Dog photography | How to photograph your dog for instagram
Eddie the Chihuahua gives his tips on how to be a good dog model for instagram photos
One of the questions I get asked the most often is how do I pose so well for shots?
Like any good dog model, I am of course a professional, but I can be a bit of demanding diva too.
Treats are essential! The human is wiley of course, and she gives them to me in limited quantities, just to ensure I hang around to get the job done, plus you’ll need the right equipment! See my list below for some tips.
Equipment
We shoot 90% of our content on an SLR, I can move around quite a bit - I’m a bit of an excitable puppy, so mum likes the flexibility of the SLR and shoots me most of the time on Sports Mode. This takes lots of shots in a row, and ensures that there will likely be a few sharp images in amongst my movement! This method does involve a bit of sorting at the end of your shoot to find the right shots - but if your model won’t sit still, then it is a good option.
If you don’t have an SLR your phone camera will also work well for instagram, but you’ll need to make sure you capture your doggo sitting reasonably still so you don’t get any blur.
We use a Canon 90D with a 18-135mm lens for most of our still shots, as I will admit, I move around a bit. Mum also uses her old Iphone 8+ for stories and video on the run, she really does need an upgrade though.
Treats
Some of my favourites to use for shoots are the Laila & Me Chicken Jerky and Lamb Puff chips - they break off quite easily into small pieces which are essential for a small dog like me. Don’t over fill on treats, just a few small pieces between every few shots is enough. (so mum says, I kind of disagree on that point)
Setting
Try to find a space with as much natural light as possible, room lights can put nasty shadows and weird colours on your images, so natural lighting is definitely the best option.
If you have a room with a window, make sure the window is behind the camera, not your doggo, as this will give you the best lighting. If your dog is between you and the window, you’ll likely get lots of shadows, which can sometimes create an interesting mood, but most of the time will be too dark to use.
If you’re shooting outdoors, try not to do it in the middle of the day, as the lighting can be quite harsh at this time as well.
Try to keep the background as simple as possible, too much clutter in the background can take the focus off your dog, which is of course the hero of your shot.
Timing
Don’t spend a lot of time, try to keep the sessions short. If you are using outfits or props, keep it to a few at time, any more and your doggo will get tired and bored! We try to spend 20 minutes max taking a series of shots. And always keep it fun with lots of rewards of pats, cuddles and praise. Mum quite often uses this time to get in some quick training commands with me like sit, paw, drop etc as well.
Ready to shoot?
Have your dog in position and make sure you have your treats in hand! Mum always has the treat not too far from the camera lens - if you look at my shots - the direction of my eyes is pretty much where that treat is! Move the treat around to where you’d like your dog to look, then quickly take your series of shots. We always try to focus on the eyes and nose area to make sure these are always nice and crisp. Once you’ve taken your shots, finish with a quick reward, pat or treat and move on to the next pose.
Editing your shots
We try to keep our shots as natural as possible so don’t do a huge amount of editing, just some slight adjustments to brightness and shadows if our lighting wasn’t quite right at the time of shooting. Mum uses Adobe Photoshop as she has the Creative Suite, but if you are after a quick phone app, then Snapseed is a good one which enables a smoother light adjustment then what your phone editor does.
Once you’ve selected your shots, you’re ready to upload them to instagram and share with your friends, who I’m sure will appreciate the super cute picture of your doggo!
I hope this helps, if you ever have questions, be sure to send me a message on instagram or drop a comment below.
Eddie xx
