10 Amazing Camera Hacks for Better Dog Photography

A Post By: Phil Harris

In this article, you will learn 10 camera tricks and hacks that could help you take far more interesting dog photography — or photos of any pet, for that matter.

If you love taking pictures of your pooch but don’t feel that you are getting any spectacular results that are worth framing, then perhaps some of the following tips will help inspire you to take your pet and dog photography to the next level.

Let’s see if these 10 dog photography hacks will inspire you to try something new today.

1. Use window light

This might not seem like much of a hack, but it is your job as a photographer to look for the best light. Many photographers say that window light is their favorite lightbecause it’s a soft light that creates beautiful shadows across your subject.

If you are looking for the quickest and easiest way to create a more professional look for your pictures, moving them closer to a soft light source such as a window would be my first tip.

In the image above, you can see the difference between having the dog by the window and not. Not only is the light more dynamic, because your camera will detect more light, but it will use a lower ISO, which all means a cleaner, less “noisy” image.

2. Use your phone light

We probably all know the saying, “Never work with children or animals”. The reason is that they are unpredictable and quite often do not do what you want them to do when you want them to do it. There may be times when your dog is doing something cute, and it is simply not possible to move them to a window to get that perfect lighting.

These days, however, you have access to light right in your pocket. Next time your dog is doing something cute in lousy lighting conditions, rather than pushing that ISO up and just dealing with the bad light, why not introduce some of your own light using the phone in your pocket? It takes seconds to set up and can instantly give your pictures a far more dynamic feel.

3. Tin foil

Now that we have covered the basics of good lighting, we can move on to some of the fun stuff. If you are a fan of beautiful round bokeh (blurred background), then tin foil could be your new best friend. By putting some scrunched up foil behind your subject and shining a light on it, you will instantly get a “starry” bokeh effect.

This technique requires a bit of practice, but my top tips are to use a lower aperture and move your dog far enough in front of the foil that the camera focuses on the dog, causing the background to blur.

My second bit of advice is to use a short telephoto or zoom lens, preferably above 50mm to 85mm. This is because a wider lens takes in more of the background so you will need more foil. If you use a telephoto lens, less of the background will be in the shot, which means you will need less foil to create the effect.

4. The upside down reflection shot

This tip is as simple as it sounds! The next time you are near some still water, such as a puddle or a pond, try holding your camera upside down and shooting your dog’s reflection in the water. When you look at the image the correct way, you will create a fantastic illusion. When people see your dog’s feet at the bottom of the picture, they will realize that they are looking at a reflection.

This tip works well with dogs as they are so low to the ground.

5. Use a mirror to create white space

It is your job as a photographer to lead the viewer’s eye to the subject that you want them to look at. This is part of the beauty of these fast lenses with really blurry backgrounds; you can leave your subject in focus and blur the background, so it is clear what you want our viewer to look at.

Another way to do this is the use of white space. By shooting in a mirror, you can purposely introduce a significant portion of the wall behind the mirror and put your subject off to the corner of the image. This creates a massive amount of white space, producing a far more interesting picture.

6. Fairy lights

Fairy lights are great as they introduce three elements that photographers love:

1. Added detail.
2. Possibility for nice round bokeh.
3. Additional light.

Why not get your dog to sit on some fairy lights when you are taking his picture next? You can also add your phone light as well to add that lovely dynamic shadow at the same time.

7. Phone or Perspex reflections

Symmetry will become your best friend when taking pictures. There is something about reflections and balance that are very pleasing to the human eye.

If you find yourself without a reflective surface to shoot into, why not make your own? I carry a small bit of perspex with me wherever I go. However, many photographers use their mobile phones.

All you need to do is hold it next to your lens to create a reflection of your pet.

7. Prisms

Prisms mix two elements that we have already discussed; they can create white space, almost blurring out a significant portion of your photographs, and you can get some exciting reflections out of them.

However, the reason why I love using prisms is that they can add some fantastic color to an image that might otherwise be a little dull.

9. Phone flare

Flare is a real sought-after look. We have all spent time pointing our lenses almost directly at the sun trying to get that beautiful lens flare look.

Well, the next time you want instant lens flare, just get your trusty phone out of your pocket again and try shining that light into the camera to get a very similar effect.

10. Change your perspective

Finally, why not just change your perspective? The number one thing that will make your pictures look more professional is capturing things in a different way from others.

