When photographing large dogs, the first thing to keep in mind is that they are best photographed outdoors.  The second thing to remember is that very few dogs in a shelter will be trained to sit and stay, and so you will have to work with natural behaviors and dog language.

There are several reasons to photograph large dogs outdoors.  The first is that the interior surroundings of dog kennels and animal shelters in general are rarely attractive.  The second is that, even though you may use shop lights with natural light bulbs, or even a flash (which is never recommended), the dog is still so big that you would need to pull back significantly to get the entire dog in the shot.  This will allow the florescent lighting to dominate, and this will cause a bad and discolored photo.  Letting the sun be your light will not only allow for a photo with true color, but it will light the dog evenly on all sides.  This is to your advantage because most dogs are long of face, and a forward facing light couldn’t possibly illuminate them evenly.  Studio lights set high on stands and facing down on two sides would manage it, but you are in an animal shelter, not a photo studio. 

The final reason to photograph large dogs outside is that the dog will have just been removed from its kennel.  Unless it is a naturally lethargic dog, the last thing it will do is be still for a photograph.  Many shelters opt to put the dog on a leash and have a person in the shot, holding it still.  Where this will work, it doesn’t provide the best opportunity to let the dog shine.  I always strive to photograph shelter animals by themselves, with no-one else in the shot.  The photograph should always be about the animal, and nothing (or no one) else.

To this end and with large dogs in particular, I photograph them in the outdoors exercise enclosure.  Most shelters will have them.  The one at Angels of Assisi is concrete, but some shelters will have bare ground.  No matter the type of enclosure, there are still a few general rules to keep in mind, and the first involves background.  There is a list of really good backgrounds for dogs, and that is: wood fencing (with no gaps between the planks), concrete ground or walls, brick or cinderblock, boulder sized rocks, hay bales, open water, bare ground that is only soil, crumbling masonry and many other surfaces that are solid.  The absolute worst things to photograph dogs against are grass, plant growth of any kind, and chain link fencing.  The reason these do not work is because they all create a cluttered background which breaks up the image so much that the eye does not get an immediate and clear representation of the dog. 

The dog becomes lost in the clutter because there are so many small surfaces and pieces. Grass is especially difficult because it also creates images that are washed out and overly yellow, and it rarely compliments the color of any dog.   Though you may think the natural growth and grass in your enclosure would make an attractive, natural and free-looking photograph, keep in mind that these elements can actually cause ineffective photographs.  Choose surfaces and backgrounds that will allow the animal to stand out, even if you think the background may not be attractive.  You’ll be surprised, actually, how great dogs look against urban and industrial surroundings such as concrete, brick and crumbling masonry.   One of my favorite backgrounds at Assisi, which is now gone, was the exterior door to the exercise enclosure.  It was big, metal, painted gray with lots of chips and scratches in it.  It made wonderful photos.
The reason you’d want to choose solid backgrounds for your dog photos is the same reason for choosing them for cats: a cluttered or busy background allows the animal to blend in and gets lost.  A solid background will allow them to stand out.  The outline of the animal will be clear and easily distinguished by the quickly browsing eye.  But that doesn’t mean your solid background must be completely solid.  In this picture of Emma, for example, there are three surface elements in the photo: the wooden wall behind her, the concrete and the metal pail. The reason this works, however, is because each of these three surfaces
 take up a large area of background, and each of them are solid within themselves.  Even though your background may not be completely solid, try finding areas that has large areas of solid together.Even though you may think the surrounding are not attractive, keep in mind that only a small portion will appear in the actual photo, since the dog will be the predominant feature in the frame.  The small parts of the surroundings that appear with him could be very attractive, indeed. 

The ground can also provide a solid background.  It isn’t necessary to have something vertical behind the dog as a backdrop.  When photographing the dog in an open space, the stretched out ground behind him will then appear as a backing.  This works best when the ground is concrete, wood or plain dirt.  If the ground is grass, gravel or strewn with leaves, then cluttering becomes an issue. One more thing about background and setting: keep in mind that when outside, if at all possible, keep the sun at your back, and keep your own shadow out of the photo.
 

