Examiner.com

A portrait of a black lab by Virgil Sweeden

Have you ever tried to photograph your black dog (or another animal with a dark face), only to end up with the animal's features lost in shadows? Or maybe the only features you could see were red glowing eyes? What’s the solution? Is there a way to photograph black dog?

The answer is an emphatic "Yes!" according to Virgil Sweeden, owner of Paw Prints Pet Photography in South Dayton. "Black dogs can definitely be photographed both in action without a flash and in settings when you can use a flash." Here are Sweeden's suggestions:

Outdoors

One approach for either action or stationary photography is to shoot outside. But be aware that a sunny day or a day when the sun is high in the sky may not yield the results you want. Sweeden explains, "The best day for outdoor photography of a dark dog is a cloudy day or an early morning or late afternoon. If the sun is too bright, the result will be too contrasty—black shadows and bright highlights where light strikes the fur."

Even if you are photographing outdoors, you can experiment with using a flash. "Stay at least six or seven feet from the dog," Sweeden says, "so that the flash spreads out and doesn’t just illuminate one area (like the dog’s face), leaving the rest of the dog in relative shadow."

If the sun angle is low (early morning or late afternoon), he suggests arranging the scene so that the sun comes from an angle behind you, not from straight behind you.

"Don’t be surprised if you must take 10, 20, or even 30 pictures to get a handful of good ones," Sweeden cautions.

Indoors with a Flash

Sweeden continues, "Photographing indoors with a flash can yield the most consistently good results."

One of his secrets to indoor photography is to understand that room light (lamps, light fixtures, and even window light) are not the best sources of light for the photo. As he explains it, "Even though our eyes adjust fine to interpreting scenes under those conditions, cameras don’t." The best setup is studio lights and an in-camera flash, which is what Sweeden uses.

"Of course," he acknowledges, "most people don’t have studio lights." But you can achieve good results with just a flash. Here are some of his ideas:

• Position the dog on a comfortable spot, like a rug or a couch. Keep the background (the wall, floor, upholstery, etc.) as simple as possible. Large patterns or bright colors will probably detract from the dog in the photo. If the dog is standing, position him or her at least five or six feet from a wall to prevent having a big bright area of reflection. Having the dog stand several feet out from a wall of closed drapes can be a nice effect. But so can a dog curled up on a rug or sitting in a chair.
• Above all, choose a setting where the dog will be comfortable. Sweeden says, "Don’t, for example, expect your dog to stand on a piano bench if that’s not something your dog usually does."
• Keep the camera at least six or seven feet from the dog, if that’s possible. Get in close enough that the dog will fill most of the frame (especially important with a small dog), but not so close that the dog’s nose will be in focus while everything else is blurry.
• Sweeden continues, "For the most interesting photos, try getting down to the dog’s level." Keep the camera at the dog’s eye level. And be aware of whether the dog looks best with his or her nose angled slightly up or slightly down.

Indoors with No Flash

When photographing action, such as in an agility ring, you must almost always work by available light. "That means no studio lights and no flash," Sweeden says. Under those circumstances, the first rule is to take lots and lots of pictures, expecting to get just one or two keepers. He concludes, "Don’t be surprised if you throw away 95% of what you shoot."