Photography Prompts: Puppy Dog Eyes Photo Play

By 16 Comments

If you have a dog, chances are you have more than a few photos of him. Taking good pet photographs takes practice. Here are a few suggestions to help you snap great pictures of your best pal.

— Shoot photos in bright daylight or in sports mode. Flash photography can bother dogs. It doesn’t make their eyes look so great, either.

— Wanna get a picture of your dog smiling? Take her out to fetch, or for a brisk run. Once your dog is panting, have her look directly at you, aim and click! Smiling dog.

— Capture your dog’s personality. Get sneaky and take a photograph of the quirky stuff they do when they think you’re not looking.

— Use treats as a way to get your high-energy dog to stay still long enough to snap a photo. You can even stick a treat on top of the camera to keep his attention focused on the lens.

Photo Prompt:
Using some of the tips provided, take a photograph that captures the expressive eyes of your dog.

***

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here is a poem by James we enjoyed:

I thumb inside his big loose ears,

his eyelids descend to half mast.

a gentle paw rises to rest on my arm while

his breath, a sweet warmth, respires

from the deep hollow of divine conspiracy. our history is

natural… my ancestors, and his, ran parallel lines

along game trails lacing

pyrenean peaks,

paddling nova scotia’s icy waters, searching

through the pass at saint bernard… his specieshood

distinct, dependence shared, such witness of

evolution, the wellspring of

creation. my dog, my God, my soul confer each day

we three walk the way of work and friendship forged

through need and care. I laugh when

he dances with simple joy, bucking bronco rearing,

twisting, rolling his exultant head in circles to say

“come play! come live!”. of all the creatures come to

bless my kind, this

one

is my heart.

—by James Scott Smith

NOTE TO POETS: Looking for your Monday poetry prompt? On Photo Play weeks, it’s right here. Choose a photo from the post and respond with a poem. Leave your poem in the comment box. We’ll be reading. :)

Photo by Nick Harris. Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Heather Eure.

________________________

Sometimes we feature your poems in Every Day Poems, with your permission of course. Thanks for writing with us!

Browse more photography prompts
Browse more dog poems 
Browse more poetry teaching resources

P. S., With Love

We hope you found something
inspiring here today.

Why not keep it going—for you, and the world?
For as little as $1 a month.

Comments

  4. Devotion

    Wafts of white fur wrap me warm
    Burnished brown eyes bury every torment
    Black button nose sniffs a scent of perfume or cancer
    Relaxing against me in rest or sitting silent as I sicken,
    Never leaving, never needing
    Tongue washing me clean of chemo and
    kissing me at the same time
    My shadow that signals sunlight,
    The whisper that wakes my soul

    Reply

      • Thank you! It’s been a long road, but my two darling dogs, family, faith and imagination are seeing me through. For me, writing is the escape hatch, and my imagination the submarine that carries me away when I’m drowning mentally or physically or both. In an odd way, getting sick reconnected me to a more creative, more in-the-moment self. When you can’t be “busy” anymore, your mind opens wide to so many other possibilities. Thank you so much for your kind wishes.

        Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *