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Picture Pawfect: 10 Tips For Photographing Black Dogs

Ever wondered what the secret to taking pawsome shots of black dogs is? Well we’ve got a special guest this week; photographer and pawrent of Silly Tilly Poodle, and founder of Aura photography, shares her top ten tips for making your dark-hued pooch look picture pawfect…

Hi! Amy here, @sillytillypoodle’s human. I’m delighted to share with you a few tips and tricks that have helped me photograph our dog Tilly and other black beauties.

Here are my top 10 tips for taking photos of black dogs:

1.    Avoid using flash. Although it may be tempting with a dark-toned pup, this can often create the scary green eye effect, which doesn’t do any dog justice.

2.    Find a source of soft, even light. I have found midday sun is quite harsh which can make your photo subject appear dark in contrast to brighter surroundings.

3.    Bring your dog into a shaded area, making sure your background isn’t too brightly lit.

Black poodle playing tug-of-war with a rope toy in a field

4.    Shoot on cloudy days to allow your subject to be more evenly lit, this also means you won’t have to worry too much about shadows.

5.    Capture a dog’s beautiful eyes. An easy way to do this is to hold something enticing such as a ball or toy near to the camera. Try moving the ball around to reflect the light on your dog’s eyes.

Black poodle sitting looking up at the camera

6.    Shooting from above helps with dogs who have more fur. It allows fur to fall back away from the eyes. Plus it’s such an endearing angle!

7.    A great time of day to shoot is the hour just before the sun sets. This is referred to as the golden hour. The sun is low in the sky, shadows are long, and light is much softer.

8.    Black dogs are perfect for silhouettes! This is easiest to achieve with the sun behind your subject during the golden hour at dawn or dusk.

Black Poodle silhouetted in a park.

9.    Go outside. If your house isn’t especially well lit then you may find indoor shots of your pooch turn out like a black blob. For me, an easy fix was to go where the light was… this can help you capture candid precious moments.

10.    Practice. Trial and error is your best friend. Find what works for you and your dog and stick with it!

Black Poodle wearing an version 1 PitPat Dog Activity monitor being held by owner

If you’d like to see more of my photography, feel free to check out Aura Photographs on Facebook and Instagram.

I hope you found this useful, thanks for reading!

Amy (&Tilly!)

Find Tilly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sillytillypoodle/

And if you really want your dog to look super stylish for their photos, put a PitPat Dog GPS Tracker on their collar. It comes in four fantastic colours which will really pop against their black fur and make them the envy of all the pups in the park.

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