My Favorite Furry Faces - Photographing Dogs from Down Low
I love all furry faces. But there are a few that are my absolute favorites — the ones living in my house, currently destroying something.
When I started the Embark challenge series, I knew I wanted to use my own dogs for some of the challenges. The cobbler's children have no shoes, as they say — and the pet photographer's dogs have very few professional photos. The Embark "Get Down" challenge — photographing dogs from a low angle — gave me the perfect excuse to head out to the backyard.
The brief was simple. What happened was delightful chaos.
Five Puppies, Five Adults, and One Photographer on Her Belly
At the time of this challenge, we had five twelve-week-old French Bulldog mix foster puppies in the house. We also had five adult dogs. I was trying to manage vet appointments, morning drop-offs, afternoon pickups — and somehow also find time to make a competition-worthy image in my own backyard.
I spent several evenings rolling around in the grass trying to photograph one dog while another one photobombed the shot, and three puppies stood on my back pulling my hair and eating my camera strap.
I wouldn't trade a single second of it.
Why Low Angles Work for Dog Photography
Getting down to a dog's level — or below it — changes everything about how they read in a photograph.
From above, even the most confident dog looks small. From below, they fill the frame. Their eyes are at eye level or above yours, which creates a natural presence and authority in the image. The background drops away or rises to become sky, which cleans up distracting elements and gives portraits a more expansive, open quality.
For small dogs especially, a low angle is transformative. It shows them as the large personalities they actually are, rather than the small physical size they occupy.
And practically: getting on the ground puts you at the dog's level, which means they're more likely to look at you naturally. You become part of their world instead of a looming presence above it.
Carolina gave me my first image I loved from those sessions — toy in mouth, play bow, completely in her element. She's wild and rarely still for more than a moment, and the shot captures that exactly. The focus on her eye isn't technically perfect, but it's completely her.
Carolina French Bulldog mix low angle portrait
Why I Love Photographing My Own Dogs
As a professional photographer, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to document other people's dogs with intention and care. My own dogs are a different kind of practice — wilder, more chaotic, and completely honest. They don't cooperate because I need them to. They cooperate when they feel like it, which is usually right when I've put the camera down.
The best images of my own pack are always the ones I didn't plan.
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