How to Photograph your Dog on the Trail
Many of us enjoy taking our dogs on the trail. Nothing replaces the excited look on your dog’s face with every smell and change in scenery. However, what do you do when you want to share this look of excitement with the world? Like children, dogs are hard to work with when it comes to photography. They may be cute, but they also move around, get distracted and end up showing the wiggly part of their body. A lot of our photography features our two dogs, Lydia and Flonne. Honestly, wouldn’t you rather see them in the photos than our wonderful faces? They are entertaining to watch without even trying. We can’t promise that we can turn your dog into the next instagram sensation, but we can try to make photographing your favorite pooch a lot easier.
Get them used to the Camera
All of us have had cameras in our faces since we were small children. No little move and funny face went undocumented in our childhood. However, what if you are a dog and a rescue at that? To them a camera is a funny (maybe scary) looking box that you are sticking in their face. Before you go out on the trail make sure they are used to cameras. Practice in your backyard where they can freely smell and interact with the device. Be careful, puppies like to explore with their mouths so some chewing may occur if you are not careful. Lastly, remember that each dog, like children, is different. Some dogs will be shy, some will be hams, and some will be more interested in the stick next to you. Be patient, it’s hard work being a dog.
Practice your photography skills
Photography is an art and there is no way we can turn you into the next fine art doggy photographer in one blog post but we can give you some tips to get you started!
- Prepare - It’s generally the simplest things that hold you back the most, like forgetting an SD card or using your phone battery life up jamming to your favorite tunes. Before leaving, double check that you have everything, this includes checking SD storage, battery life, and lenses.
If you are shooting in manual, check your settings at home or at the trail head. This will help you cut down on time you take to set up your first couple photos of your dog. There is nothing worse than adjusting your SEO setting while hoping your dog doesn’t move out of the cutest pose ever. Even if you are not shooting in manual, go ahead and pick the perfect setting that works for you and get oriented with where the light is going to come from once on the trail.
Look Silly - Most people when taking photos will stand over their dog and snap the photo. This makes often for a photo that looks amateur and just downright boring. Get on your dog’s level. I am certain your dog will look confused at first but will engage the camera a lot more in the long run. You also don’t have to deal with awkward foreshortening of your dog. Taking photos from your dog’s angle also allows the viewer to see what items your dog is interacting with, and so tells a better story. Taking a photo from a worm angle will make your pet look more valiant, bring a new meaning to the big dog on the block
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Remember the rule of thirds - Now we are getting in more hardcore parts of photography. The rule of thirds splits up the image, you guessed it, into thirds. The rule of thirds prevents you from having a subject generically sit in the middle of the image. Think of it as a grid that you can can follow if you are not sure where to place the subject in the photo. A lot of cameras come with a feature that lets you see a grid structure in your view finders.
Bribery
Bribery may be illegal in most situations, but genius when it comes to dogs. Bribes help their hearing and listening skills as well are their memory exponentially. Need them to sit for a photo? Get a piece of ham! Need them to stay? Piece of jerky will work just fine. Granted, this may not work when they have their nose focused on something else, but most of the time it is your ticket to a great photo. However, not all dogs are food reward driven so bring their favorite toy instead. Whoever the dog is, there is always a weak spot to get them to listen.
Trail Prep for your dog
Just like you need to prepare and pack your bags for your trip, your dogs need to prepare for the trail as well. Most importantly bring lots of water for your dog. Their giant tongue may be too cute for words but if you are thirsty they are too. Also, make some room in your first aid kit for some doggy essentials. Pack some items to patch them up incase they get hurt and some Benadryl to help with allergic reactions. Remember to protect their feet especially in hot and cold weather, you can either buy them adorable little booties or you can get them cream to put a coating on their feet. Lastly, remember leave no trace and bring some doggy bags with you.
Keep them Leashed
You may ask, but how do I capture that super adorable photo of my dog with only ONE hand? There are a couple of solutions to this, but none of them being taking your dog off the leash. Taking your adorable pooch off the leash breaks several park rules and city laws. Also, a leash-less dog can spell ruin for another hiker’s near perfect hike. Mr. Snugglebottoms may be cute, but not when charging at someone else to give them kisses.
Easiest way is to bring a friend with you. Have them hold the leash as you make funny faces at your dog and hold a treat in the air so they focus on the camera. They can also help pose your dog and keep distractions at bay. Just like kids, two heads are better than one when photographing your favorite furry creature. What if you don’t have enough outdoorsy friends to be your photography assistant? I learned to clip the leash to my belt. That way my hands are free, and she doesn’t pull me to the ground as easily since the biggest tugs are closer to my center of gravity. With my coonhound, this probably happens more than it should.
Remember, they are Dogs
My favorite photos are random photos taken when I let the hounds do their own thing. Just pretend you are a wildlife photographer observing the rare Floridian Mountain Goat. It is amazing what poses and environments pets will put themselves in to get the perfect shot. Granted, this is more of an option when camping than when you are actively moving on the trail, but these special moments will happen and you will be thankful you put your phone down and just watched the wonder that is your dog.
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