July 30th, 2014
Tips for Taking Better Candid Photos of Your Dog
I love it when my dog is doing something really cute or cool and I manage to get a great photo of it. I use my phone, and I’m sure you do too. Unlike my camera, I always have my phone with me making it easier to capture those special moments. But I’ve also noticed that often the pictures don’t turn out as well as they could be, or my dog moves or stops being cute before I can snap that photo. So what can we do to take better pictures of our dogs with our phones?
Smartphone cameras are getting better all the time, and are very easy to use. Here are some tips for getting better quality candid snapshots using your phone.
- Turn the flash off. Flash creates red eye, never a good thing in a photo. It will also startle your dog, and I’m sure he won’t like the bright light in his eyes. Use natural light instead.
- Turn off the shutter sound. This way you won’t alert your dog to the fact you’re taking a photo. The shutter sound is likely to distract him away from the cute thing he was doing and will ruin your photo.
- Focus. Because smartphones are designed to recognize and focus on a human face, they’re not great at focusing on a dog’s face. They tend to focus on your dog’s nose while you would prefer focusing on his eyes. There are free apps available that give you the ability to manually focus where you want.
- Exposure. There are free apps for this as well that allow you to choose the brightness level that looks best.
- Get down to eye level. Shots from above are rarely flattering.
- Use treats when you want your dog to pose.
- Use the rapid fire option if you catch your pet doing something cute. On my phone, all I have to do is press and hold the camera icon and my phone takes pictures continuously. I’m bound to get at least one good shot that way.
- Try to take photo early in the morning or just before sunset when the natural outdoor light is more flattering and less harsh.
- Turn your pet toward the sun when outdoors so their eyes are bright and visible.
Follow these suggestions and you’ll have better luck snapping that adorable photo of your pet. If you take a good shot, email it to us at info@rockysretreat.com and we’ll put it up on our Facebook page. Whoever gets the most comments will win a prize!
