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Comment by John Wolff on December 8, 2008 at 1:03pm

FWIW, google "Kodak how to take good pictures"
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=11808&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=20254

"How to take Good Pictures" is an excellent little book, and now they have a pretty good online tutorial.
Worth he time.

For corgis, some important tips are:
Get a corgi.
Get close, physically or (often better) use the zoom. Fill the frame.
Get at eye-level. For a corgi, this means getting down near the ground.
Take LOTS of photos. Digital pics are essentially free. Throw out 99% to get that one good one.
Catch the dog in action, doing something. Set a "corgi trap": get the camera all set, focused on the spot you want, then recall the dog through that spot.
For posed shots, get it all set up, and only THEN get the dog to look at the camera: have an assistant brandish a treat behind the camera, do this yourself if you can shoot one-handed, squeeze a squeaky, or say "Dinner!". Do not overuse these dirty tricks; they get wise really fast.

The flash can be very useful, esp. outdoors in daylight backlighting situations, but be careful about shooting that thing off in your dog's eyes and don't do it at close range, I don't think it's good for their eyes. For real close-ups, turtn the flash off and use ambient light.

Comment by Katie on December 4, 2008 at 8:59pm

HAHAHA!

Comment by John Wolff on December 4, 2008 at 5:51pm

Comment by John Wolff on December 3, 2008 at 11:38pm

Another tip: avoid flash whenever possible with pets, but if you do have red-eye in a good shot, try this in a photoeditor:

Paste a black circle the size of the pupil upon the redye.
Then paste a small white spot, simulating a reflection, upon each pupil. Often works better than automated redeye corrections.

Comment by John Wolff on December 3, 2008 at 11:17pm

Key to photographing dogs: the dog treat is held above the camera, either by an assistant or a dexterous photographer.

Comment by Sylvia & Timmy on December 3, 2008 at 10:59pm

Aren't corgis the greatest!!! I love those kind of pics. I'll bet as soon as you were done, everyone perked up.