I am trying to take a picture of my pug so I can draw him. He never sits still long enough to draw so I thought a photo would work and it would if I could get the little scamp to just look at the camera for one second. But every time I am just...just....just....ready to snap he turns away. I don't have anyone to hold him, maybe the neighbor, but that seems stupid. So does anyone know, short of duct tape, how to make a dog look at a camera long enough to get a picture? I am looking for "The Trick" if there is one.

I read or hear somewhere if you have an umbrela ready to open when you want the animal to look, it will get their attention.

Hello,

Do you have a digital camera? Taking tons of shots to get just the right one is what works for me with my dogs. Here are some thoughts. . . don't know if they might help. I have dogs and often take photos of them.

Head on shots with eye to eye contact can be very engaging shots, but often different angles will bring out the personality of the dog. . . capturing them when they are focused on something of interest to them is great. Maybe let him outside and snap a photo when he's watching a bird or lazing in a sunbeam or playing with a toy.

Maybe keep the camera handy and wait until he's relaxed in a favorite spot (his favorite chair, etc. ). Or if you could try to bait him with something he likes such as a favorite toy or a treat. This especially works if you've taught your dog to 'watch it' which I always do with pups because we show them. Or if he's obedience trained that makes it real easy to put him on a sit/stay or a wait or a stand/stay and then snap an alert photo.

Or if the problem is that he's a very energetic dog, maybe take him out for a long walk/hike and get his energy out. . . then when he's home and ready for some calm downtime, you can have a short photo session.

Good luck. Please share when you get some! I love dog photos.

I find I have my best luck taking drawable photos of children outside, in bright sunshine. That way you're using a fast shutter speed so even if the subject is moving, you can get a sharp photo (yeah, you can use flash, too, but then the photos are lousy for drawing.) I imagine this would help for pets, too!

My husband use to be a animal photographer ...we went to peopls homes and photographed their pets ...how he did it was he set everything up .. back ground ect...unless it was a outside shot such as a horse or rooster ect...( people pay big money to have their pets photographed ..all kinds of pets lol ) anyway he would hold up a squeeky toy ....one of ours ...the dog almost always looked at the camera ...and many times we would get a nice shot of that cocked head and ears alert ....so try using a toy that makes sounds and have everything ready to go ...soon as he turns take the shot...in your case you are not using the props as we did so just while the dog is resting ...set up ..squeeze and shoot ...as many times as you can . I bet you will get a nice shot .
same concept with babies and toddlers .

You have a lot of good advice here in photographing your dog. It really is a matter of taking many many photos before you find a good one usually.

Use natural light, get down on the dog's level, use treats to get his attention and use a remote button if you can to take the photos. You'll get one eventually.

I have a miniature schnauzer who does not like her photo taken. She always turns her head away. When I took her to a pet store for a Christmas photo, they put her on a table and then slapped a fly swatter against the wall while they took the shot. You'll have to use both hands. Sounds like you will be having a "funny" moment or several while trying to get a nice photo. You could always get one while your dog is asleep as a last resort.

My shihtzu responds when we call her name so pretty much I hold the camera, call her name, and she looks. Same with my cat.

Other things that get a dog to look at you are words like 'treats" or whatever they respond to, even if it shaking a container.

Have you trained your dog???

First thing to make pics (and anything else) easier is to have your dog trained to sit and stay! You'll always have control and they are effectively nailed to the ground until you tell them they can move! Easy isn't it! No way Jose!!

While we would all like to think that our dog is well behaved they never are when it counts (doggone!!)

Get a clicker (you know, one of those metal kids toys) they are a great attention getter for dogs - and the best thing is that you can click them in one hand while you click the camera with the other.

Treats don't often work - but anything at all edible works with mine! They'll get so overexcited over food that they will try and trample me (or stand under the camera) just to get near it . But there are many that couldn't give a fig if you held the last frankfurt in the entire world in front of them, they just won't look.

Go for the noise - there is not a dog that can hear that won't respond in some way.

Hope that with all the rest of the good tips help.

I thought photographing my puppy was hilarious. This is the photos I took of her, minus the dozens that were just blurred!

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AHH!! A mini schnauzer! She is adorable! I wish the first couple of pics were bigger. I adore that last pic, that is just too cute for words. My Toby eyes me like that when I am trying to take a picture of him. I call it his "evil eye."

I love the last one. He looks like a big bearskin rug.

lol...i just had to smile as i read this topic...tooo cute...please no duct taping the pug..lmao..i have a yorkie so i can relate..out of 10-15 pics you might get one thats not too blurry to use..just too cute..he is always a blur around here..

Gracie is a Bouvier, she is only about 10wks old here.