Dogs especially can be very playful which makes for wonderful photo's. Family photo albums these days aren't complete without pictures of our entire families, including our dogs. I find that we often use the dog in the picture as a guide to the year and the respective ages of the children. It's no longer unusual to see a beautiful portrait of a dog alongside other family portraits on our wall.

However, your dog, handsome as they may be, has no interest whatsoever in sitting pretty for a portrait. We've all experienced the frustration of getting great portraits of Sandro the wonder dog, or Mitzi the marvellous mutt.

Taking digital photographs of your pet dog can bring with it a whole set of new challenges. Getting down on the dogs level is a better bet than taking the photograph from above. Getting down on your dogs level also allows you to fill your frame and doesn't leave you with an image that looks like it was taken too far away. Choose your location carefully to capture your dogs character or personality traits. If your dog is active, photograph him/her at the local park or beach. Grass or sand makes a great background, especially if out of focus. Grass in particular allows most colour dogs to stand out clearly against the background.

First of all be aware that you will want your pet to be easily seen in your photograph. So for a black dog make sure that you find a light coloured background. Similarly a light coloured dog will be best pictured against a darker backdrop. Besides showing your dog up better the correct background will help compliment and highlight any unique attractive features that might otherwise be concealed.

Having found your location, whether it is indoors or out, you next need your pet to sit still long enough for you to take it's photograph. Unfortunately the best pictures are usually when they are wide awake and lively. This is also the time when they will be less likely to want to sit still while you mess around with a camera. For this reason it is important for you to be ready to take the shot as soon as the opportunity occurs. Usually the sound or sight of a toy or treat will be enough to cause your dog to look up in the direction you want – but be ready to snap that shot.
Also be aware that the previous tip is better than calling your dog's name, as that will usually cause him to move towards you and ruin the shot.

Ideally you should include the whole body of the animal in the shot so as not to lose any unique attractive markings or colourings your pet may have. Thank goodness for modern digital cameras! At least these days we can see immediately whether we need to repeat the shot, and if we do we can do it immediately with no extra cost. Try to lower your camera to the level of the subject. In line with your dogs face is better than looking down from above. Luckily, these days, it is easy to correct any red-eye that may occur.

Natural outdoor lighting is best to faithfully reproduce the colouring and texture of your pets coat. If this is an issue try to schedule your session for either early or late in the day for best effect. Always bear in mind also that you will not achieve good results if your pet is not in good healthy condition. Runny eyes or a dry nose will destroy a close-up photograph of any dog. Study your pet and get to know it's little ways and habits. Take advantage of them to engineer a situation that will provide the best photo opportunities even if you have to enlist the help of an accomplice.

We have barely scratched the surface here of what is a big subject. But if you are serious about taking fantastic pictures of dogs click on the pictures below to be taken to some recommended books that each contain a wealth of useful information on the subject of photographing dogs.