Most of the time, this just comes down to shooting something from a different angle. People are used to looking down at their dogs, so they will typically take images of their dogs from above. Why not take your pictures from floor level to get pictures of your pet you may not have seen before?

Also, try mixing my technique of using white space in combination with this tip. Purposely shoot more of the floor and put your dog in the corner of the image to help lead the viewer’s eye.

11. One final bonus tip for good luck

One of the best tips I have ever received for my photography comes in particularly handy photographing dogs.

Always focus on the eye that is nearest you.

Your viewers will always focus on the subject’s eyes. If they are sharp, then people do not worry so much about the rest of the image.

If you look back at some of the pictures above, you will notice that sometimes the nose is slightly out of focus due to the use of a shallow aperture. However, you may not have noticed that when you first looked at the images because the eyes are in focus. I do this with all the pictures I take.

A Quick Guide to Using Bounce Flash for More Natural-Looking Photos

A Post By: Frank Myrland

Creating a portrait using flash is a whole lot more than just pointing your flash at your subject and taking the shot. Learning how to use flash creatively opens up a variety of new lighting options – which you can use to make the picture you envision in your head show up on your camera’s LCD screen. In this article, we’re going to look at using bounce flash.

Bounce flash is a handy trick you can use in a pinch to improve both the quality and amount of light in your finished picture using a flash unit right on top of your camera.

The soft lighting for this image was created using a single flash, positioned on the camera and pointed directly up at the ceiling.

What is bounce flash?

Bounce flash is exactly what it sounds like. You aim the flash unit on your camera at a ceiling or nearby wall so that the light reflects off it and then back towards your subject.

This may seem like a really roundabout way of providing illumination, but there are a number of excellent reasons why you would want to bounce your flash, such as:

• It quickly creates soft light.
• It can be used to create directional light.
• Helps you avoid the drawbacks of direct flash.

Let’s go through each of these points in more detail to get a better sense of how to use bounce flash to improve your photography.

Left: On-camera flash rotated to bounce off a wall to the side. Right: Built-in flash that cannot be rotated or bounced.

1. How does bounce flash create soft light?

One of the most important factors in determining how soft the light in your image will be is the apparent size of the light source. Notice I said “apparent size” – not “actual size”.

Your pop-up flash or attached speedlight are small light sources – so if you aim them directly at your subject you get harsh lighting. This is why photographers often use softboxes, umbrellas or other modifiers to create a larger source of light – which makes the light softer.

You can use this same concept to quickly create a larger apparent light source by bouncing your flash off a roof or wall and spreading out the light.

Direct flash is that which is aimed right at the subject.

Direct flash – not flattering to the subject and creates a harsh shadow on the wall behind.

Flash aimed at the ceiling to bounce the light and soften it.

Flash bounced off the ceiling – much more even and softer lighting.

2. How can bounce flash create directional light?

Understanding the direction from which the light is coming – and using that to your advantage – can have a huge impact on the quality of your photos.

Without flash, you’re at the mercy of whatever ambient lighting is available. When you are indoors in a dimly lit room, that ambient light is often rather unpleasant as the light usually comes from the ceiling overhead. This casts deep and dark shadows under people’s eyes – not at all a flattering look for a portrait.

By setting up near a wall, you can bounce your flash off it and effectively create a new light source that sweeps in from the side. Think of it as creating a new window to add more light to the scene. This new light will fill in those ugly shadows for a much more pleasing look.

Flash rotated to the side.

Bouncing the flash off the wall.

The result of the flash being bounced off the wall to camera left is more directional light as seen here.

3. How does bounce flash improve on direct flash?

Sometimes a direct flash can significantly improve an image. Sometimes it results in redeye, awkward shadows, and a deer-in-headlights look.

Using bounce flash solves the red-eye problem since that is caused by light reflected directly back at the camera from the back of the eyeball. When your main light is bouncing in from overhead or from the side, you can also say goodbye to large shadows cast by your subject onto the background.

Lastly, direct flash creates boring lighting that flattens facial features and textures. Bounce flash results in more sculpted light that can be used to accentuate features and show depth.

This portrait was taken with direct flash, causing a harsh shadow on the back wall and a bad case of red-eye (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 500)

Without using flash, I had to bump the ISO up to 6400 in order to keep the right exposure. The colors are dull and there is a lot of noise in the shot (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 6400)

With bounce flash, the light on the model is soft and even. There is a glimmer of catch-light in the subject’s eyes and no shadow on the back wall. (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 500)

What do you need to get started with bounce flash?

In order to shoot bounce flash, the bare minimum you will need is an external flash unit with a head that can swivel and tilt.

If you are planning on buying a new flash, make sure to research how it can be maneuvered. Some cheaper models will provide more flash power than your standard in-camera pop-up flash, but if they can’t be adjusted to tilt and swivel then you won’t be able to use them for bounce flash lighting.

Get a flash that can both rotate (swivel) and tilt (up and down) in order to do bounce flash.

Balancing the light

When shooting with flash in a bright room, you need to perform a balancing act in order to keep the light looking natural. This is the case with bounce flash as well.

A flash picture essentially has two exposures:

1. The ambient, or available light, which is all the light from windows, light bulbs, candles, chandeliers, etc.
2. The light from your flash.

As the photographer, you need to balance these two exposures to create the image you want. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that you need to go around flicking light switches until you get the exact amount of brightness needed for each shot – your camera settings can control how much light will be in the final shot.

In this image, the flash is too strong and the exposure is not well-balanced with the ambient light in the room. Exposure here was: 1/125th, f/4, ISO 250, flash was ETTL with +2 Flash Exposure Compensation.

Aperture:

Opening up the aperture will allow more light in, effectively increasing the flash power and also making the camera pick up more of the ambient light

ISO:

Increasing your ISO means the sensor “collects” more light. Again, this effectively increases the power from your flash as well as the influence of the ambient light.

Shutter Speed:

Here’s where a lot of control comes in. As long as you stay within your camera’s maximum sync-speed, your flash will influence the final shot regardless of the shutter speed. On the other hand, a long shutter speed will collect a lot of ambient light, and a short shutter speed will collect less, often drastically affecting the final image.

It may take some time to get used to this balancing act with aperture, ISO, and shutter speed so that your bounce flash shots give you well-lit subjects with natural-looking lighting.

Firing a flash into the roof of the car creates soft, bounced light that really makes all the surface details shine.

Other details to keep in mind

Flash Power

Since the light from your flash has to travel the extra distance to bounce off a wall or ceiling before reaching the subject, you can’t use your camera’s ETTL metering as is to determine the amount of power needed. Your camera assumes that you are using direct flash, so if you don’t make any adjustments, the flash power will always be a bit too low.

Increase your camera’s flash exposure compensation depending on the distance to the surface you are using to bounce the light. For a typical ceiling in a home, this might be an adjustment of +1/3 or +2/3. If you are photographing in a hall with high ceilings, you may need to boost your flash by +1 or even more.

A seamless background and soft light from bouncing the flash off a slanted ceiling gives this picture the type of quality you might expect from multiple flashes and a studio setup.

Color

Important question: What color is going to be reflected back at you if you shoot a flash into a pink wall?

Yup, you guessed it – it’s gonna be pink. The light from your flash is going to take on whatever color it bounces off. So unless you’re going for that funky, unnatural pink look, you’ll want to make sure you bounce your flash off neutral-color surfaces like whites, grays or blacks. (Alternatively, you can shoot or convert to black and white.)

Don’t blind people!

As you start to discover how fun it is to swivel your flash around and create dramatic and interesting light, it can be easy to forget where your flash is pointed. If an unfortunate passerby steps between the wall and your flash just as you fire off a shot, they might get an unwelcome blast of light. It’s a good idea to check and make sure the coast is clear before snapping each shot.

5 Quick Portrait Posing Tips to Flatter Your Subject

A Post By: Lily Sawyer

Being in front of the camera is daunting, to say the least, not to mention staring at a big black lens in front of you. I understand how my subjects feel because I totally hate being photographed. In this article, I’ll give you five portrait posing tips to help flatter your subjects.

1. Relaxed posture

Getting your subject into a relaxed posture is easier said than done! But relaxing for portraits is definitely not synonymous to slouching. I tell my subject to close their eyes and take some deep breaths, give their arms and hands a good shake, breathe out, and then open their eyes.

It’s easier for men. I tell them to relax into their normal stance and give them instructions from there. For men, it is generally a slouching issue. I tell them to straighten their spine and not to slouch. This makes them look taller and leaner and gives them square shoulders rather than droopy. However, this posture can look a bit stiff too so I ask them to gently breathe out as this releases the tension on the shoulders.