If the dog is between you and the sun, the photo will come out silhouetted .  Shade can also be your friend, as it provides diffused light and no shadows, as long as both you and the dog are in the shade.  An overcast sky is also your friend for providing diffused light.  When the day is blazingly sunny, you may find the light too harsh, and the dog squinting.

        Now that you’ve decided upon your backgrounds and have the sun at your back, it’s time to bring out the dog.  Once again, unless you have a dog trainer dedicated to the shelter who will train each dog to sit and stay very quickly, then the dog will be willful and will likely not stay put.  Training, however, is very rare.  Even then, the training can take weeks, and you always want to get the animals on the adoption website quickly, so as to get them adopted as quickly as possible.  However, you never know where shelter dogs come from, and what they have learned in their history.  One thing which I am in the habit of trying right of the bat with all dogs, is to say “sit”.    It’s rare, but I do occasionally run across a dog that knows the command, which makes my job very easy. With so few dogs being readily trained, you may then wonder how you can possibly get a dog to sit still for your photo.  Most people turn to the leash for this answer.  There are actually several drawbacks to this solution.  The first is that there will be a leash in the photo.  If the leash is large, thick, brightly colored or otherwise garish, then this will be a very unattractive and distracting element in
the photo.  Secondly, to have a Leash, you would also then have the proximity of the person holding the leash. Not only do you then risk having parts of a person in your photo, but this also gives the dog another person on whom to focus their attention, and you want the dog to focus all their attention on you.  And finally, when on a leash, being held by a person who might otherwise interact with the animal in ways it views as unpleasant (medical exams, bathing, etc.) it may act subdued or fearful.  It will appear “kept”, which doesn’t allow the dog to appear free or to display his natural personality. 
 
          When I photograph dogs outdoors, it is always without a leash, and I do it alone.  What I rely on is a dog’s natural behavior.  Once it finishes sniffing around and taking care of any business it might have, most dogs will then want to interact.  If you are the only one there, then the dog will want to interact with you.  The first thing that may happen is that the dog will want to jump up on you for affection.  At this point, turn your back and ignore the dog.  In fact, the most important part of this particular lesson is ignoring the dog completely, above all else.  If you interact with the dog, talk to it, tease it with a toy or in any other way engage its enthusiasm, what you will end up with is a fast-moving dog that will want to continue jumping on you.  You cannot take a picture like this.  However, if you ignore the dog, he will leave you alone and either go elsewhere in the enclosure, or he will sit a few feet away from you and watch you carefully for any sign of something fun to get in on.THIS is the photo you want. You have to be  
 careful, though. With this dog, any sudden or large movement will engage him and he’ll get up.  You have to sneak the photo with small, slow movements, always sending the message that you are ignoring his presence.  To get the great expression for this dog, however, you will have to risk some small encouragement.  We all know how a funny noise will get the head tilt.  Try a soft, one-tone steady whistle.  Also, if you’re good at it, try whining like a puppy.  Another good noise to make is to blow in and out heavily while keeping your upper teeth against you bottom lip, like making the sound of the letter F.  Blow out: “FFFFFFF”, then suck in “FFFFFFF” and repeat.   This makes the sound of sniffing, which also interests the dog without engaging him to action.  For some few dogs, meowing like a cat can also do the trick.  For these dogs, cats are a top priority point of interest!

For the dog that chooses to go elsewhere when ignored, all you have to do is keep your eye and camera trained on him.  He will either stay on the move, or he will go somewhere to sit or lie down and relax.  For the dog that chooses to relax, once again, all you have to do is get them to look at you with the noise queues listed above.  However, if you have a stubborn dog that needs more direct encouragement, and if you can do it well, try barking like a dog. 

For the dog that remains on the move, however, you will have to fall back on opportunistic shooting, and you may have to stealthily follow while making your noises to get attention.  Eventually, the dog will stand still and look at something.  It is in their nature to do so.  They may not be looking at you, but a photo of a still dog is the first thing you’ll be after.  Hopefully, whatever has caught his attention will translate into the photo.  You may not be getting that great eye-contact photo with lots of personality, but you will at least have a photo that conveys a moment of interest and thought, which will then translate as a captured moment of interest.  Personality will then still be a part of the image perceived by the passing, browsing eye.

