Dog photography

Ok, so I see lots of nice pictures on here and I'm jealous! Hehe.
Seems like as soon as I break out with the camera, all I can get is "nose shots" or I can't get them far enough away from me to get a picture unless someone is holding them on a leash...whats your secret?
I've tried using "stay" but it is totally ineffective as soon as the camera is on...still too close constantly.
So any tips would be appreciated on getting some decent photos!

EDIT: Please move, posted in wrong area, sorry!

ha--my secret is that I take a gazillion pics and only post a few that turned out!!

Once VIc learned that staying for his picture being taken made me happy, he was more then happy to comply. THen he found out that letting do the stupid things to him i do like pirate teeth and a hat got him a piece of pizza, he said dress me up i am all yours.

Maybe you could start out by just taking the camera out and holding it..for a few seconds,,the reward..not planning on taking pics..then lengthening the time, until eventually you can take the time that you need and want. As long as the dog knows reward is coming they catch on pretty quick.

That's my hand at photography! LOL
It was a bit overcast out in my yard (right before they put down the hydroseed junk) and it's not a "bad" photo but could definitely be better...the angle isn't great (looks more like a Quarter Horse photo where they take them from the butt angle to make the rear look bigger) horses I don't have a problem with taking photos of, but then again, they aren't crawling all over me looking for snacks usually either (or they are behind a fence hehe)
Lily is especially hard to get a good light on...she's so dark I usually come up with a dark blob with eyes...
I imagine this is the same with the black labs? How do you get past that?

I also do the take a kazillion pictures and only post the good ones method lol! My dogs will be doing cute things, and as soon as I get out the camera....they move TOWARDS me lol. I hate when they do that!!

I just kept snapping photos until I get some that turned out right. That and squatting to their level. Very rarely do standing pictures turn out awesome.

For black dogs, taking their pictures outside in full sun in late afternoon seems to be about the best way to get decent pictures. The light is warm enough to light up their face without washing out the highlights and low enough to erase most of the shadows created by the facial planes.