How To Take A Great Photo Of Your Dog

In order to produce a really great banner for your web site you will need to start with the absolute best possible photos of your dogs for that banner graphic. Keep in mind that when your dog is cut out from the background of the picture, the dog itself needs to be free from dog leads or collars, human arms or leg and grass or weeds covering it's body. He should also be standing on a hard surface that allows his feet to be clearly seen. Cement driveways or sidewalks, picnic tables, decks or other similar surfaces work great. Avoid placing your dog on grass as it will cover his feet even after the dog is cut out from the picture.

First, make sure that your dog does not have any pent up energy that may make him not want to stand or sit still for your photo shoot. Either walk your dog or play with him to exercise away that edginess that may cause him not to sit still. This may take about 15 to 20 minutes to achieve. Try not to totally exhaust him but rather get him to the point where he is likely to want to sit or stand still for a while. After excersizing him, you might want to wait about 5 to 10 minutes before starting to take photos of him if he's panting a lot. Then, once he begins to settle down start taking multiple photos. You are trying to get 1 good really good photo for every 20 that you take of him. It may help to offer your dog a treat if he's cooperating with what you're asking of him. Hopefully he will know the words "sit" and "stay" while you're photographing him. A little reward for good behavior can certainly help.

The best photos are taken with the camera held down at the dog's level. The dogs can be either sitting or standing. Photos are taken pretty much straight on or straight on but at a slight angle. The dog can be turned just a bit to either the right or left but mostly still straight on. If you can have your dog sit on a hard surface such as pavement or picnic table works best. That way there is no grass in front of their feet to interfere when cutting out the dog's feet. If, however, you already have some great photos of your dogs but the feet are covered with grass, we can simply fade the feet out and use the photo anyway.

Always remember to physically get down at the dog's level with your camera when taking a photo. Getting down at the dog's level when you take their photo makes for a great photo! So hold the camera parallel to the dog's body or get down on your knees to bring the camera in line with him. Take your photo from about 5 feet away. That way you won't get a photo that looks like the head is too large for the rest of the body.

Don't take photos in direct sunlight. It can produce distinct hard shadows which draws attention away from the dog. For truly exceptional photographs, you will get much better results on a cloudy day. The clouds filter the harsh sunlight and produce a warmer more personal dog picture. Following this one simple rule will improve your photographs by a factor of 10.

Your dog's pose and expression can also make the difference between a mediocre and fantastic photo. I like a dog that looks happy even with it's tongue outside of it's mouth. It suggests a friendly approachable dog that is likely to enjoy people. Or even a photo where the dog is looking intently at something and is "perked up". Your dog could be standing or sitting, alert and confident - ready for action.

Summarizing: Flat surface, no grass, chains or leads, take photo outside on cloudy day, no direct sunlight, exercised, multiple photos, stand 5 feet away, camera at dog's level, expression and pose.

Nice front shots. Photos taken on a flat surface works great. Hold the camera at the same level as the dog. Get down on one knee if necessary to get your camera lined up at the same level as the dog.

Standing or sitting on a flat surface.   No grass in front of feet or legs.

Standing on a picnic table or bricks works great. Nothing is obscuring their body.

Grass obscuring the dog's legs. Chain and grass in front of the dog. Please move the dog to a firm flat surface without any grass or chains covering the body.

Hand obscuring dog's body.

Camera held above the dog and looking down at the dog.

Photos too dark - inadequate lighting.

Rear as high or higher than the dogs head. 

Photos that are too blurry or faded looking.