           Not all dogs, however, will fall into the categories already mentioned.  There still may be a few that, even after trying all the tricks, will still elude a good photographic moment.  At this point, you may want to start trying some desperate measures.  The first will be the unfortunate inclusion of a leash.  For this measure, you’ll want the leash to be thin and black, to be as discreet as possible around the dog’s neck.  Secondly, instead of having someone hold the leash, attach the other end to something in the enclosure so that once again, the session will be just you and the dog.  In this manner, the dog will still be free to act like himself, and he will still have you on which to focus.  With some knowledge of the clone tool in PhotoShop, the length of the leash that makes it into the shot can then be removed.  Moe is one such dog I ended up having to leash.  The leash is attached to the fence on the right. You may also introduce a toy, such as a
 ball. Many dogs, after obtaining the toy, will lie down to chew on it.  This will often keep the dog’s face in motion, but there’s always the chance that with your noises and maybe a hand clap, he’ll look up for a second.

And finally, if all else fails, you can introduce another person.  This person could then do many things to get the shot.  One would be to hold a toy high in the air so the dog would sit still, looking at it in anticipation.  Be sure to focus the shot on the dog instead of the person.  For this scenario, there is no reason for the person to be in the shot.  Watch your shadows, as well.  Be sure the person is standing so that their shadow does not fall across the dog or otherwise appear in the shot.  However, there may be those times when having the person in the shot is unavoidable.  For these times, have as little of the person in the shot as possible, and try to avoid hands and faces. They are distracting elements.  I just photographed this girl yesterday.  All she wanted to do was to stand on her hind legs with her paws on my waist and her head bowed against me. When not doing  that, she wanted to be seated at my feet.  I  couldn’t

get a picture this way, so I introduced someone else’s feet for her to sit at.  Denim is actually a great addition to the background for a dog, and a partial section of leg still meets the requirements for large sections of solid color.
There is one dog you may encounter that will still elude all attempts at a good photograph, and this I like to call a “sniffer”.  This is a dog that will ignore you completely.  No matter what noises you make, you will not deter this dog from his business.  This dog keeps his nose to the ground constantly, and will keep on the move while doing so.  You find this mostly in the hound breeds.  This dog doesn’t care about toys, whistles or other people.  For this dog, all I can advise is to be patient and keep your eyes trained on him.  It may take some time, but he will eventually raise his head.  Just do the best you can, and don’t sweat the fact that this will likely not be amongst your best photographs.

Depending on the size of the enclosure, you may also want to prepare yourself, equipment-wise.  For those who have fixed-lens cameras, make sure you have a good zoom.  There is no reason to be close to a dog to get a good picture, as long as you have a good zoom. This helps with getting good close-ups of dogs that are more comfortable exploring at a distance from

you. For SLR users, keep your telephoto lens handy for the same purpose.  I always use the telephoto lens for outdoor dog sessions. Also, you want to be sure and get those straight-on shots as often as you can.  You will be taller than a dog, and so your shot will already be from above.  If the dog is at a distance, the angle will take care of itself.  However, you may find the need to lower the camera for a better angle, the closer the dog is to you.  For this purpose, bend straight over at the waist.  If you kneel, squat, crouch or sit, you will very quickly find yourself covered by a dog.  It encourages them to come to you.  This is not to say that a shot made from above cannot always be attractive, but it is rare.  Many photos on shelter websites feature an array of upturned noses, with nostrils in the foreground.  Occasionally, it can work and look charming like with Dozer here. It should not, however, become your standard method.  You won’t have to

bend completely over to put your camera at the same height as the dog.  Even with a slight angle, a shot from above can feature the dog’s chest, which makes the photo appear more straight-on.  

            Once the shot is taken, by all means, set the camera aside and pet and play with the dog as much as you like, both for your own sake and to reward the dog for a job well done!