Relaxing for women is a little bit trickier but the above is a good start. Sometimes it helps them to imagine that a string is attached to their spine and I am pulling it gently upwards. The key word here is gently!

2. Weigh distribution

I get women to stand with one leg slightly behind the other and to put their weight on the back leg. With the weight distributed more on the back hip and leg, I get them to lean their upper body forward toward me to balance the weight distribution and slightly twist their body to either the left or right.

It’s a very subtle chest-forward-booty-back pose and you really want it to be subtle. It is important to make sure that you are not looking up at your subjects but that your camera is ever so slightly looking down at them. This pose and your camera angle combined gives your subject a more flattering and leaner look. Don’t overdo the looking down angle, a slight camera tilt will do. This is not the bird’s eye view pose.

Men don’t need to redistribute their weight backward and forwards like women. I find that an even central distribution of weight works better for them. Getting them to put their thumbs in their pockets helps achieve this. If I feel they need to slightly loosen up, I just tell them to gently breathe out.

3. Leaning

With their spines straight, find a wall or structure your subjects can lean on. I usually start with having them lean with their backs flat against the structure and I instruct them to pull away from one side until I feel the right angle is achieved.

Sometimes, this pose ends up as just one shoulder leaning. The important thing is that the resulting image does not look like your subject is missing a limb or shoulder as can happen sometimes if you are not careful with the angles.

4. Chin forward

Women are extremely conscious about double chins and their faces not looking as lean as they’d like in their images. A bad habit that many women do instinctively when they are photographed is to tilt their chins upwards thinking this removes any double chins.

This looks very unnatural and awkward and gives them a longer neck and a shorter face. When you speak to people, you don’t stick your chin up at them, do you? Instead of chinning up, I get them to push their chins forward and down a touch. This gives them a slight stretchy pain on the back of the neck and feels unnatural, but looks really flattering.

The forward action eliminates the double chin and tipping the chin slightly downwards makes the face look leaner.

You can modify this pose slightly by asking them to point their chins towards one shoulder and if the shoulder is droopy, they can lift the shoulder bone up a touch. This not only gives them a taller and leaner posture but adds angles as well to improve the composition of the image.

5. Connection

On any of the above and at any point during the session, breathing out helps your subject be more at ease so just remind them to do so. You also want them to always have a connection, just like the direction of the chin connecting to the direction of the shoulder for some angles.

Their gaze also needs to connect to either their body or their environment. You don’t want your images to look like the subject is in a vacuum. Looking straight at the camera connect them to the viewer. If you are shooting outdoors, you could instruct your subject to look at the horizon in the far distance or a tree nearby.

If they are holding something like flowers or a coffee mug, you could ask them to look down at what they have in their hands. Check that they don’t look asleep though so adjust your position and take a few images.

Conclusion

I hope these 5 quick portrait posing tips are helpful for you when you do your next photo session. If you have any other posing tips please share them in the comments below.

Pros an Cons of Shooting Alone Versus Being a Group Photographer?

A Post By: Simon Bond

An age-old question in life, not just photography, is are you a pack animal or a lone ranger? Everyone reading this will have their own answer to this question, it’s not even a black and white answer. In this article, the question posed is whether you shoot alone or are more of a group photographer?

Let’s take a look at the two different approaches to doing photography, and then compare them to see which one is better. Whether one is better is really just subjective, but depending on your favored form of photography you’ll certainly have a preference.

Joining other photographers is great, although they sometimes get in your shot!

Photographing solo

The preference for many photographers is to photograph alone. There are a lot of good reasons why this is best, so let’s take a look at a few of them:

• Get into the zone – To achieve the best photos, being distracted by others is rarely a recipe for success. Photographers will often get into a zone where a heightened sense of the environment around them will lead to better photos.
• Set your own schedule – When you visit a place, and how long you spend there are very important factors in photography. Whether you’re a street photographer waiting for that perfect moment, or a landscape shooter photographing blue hour, the schedule matters.
• Choose where to visit – Equally important, and related to the point above is where you choose to visit and shoot. Even if you travel with a fellow photographer, they may well want to visit a different place to suit their style of photography. Shooting alone allows you to be totally focused on your goal.

Photographing alone is the favored choice of many photographers, it helps you get more in the zone.

