How to take a good photo of your dog for a custom portrait

Take it at your dog's eye level, in natural light, with their head and chest filling the frame. That one photo, taken on your phone, is all a custom pet portrait from a photo needs. You don't need a perfect pose either, because we redraw your dog sitting upright and facing you. What we need from your photo is their face: their eyes, their markings, the shape of their ears and the look that makes them them.

Below are the habits that make the biggest difference, plus what to do if your dog is black, white, fluffy or simply won't sit still.

Key takeaways

• Crouch down to their eye level instead of shooting from above.
• Use daylight from a window or outdoors in shade. Turn the flash off.
• Fill the frame with their head and chest, facing you or close to it.
• Take lots of shots and pick the sharpest one where you can see both eyes clearly.
• Any modern phone is enough. Clear beats fancy.

What we actually use from your photo

It helps to know what matters, because it means you can stop worrying about the rest. Our portraits rebuild your dog in a clean, upright pose on a plain background, so the setting, the angle of their body and whatever is behind them all get left out. What carries over is everything in their face:

• Eyes: colour, shape and that particular look.
• Markings: the patch over one eye, the white blaze, the freckles on the muzzle.
• Ears: how long they are, whether one flops, how they sit.
• Expression: the grin, the head tilt, the "I know there's cheese in the fridge" stare.

So a slightly messy background is fine. A blurry face is not. You can see one of our recent portraits on our Instagram.

Seven tips for a photo that makes a great portrait

1. Get down to their level

Most dog photos are taken from standing height, looking down. That shrinks the body, distorts the face and hides the eyes under the brow. Sit or kneel so your phone is level with their nose. For a small dog, that can mean lying on the floor.

2. Use natural light and turn off the flash

Soft daylight shows true coat colour and true eye colour. Stand them near a big window, or go outside on an overcast day or into open shade. Avoid harsh midday sun, which creates dark shadows and squinting. Flash flattens the coat and can make the eyes glow, which makes their real eye colour hard to see.

3. Fill the frame with head and chest

Move closer rather than zooming in, since zoom on most phones softens the image. Aim for their head and chest taking up most of the photo, with a little space around the ears. If you are using your phone's portrait mode, check the ears and whiskers haven't been blurred into the background.

4. Face on, or nearly

Straight on or a slight three quarter angle works best, because we can see both eyes and both sides of their markings. A side profile hides half the face.

5. Get their attention above the lens

Hold a treat or squeaky toy just above your phone, or have someone stand behind you and call their name. One squeak, then take the photo. Repeat it too often and they stop caring.

6. Pick your moment

A dog fresh off a walk is calmer and easier to photograph than one who has been waiting all day. A sleepy dog on the couch can also give you a lovely soft expression, as long as their eyes are open.

7. Take a burst and choose the sharpest

Hold the shutter button for burst mode, or just take twenty photos. Then zoom in on each one and pick the photo where the eyes are sharpest. Sharp eyes matter more than anything else in the frame.

Black, white and fluffy dogs

Black or dark coated dogs

Dark coats swallow detail, so light matters more. Face them towards a window so the light falls on their face, and stand them against a lighter background. Before taking the photo, tap on their face on your phone screen so it exposes for them rather than the background. If the shot still looks like a dark shape with eyes, it's too dark to work from.

White or pale coated dogs

The opposite problem: bright light blows out the coat into flat white with no texture. Use soft shade rather than sun, put them against a darker background, and tap on their face to set the exposure.

Long, curly or fluffy coats

Give them a quick brush so the fur around their eyes isn't covering them. If their eyes are usually hidden under a fringe, a photo just after grooming is ideal.

Photos to skip

• Blurry or very dark shots, even if the expression is perfect.
• Photos where a toy, a hand, a cone or another pet covers part of their face.
• Heavy filters that change their coat or eye colour.
• Screenshots of a photo, which lose quality. Send the original instead.

If part of them is out of frame, send it anyway. We'll tell you honestly whether we can work with it, and if we can't, we'll ask for another photo before we start.

Frequently asked questions

Is a phone photo good enough?

Yes. Any recent phone takes a photo good enough for a portrait, as long as it's sharp and well lit.

Does the pose in my photo matter?

Not much. We redraw them sitting upright and facing you, and keep their expression. Choose the photo with the clearest face, not the cutest pose.

What if my dog has passed away and I only have old photos?

Send whatever you have. Many older photos work well, and if we don't think we can do them justice, we'll tell you before we start.

Can I send separate photos of two dogs?

Yes, and separate photos are actually better. Send your favourite of each and we'll bring them together in one portrait.

Sources: Piri & Co FAQs.