Dabbling in dog photography

Photographing dogs isn't something I do on a regular basis but as well as being good fun it can really help in honing my skills with a camera. Sometimes at a wedding shoot it's important to capture the action as it's unfolding, not staged or set up, just candid images as people go about their busy day. This can often involve setting the camera to continuous focus to allow it to track the subject moving from side to side across the frame or towards the camera, all the time making sure the focus point remains sharp. Of course practising this technique while at a wedding isn't practical, so spending a few hours with erratic fast moving subjects can be a really good idea and help boost confidence come the big day.

Raven, a young boisterous Black Labrador. Nikon D3s with 24-70mm F2.8. 1/320 sec @ F2.8 ISO 800 

Raven: Always be prepared as dogs like this don't stay still for long. Nikon D3s with 24-70mm F2.8
1/2000 sec @ F2.8 ISO 800 

I usually activate nine focus points in the centre of the sensor within the camera, set an aperture of F4 and an ISO sensitivity that will allow a shutter speed value of at least 1/320 sec, enough to freeze the action. Auto ISO is fantastic in these fast moving situations as you can set the minimum shutter speed you want the camera to shoot at and it will automatically alter the ISO setting accordingly. Any slight cropping of the image can then be carried out in Photoshop afterwards. The latest breed of Nikon cameras, in particular the D4, are fantastic at following fast moving objects. It nails the focus pretty much all of the time and missed shots are normally down to my error and not the limitations of the camera.    

Pumba: A lovely portrait of an Alaskan Husky.  Taken whilst on holiday in Sweden Nikon D70 with 18-70mm F3.5-F4.5
 1/50 sec @ F4.5, ISO 500 +O.3 E.V.