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Most Important Tips
The first three important tips of good pet photography is to relax, have fun, and have patience. Do not stress about getting the best photo. Pets can sense anger and stress and it will show in their expression. Having a happy, silly, fun, or relaxed expression is best!
I will also describe a little about lighting, poses, expressions, tips and tricks, photographing black pets, and making a multi-pet portrait.
I will also describe a little about lighting, poses, expressions, tips and tricks, photographing black pets, and making a multi-pet portrait.
With that said, here are the tips!
1. Natural light is good light. It is best to shoot in the early morning or late evening, as long as the light is not as harsh as it is at noon. Direct sunlight will wipe out detail.
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| Richard. Shot outside on cloudy day. |
For those of us in the cloudy Northwest, do not worry. Having a cloudy day is not the disadvantage you may think it is. It's like having a great big light box above diminishing the harsh light, even at noon. However, using a little fill flash helps too.
2. Flash. Flash can be tricky, so avoid it if possible. Too much and shot straight on and you have laser beam eyes and blown out details. If you can manipulate the output, do so. If not, try taping a piece of tissue paper over the flash to soften the light, or if your flash head turns, bounce it on a white wall or the ceiling so the light bounces back on your pet.
3. If shooting inside, place your pet near a window, like the above image. Or if you don't have flash, place your pet near a white wall and shine a flash light on the wall so it bounces back onto your pet.
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| Chandler. Shot by Charlie Korn |
4. Shoot at different levels. Shoot while standing, at your pet's eye level, and laying flat. Do them all! Most shots are taken while standing, and you can still get great photos this way, but you'll see shooting at their level is pretty amazing. Experiment!
5. Eyes are important. Especially when they are looking in your direction. However, if you are going for a different kind of pose (sleeping or side view), then of course use your discretion.  |
| Amber |
6. Consider the pose. You want to experiment with different shots. Do try and fill the frame with just their face, try a typical seated pose, get a sweet pose while they are laying on their dog bed or on the porch. Play! Try and get something different, if you like. Don't shoot from far away.
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| Orion |
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| Cosmo |
1. To get that happy grin look with your dog, exercise him or her before photographing.
2. Use treats and favorite toys to get your pet to look at you or the direction you'd like. This is a valuable tip!
3. Get a helper! Have someone hold the pet's attention by holding their favorite toy or treat or have someone hold the leash. Don't worry about getting the leash in the shot, or the helper. I will not paint them in.Tips for photographing black pets
Many of the above tips help but here's an extra bit of information. Do many of your photos of your black pet look like this: black amorphic figures? Hopefully, these tips will help you to avoid that.
1. Natural light is more important with black pets. Get them near a window or out in the early morning or late evening light. Mid-winter is also a good time. No afternoon harsh light! Direct light from overhead is a terrible light, makes deep shadows. Really try to avoid this.2. Get light on one side. You can see from the provided examples.
Either get them next to a window, or get them next to a white wall and shine a flashlight on the wall so it bounces back onto the pet's fur.
Either get them next to a window, or get them next to a white wall and shine a flashlight on the wall so it bounces back onto the pet's fur.
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| Mocha |
3. Using flash with black pets can be very tricky.If you need to use flash, try softening the flash of light coming out of your camera by placing some tissue paper over the flash. You can still take great photos using flash but only when it's used to help fill in missing details and not as the sole light source.
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| Kibbers |
Here's a site I found with some more great information: Pet Photography Tips
For multi-pet portraits from one or from multiple images
1. I won't go into shooting a multi-pet photo but I will say having either one, or all of the following, will truly help you; helper, treats, and/or toys. It's very important to see all pets and making sure everyone is in focus. And speaking of focus, it's good to have every critter generally looking in the same direction as well. Here are some good examples of a multi-pet photo.
2. Putting together a multi-pet portrait from different images is not always an easy thing. Generally, I only offer this to clients who's pets have passed away and who don't have the ability to take new photos. However, if you have images with great poses, but on different photos, I can always take a look.
Below are some examples of good photos I could potentially put together and bad ones. It's important to have the animals generally doing the same thing, have the images shot from about the same angle, and have the lighting fairly similar.
Let's break that down. Animals doing the same thing.
Don't work together
The above photos don't go together for two reasons: Nelson is at rest and Cosmo is in play mode. Also the lighting is very different in both.
Do work together (sort of)
These two photos of Porter and Loretta would work ok together. However, it would be nice to see a little more of them. As single portraits, though, they're great!
Do work together
These poses are practically the same, have about the same lighting, and are shot from the same height.
Don't work together
Curtis and Ginger don't quite work because Curtis is standing and is shot at standing level while Ginger is lounging. She is also inside, with different lighting, and is shot from eye level.
As you can see, it's a bit harder to put some images together. This is to be avoided if possible. If I can't make images work together, I will tell you before we commit to a portrait.
Hope these tips helped and happy shooting! I look forward to making a unique pet portrait for you!
