Dog Photography tips

Dog photography is a little added passion of mine which goes hand in hand with the adventures.

Now I am by no means a professional photographer. However since I got my first camera as a fifth birthday present as a kid I have loved capturing images.

The magic of capturing a split second of time and what those images can reveal as always fascinated me.

My poor parents probably nearly bankrupted themselves buying up rolls of camera film as the eager child took bad to mediocre photos of everything and anything.

A lot of you have kindly given feedback that you love the photos we put out and therefore I feel it is only just to share a few tips I have learned over 10 years with regards to dog photography.

I used to take my DSLR out on the adventures but with the the amazing quality of modern day camera phones I now prefer this medium for shooting. Not to mention that a bulky DSLR gets in the way and can even cause bruising.

So here are a few super simple tips to get the most out of your dog photography:

1: turn off your flash. It will slow down the reaction time of your phone. And split seconds are crucial for catching dogs in flight.

2. Shoot in manual or pro mode on your phone camera. Play around with this.

3. Adjust your shutter speed so that you don’t get blurry photos (anything above 1/300 depending on speed of dogs and surrounding light). If they turn out too dark you can always edit the light exposure afterwards.

4. Try and keep the camera low so it is at the same level as the dogs. This will better capture the expression and movement of your four-legged friend.

5. Keep yourself and the dogs moving. The occasional portrait shot is lovely but it tends to break up the flow of any walk.

6. If you see some stunning scenery then why not throw a stick or ball in that direction and capture your dog running back towards you with a fantastic backdrop.

7. Practice makes perfect. I would say that I take around 150 photos per day. Multiply that by roughly 460 walks per year and 10 years. I will do the maths for you = I have taken roughly 690’000 photos of dogs.

8. Have fun and don’t be too self critical. Dog photography is supposed to be fun.

9. Set up your camera settings pre walk and then just walk as you normally would whilst snapping away and capturing movement, fun and games.

Some of you might know but we actually have a professional dog and animal photographer amongst our walkers. If you want to check out some of her fantastic portfolio, here is the link: www.fotopoter.no

Doggies: Bamse, Lexi, Leopold, Sara and Quila