So you want to take better photos of your dog?


Hey, I do too! One of the things I love most about photography is that you can always be learning, growing and improving your craft. I am 100% self-taught and learned so much of what I know from fellow dog photographers on Instagram. While I am always trying to push myself creatively, I've gained a lot of knowledge through trial and error over the past four years, and love passing that info on to other aspiring dog photographers.


Below are some of my favorite tips for taking amazing photos of your dog. Whether you just started out in photography or are simply new to photographing dogs, I hope you'll find something in this post for you. This will be the first in a series of posts on photography and editing tips, so keep an eye out for those and let me know on Instagram if there are any specific topics you want me to address!

Tip #1: Train some basic commands


One of the things that makes dog photography particularly challenging is that you can't just tell your dog to go pose and expect them to understand what you want. I personally think photographing humans is a challenge, but I do appreciate that I can give them directions and know they are going to be looking at the camera when I tell them to. In order to ensure you can get a posed shot of your pup that's not blurry, try to add these commands to your arsenal:


  • Sit: You might assume this is pretty obvious, but I've photographed a lot of dogs who can't hold a sit outside. This is always a good option to have for taking great portraits.
  • Stay: This is probably the most important command in dog photography (sometimes your sit or down command may have an implied stay). If you are working with lenses with longer focal lengths (think 85 and up), you will need to put distance between you and your dog, so a strong stay command goes a long way to making sure they don't move before you get your shot!
  • Look at Me: This can be a really helpful command to have if you want your dog to look at you, and by extension, the camera. I still need to work on this one with Willow outside - hence why I have so many photos of her looking off into the distance!


Of course, if you've got those down, you can work on training some tricks that make for fun shots. Head down, hold, bow and who's your best friend are some of my favorites for cute photos. Make sure to practice inside and in low distraction environments before expecting your dog to hold these outside when a lot is going on!

Tip #2: Get creative


One of the things that takes a good photo of your dog and makes it great is going beyond just a shot of them sitting and looking at you. Adding other elements into your photo, being thoughtful about composition, and playing with angles and types of shots add depth and variety to your photos, and help tell more of a story than a traditional portrait (although those can also be lovely!) Here are some of my favorite ways to get creative with your photos:


  • Angles/perspective: If you usually take close-up portraits, try getting farther away from your dog to capture more scenery. Don't be afraid to get on the ground and eye-level with your dog, or stand over them and capture a shot of them looking up at you. It's amazing how just taking photos from different angles can change the look and feel of your shots.
  • Framing: Framing your subject can help draw attention to your dog while adding depth and dimension to your image. Try putting an object in the foreground , framing your subject with lines or natural elements (like trees/flowers) or holding something in front of your lens to create an effect. In the first photo below, I held up sparkly decorations to create the bokeh effect around Willow's face. This is also a great way to get natural blur in photos if you don't have a lens with low aperture that can achieve that naturally.
  • Candid: Posed shots are great, but capturing your dog just being themselves or interacting with someone can make for a photo that just gives you that "in the moment feel". These shots always feel more real to me, and bring an element of movement to your photos that can't be captured with a posed shot.
  • Self-portraits: Although a tripod and remote shutter can definitely help with taking self-portraits, they aren't necessary. You can use something like a rock, a tree stump or a bench and the 10 second timer to snap some photos - honestly there is nothing better than seeing photos that capture the relationship between you and your dog!

Tip #3: Explore learning resources


As I mentioned above, I am 100% self-taught when it comes to photography. Over the years, I've probably spent hundreds of hours on YouTube and invested in a variety of courses and offerings to improve my skills. Whenever I had a question about my gear or how to achieve a certain look with my editing or photography, I turned to my best friend Google for the answer. To help take the guesswork out of the process for you, here are some of my favorite photography resources - both free and paid - to get you started:


Free Resources:

