Celebrate National Puppy Day with These Fun Furry Photo Tips (VIDEO)

Get ready for an overdose of cuteness, because today is National Puppy Day, and in celebration we’re going to give you some fun and easy photo tips that are not only great for puppies and older dogs, but work with kittens or whatever pets you own.

National Puppy Day was founded by Colleen Paige to raise awareness of puppy mills and encourage people to consider adoption. And while not everyone owns a puppy, who can resist these lovable fur balls with that amazing puppy smell?

Even if you’re not a pet owner, you no doubt know someone who is. So how about watching this quick tutorial, boning up on your skills, and shooting some adorable photos either at home, for a friend, or even by visiting a rescue shelter.

In this charming tutorial from photographers Tony & Chelsea Northrup, you’ll pick up some valuable tips by watching them photograph their puppy—appropriately named Pixel. The video is a couple years old, so their cute little puppy is now a big girl, but the challenges and tips haven’t changed.

For starters, you’ll see that in some ways photographing puppies is a lot like photographing little kids. So after setting up a small home “studio” they grabbed a few toys and played with Pixel to tire her out.

Like with young children, it’s important to get down to puppy level, familiarize them with the surroundings, and put them in a happy and relaxed mood. And having a few treats handy often helps. Moreover, like with models of all ages, positive reinforcement like, “You’re doing a great job” can help make the process go smoothly.

Tony and Chelsea take turns; one being the photographer while the other is the puppy wrangler, to demonstrate how it’s done. So after watching the video, find some furry friends and try this yourself. Regardless of how the photos turn out, we guarantee you’ll have a great time.

You can find more shooting and editing tips on the Tony & Chelsea Northrup YouTube channel.

X