Tips for Pet Photographs
A good pet portrait requires a good reference photograph. You may have the perfect shot already. Or you may need to take some. But taking a photograph of your pet is often not as easy as it sounds. The results can often be of a cat wandering off, a dog’s wagging tail blurring the results, ears suddenly turned to odd angles. I have put together some tips to help. Mostly just try and relax, accept that it may take a few attempts and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with your pet. It was only when my beloved labrador was gone that I realised how few decent photographs I had of her. The main things to remember are summarised by PLACE -
Patience, Lighting, Angle, Camera, Engage
PATIENCE
When photographing your pet, it often pays off to just keep the camera ready and wait. You want to capture your pet’s personality and character so don’t try to force your pet to sit still if you’ve just walked in the door and he’s eager to see you, or if she’s just woken up and is ready to stretch her legs. Wait for a calmer moment.
Unless you are very lucky, you will not be taking the perfect photograph the first time round.. Take as many pictures as you can, as you just never know when you’ll get a shot with an eye closed or a tongue sticking out. It’s going to take a while and you may also end up taking hundreds of photographs! Remember your pictures are digital. No need to worry about running out of film, though you may want to get into the habit of carrying extra memory cards or sticks if that’s what your camera uses.
LIGHTING
This is so important. Good photographs need natural light. The ideal is outdoors on an overcast or cloudy day with the sun behind you. Or a spot of full shade. This will prevent awkward shadows or over-exposure.
The alternative is to find a large window that’s not directly facing the sun. Window light creates softer light and has a tendency to bring out the sparkle in your pet’s eye much better than artificial overhead lights can.
Try to avoid photographs taken in bright sunlight which often cause overexposure and a bright white shine on the fur. Similarly using the flash can create too much white shine, red-eye and can startly your pet. Make sure you have enough light though - badly lit photographs can lose detail of fur or features.
When considering where to take your photograph, also pay attention to what’s in the background. Cluttered backgrounds can make it difficult to clearly see your pet if they are busy, distracting, or the same colour or value. Whenever possible, make it easy on yourself by photographing your subject against a plain or neutral background.
ANGLE
Take your photographs from your pet’s eye level, not your own. Photographs and portraits are all about the eyes — even when that portrait subject isn’t a person. While there are a few exceptions, getting down on the animal’s eye level will create better photographs.. Place your pet on a table or the stairs if that is easier for you.
If you shoot from above - at your eye level - the pet will look smaller, proportions will be off and it will be harder to look into their eyes in the shot.
Take the photograph when your pet is looking slightly to the left or right of the camera. Straight on shots or directly from the side can make the animal's face look flat. If you can try not to leave your pet with only one eye, it is always better to see both of them.
The closer you can get to your pet the better because this will enable a standard camera to capture more detail. It is in the eyes, the texture of the fur, the length of the eyelashes and whiskers that a lot of animals come to life.
CAMERA SETTINGS
If you are a techno-phobe like me you may just point your camera and hope for the best. If you are able to play around a little with your camera settings then use a fast shutter speed, continuous focus, and burst mode.
For more technical photographers out there think of it as being a little like sports photography. Since many pets have a hard time sitting still a fast shutter speed will help. Set your camera to shutter priority mode or manual mode and use a shutter speed of at least 1/250 if possible, and even faster for action shots of a game of fetch. Using an even faster shutter (something like 1/500 or 1/1000) means you’ll need to open up the aperture as much as possible. However, now you’re dealing with a shallow depth of focus, which can be hard to work with if the animal is making small movements here and there. So try to get as much light on them as possible. Again, turning the burst mode on will take a sequence of fast shots to up the odds of getting a perfectly-timed shot. Prevent soft images by using continuous autofocus mode, not single.
ENGAGED
The trickiest part of animal photography is that pets don’t understand posing instructions like other subject matter. A few treats and favourite toys can go a long way in getting pets to stay put or look in a certain direction.
If you can, get a friend to help. Having someone engaging your pet with treats or a toy is a great way to capture them. It can also prevent them walking off (a photograph of their tail again), trying to find out what you are doing (the 75th close up of their left nostril) or stopping for a scratch (not the elegant image you were after).
If you are working alone you could use food as a way to capture their attention. How? Simply stick a small, rolled piece of duct tape or masking tape to the top of your camera. Then firmly place one of their favourite treats on top of it. Once you’ve done this, let them smell it so they know what is at stake (a delicious surprise!). Now they’ll stare at you with all the intensity you need. (Don't feed the actual “taped” treat to your pet as you may not know what was in the glue/gum.)