Photography Tips: How to take great pictures of your pets.
~Always be prepared!
Important items to have on hand!
1. A camera with a lot of film or a digital camera.
2. A clean cloth (for wiping up eyes, paws, etc.)
3. Your pet's favorite treats/toys.
4. Good lighting [Flash or *natural lighting]
5. Props or backgrounds (optional)
Lighting Tips
-Natural, outdoor lighting early or late in the day (when the sun is low) provides great light, if it's too sunny it may cause extreme highlights and dark shadows on the animal so pick a slightly shaded area to shoot, but not too shady as the shots will be too dark, overcast days provide great, even outdoor lighting.
-Flash is a good installment to your camera but it has a downside in taking pictures of animals because it causes the "glowy" eye and sometimes creates harsh highlights & unneccesary shadows on them.
-If photographing indoors a great alternative to flash is to raise the blinds/open some windows to let in as much natural light as possible but remember, when taking indoor pictures of your pet with outdoor light coming through a window, always have your back to the light to avoid the animal from just being a soulouette in the shot.
-Position yourself at your pet's eye level and focus on their eye try to fill the camera's frame with your subject and make sure your pet stands out clearly from the background.
-Make sure it's a good expression of the animal's personality, ask yourself if this is the face that says it all about them.
-If you are using a digital camera, use the highest quality setting.
-Save digital files in JPG/JPEG, BMP, or PNG formats
-Use toys especially the ones with sqeakers to get them to look at the camera, don't call them because they'll get up and come to you.
Setting Up The Scene
~When you set up a photo shoot for your pet, be sure to use elements that describe thier personality.
i.e. If your pet is very playful, why not add some of thier favorite toys to the picture or take them down to the park on a 'pretty' day. Or if your pet is a dog and their personality is very close to thier AKC standard i.e. If your Hound/Terrier loves to dig why not take them to the field or thier favorite place to dig for a photo shoot?
#1 Tip
~But the #1 tip of all time is, be patient.
Patience is key, you don't want to end up with a bunch of funky photos of your pet's feet only to see them do a really sweet pose soon after and you're left regretting wasting all your film. Only take photos of your favorite poses of your pet, just wait, they'll come around, every animal has a "look" that is only captured at certain times, just be patient, take a book to your little photo shoots if you have to, a great and succesful photo shoot takes a lot of time and a lot of patience but the pay off is worth the wait and may earn you the Cocoa Cutie Of The Year Title and Award!
