The relationship between dogs and humans is around 15,000 years old. When you spend time with a dog, your brain releases oxytocin, which is responsible for not only happiness but also bonding and affection. On average, one-third of households have a dog globally. Probably, you are also a proud owner of a dog.
In today’s article, we will talk about portrait dog photography so you can capture beautiful pictures of your best friend. If you don’t have a dog, you can click pictures of your friend’s dog or even make it a profession.
Portrait dog photography doesn’t need any specific camera or lens, you just need to have an idea about the settings of your camera. Like you should open up your aperture to get a shallow depth of field or if you want to take an action shot, you need to use a high shutter speed to freeze the action. If you know the basics of your camera, you are good to go. A camera remote is a handy gadget for action shots. We’ll talk about it later on.
1. Get down at the dog’s level:
One of the basic rules of photography is that you should always take the picture from the eye level of your subject, especially when you are shooting a portrait. In this case, you are taking a portrait of your dog, so always keep that in mind. If we take a photograph from a high or low angle, the proportion change and makes the photograph look odd. Always try to sit or lie down to get to their eye level for the best shots.
2. Focus on eyes:
The eyes are the windows to the soul. You probably read it many times. In a portrait, the eyes should look sharpest, so always focus on the eyes. If you are using a shallow depth of field, try to keep both eyes on the same focal plane so both eyes come sharply in the picture. If it’s not possible, focus on the eye which is near to the camera.
3. Take action shots:
If you want to do creative dog photography, take lots of action shots. Like after bathing, when your dog is shaking to dry off, you may take an amazing shot. Just keep in mind that take this shot with high shutter speed and if the light is coming from the back side, every single drop of water will show in the picture and make it an extraordinary shot.
You can also take running shots of your dog. For the running dog shots, use “continuous autofocus mode” so your subject is always in the focus, and also take pictures on burst mode. When a dog runs fast, sometimes it’s all four legs are in the air and with burst mode, your chance to capture this moment increases multifold.
Some more ideas can be a running dog on a beach or the dirt. Or a running dog in your garden after the rain. You can find lots of good ideas on the internet.
4. Show bonding:
A dog and its owner always have a strong bond and it should be shown in the pictures you are taking. Always take some shots with the owner showing their bond. If you are the proud owner, you may fix your camera on a tripod and use a timer on your camera to click the picture, or you can use a camera remote.
5. Click some playing shots:
Dogs are usually very relaxed when they are playing and it’s the best time to shoot them. Let them play with a ball or a stick or even with your garden pipe and take the shot. If you have more than one dog, let them play together and capture some beautiful shots.
MIOPS SMART+
Take impossible photos by turning your camera into a high-speed capture device!
6. Capture some funny shots:
If your dog is doing something funny, capture it. Whenever you see that picture, it’ll always bring a smile to your face.
7. Try some indoor shots:
When you click indoor pictures, it looks different because light usually comes from a single direction and you can click against a plain background. Why not click some indoor pictures of your dog? Use natural window light to create beautiful portraits of your dog. If you have studio lights and backgrounds, you can create even more amazing pictures.
8. Take a few artistic portraits:
Take some artistic portraits of your dog. If you have a dog outfit, use it. You can also use hats, sunglasses, eyeglasses, fairy lights, soap bubbles, balloons, or party hats to capture extraordinary pictures. It requires a lot of patience as dogs usually don’t sit still, but it’s worth a shot.
9. Use slow shutter speed:
Use slow shutter speed to take some creative shots of your dog. When it’s a windy day and the hairs of your dog are blowing, you can take a slow shutter speed picture. For slow shutter speed shots, always try to hold your camera still or use a tripod.
10. Take shots from an unusual angle:
This point is opposite to point number one, but sometimes breaking the rules brings us something wonderful. So it’s time to break the rules and click a picture from the top angle.
So these are the 10 tips that will help you improve creative dog photography. Now let’s talk about the best camera remote to capture moving objects called MIOPS Smart+. This tiny gadget can control your camera using your mobile so you don’t need someone to click pictures of your dog with you. You can also control the camera using its sound or laser mode.
Laser mode is very useful for capturing action shots. When a subject comes between the laser and the sensor and cuts the laser beam, it clicks the picture automatically. This gadget will help you to capture action shots of your dog without touching the camera. You can also click lightning, time-lapse, HDR, and many more using this gadget.
About the Author
Ramakant Sharda is an author, iOS App publisher, passionate photographer and a MIOPS Ambassador based in the beautiful “Pink City” of India, known as Jaipur. His work has been published in various magazines, newspapers, and blogs. He has published three Coffee Table Books, he writes about photography and also teaches photography in his workshops. Check out his website http://ClickManic.com to see the masterpieces created by him or download his free app for iPhone and iPad “30 Days to an Ace Photographer“.
