Do you ever wish you could take extraordinary pictures of your dog? Taking perfect pictures of dogs can be tough. Most dogs do not know “say cheese” and pose for pictures, but it can be done. All it takes is a little practice and patience.

Here are some useful tips for that pawfect pictures!

Preparation:
Unclutter the area that you are taking pictures of your dog in. Keep backgrounds as plain as possible. Have treats and/or your dog’s favorite toys handy. They are great attention getters.

Choosing a right environment:
Take pictures where your dog can relax and be himself. Avoid an unfamiliar environment or place with distractions, such as a park with many people and other dogs. Try to take pictures outside so that you can avoid using flash which will produce that evil looking red-eye. When outside, make sure your dog is not under direct sunlight or he will be squinting his eyes! Choose lighter color background for dark color dog and vise versa.

Eye-to-eye contact:
Avoid taking pictures from your eye level. Kneel or sit (or even lie down) and hold the camera at the dog’s eye level to capture his sweet, innocent or even mischievous expressions. Nobody can resist those big, droopy puppy eyes!

Practice makes it perfect:
Taking a lot of pictures will increase your chance of capturing the perfect moment. Try both vertical and horizontal shots and different angles to create different effects.

Be patient:
Do not force your dog to pose or act in a certain way. Just wait for your dog to situate himself for the photo session and be himself. Dogs have short attention spans, so try to keep the photo session short.

Your Next Step
So, you took a lot of pictures of your dog… now what? Click here for ideas for what to do with your dog's pictures.