Taking Those Show Photos . . . on Property You Don't Own

One of my goals this year is to attempt to improve my dog show photos. Of course I always make this resolution and then forget that invariably the dog doesn't have the same resolution. I'm starting to think that most of my dogs have the attitude they've already done their part by winning. Why should they have to stand still one single second more? However, there are a couple of tips I have picked up over the years. I'm not saying I do all these things by any means, but if I did do them my photos would be a lot better.

When your dog's photo is being taken your dog will be noticed more if everyone in the photo looks at the dog. Ideally, the handier could be looking at the dog's most outstanding feature which would immediately draw the viewer's eye to your dog's assets. (My photos all seem to show both the dog and me staring at the toy that was just thrown.) If your dog is panting too much, spray a little lemon juice in its mouth and that will make it shut its mouth. I guess you can show extreme confidence by taking your lemon juice with you ringside before you show and that way it will be handy when you get your photo taken of your splendid win. If you have a breed in which the tail is held, know your standard so you know at which level the tail should be held. However, if you have a dog with a long back (and long backs aren't in the standard), you'll want to hold the tail higher than the top line so the back looks shorter. You also want to disturb the tail as little as possible. Holding the tail with your thumb on the outside of the tail facing the camera and the rest of your hand on your side of the dog shows off the most tail. If you can rest the tail on your hand so that your hand doesn't show at all, that's even better.

Also, don't forget your dog is a treasured and valuable work of art. Most handlers are lightly holding the collar with two fingers. Some people look like they’re doing a weight pull with their dogs. Don't forget to look through your breed magazines and see how other people have posed their dogs and what sort of effect they obtained. Some photos are quite dramatic. Pose in front of a mirror to see how your dog looks with you both standing and with you kneeling. Many sporting dogs look much better with the handler kneeling behind them. If you do stand, make sure you aren't hovering or leaning over the dog. Some photos look like the handler is about to do a Swan dive over the dog. The further you are away from your dog the more your dog stands out. I often think practicing photo taking should be a part of conformation classes.

When your dog is obtaining its championship you would be wise to take advantage of every photo opportunity that comes your way. I had only two photos of my first champion, both taken the same weekend by the same photographer. They were her 4 and 5 point majors and breed over specials but they were both awful and made her look like a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. I had no photos I could use to advertise her new championship status.

Lastly, you might want to go through your show photos and breed magazines and pick out the photos you like best and see if they have any photographers in common. It is especially easy with photos of your own dogs. In fact it can be quite interesting when a photo of the same dog is taken one day and compared with a photo taken the next day by a different photographer with a similar background. lt’s almost enough to make you start picking your shows based on who the photographer is rather than who the judge is. This summer l received two of the best photos I have ever received (not through any effort on my part) . One was great because I looked 5 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter-(I'll take a dozen of those, thank you!) Normally I just care what the dog looks like and don't care what I look like, but in that photo everyone looked good. In the other photo my dog looked perfect. The interesting thing is that I could have sworn that she had moved to retrieve the toy and was so surprised the photographer didn't need to take another one. Instead he managed to capture her right at that instant of ultimate tenseness before springing. I have since realized that I had seen this photographer's work before when he did our National Specialty. A friend of mine showed me his photo (for 3rd place in American Bred) from the National and the dog and the photo were absolutely perfect. There was not one thing I would have changed on the dog. Usually I'm always thinking something about a photo, like "I wish that little dip didn't show, I wish the head was higher, lower, etc. This dog was stacked fabulously. Since this was the owner's first show dog I was amazed that he could accomplish in less than a year of showing what I had never been able to accomplish in almost 20 years. Apparently the photographer did quite a bit of coaching and took the photo from the perfect angle. I seem to have the "if only" photos..."if only" I had held the tail higher/lower/ straighter; if only I had stretched him out more, if only . . . It seems as though every photo has some little thing that mars it slightly. Luckily most show photographers are helpful and knowledgeable and will help you adjust your dog if necessary.