As a dog owner visiting Dogrrific; you probably treat your dog like a family member. As such, you’d probably like to take pictures of him like you do your other family members. Not just any pictures, but good pictures.
The only problem is that dogs, much like children, are very energetic. They run around—here, there, and everywhere. Getting them to stand quietly to take a still picture is a feat all by itself. Don’t worry; by reading the following mini-guide you will “master” too action scene pictures.

Aiming for a good “still or portrait type” picture requires a well behaved dog, the better he is, the better the pictures will be. Even a trained dog won’t sit still for too long if that is the case then choose the action type picture, very rewarding too when capturing the surrounding, dog’s movements and expressions much like you would a human being.
It helps if your dog knows how to do a few tricks, like catch a Frisbee in his mouth or grab a piece of food out of the air on the fly. However, be creative as everyone has seen similar images of the very same performance.
Equipment is important. A quality camera allows for many different ways to interpret the same scene, so aim for the best your budget can afford. Search the web for reviews and ratings, ask friends, if you purchase form a “brick and mortar store” don’t be shy! Prepare a list of questions and make sure to get from the store associate an answer for each and every question.
For dogs, digital cameras work best because they’re quicker at taking photos than traditional cameras and you want them right away uploaded on your computer photo program for sharing with all!
At this point let’s become a little techie and having a look at some important terms and actions.
ISO: -International standard measurement of light sensibility- You might remember way back when the films were manually loaded in those “now antiques” non digital cameras, films were rated in ASA (film’s speed), for a digital camera ISO works the same way, letting you defining film speed/sensibility-to-light, common setting are 100, 125, 200, 400 and 800, depending on how sophisticated is your camera you might have a range from 64 to 1600. You certainly figured it out, 64 is the lower speed and 1600 the faster!
How to choose the correct speed: 100 and 200 could be used for a sunny, bright day. A few clouds or overcast calls for 400 to 800, and very low light requires up to 1600 ISO.
How ISO impacts on image quality: A rule of thumbs applies; the lower the ISO the less “grainy” the picture will be.
Note: On automatic mode the camera decides ISO setting and other modes for you.
The unpredictable nature of dogs and their movements, leads us to discuss the shutter speed: Essentially it sets for how long, in tenths of second, the shutter will stay open. Most of the time using 1/60 to 1/250 covers the larger array of situations, use you judgment to decide if you want a “frozen” scene or an “action” scene style, imagine for a second that you are taking a picture of your sited dog (thus immobile) and a few kids running in the immediate background, this offers two options: “Frozen” – Using faster speed- nothing moves, the kids will appear to be motionless. On another hand “Live” scenery, - Using slower speed- will show “motion” by adding speed feeling to the background.
Combining ISO and shutter speed together: They are very much tied together and react differently upon each other setting, the slower the speed the faster should ISO setting selected, unfortunately this is not a precise guide, you will need to experiment, and experimentation will help you choosing which one you want to prioritize.
Try using natural light when possible. If flash is needed instead of using the usual red-eye-removal setting, simply take the picture when your best friend is not directly looking at the camera.
By the way do you know what causes Red-Eye? Easy and makes sense, the flash is generated at such a speed that the eye has no time to blink, and the light will reflect directly from the back of the eyeball which is nourished by blood thus the red color showing up!
The environment is also important. Avoid white background; try taking pictures outside where your dog will be more attentive to the surrounding than to the camera, this type of “live” pictures always deliver a better result. Either ways, inside or outside be prepared to spend enough time with your dog so your camera will not become an object of distraction.
Another key to successfully take your dog picture lies in framing up nicely the view finder.
(I rather use the view finder, but it’s up to you) No rush, do you see all of what matters?
Is your dog the main picture component, and often forgotten,
is there anything that should not be there such as an empty plastic cup?
Do not center your dog in the image, unless you are making a portrait, a nice image is a composition, for example let the dog using 50% of the frame and keep the other half to show those beautiful flourished bushes in the background.
This “How to” photograph your dog approach could not be concluded without a few words on “focus”, the focus sets up the camera aperture, it is indicated by a f-value, or f-stop or relative aperture, it indicates the amount of light allowed to enter the camera sensor.
f-value ranges from f-1.2 to f-32 (f-1.4, f2.8, f-4, f5.6, f-8, f-11, f-16, f-32).
The smaller the “f” the larger opening thus the more light enters the camera.
Setting focus is accessed by disabling auto-mode.
How important is focus? Is major factor in image composition and feeling, it sets the “Depth of Field”, it really helps in showcasing your intention when taking the shot. You have seen many times picture delivering successfully their intent, thanks to putting the focus in good use; let’s use an example, imagine a beautiful butterfly resting in the middle of a flowered color rich meadow, if you take the picture in auto-mode the result will be a butterfly lost in the middle of flowers, now if you take this picture while blurring the background and focusing on the main item, then you have your shot. To keep the focus on the major center set the f-value to a value around of f-4, to obtain either the reverse or just to shoot a scenic view use value starting from f-11, again experiment with the same image by writing down all tried combinations setups.

Keeping these tips in mind will go a long way in helping you take great pictures of your dog, creating all kinds of wonderful, lasting memories.