Dog Photography Tips

Dog Photography

Hi friends!

We are excited to share some dog photography tips today. Many of you know, as well as owning Dressed Up Pup, I am also a professional photographer. I have many ask about Piper and Emmie’s photos on IG so I thought I would answer some popular questions below:

1) What type of camera do you use?

For my professional photography clients I utilize Nikon gear. However, for Dressed Up Pup’s IG page I use a mixture of my Nikon and Iphone photos as well.

2) What type of post processing do you utilize?

I use a mixture of many things but my favorite is PhotoShop.

3) Do you use studio lighting?

For my professional photography business, I do utilize studio lighting while in-studio, but a lot of what I do is outdoors also.

For Dressed Up Pup - I utilize natural light for my pups and product shots as well. Piper is too anxious at the studio, so I created a natural light studio for her in my home.

4) What is the most important thing to know about photography?

I get asked this question a lot. There are many important factors - but I would say one of the most important is lighting. Good lighting is key to quality photography.

Secondly, become familiar with your camera and the functions of it. Play with it and see what it can do. Test out all the features and see which settings you prefer.

Lastly - editing makes a huge difference. Explore different editing options and see which you prefer for your aesthetic.

Lighting tip: natural light is your friend - before I had a studio space, I did in-home newborn photo shoots for years. It wasn’t practical to lug around bulky lighting equipment so I made the most of natural light. Every client’s home was different, so I had to think on my feet a lot… but I always found the best light source and went from there.

So if you’re photographing your pup at home - find the best natural light in your home. Where does the light pour in from…that is where you set up and take photos.

Natural light moves as the day progresses so see where the sun rises and sets in relation to your home. This will help guide you as to where to set up your photos for the best lighting.

You can see in your images which side the light is coming in from- above you see the light is falling from Piper’s right side and the left side is a bit more shadowed.

Pro TIP —-> Also notice the tiny lights in her pupils - those are called catchlights. It’s where the light hits her pupils - if you’re not seeing catchlights, you may not have enough light where you are photographing OR you may need to change the angle you are photographing at for best results.

I hope these tips have helped answer some of your questions. Feel free to dm me with any topics you’d like to learn more about in the future.