if active, get some action shots.
Capturing these special moments will take some planning - action shots will require an assistant to throw a ball, for example & shots with his favorite people will require them to cooperate as well. Remember that getting good shots takes time & planning & set aside some time for Photography with your Dog.
After all no time spent with your favourite pet is wasted!
2. Where to shoot
Think where to shoot as well. How many times have you got the perfect shot - but with a distracting background?. Always consider the background of your shots. Ultimately you don't want your backgrounds to be distracting from your main subject - usually the best locations are the plainest ones - green grass, the beach, or a room with plain walls and plain carpet can be ideal. A good rule is that if the different elements in the background of the shot don't add to it then avoid them. When planning action shots you'll need to pick a place with sufficient space for your Dog to run, jump and play in, which has an appropriate background and which does not require you to shoot into the light. You will need to think about the time of day to shoot as well, shots which incorporate low sunlight - morning or evening sun can give magical light and magical shots as well.
If you are going to capture your Dog in a quiet moment, in her basket, for example, then consider the available light levels and the backgrounds that are available. Reposition the Basket or change the background to eliminate distracting elements & adjust the lighting to enable you to hand hold your camera and add mood to the shot. Do this in such a way as to allow the shoot set up to be in place over a number of days. Come back and shoot him as many times as necessary to get the shot. Your patience will pay off!
3. Get Close
Get in close to capture your Dogs character & mood.. Of course getting close is not always easy, especially if you have a Dog that likes to come to you when you get close to it, but you should try close ups as the detail that can be gained and the mood that can be captured by an up close and personal photo shoot with your Dog can really make the shot. If you can't get close to your Dog use a zoom lens. The added benefit of the long focal length will be that it will help with isolating your Dog in terms of depth of field (i.e. give you a blurred background so that your Dog is the centre of attention).
4. Get down and dirty
Get down on your Dogs level where you can match them eye to eye. Photos taken by a photographer standing up and looking down to their level mean the shots end up having a very 'human perspective'. Getting down to your Dogs level means you enter their world and get a glimpse of what life looks like from their perspective - you'll be impressed by the results as they reveal more character and will have more intimacy.
5. Framing
Dogs, like humans, look different from different angles and varying your framing can bring different perspectives to your photographs. In your shoot take some tightly cropped facial shots (even focussing right in on single features like your Dog's eye, nose, ears, or whiskers) but also ensure that you take three quarter body shots as well as full body shots. For facial shots its essential that the eyes (or a single eye) is in Focus.
6. Light
Any photographer knows that light is what makes a photograph. Natural light is best for Dog photography since using flash can distract and frighten your Dog and also gives rise to red-eye problems. However if you Dog has dark fur using stopped down fill flash can help bring out the colour. Flash is also good for isolating your dog from its background & for stopping action so don't discount it entirely. White or light coloured Dogs bring their own problems - careful metering in direct sunlight will be required to avoid over exposure.
7. Spot metering
Dogs with dark fur can result in blown out backgrounds - if this is a problem then use matrix mode & bring up the shadows in Post processing.
8. Freeze the Action
Use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action when photographing your Dog when it's on the move. Action shots of your Dog chasing a Ball or Frisbee can reveal some really unexpected facial expressions. Set your camera to shutter speed priority & your camera will automatically pick the aperture to get a correct exposure. Full manual mode with a fast moving subject is a challenge since your Dog may move rapidly through areas with different intensities of Light. Use burst mode to increase the chances of a sharp shot. You will need an efficient auto focus system to get a sharp shot of your Dog running straight towards you, so use burst mode here, too.
If auto focus is a problem, try pre focussing on a predefined spot & then get your Dog to run through the focus area - friends and family members are helpful here as they can encourage the Dog into the focus zone. Don't forget to vary your perspective for action shots - getting down low and photographing a running Dog can capture some stunning images.
Lesley Rootham raises Beagles & makes Dog Show Leads and Dog show collars in Wales, UK.
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