Okay, let’s get this out of the way. This is a super weird expression! Why is Benji’s mouth all twisted up like that? What’s going on with his lips? Is he barking, or …? This...
One of the instructions I give to my dog owners when shooting “run to me” action shots like this one is to move out of the way after they throw the toy towards me. Sometimes,...
At this country field location, I found the long grass made getting a clear shot very difficult when shooting action. I was able to tweak my camera’s tracking settings a little to help (not all...
Do you shoot in or around water a lot?⠀ ⠀ I love shooting action shots in water, but it does come with a unique hazard!⠀ ⠀ A lens hood will help to protect your lens to a certain extent,...
When photographing dogs in action, a fast shutter speed is absolutely essential to capture the movement sharply. But exactly how fast does it need to be? How fast is fast enough?⠀ ⠀ As a general rule, when...
Do you struggle to capture sharp action shots? Do you find your camera struggles to lock focus, and when it does, it gets “left behind” when the dog is running fast? Well, the issue just...
Do you always shoot “run to me” action shots like this in landscape format? I certainly do! But when you want to include something in the background that doesn’t fit into the regular view, why...
When shooting action with backlight, it’s really important to remember you need to balance the direct sun light coming from behind the dog, with another light source illuminating the front side of them. Too much...
Action shots can sometimes be tricky to orchestrate when the dog isn’t interested in chasing a ball or toy. For dogs that are very treat motivated - developing a bond with them beforehand will ensure...
This shot was taken at during the session at the little creek. We’d let Bandit off to have a sniff around and a break from all the hardcore modelling he’d been doing! Breaks are essential...
Our dog model for the session was Bandit, a three year old rescue dog adopted from the shelter just a year ago. His parentage is unknown, but there's thought to be some Rhodesian Ridgeback in...
Twilight shots can look fairly dull in a raw file, lacking the colour and vibrance you experience in person. Those beautiful pink and purple pastel tones are all there hidden in the RAW file data...
Camera auto focus and tracking systems work by locking focus on areas of contrast in an image. Hard light, such as full sun, creates the most contrast. Shooting in the late afternoon with the sun...
10. Practice! Like most things you want to get better at in life, the key to obtaining consistently great action photos is to practice! Anything that you can get your dog to do repetitively – say, jumping for...
9. Re-create the action Anything that involves rapid motion and direction changes can be tricky to capture, but there are ways of making the movement of dogs more predictable and easier to capture. You could start by...
8. Shoot continuously Shooting at multiple frames per second - the highest frame rate your camera is capable of - helps increase your success rate and gives you more shots to choose from. This increases your...
7. Focus! Obtaining sharp focus in action shots is possibly the most important aspect of them all – and the hardest! Depending on your camera body, you’ll have various focus point options. I’ve found for action, a...
6. Be steady and stable It may seem obvious or even trivial, but this is such an important step! Holding the camera as steady as possible is instrumental in the success of sharp action photos. The...
5. Choose the right lens Dogs in action are usually easiest to follow from a distance, using a long lens, preferably a zoom. My favourite lens to use when shooting action is a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto...
4. Get down low This is important for all aspects of pet photography, but especially for action. Shooting at dog level gives a more accurate perspective and sense of scale. It allows you to capture expressions...