  • YouTube was my absolute best friend when I was first starting out, and its still my favorite place to go whenever I have a photography question. I'm a visual learner, so watching someone do something helps me learn a lot better than reading about said thing. Some of my favorite channels include Peter McKinnon and Matti Haapoja for photography/ videography and Phlearn and PixImperfect for editing/photoshop.
  • Social media including Instagram posts and reels geared specifically to photographers can be really helpful. A lot of posts and reels include camera settings and even some behind the scenes videos so you can see what the lighting situation was when the shot was taken. Some of my favorite creators for photo tips include @theloverspassport , @riaputzker, @jordi.koaltic and @inspawrationphotography
  • Blogs/websites: If you search for something on Google, I guarantee you'll find tons of articles or blogs talking about how to do that thing. Some are better than others, but I love reading a variety of different opinions and experiences. When I was learning how to change colors in PhotoShop, I read about a ton of different methods and decided on the one that worked best for me.
  • Podcasts: Podcasts are another great way to consume photography content, whether it be tips for taking photos or turning your hobby into a business. Take it From Us with Dawn Charles and Emily Majors is my go to for general photography but I also enjoy Oh Shoot by Cassidy Lynne.

Paid Resources:

  • Skillshare: This is a subscription platform where you can take courses in just about anything you can imagine. I've taken courses on editing, iPhone photography and food photography, but they also have a bunch of other courses related to music, art, writing and business.
  • Inspawration Photography: These courses are probably the best ones you can take if your goal is better dog photography. Emily has several classes, including tips for photographing dogs and editing in LightRoom and Photoshop. She is an amazing resource in the pet photography community.
  • Other photography classes: I've taken some basic virtual classes through Audrey Ann Photo, including Auto to Awesome and Intro to Photoshop. I also love the courses from Moment - especially one on Landscape Photography with Tiffany Nguyen. These aren't dog focused but help you with settings and other types of photos that will be relevant to your craft!
  • Dawn Charles' Rise Academy: If you have a broader interest in photography and want more info on editing, posing and the business side of things, I highly recommend anything by Dawn Charles. I've admired her for years and have used her presets for a long time. I love her editing style and have taken a bunch of courses with her!

Tip #4: Practice practice practice


Of all the tips in this post, this is probably the one that will have the biggest impact on your photography over time. The best way to improve at something is to just keep practicing. The more photos you take, the more comfortable you get with your camera and the better you understand how your settings change based on different lighting scenarios and situations.


If you're a total newbie, it might help to shoot in something like aperture priority mode on your camera, where you only have to worry about adjusting a few settings at a time. Another option is just to start in manual mode and play around with the settings, keeping note of how they impact your final image.


If you practice in a variety of lighting situations, like golden hour, bright sun, cloudy days, etc. and on a variety of different types of shots (close-up, far away, action, posed), soon you'll be able to go into a shoot knowing ahead of time what kind of settings and angles you're going to need to have to get the images you want.


I also think practicing helps you to better understand your gear and its limitations. I've never thought that gear makes a photographer, but it certainly plays a role in how well you can execute certain shots. When I was using a Canon Rebel, I knew from trail and error that I couldn't push my ISO over 500 if I wanted to avoid grain. Now with my Sony, I can go well above that and not worry. Once you are comfortable with your gear, you'll have a good sense of how far you can push it and what other settings you might have to change to compensate for any limitations.

Tip #5: Ask for help


In addition to your best friend Google, most of the dog photographers I look up to on Instagram are wonderful people, and have been willing to answer questions for me when I reach out. I usually try to look through people's highlights first to see if they have any photography info saved (@thegoodmutt is one of my go-to accounts for her lens comparisons and tips!) and if I still have questions or love their style, I'll send them a DM and ask for their guidance. In my experience, most people have been super forthcoming with their time and knowledge. You should never feel bad about reaching out to an account to ask them a question or get advice on something. I definitely try to be an open book when it comes to answering photography and editing questions - I'm certainly not an expert but I am more than happy to share what I've learned from my photography journey!


Thanks for reading today's post! Stay tuned for more in this series, including editing tips, my photo workflow, photography Q&As and more in depth tips and tricks!