Picture Perfect Photos of Your Dog

Picture Perfect Photos of Your Dog

Are you ready to take great photos of your dog?

I know taking photos of your dog can be a struggle! Believe me I know! In addition to Bella B's BARK-ery I also do pet photography over at Anja Lou Photography, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite tips and tricks to get great photos of your dog.  This will definitely come in handy now that the holidays are around the corner and I am sure lots of photos will be taken.  Plus I would love for you to send me some cute photos of your dogs in their Bella B's accessories so I can feature your pup on my socials!

 

Tip #1 - A tired pup can be a better model. When I am setting up sessions for my photography clients one thing I always suggest is to have some physical activity before our time together.  Depending on the weather you can take a walk, play some fetch or tug, practice some tricks for a while, do some things that exercise their mind and body.  Just enough to get some of the energy out you don't want them completely exhausted. 

 

Tip #2 - Take photos in a comfortable place.  If your dog is more comfortable inside take the photos inside.  If they are comfortable outside you can take them there too!  What you don't want to do is take them to a super busy, super loud, super stimulating place if they aren't used to that.  For inside photos choose an area by a window or in a super well lit area of your home is ideal. Sometimes letting them sit in a chair, on a sofa or on an ottoman can help keep them in place too, especially if thats something they are allowed to do and enjoy doing.  If you are outside you can try and have them on a low raised planter like Delilah and Cora in the photo below.  Regardless of if you are inside or outside you want to make sure they aren't in front of too much stuff. You want your dog to be the focus of the photo and not get lost in a busy back ground.  

Pro Tip:  Avoid using a flash when photographing your dog, they tend to get red eyes and thats definitely not cute.

Tip #3 - Take lots of photos.  It's good to take tons of pictures so then you will have more to choose from.  Your chances of getting a good photo increase with the amount of photos you take.  You can also try and take a video!  I do this all the time with Bella and many times I am able to screen shot quite a few pics out of the video.  The video catches more opportunities for cuteness.  This is also super helpful if you are trying to take photos of you with your dog by yourself. If I am trying to get a photo of the two of us I will set the phone up on a chair or tripod then I throw treats behind the camera and just keep smiling.  Something always turns out pretty good!

Tip #4 - Taking Photos with Dog Accessories or Products.  I can tell you right now every company you buy from loves seeing photos of their products with your dog.  Sometimes collars can be hard to photograph since their head can cover their neck depending on the angle, in this case you can take thew photo from the side like Sopie in the mermaid collar and leash in the photo above, you can place the collar next to them on the floor or maybe if they are good at balancing you can try to balance it on top of their head.  For bandanas you can can have them sit and look at you or maybe if that's too much you can lay it next to them or even on their head like my friend Morgan in the photo below. You can also take some pics while you are walking and get the leash in action. There are so many ways to have fun with this. 

Last but not least make this fun for both of you!  If neither of you are having fun doing it take a break and try again another time.

If your pup needs some cute new accessories for you to practice taking photos in I know a great place you can find my favorite accessories here 😉 

 

I hope you found these tips helpful!  I can't wait to see some cute pics of your dog in their Bella B's accessories. You can always email me your pictures or if you post it to socials make sure to tag us @bellabbarkery and use the hashtag #bellabbarkery so I can see them!  Big thank you's to everyone who already sends me photos! I LOVE seeing and sharing them.  And how cute are the pups in the email? Thank you to Nelly, Sophie, Delilah, Cora and Morgan for being so adorable and big thank you to your parents for sending me these photos!!!

If you are in the Southern California area and are interested in a professional photoshoot with me you can message me here on the contact page. I would love to talk to you and give you more details. You can also check out my website at www.anjalouphotography.com I am based in Los Angeles but I have sessions from San Diego to San Luis Obispo county.  

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