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First off, this is not a tutorial for professional pet photographers. There are tons online and they're very good. Naw, this is just for everyone who knows their dog is really cute but all they have is a lame phone and they think there's no point trying to take a decent photo. Think again.

Who brings their expensive gear to their morning walks in case something cute happens? Not me. #DogsOfMastodon #CatsOfMastodon

Alright, let's dive in. First things first, preparation:
1. Your dog may be camera shy. Especially with actual cameras. That's okay! Baby steps and lots of treats. In a world where phone cameras are omnipresent, it's a good thing to desensitize them to, imo.

Pick up your phone, throw a treat. It might take weeks or even months. Slowly get closer to them, throw a treat. One day, you'll have a beautiful shot of your dog looking at you.

Don't use the flash on day one

2. Lots of phone companies will tell you that they have amazing lenses and whatnot. Meh. It's more complicated than that because you should also consider the sensor and AI does a lot of heavy lifting nowadays anyway. So, don't worry too much about what kind of phone you have. Cutting-edge technology won't fix bad framing.

3. Lighting: there are tons of tutorials about budget lighting and they're usually not truly budget options. We won't talk about it because the reality is that you'll have about 3 seconds between the moment your puppy looks cute AF on the couch and the moment they turn around to give you the stink eye. No time to set up your softbox and reflector.

Your best friend will be the sun. Get close to a window if you can. Focus on taking photos outside during what is called "golden hour": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_(photography)

That means: keep that phone handy during the evening walk!

5. Editing software: I do edit most of the photos I post but imo the #Fediverse is too raw and genuine for heavily edited photos. Keep those beige filters on #Instagram. I'll go over the editing that I do but nothing requires a dedicated editing software. #Adobe has been naughty naughty in recent years and I can't recommend their stuff anymore. Too bad, because it's really good.

6. Phone tools: this is completely optional but there are 2 things that make it so much easier for me:

This magnetic phone grip from Anker (I have a Pixel but I bought a magnetic phone case. Works like a charm

https://www.anker.com/products/a25a0?search_category=autofill&q=phone&variant=40942805024918

This gimbal from DJI. I have an older version and I'm thinking of getting the new one

https://www.dji.com/ca/mobile/osmo-mobile-6

Next, the basics of (phone) photography settings.
1. Most phones do a decent job on the default settings nowadays. I usually try to shoot RAW and JPEG in case I catch something in very bad lighting. It's easy to correct in RAW format but your mileage may vary with JPEG.

That being said, RAW takes up space and AI does so much work cleaning up and correcting photos on modern phones. Sticking to your house windows and golden hour will eliminate 99% of your need for RAW editing.

2. File compression might be an issue on other platforms but I haven't noticed too much of a drop in quality with a #Pixel8pro on both the official app and #Fedilab. Shoot in the best quality your phone allows and bring it down if you feel that the compression algorithm doesn't do your photos justice. That's especially true for video: it's usually best to shoot in the intended resolution, rather than letting a software manage the compression. 1080p looks best on most mobile platforms.

4. It used to be a rule that you should shoot in horizontal format (your phone flipped to the side) rather than vertical even with a phone. With Tiktok and Instagram, that's not really true anymore. Shoot in whatever format fits the situation best.

5. I usually steer clear of any fancy modes like portrait when taking photos of Moxxi. It's not suuuper adapted to pets. Sometimes the ears are a bit cropped and the blur is too heavy. I sometimes add some blur when editing anyway.

No matter what the company claims, you won't get truly amazing depths of field and bokeh from their lenses and AI filters. That's fine though, i's social media, we'll love a flatter photo just fine.

6. I find that the "main" lens has usually the best quality and the others suck a little. If you can, get closer to your dog, shoot with the main lens at a higher resolution, and don't zoom. You can always crop later and we'll be none the wiser.

7. Speaking of lenses: flip your phone around and look at your lenses. What do you see? Fingerprints? Get that thing squeaky clean before you take a photo. Not naming names but I see a lot of guilty photographers on #DogsOfMastodon and #CatsOfMastodon

Make it muscle memory. This is perhaps the thing that will be the biggest improvement to your photos. And it's free!

I'm also guilty of it and there's no worse feeling than shooting at a difficult angle and thinking you've got an amazing shot, and when you look at it, it's murky and hazy and not crisp at all. Uggghhh

8. And, speaking of getting closer to your #dog. Get down to their level. Literally. Get on all fours if you're able. Use a gimbal or a selfie stick if you're not. There are so many pets out there that are photographed by humans standing up instead of crouching down. Wonder why your pet always looks cuter when you photograph them on the couch? That's why. We'll talk about their eyes but it changes the entire photo to look at them straight in the face instead of from above.

9. Want them to look at you instead of away? Make silly noises. Whining dog noises are usually a winner. With Moxxi, slowly saying "Do... You... Waaaant... Aaaaa... Tttttt.... Ttttt...ttttttreat?" Will get me a head tilt every single time.

10. Learn the button combinations to shoot quickly. On my #Android phone

Double-click on the on/off button = launch the camera app

Single-click on volume down = take a photo

Long-press on volume down = shoot video

Sometimes you can't take your gloves off and the cuteness is happening NOW, those shortcuts will save your butt.

11. Take multiple shots and focus on the eyes, always focus on the eyes. Eyes are the window to the soul, right? Unless there's an artistic reason to focus on the tip of the nose, always focus on the eyes. You can usually touch your screen to set the focus and your camera should be able to track the focus point.

If you take multiple photos, you'll be able to pick the one in which the eyes are in focus.

12. Don't crop your dog! Pay attention to little bits of your dog that are outside of the frame: the tip of the tail, tip of the ears, one leg, etc. It sounds silly but that's the kind of stuff that you notice without realizing it.

To reiterate from the beginning: post photos even if there's a bit of your dog missing. Sometimes it's the best you can get because of a tight spot or a weird angle, I do it all the time. It's just good to avoid if you can.

13. There's a thing called the rule of thirds https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

I think most people have heard of it but if you haven't, there's a lot of documentation online. What I'm going to add about it is that often with dog photos on a phone, you don't have time for proper composition. Take that shot and crop it later. That's another reason why I shoot with the main lens at a higher resolution. Make sure the end result follows the rule of thirds though.

14. Avoid elements that could make it easy to identify your location. I personally skip posting a lot of great photos because where I live is very easily recognizable. The #Fediverse is cool and all, but you never know what will happen years down the line.

This does not apply to photos you keep to yourself, obvs.