Pets What are your best tips for photographing dogs?

[Josi]

I'd love to see your dog photographs, and to hear what your tips are for getting great action images, so if you post a picture, please can you also say what your settings are, what lens you used and give an idea of how much post production you have done on the image.

 

[David dubow]

Bumping this post because I too would love to hear tips.
I’ve been asked to shot some “portraits” for the local animal shelter.

 

[Tim Mayo]

I wouldn't say I'm an expert at taking dog photos but I do take quite a few photos of my dog Frank when he's running around or chilling out.

For the action shots I prefer a fast shutter speed, so normally 1/1600sec of faster and will normally use the fastest aperture of the lens that I'm using. I'll use AF-C mode and continuous shooting, normally auto ISO.

I play around a bit with the focus area but will often use zone or flexible spot and position these towards the top of the frame, as I prefer to shoot at eye level so I'm normally low to the ground and this helps to keep the af from locking onto the grass. I'll use animal eye AF but it normally works better for portraits than action shots.

As always with photography the light makes a huge difference. Frank glows in nice soft early morning and late afternoon light, but if the light isn't there he can look quite dull.

I'm not big into post processing my images, I'll normally just crop them to my liking and sometimes adjust the exposure if I messed it up.

I've just added a few more photos of him to this gallery. You should be able to see the metadata that includes all the settings and gear I was using at the time.

Hope it helps a little!

View album 9

 

[Mark0519]

I am also a fan of low angle shooting or at least eye level, but of course, that is just personal preference. Sometimes an inexpensive pistol grip can be of help if this is the route you choose to go....

 

[Kellison]

I take a lot of pictures of my dogs. They aren't always perfect but I have fun. One of my pups has a dark face and the camera has a hard time focusing on her face. The focus never quite works with her. I have a Sony A6500 and I used the 50mm F1.8 on these shots. I do a little post processing in Lightroom to brighten them up. These shots were taken with auto ISO (100-640), F1.8, 1/125-1/500

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[Janice]

Bumping this post because I too would love to hear tips.
I’ve been asked to shot some “portraits” for the local animal shelter.

One tip I picked up along the way is try to make sure you get the 'catch-light' in the animal's eye. Don't be afraid to get low either. I think someone mentioned that already.

 

[Kim_Captures]

I work in animal welfare and take a lot of cat and dog photos! Many good tips up above, but here are my essentials:

1. Good light.
2. Low angle (get at their eye level).
3. Eye contact with the camera. Use funny noises, panting, treats and squeaky toys. It helps if you can get an assistant to do this and hold the item of interest right above the lens.
4. BOKEH! If you get a subject relatively still (napping or grooming), I love to use a super low f-stop to get a nice soft glow around them.
5. Get the animal comfortable with the camera before you start shooting. Let them smell it and inspect it, hear the sound it makes, etc. If an animal isn't comfortable or just doesn't want to cooperate, try another time or another animal.

 

[Drewid]

It's all been said, loads of great advice. From my limited experience the getting down low advice for me means putting your camera on the floor and using my flip out screen or just blagging the shots as the dogs come to inspect.

 

[garuda]

In a studio setting, dogs usually are a bit anxious and not in the mood to smile much. So I suggest you learn a few good dog jokes, just to loosen them up a bit just before the photo shoot begins. Maybe have some wine on hand just in case they've had a tense day at the office.