Taking Terrific Photos of Your Dog

Dogs have a wonderful sense of humor. The moment you turn on your camera ?they stop doing whatever made you reach for it. Great pet pictures do happen, just not as often as we抎 like.

The keys to great pictures of your dog are planning and patience. Fortunately, with digital cameras, we no longer have to worry about the expenses of film and developing. We can take dozens of pictures and only print the perfect shot ?no one has to know how long it took to take!

In order to take great candid pictures of your dog, the first step is to get Sparky accustomed to the sound of the camera. If you just turn it on randomly, without taking any pictures, it will become 揵ackground noise?that your Fluffy ignores. If Spot only sees a camera occasionally, it抯 going to be something new and different he has to investigate. What dog owner doesn抰 have a gorgeous close-up of canine nostrils in the back of the picture box?

The next step is to add the shutter sound. Don抰 aim the camera, don抰 try to focus on anything in particular. Remember, we抣l be deleting these pictures. It抯 another layer of sound Fido will learn to accept.

The addition of flash may cause a setback or two. Rover抯 not going to enjoy that bright light any more than we do and he doesn抰 know what it抯 for. You may want to add a distraction at this point ?take a flash photo at the same time you throw Benji抯 favorite toy. Sooner or later, Scruffy抯 going to learn that taking pictures is just another weird human behavior.

At this point you抮e ready to get those great candid shots. Be sure the camera抯 ready, too. Keep those batteries charged!

If your goal is a more formal portrait of your dog - you抮e in luck! It抯 actually easier to get Princess to pose than to be cute. Once again ?preparation is the key.

Get your background in place, whatever it is. Set up the props you want to use, look through your viewfinder at all corners and borders. Make sure there抯 nothing in the shot that you don抰 want there. Use a stuffed animal as Fifi抯 stand-in to make sure the floor lamp isn抰 growing out of her head. Set up a stash of treats near where you抣l be shooting ?but keep them out of Pumpkin抯 reach.

Next step: take Bruiser out and play ball, vigorously, for five or 10 minutes. You want to take the 揺dge?off, so he is happy and expectant, but not too fresh to focus. Come back in, let Lucky get a drink, put the toys away for now. Give Brutus a little primp ?run a comb through his hair and wipe off any drool - and take him to your photo shoot. Keep things happy and upbeat.

Since you抳e set up in advance, all you need to do is tell Trooper to sit and stay, turn on your camera and shoot. Reset and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Sooner or later, one of you will be too tired to resist. If it抯 Precious ?you finally get the shot you want. Print, frame and enjoy!