Tips and instructions for taking Good photos of your animals.

If possible try to take the photos outdoors, or in a very well lit room. Turn off the flash, to avoid "devil eyes". The lighting is going to be different at different times of day. Experiment to find your best light. Don't place the animals in direct sunlight, this makes them glow, or have bright spots, in the photos. They will also get too hot. They will get impatient faster, and look silly with all of the panting.

Start with a chair that has arms. Try to pick one that comfortably fits the animal or animals you are shooting. Try not to let it be too big, or the animals will have too much room to move around and mess up the shot. I have selected a lawn chair for this photo.

Next, choose your backdrop. Any blanket, bed sheet, curtain, etc. will do. Try to choose colors that work with your animals. If you are shooting a black animal, try to go with something neutral. If it is too bright or too dark and the animal becomes a black spot or blends in with the backdrop. When using the "additional photos" feature, it is a good idea to have one good group shot for the main photo, with a neutral background. Then split the group into males and females. Use blue backgrounds for males, and pink for females. For this shot I have selected a brown faux fur throw. Note that I have tacked the corners up on the wall. This gives me a better cropping area on the finished product.

Now you can add a prop if you like. Props are especially useful if you are trying to show the size of your animals. With teacup dogs, I use a can of coke or a tennis ball. These are objects that everyone is familiar with, and give great size comparison. For this photo I selected a wrought Iron rose.

Now is the fun part! Set your animals in the setting. They are going to be a little squirmy at first. Curious about the blanket and props, and checking their boundaries. Patience is the most important part of this step. If you lightly correct the animals, they will give up the fight and sit where you want them. NOTE: If the babies are very similar looking, you can get by with one baby in the photo. If you have multiple colors, we recommend having at least one of each color in the photo.

Now to get them to look at you, cock heads, put ears up and just plain look cute. I use squeaker toys, the different ringers on my cell phone, and strange noises I make myself (gagging, whistling, whining, etc.). Layla often responds to saying "Who's here?" or "Daddy's home". Jingling the car keys is what got her on this particular picture.

Squat down to their level to get straight on shots. Photos shot from above the animals makes them look like they are shaped funny. Different angles will make the light different in each shot, try them all. Shoot several photos, it's a digital camera, you don't have to pay to develop them!

Now you have several different pictures to work with. Go through them all. Throw out the ones with yawning, or that little stinker who tried to run off. Choose your favorite of all the rest. Take them to your photo software and crop off the excess. Make sure when you crop, that the animals are the center of your crop, with even amounts of space on all sides. If you are not happy with the lighting, or the colors, you can adjust those too. Play around with it, and get comfortable with the settings your software offers. Remember, this is fun! Not only will you have nice photos for your ads, but a wonderful start on your breeding portfolio, or memory book.

After the cropping and color adjustments you should have a photo worthy of calendars.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do not know how to crop, and enhance your photos, don't worry. We are happy to do it for you, Free of charge!

Good Luck and Happy shooting! We look forward to seeing your new fabulous photos!