Owners of black dogs seem to all have the same problem in common: it’s extra-difficult to take a good photo of their pup! I can’t tell you how often I’m asked, “My dog is black, is that a problem for you?” or “All I see is a black blob when I take pictures of my dog, how do you get your photos to turn out?” And most recently, Biscuit & Apollo’s mom came to me with the same concerns. So I thought I’d gear their Sneak Peek blog post toward this problem, and hopefully answer a few questions along the way! :)

Black dogs, honestly, are no different than dogs of any other color. (Animal shelters have been trying to tell us this for years, too!) The problem most people have is with the light-absorbing quality of their fur. And unfortunately, most people test this phenomenon in pretty awful conditions, without knowing it: trying to take a picture of your black dog, somewhere inside your house, using your phone or pocket camera, is a perfect storm for blurry photos! I won’t get too technical, but the reason for this difficulty is because a camera thrives off of light (photograph translates literally to “light picture”). When you’re indoors without the powerful light of the sun, and photographing a subject that doesn’t reflect much light, with a camera that can’t adapt to these conditions, it’s no wonder people get bad results! But I explained to Biscuit & Apollo’s mom that there are two things we can do in our session to prevent any problems: A) go outside, and B) schedule our session for the best light of the day! So we headed out to her neighborhood park about an hour before sunset, and we didn’t have a single problem creating great (non-blurry) portraits of her dogs! :)

Take a look: this is Apollo, the handsome lab mix. His fur is 90% black, with a few white patches on his chest, neck & paws (and a few random hairs on his face too). But as you can see, with plenty of soft light, Apollo’s good looks shine through!

Just for fun: black dogs can be captured in action, too! No blur required. ;)

And here’s Apollo’s older sister, Biscuit! (She’s a Korean Jindo mix!) Doesn’t she have a lovely smile? Her fur isn’t all black either, but the same rules apply.

They are so cute, right?! Such happy dogs!

Barbara, thanks for a super-fun photo session!  I’ll be in touch with the rest of your photos very soon! :)

If you’re interested in more pet photography tips, check out my featured Top 10 Tips post on the FACE Foundation blog! Thanks for reading!

Tags: dogs, pet photography, pets, photography, San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography