How to photograph multiple dogs together for a portrait

Getting one dog to sit still, look at the camera and show their personality is hard enough. With two or more, you're waiting for several things to line up at once, which is why group photos are so often someone looking away, or one dog mid-blink. It's normal, and it doesn't mean you can't get a usable photo.

If you haven't already, our guide to the best photos for a dog portrait covers the basics of light, angle and focus that apply here too.

This is the single biggest difference between a frustrating session and an easy one. Have one person hold treats or a toy just above the camera lens to get both dogs looking the same way, while the other takes the photo. Trying to manage two excitable dogs and a camera alone rarely ends well.

Photograph your dogs after a walk or during a settled moment, rather than when they're full of energy. A sofa, bed, or a short stretch of garden with a lead keeps them from wandering out of frame while you compose the shot.

Natural daylight still matters here, just as with a single dog: a bright room or a soft, overcast spot outside works best. Avoid flash, which flattens detail and can cause red-eye in more than one dog at once.

Get down to the dogs' eye level and keep them close together in the frame, rather than spread far apart, so both faces are clear and roughly the same size. Step back and zoom in rather than moving the camera close, which can distort whichever dog is nearest the lens.

Different sizes or breeds

If your dogs are very different in size, try sitting or lying them at a similar height (side by side on a sofa, for example) so neither one is dramatically larger in the frame than the other.

• Take a long burst rather than single shots. With two or more dogs, you need more attempts to catch everyone looking good at once.
• It's fine if no single photo is perfect. Note which shot has the best expression for each dog, even if they're not all from the same frame.
• If one dog is much harder to photograph than the other, get a few photos of them alone too, in addition to any group shots.

Don't hold out for one flawless photo with every dog looking ideal. It's a lot to ask for naturally. Send your best group photo, plus the best individual photo of each dog, and let Sindy know in your enquiry. She can often work from a combination: using the pose and composition from the group photo with the clearest expression of each dog taken from their individual shots.

Send the original files where you can, not screenshots. The enquiry form takes up to 4 photos, so choose the best group shot and the best individual shot of each dog. If you have more, mention it in your enquiry and Sindy can ask for them by email.