But, dogs still gotta have fun! I want to share how you can take some great photos of your furbabies in the challenging conditions that snow brings—and have fun doing it!

Bring out the White!

The bright snow white is a blanket of gorgeous, simple backdrop with the advantage of natural light. Since your camera “reads” the snow as a “middle grey” tone, for the perfect white exposure you need to compensate by “overexposing” your photo (or turn to the “snow” setting if your camera has a Scenes setting). This is easily done by opening your aperture by 1-2 stops. For example, if your camera reads f8, then try taking a photo at f5.6 or f4 to allow more light turning grey to white. If you are using your camera phone, this is also easily done with a pop up exposure meter on the screen. But don’t overdo it as you want to keep the snow’s texture in your photo. To get more details for iPhones, see this short article http://iphonephotographyschool.com/winter-snow/. Here are some profiles of my Shelties (Shetland Sheepdogs) Sammy (on the left) and Eleanor (aka Bunny) with that snowy white background.

Snow flying action!

If your dogs are like mine, snow will be flying everywhere as they break trail and try to run, run, run! You want to freeze the action for clear, sharp shots. I suggest using shutter speeds of 1/500 or preferably 1/1000 or greater to achieve this effect. Here are Baxter (on the left), the puppy, and Teddy, the 2-year old, frolicking in the snow. More on Baxter in future posts and you can watch him growing up on my Instagram site. Follow me @BrightEyesPhotosDC!

Profiles in white!

You can take advantage of the white background and the depth of the snow to get some fabulous single or group profile shots of your dogs. Dogs love treats and a few dangled above or to the side of your camera one-handed or by a helpful “assistant” will surely get your dogs’ attention fast. I prep by giving out a few rounds of treats and then start shooting away. Here are my 4 Shelties in a snow profile.

Perfect location!

Changing weather conditions like snow presents a chance for you to see where you live with a different perspective. Once you are dug out, take your dog out to see the sites covered in snow. Here is Baxter on the House of Representatives side of the U.S. Capitol on a mound of snow!

If you’d like to follow up with a session with your dogs or cats, check out my Sessions and Contact me! Or you might know someone who would be interested in a Session. You might like my SEASONS package that includes 4 full photo sessions throughout a 12-month period where I capture your dog or cat at different locations capturing the flavor of the 4 seasons of the year or whatever theme appeals to you. Let’s go for it!

How does a session with Bright Eyes Photos work? I’ll walk through a typical Classic session I had last fall with my dog groomer and her 6-month old Welsh Springer Spaniel girl puppy, Willow. Willow lives in an apartment setting that I went early to scope out possible shooting backgrounds. Parks, greenery, trees made good back drops to bring out the fur in a dog and gives them some space to run around, chase balls and be silly.

Lighting and time of day matters! I like to schedule appointments during the late afternoons within 2-3 hours of sunset. These “golden hours” bring out the best natural light for our photo session.

I started with “getting acquainted” with Willow with my big, black camera hidden. I gave her a few tasty chicken treats (after checking with her mom that she’s not allergic to chicken) and threw a tennis ball around the grass which she happily chased. I slowly introduced the big, black camera with treats, of course!

We started taking photos on the grass. I positioned Willow’s owner on my right side with a squeaky toy and treats to get Willow’s attention. She was excited as you can see from her puppy ears flopping around.

Next, we moved to a beautiful huge tree. Willow is a natural born poser as she demonstrated sitting many different ways at the tree and as we moved around the tree, the sunlight changed to light up different aspects of Willow’s fur and beautiful markings.

It wouldn’t be a Bright Eyes Photo session without a close up of Willow’s eyes!

All this took an hour and Willow was tired after working so hard posing for treats! Done!

Did seeing Willow touch a nerve with you? I hope this encounter inspires you to contact me immediately to schedule a session with your own pet! julie@BrightEyesPhotosDC.com

Last April, I was with my new found friends from an out-of-this-world Dog Photography Retreat named Barkelona (yes, you read that right!) on our last night in the historic seaside town of Sitges, Spain.  The workshop was taught by three fabulously talented women who are at the top of the pet photography world–Nicole Begley, CharlotteReeves, and Kaylee Greer.  We had just finished the 4-day retreat held at a 16-bedroom villa–Casa Felix– in Olivella, a hillside traditional village about 20 miles southwest of Barcelona in Catalonia,  and were chilling out walking to our last dinner together.  Exhausted from the exhilarating workshop and lagging behind the group, I saw a Boxer with a ball in her mouth come racing towards me across a plaza!  I came alive and started snapping photos.  Ella, the boxer, stopped suddenly right in front of me with her ball hanging precariously out the side of her mouth like Winston Churchill’s cigar.  It seemed like she was posing for me as she checked me out.  Inside my viewfinder, I was so close that I could see her dog tag with the name ELLA in big, bold print.  Her fur mom came running right behind Ella.  Here we were stranger-to-stranger with a dog and ball between us.  Naturally, I took the ball from Ella’s mouth, threw it across the plaza and off she went bounding after the ball.  With my halting Spanish and the mom’s halting English along with smiles and flying hand gestures, we ‘talked’ dogs.   Ella returned again with the ratty, yellow tennis ball and we played the fetch game over (and over) again.

While traveling the world, I’ve always photographed people and their dogs.  At first it was unwittingly and then I had a WOW! moment that asking strangers to photograph an animal they love is a warm introduction.  And it unites two of my passions: photography and dogs.  I began to pursue these passions in Spain at Barkelona and have since opened my own pet photography business: Bright Eyes Photos! http://BrightEyesPhotosDC.com  Photographing dogs like Ella that I come across at random on city streets and country roads are what I love best about my newly chosen pet photography profession that I practice on- location in the Washington DC-Virginia-Maryland metro area.

Red-shoed dog owner, Sitges

Small Dogs and Large Dogs
Back to Sitges…I spent that evening roaming from our outdoor cafe in the streets of Sitges to meet people and their dogs.  And there were LOTS of them all out for a stroll before dinner as Spaniards eat late at 10pm.  It helps to have a smile and a ‘Hola’ and ‘Bon dia’ or ‘Bona tarde’ (in Catalonian) at the ready!

I ask in Spanish to take a few photos of the strangers’ dog.  When they agree, I squat down and begin taking a few photos and it quickly becomes evident with small dogs that this approach isn’t working.  I ask the furmom or dad in Spanish to hold the dog baby in their arms or on their laps.  They love this!  Now I’m taking photos of the dog and their pawrents.  Really nice!

For large dogs, if you’d like to get the pawrents in the photo, simply ask them in their native language to squat down to their level to take the photo.  Often the dog will think we are playing and start interacting with their people: jumping up, kissing and licks, adoring looks and squirmy ‘I want to get down. Now.’ reactions.  In the blink of an eye, you’ve built some trust, knocked down some barriers, and remembered a moment.  I will show the people the photos which is the magic of digital photography.  Often we walk away smiling, waving, hugging.

Barkelona group (photo by Charlotte Reeves)

German Shepherd in Sitges

Dogs Bridge a Cultural Divide
Large or small, long haired or short haired, cute or cuter, handsome or beautiful, dogs can build bridges for us humans in a strange land.  Combined with a camera, you can capture genuine moments with people and their dogs.  “Be Fearless in the Pursuit of what Sets your Soul on Fire”–unknown, was an inspirational quote Kaylee Greer shared in her opening session of Barkelona.  What better way to pursue your passions than to have a camera in hand and a dog as an emissary in a foreign land!

Woman and her dog, Sitges

Pepa in bathtub, Casa Felix

Nicole, Kaylee & Charlotte, Sitges waterfront cafe