Here are my five top tips for taking better photos of dogs.

1. Focus on the Eye

They say the eye is the window to the soul, but it is the way that we communicate with each other and other animals, we look into their eyes. When photographing your dog make sure the eye, typically the closest eye to the camera, is sharp and in focus.

2. Get Low

Photos taken of dogs from a standing position are flat because the distance between the dog and the background (dog) isn’t that great. Getting low will allow you to pull in more of the environment around the dog as well as help isolate them from it. Additionally, they put the viewer on the same level as the dog which helps connect the viewer with the dog in the photo.

3. Continuous Auto-Focus

Dogs are erratic creatures. They run, jump, sniff, wiggle, and quite simply they hardly ever stop moving. Even if a dog is trained to pose, they’ll often be moving their head around or shifting their position. Having your camera on continuous auto-focus will allow the camera to adjust focus as the dog moves around.

4. Fast Shutter Speed

The number one reason I dog photo is blurry or out of focus is slow shutter speed. Since it is hard to get a dog to sit still and it’s super fun capturing their movement, you want a fast shutter speed. I recommend shooting with a shutter speed of atleast 1/500th of a second, but preferably faster than 1/1200th of a second. I shoot most often in the 1/1600th to 1/2000th range. You can go a lot lower than these shutter speeds if your dog is not running around and is good at holding position.

5. Small F-Stop

Fast shutter speeds necessitate the camerea needing more light and the best way to do that is to use a large aperature (small f-stop). You can also crank up the ISO on your camera but that will lead to a reduction in image quality. You’ll also benefit from a shallower depth of field which will help isolate the dog from the background.

Bonus Tip: Bring Distractions

When photographing dogs we want them looking at the camera. Unfortunately dogs don’t speak english so it can be challenging to get Fido to look where we want. You can use a high value treat, their favorite treat, or even their person to grab their attention. Place this distraction just above your head or just off to the side. Be careful though, you don’t want to over do the use of a distraction because its effectiveness will decline throughout the shoot. Therefore, be sure to practice the shot you want before using the distraction to grab the dogs attention.