How photogenic is your dog?

[JacksonsMom]

Is your dog naturally photogenic or did it take more training for pictures? Or do you just... hardly get any pictures of your dog at all? lol.

Jackson's loved the camera since he was a pup. Literally this was the first day I brought him home. lol

I get so spoiled because when I try to take pictures of other peoples dogs, including my dads, I'm just like OMG stop moving, OMG LOOK at me, and they just never come out as good! Jackson will gladly stand and pose for sometimes minutes at a time lol.

So is your dog a poser, or just puts up with the camera, or just doesn't? lol

 

[Southpaw]

They're great at action shots lol but most of my posed photos consist of a lot of "hey, look at me. Hey. Hey you. *Snaps fingers, whistles, etc etc* CAN YOU JUST LOOK HERE."

They just don't want to look at the camera lol it's like as soon as that's against my face they will do whatever they can to NOT look at me. If I put the camera down, they look!

 

[Toller_08]

Surprisingly, despite my hundreds of photos, Dance is not easy to photograph at all. She's very fidgety and doesn't hold one position long enough a lot of times to get a nice picture. She also blinks at the worst times too. She is still fairly photogenic and not the most difficult by far, but she could certainly be easier haha.

Ripley can be every unphotogenic, which is why I don't share as many photos of him. Unless I have an enticing toy or treats or rocks available to throw for attention, it's impossible to have him look anywhere at all in my direction or the direction I want him to, and if he does manage to look, he won't perk his ears nicely. I dunno. There's just always something haha. He's very difficult to take good photos of. Keira was even harder.

Journey was made for a camera. She always knows just where I want her, will look at me for anything, will look any direction I want her to, and she never even has a bad hair day haha. She is a photographer's dream. I occasionally get unflattering photos of her, but nine times out of ten, she looks great.

 

[pinkspore]

Brisbane was trained for an acting/modeling career before I realized his temperament was completely unsuitable. He can target a small strip of tape on the floor from across a large room, move from one target to another, and do eyelines where he looks in various directions on cue.

The photographer friend who does all the pictures for my blog says he is way more photogenic than he originally appears.

Ru also has his moments.

...and then there's Uly. Easily the least photogenic dog on the planet, his in-person beauty cannot be captured. I want to show you how stunning he is, but all get is this:

 

[Slick]

I think Leo is very photogenic. But then again, I am super super biased

H

 

[Equinox]

lol pinkspore, I adore all your dogs so much.

Trent was so not born photogenic. This is a picture I took on his first day home

That's the look of a dog that needs to get his **** together.

Also, he was the master of the side eye

Most of my pictures of him turned out like this (he liked to bite things)

Wish I could say he quickly found his affinity for the camera after a few months with me, but that wasn't really the case...

But then I actually became interested in taking decent pictures and we both showed a lot of improvement from there on out lol We've both gotten a lot better now

He definitely knows to look at the camera and especially to hold a pose, and will climb up on things on his own for photos. He does group stays and sits well and knows to hold it until released, but half the time his expressions just plain suck.

I usually have to make weird noises or throw a ball to get him looking attentive. He also definitely has his bad angles, which is why it's hard taking pictures of him plus another dog/person/what have you. He's easy to photograph, but not all that photogenic in my opinion. I only post the pictures that turn out... for the most part.

Either way though, he is SO incredibly patient

 

[pinkspore]

Puppy Trent had a serious case of the blurs!

This was Brisbane's first day home:

This is what he looked like pretty much all of the time:

Look! Permanent teeth!

 

[CharlieDog]

Indy can be incredibly photogenic. Ozzy too.

Enzo always looks like I'm about to beat the crap out of her, so definitely not photogenic. It's a struggle to get a nice looking picture of her.

Harrison is entirely too blurry to get good pictures of him for the most part. It involves a lot of "NO WAIT. STAY. RIGHT THERE." that he ignores. I'm working on that because he's a very good looking boy.

 

[Dekka]

Aww Trent is so cute with the glasses and the computer.

I would say most of my dogs have been photogenic. The best was Kat. Every picture I took of her was like she was posing.

I never had to train her to stack, she always stopped stacked even when tiny. Made her easy to show.

Its been years since I lost her and I still get teary eyes looking at these, I miss this face so much

 

[Fran101]

Merlin is the kind of dog you want at a photography studio.... not action shots :rofl1:
he would make a great doggy clothes model in the sense that he POSES extremely well, he looks at the camera, he tilts his head, he sits nicely

Problem is, when the camera comes out, he poses...so it's so hard to get pictures of him being natural.

I also think it's kind of cheating when you have a light colored merle dog with light eyes. It makes taking pictures a lot easier

Not the best example but he was romping in the water and really being funny but the minute I hold the camera up I get

 

[yv0nne]

Penn is a mix. When she's photogenic, she's very photogenic and when she's not she's horrible looking ahaha sometimes she is hardcore serious& noble looking and other times her tongue is hanging out sideways& there's drool on her nose. Poor thing.

 

[Ozfozz]

Cobain has always been a bit of a poser. (Yes I'm using this as an excuse to share too many photos)

At 5 weeks old he was the only pup in his litter that would sit still. Even if he did look like a groundhog.

Then he got a little older, and cuter.

He now will follow direction when I bring the camera out . He holds a pose, and then will change expressions and plain of focus after a minute or so.

 

[Ozfozz]

In the beginning, Rigby wasn't the best in front of a camera. But as she grew more comfortable, and bonded to myself and the other dogs, I think she began to pick up the same cues as Cobain. It was also a process of me learning to photograph a black dog.
She will hold a pose and almost show emotion.

 

[k9krazee]

Not. Photogenic. And clearly tortured.

Crossbone is usually ears back for photos and looks super mad or sad...unless I'm bribing him. I can say all of the good words and he'll just glare harder until given the release.

Bribery:

Jack, on the other hand, is much better at posing. Probably more practice?

With Jack, I can tell him..."Now put your paw up and your head down" and he'll comply.

 

[k9krazee]

Found a good one of them actually posing together -- ok, I guess when props are not involved, Crossbone is much more photogenic

 

[JacksonsMom]

Lol, I LOVE all these!

One thing that does make me laugh/frustrates me. Sometimes I want Jackson to be 'smiling' and have his tongue hanging out, he just looks happier, lol. And after a long walk or run, he obviously will be panting, but when I go to take the picture, he almost always closes his mouth! LOL, sooo annoying. I'm like OMG keep your freakin' mouth open, you don't need to close it just because you're posing lol.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Cobain is adorable. I really love his coloring. Gorgeous dog.

And Trent was probably the cutest puppy ever, omg.

 

[Julee]

They're great at action shots lol but most of my posed photos consist of a lot of "hey, look at me. Hey. Hey you. *Snaps fingers, whistles, etc etc* CAN YOU JUST LOOK HERE."

They just don't want to look at the camera lol it's like as soon as that's against my face they will do whatever they can to NOT look at me. If I put the camera down, they look!

Pretty much.

 

[Laurelin]

Summer is great. Point her at anything and she poses.

Mia is easy to get action shots with. Posed shots though? NOPE. Her stay is terrible and she has better things to do. Point the camera at her and she usually meanders off.

The REALLY annoying thing is that when I point the camera at Summer, Mia jumps in and stands in the way. And she usually makes weird faces.

 

[sassafras]

Squash and Pip are ridiculously photogenic.

Maisy is and isn't. She doesn't like the camera, aka big-eyed staring cyclops monster, and usually she droops when it is pointed at her and she looks serious at best or miserable at worst. But if you can catch her distracted by something else she can be pretty photogenic.