This weekend we are celebrating our dog Lambeau’s eighth birthday. We adopted Lambeau from a local pet rescue group seven and a half years ago when he was 6 months old. He is usually very cooperative and always photogenic. He is also one of the smartest and sweetest dogs I have ever known. We are very lucky to have him in our lives.

I have found dog photos are a little easier to shoot than those of the feline species. Is that everyone’s experience?

At one of the newspapers I shot for, my responsibilities included taking a photo of the dog of the week at the Alexandria, Va., animal shelter. That will be easy I thought, five minutes, right? The dogs it turned out always seemed to have other ideas. I learned early on patience is an important ingredient in making compelling dog photos. Great tricks to remember when photographing dogs: try to shoot on their level, make sure the dog’s eyes are in focus and have plenty of treats.

The photo above was taken during a walk in a park during a snow storm a few years ago. The trees and stream added great flow and design to the photo of Lambeau.

Like with human portraits, I think providing some environmental context adds interest to an image (photo at second from bottom) but it aways important to get some tight close ups like the center and bottom pictures.

To everyone who has dropped by my blog this week, thank you! It is has been fun meeting you and seeing your great work and look forward to seeing more of your inspirational photos going forward. Please be sure to vote in my photo of the week post coming up later today. I value your opinion.

See you tomorrow! Rob