02 Jul4 tips for getting the best photos of your dogs, from Milla Chappell

This month on our Instagram, we are featuring the work of photographer Milla Chappell, aka Real Happy Dogs. We also interviewed Milla for our podcast this week, and asked her for some tips on getting great photos. Here are some of her best suggestions for getting great photos of your dogs:

1- Watch your backgrounds. “You don't want a plant growing out of your dog's head or garbage in the background of your favorite photo. A photo instructor once told me that the most important piece of equipment a photographer has is her legs, and what she meant was… get up and move around until your background is clean and the angle is right.”

2 – Don't stress out your dog. “My style of photography is very unposed and natural, and I believe it's important to let dogs be dogs during photo sessions. When I scroll through Instagram, I often see photos of dogs who look stressed and uncomfortable because their owner forced a certain photo, and I want to advise people to avoid this. Let your dog's joy guide your photography, and the result will be much more authentic.”

3 – Shoot the same scene from different angles. “If you are photographing your dog on the ground with a toy, for example, get on the ground with her to shoot first… then photograph the same scene from right above and then from far away. Sometimes the most interesting photo is the angle you didn't expect.”

4 – Emotions are important. “In my opinion, the most engaging images are those that show the emotional connection between dogs and their people. Photograph your dog with the people he loves most, and don't forget to get in FRONT of the camera sometimes, too!”