Photographer Jessica McGovern started out photographing dogs in 2012. With little professional experience under her belt and less education, she’s come a long way. Now she’s an award-winning pet and portrait photographer with plenty of technical and artistic tips to share. In her latest tutorial, How To Photograph Running Dogs, she spills the beans on capturing active pets:
Invest in Quality Gear
In normal circumstances, an average-spec DSLR or mirrorless camera will suffice. However, for action photography, your gear really matters. The better your camera body, the higher your hit rate for fast-paced pics. Jessica has brought along her Sony A7R III for this shoot — which sits on the higher end of the spectrum, if not at the top spot. She’s also using her Sony 135mm GM 1.8 lens. A very fast lens, it’s best suited to action photography, along with other similar models and sports lenses.
Fine-Tune Your Settings
Your first thought may be to shoot in action or sports modes. However, as a pro, Jessica always shoots in manual mode to have more control. Her settings for this shoot are very specific, starting with switching on autofocus for her lens. She also controversially recommends switching off image stabilization. The reason being that it may stabilize the very action and movement you’re trying to capture.
I need to make sure that I’ve got an action shutter speed, so I’m looking at, personally, anything over 1/1250 with my dog, sometimes more than that…
Her lens is set to 1/1250 shutter speed, though you can go further up for speedier pets. Other settings include F2.8 and ISO 1000 to compensate for the lower exposure due to her higher shutter speed. AF-C (or AI Servo on Canon) is another must for action — as is burst mode (she recommends Hi or Hi+).
Jessica suggests a single-point focus (S or M for action), applicable for all camera makes and models. Your AF Track Sensor should be as high as possible, too (5 – responsive, or 3 or 4 if you’re bad at aiming at your subject). For animals, all Face/Eye AF settings should be on with Subject Detection set to “Animal.” Note that setting names may vary for non-Sony cameras.
Compose For Speed
When shooting action — particularly running dogs — the outdoors is the ideal space, making photographing them that much easier and prettier. Trained dogs are also more straightforward to photograph, as you can work with a trainer while shooting. Jessica focuses on the place where her dog will run to beforehand to get the perfect shot. She also tracks her with her camera, then burst shoots when she runs into the chosen spot.
Dog running photo captured by Jamie Street
One of the main reasons outdoors is ideal isn’t just aesthetics or because there is more space for pets to run. There is also generally better lighting outdoors. For the best composition, look for brighter locations to offset the lower exposure due to using faster action shutter speeds. Obstacles like fallen tree logs, play equipment, and the like also add to the overall composition. Plus, these may result in unique poses that you may not otherwise achieve on flat ground.
Conclusion
Pets such as dogs are one of the most photographed portrait subjects next to people. In no part due to the fact that owners love to keep a few special pet photographs as mementos. Shooting running dogs can be as tricky as it is rewarding. Jessica’s vlog sheds some light on how to go about capturing yours, and other people’s pets in action!
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