• Get your own angle – There will never be another photographer standing in the way of your composition when you photograph alone. Equally, you don’t need to worry about getting in the way of someone else, or getting to the best angle second.
• Curate your own photo –  Those who do portrait photography will know that creative control of the pose and position of your model are key. As is forming a close working relationship with your model. When photographing without other photographers these things are easier to achieve.
• Learn from your own mistakes – You’ll make mistakes along the way, even those with experience do. It might mean adding to your knowledge after you have made your mistake, but the next time you photograph this self-improvement will take you up a level.

The chance to work one to one with a model means you can work on your own concepts and ideas.

Photographing with a group

Of course, sharing your photography with others has some drawbacks, but there are also a lot of positives to photographing with other people. So whether you’re a solo or group photographer take a look at this list, and decide for yourself if you can benefit from joining a group, even if only occasionally.

• Share your experience – The act of exploring and seeing a new place is often more pleasurable when you have company. You may even be able to model for each other if the location would be better enhanced with a person in the scene.
• Pool your resources – Photography can be expensive when it comes to equipment, model hire, and location rental. These costs can be cut considerably by joining forces with other photographers.
• Share knowledge – One of the very best ways to learn about photography is from other photographers, that’s why you’re here right? Whether you’re experienced or new to photography you’ll find everyone can offer advice or tips that could improve your work.

Joining a group of photographer allows you to dip into their pool of knowledge.

• Safety – Carrying an expensive piece of camera gear? Heading out late at night for some photography? Having a few people with you when you photograph makes it a lot safer.
• Collaborations – To create a group project, you need a group! So getting to know some fellow photographers will facilitate this. Likewise, photographing a model often takes more than one person, sharing duties to hold the light stand helps a lot.
• Share your photos – Groups of photographers often share their work either each other. Sharing your photos is a great way to improve your photography, as you often get feedback on the photos you have shared.

This group of photographers was on a photo walk which I organized.

This is a photo taken on that photo walk, it was later shared with the participants through social media.

Being a solo or group photographer, which is best?

There are lots of pros and cons for shooting alone or with a group of photographers. The best answer is to make time to do both. Join a group perhaps once a week, and photograph by yourself on other occasions.

The genre of photography you do will also have a big impact on your choice, portrait photographers using strobes often need a team. On the other hand, if you’re a landscape or street photographer photographing alone may be best.

There is a middle solution though. The group doesn’t have to be large, perhaps only two or three. When all the photographers share the same interest, it can be just like photographing alone, only you have a group.

Are you a solo or group photographer? Why not be both? My friend and fellow dPS writer Pete DeMarco is someone with whom I’ve often photographed. We allowed each other enough space to photograph “alone” but then meet later after we’re done shooting.

Myself and Pete enjoy taking cityscape photos, so meeting up to do the same style of photography makes sense.

What kind of group should you join?

There are plenty of types of groups that you can join if you’re interested in meeting some new people. Not all of them even require you to meet other photographers in person, we do after all live in a digital global age. So let’s take a look at a few possibilities.

• Attend a photo walk – These are often one-off events and can involve large crowds. They’re great for meeting a lot of new faces, not always so good for taking the best photo. A very well known event like this is Scott Kelby’s worldwide photo walk, held once a year. An alternative idea to a photo walk is a potluck photography party, why not try it out?

This steel wool fire spinning photography event was organized by a photography club.

• Join a photo club – A great way to meet other photographers on a regular basis, and therefore learn from them. Groups like this often organize photography outings or perhaps hire a model for the club members to work with and photograph.
• Online communities – In reading and participating with this website you are part of a photography community. Even though not in person, participating online is a great way to gain knowledge. There is always the possibility of travel as well, you can meet people on a trip perhaps.
• Take part in a workshop – Meeting other photographers on a workshop is a great way to socialize, and learn at the same time.

Joining a group of photographer allows you to share the cost of hiring a model. It also means you lose control of pose and position. You also need to avoid getting into each other’s photos.

Are you a solo or a group photographer?

So which kind of photographer are you? A solo or a group photographer? Are there any other reasons why you like to photograph alone, or in a group?

If you photograph alone, why not reach out to a group and become part of a community. Although it’s nice to photograph alone, there is a raft of benefits to joining up with others. You’ll likely make some new friends, the type you can form a close friendship with through a shared interest.