Activities For Dogs With Owners Who Like Photography

When going to do a dog-based photo session (like any other), you'll first have to figure out where you'd like to shoot. We suggest somewhere you could still use some practice, so you can hone your skills while still having fun. Many people will opt to do a shoot just in their house, but don't forget to consider lighting, flashes, lenses, and filters, as anything you may want to use or improve with can be taken advantage of when your subject has no time restrictions and your locations are purely based on your ability to get to them. If you want something easy, stick to the house, but if you want a challenge, load up your photography backpack, grab a leash and your dog and hit the trails. While you may not have a specific destination, chances are if you go somewhere aesthetically pleasing such as a park, you'll likely find something suitable as you go.

When you've finally nailed down your location, get your dog into an activity you can shoot, such as sniffing the ground or looking up a tree, or just have them sit and pose for you while you get all of your settings aligned. When you're finally set, shoot! The best part about having a mutual love for dogs and photography is that it brings a wide variety of benefits for both of you, from getting you exercise, giving you something to do, having bonding time, improving obedience and even honing your craft. Plus, at the end, you'll have a set of awesome pictures to remember your day by!

Quite possibly the most difficult aspect of starting a social media account is coming up with a concept. It can be as simple as just photos of your cute dog or as complex as touring all the dog-friendly places in the city and taking pictures with them there. Consider your availability to seek those scenarios out and how much interest you think others might have in it -- that is, if you're in it for more than just the fun. You don't have to have an idea right away either. One can surely develop as you spend more time on it, but generally speaking, the earlier you have the idea, the better and quicker it will likely turn into something meaningful. Don't forget, you'll also need a clever name!

Once you've got your concept and name, you'll need to choose your platform and build it. If you want less to manage, consider going with a platform like Instagram, as it is relatively intuitive, takes considerably less management than Facebook, and it's much more geared towards photography anyway. Open an account, name it, then fill out the necessary information and tailor it towards your idea. Make sure that before you launch it to the world that you at least have a few starting photos to generate interest early on. It can be as easy as taking 2 to 3 pictures and having them ready to post as soon as the account is set up.

Once you've got it all set up, you can start to develop it. Change your tag lines, learn what hash tags are appropriate to your content or even create a few catchy ones of your own. Do some research and figure out what is trending, what tags work best, and tie that into your interests and aims for the new account. Then start following others who are doing something similar to help you generate ideas and build your network. Do you best to be consistent, as a lot of users frequent the apps and sites on a regular basis, so the more photos and content you have up on a daily basis (or close to it), the more exposure you'll get. If you develop it in any significant fashion and get a healthy group of followers, you may be asked to test products, promote local business, and tons of other opportunities that would not otherwise be made available to you.

Some photographers have a naturally good eye and can make just about any setting interesting. But even they need to do location scouting from time to time. Come up with a basic idea of what you'd like to shoot so you have a general idea of where you'll need to be to capture it. If you want a cityscape, consider looking for high points in the surrounding area that will provide good angles. If you want to do something more natural or a landscape, figure out what kind of vibe or image you want to capture and look for parks or public areas you could search in. Once you've got a basic idea, pull up a map, digital or otherwise, and narrow down an area you think would be a good fit.

Once you've figured out a general area you'd like to look for a sweet spot in, saddle your dog up and either put them in the car or get them set up for a bike ride or walk (depending on the distance). If you have a smart phone, use that to place a marker you can head towards on a mapping app. Once you get close, get your feet on the ground and start hiking around, taking in your surroundings and looking for that ideal spot. It may take a while and realistically, you may not even find one every time, but that doesn't mean it's not worth looking for!

The benefits of location scouting are that you won't have to worry so much about time or weather - you can worry about those in the future once you've actually found the spot you want to shoot. When you find one, take mental, written or digital notes to make sure you can find it again. Many use apps on their smart phones to drop a location marker so they can easily get back without wasting too much time and potentially compromising the lighting. Once all is said and done, you'll likely have gone on a significant walk with your dog, getting you both exercise, explored somewhere new, marked out a great new shoot spot, and best of all, done it all without the necessity of worrying about time, raising the overall quality of time with your furry friend.