We all love our furry friends, but it can be difficult to get great shots of our pets as they are not always willing to pose for us - let alone stay in one place for more than a minute. But, with the right equipment and a few tricks, you can certainly get some amazing photos of pets that are worthy to be hanging up on the wall next to all your other family members.
Here are a few tips to remember:
1. Have Patience
When you are photographing your pet, you have to have patience. You need to be there and always ready to take that perfect shot. Your pet most likely will not be in the same position or stance again during the photo shoot, so you need to be ready and alert for that perfect moment. This is especially true if they are excited and playing around.
Photo credit: Pet Imagery
2. Use Treats or Toys They Love
If there is a specific treat or toy that your pet loves and makes him or her very happy, incorporate it into the shoot so you can capture their joy and excitement. It may be difficult, but if you have another person to help, you can stand back and be ready to take photos when the moment is right.
3. Make Sure Your Lighting Is Right
If you are outside or in a room with great natural light, you do not need to worry about a flash, but if not, you need to have a flash ready. The flash will help to fill in the shadows and freeze the subject. Just like if you are photographing people, you never want to point the flash directly at the subject because it will not make them look the best, so be sure to have a diffuser. A great way to do this is to point your flash directly up to the ceiling which will bounce back down to your pet. That works much better than the actual flash that is on your camera that will point directly into your pets eyes.
Photo credit: Eiichi Yonemura via 500px
4. Equipment Makes A Difference
Using a great camera and lens definitely makes a difference when you are trying to take professional looking photos. All cameras work great and you can even get amazing photos now-a-days with a smart phone as long as you know how to use it, but there are better cameras than others out there which do make a huge difference.
5. Get At Eye Level With Your Pet
If you get your camera at eye level with your pet or even below eye level, it will give you a unique perspective and intimacy to your photos.
Photo credit: Pet Imagery
6. Focus on The Eyes
You want to be sure when you are taking photos of your pet, you always focus on the eyes. If the eyes are not in focus in the photo, the shot is wasted and will not look right. The way to do this is to make sure you know what focus point is active. If you let your camera do this, it will typically always focus on the thing that is the closest to you, which is probably the pet's nose, so be sure to change the focus point as necessary before you begin shooting.
Do you love animal photography? Here is another post with some great animal photos you may want to check out.
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