5 Tips for Taking Photos with Your Dog
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How many photos do you have with your dog? No, read that again – not of your dog, but with your dog? I was the same way – a few here and there, but not that many. Definitely not ones at different stages of life, documenting our lives together. How many do you need, really?
It turns out, the answer is a lot. I learned that the hard way with my dog Kiki, who died at just 5 years old. Your dog isn’t going to be around forever, and you can never have enough photos capturing your relationship.
You don’t have to share them anywhere. They don’t even need to have your face in them. But please, please, take more photos with your dog.
If you’re anything like I was (and sometimes still am), you skip out on a lot of photos with your pup simply because it’s hard. Self portraits aren’t easy to begin with, and then you throw an independent animal into the mix.
I’ll always be grateful that I had an end of life session with a photographer before Kiki died, and if you’re in Colorado Springs or Denver, I would love to do a dog parent photo session with you. If you aren’t in my area but still want professional photos, please send me an email so we can schedule a phone call and I can help find a photographer near you!
If now isn’t a good time for professional photos, don’t despair – here are a few tips to help you take more photos with your dogs:
1. Recruit a friend
Recruiting a friend to help you is by far the easiest way to take photos with your dog. With a friend helping, you have two more hands to handle the camera so you can focus on wrangling your dog.
Your images become a real collaborative effort! While you aren’t actually taking the photo, you can pose yourself and your dog and explain the composition to your friend. You both contributed to creating the image!
What if you don’t have a photographer friend? Don’t worry – you can adjust the settings before posing to help out your friend and hand over the reins. Even if the composition isn’t what you are hoping for, you can easily fix that later in editing.
2. Play with a tripod and remote shooting
If you don’t have a friend to help out, that’s ok! That’s what tripods (or stumps or rocks) are for!
If you don’t have a tripod yet, I definitely recommend getting one. There’s plenty of different types of photography where having a tripod is a huge help. Dog parent photography is definitely one of those. This tripod is the one I use!
There are a few different options for setting off your shutter from afar. You can use the timer setting on your camera and run, although this is probably my least favorite method. My dogs see me running and get excited, making them more likely to break their pose!
I prefer to use a remote shutter release to take self portraits with my dogs. Most cameras have this capability using either a remote shutter release device or an app on your phone. I really like using the phone app because you are also able to check the focus and exposure!
One drawback to remote shutter releases is hiding it in your photo! You have a few options: get creative with composition to keep the phone out of the frame, adjust the settings so the remote shutter release triggers the timer so you can hide the shutter release in a pocket quickly, or just keep the phone in the shot to show the story of creating your photo.
3. Use forgiving camera settings
Dogs move a lot, even if you’re holding them tightly. Non-photographers may not get the focus tack sharp. Tripods and self portraits can be difficult to maneuver even without the unpredictable canines. There’s any number of reasons you want forgiving settings when taking photos with your dogs!
My first suggestion: back button focus. Back button focus separates the focus and shutter so there is a different button for each. I have found that when I hand over my camera to non-photographers, they are likely to be confused by a half step shutter button, but two separate buttons are much easier to understand.
You will also want a fast shutter speed. You should set your shutter speed as fast as you can with the light available. Dogs are fast and unpredictable (as are dog parents when dealing with said dogs!) so the faster the shutter, the less likely that you and your dog will be blurry.
Use a smaller aperture (f/bigger number). A slightly smaller aperture will still allow you to get those lovely blurred backgrounds, but also increase the likelihood that both your face and your dog’s are in focus, particularly if a non-photographer is taking the photo. I like to use a minimum of f/4 when handing over my camera.
Don’t understand anything I just said? Never fear: just put your camera on sports mode and it will take care of the rest.
4. Embrace the bad pictures
You’re going to take a lot of bad pictures. Dogs are unpredictable and they don’t understand the concept of a photo. They make weird faces. Laugh it off and try to embrace the bad shots and funny faces! They still capture the relationship between you and your dog. If you start feeling frustrated, leave it for another day. These photos are supposed to be fun so if you aren’t having fun, put the camera away.
5. Get creative!
Taking photos with your dog doesn’t have to mean showing your face. The purpose of these photos is to capture the relationship and dynamic between you and your dog. You don’t have to show your face to do that – get creative with your composition.
And don’t forget – photos with your dog are for you. Don’t let the fear of posting your face on a dog Instagram account stop you from taking the photos. You never have to post them. Just have them. Trust me, you’ll want them someday.
