9 Tips For Better Dog Photography

Hold a treat right above the lens to draw the dog's gaze toward the camera. "[Maddie is] very food-motivated," Theron says. "So I'm able to use food to capture her attention toward the camera and offer treats as a thank you for working together."

Wave a favorite toy above the camera. Bryan O'Neil Hughes, Adobe's Director of Product Management for CC Platform and Services, adds: "You might use a ball above the lens to capture their attention or motivate them to strike a certain pose." A gadget like the Pooch Selfie ($10) lets you attach a squeaky ball right to your phone.

Tire your dog out."If your pet is energetic and moves around a lot, I recommend getting outside, running off as much of that energy as you can, and then coming back and trying to take photos," he adds.

Make sure there's lots of light."I suggest trying to take photos near big windows where a lot of daylight is available, because the first step to preventing blurry photos is great lighting," says Theron. "Then, take a lot of photos so you have several to choose from."

Use a high shutter speed. Bryan notes that a high shutter speed (1/250th of a second or above) will prevent blur. "If you don't have control of this, or if you're shooting on your phone, find or create more light to get the same result."

Clear the background. "The first step to a great portrait of your pet is to seek out balanced lighting and a simple backdrop that adds to but doesn't distract from the animal," Bryan says.

Capture organic moments. "Almost all my photos are created when I've been inspired by something Maddie does organically and I want to recreate that moment," Theron says. "For example, she'll get up and climb on the back of our couch on her own. Often, the things I'm asking her to do are the things she would do if she was left to herself."

Shoot in raw and edit later. Many digital cameras allow you to shoot raw files, which allow you to edit more after shooting. You can also shoot raw files on your phone using Adobe Lightroom CC. "With Lightroom, you can shoot in raw format with your phone using the in-app camera," Theron says. "That gives you a lot of latitude in terms of editing your images later. I use Lightroom mostly to adjust contrast, exposure, maybe recover the highlights and add some sharpness."

Be patient. "When you're photographing animals, it's all about patience," Theron says. "It takes a lot of work to create and capture the great moments."

To prove that Theron and Bryan's tips work, I'm sharing photos I took of my dog before the workshop versus after the workshop.

Here is a photo I took of Mabel before taking the dog photography workshop. Although Mabel turned her head when I said her name, I lazily took the photo from above, and her facial expression and pose aren't very dynamic. Because I was not shooting in raw, it was difficult to edit the photo much after the fact.

Here is a photo I took on my phone after being schooled by Theron and Bryan. As you can see, I got much closer with this photo, and I used a treat above the phone. I captured an organic moment (mid-step and mid-snowflake-lick) because I took a ton of photos. Although it was overcast due to snow, the fact that I shot in raw made it easier to brighten later. Theron also suggests shooting vertical images rather than square.