How to Photograph Your Pets

Millions of pet pictures are taken every year. The results are proudly shown off not only in frames next to the rest of the family pictures but also on websites and blogs dedicated to the best pictures of animal companions, and in books like The Ultimate Dog Lover, The Ultimate Cat Lover, and The Ultimate Horse Lover.

How do you get that perfect picture you'll be proud to keep and to share? We asked Troy Snow, a top professional photographer with years of experience taking pictures for the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, for advice on how to get the best possible pictures of your animal companions. Below is his response.

You can view some of Troy Snow's animal photography at his Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/troysnow/. More information about The Ultimate Dog Lover -- and other books featuring the photography of Troy Snow -- follows the article. Good luck with those snapshots!

"How to Photograph Your Pets"
by Troy Snow

Digital photography has changed everything for the casual photographer. Instead of wasting roll after roll of film -- or not bothering to take pictures at all because of the trouble and expense of getting them developed -- it's now possible to take hundreds of pictures of your pet, happy in the knowledge that if there are just one or two good ones out of every few dozen taken, nothing has been wasted except possibly your time.

Even better, photo-editing software has made it possible to salvage a marginal image. With a few clicks of the mouse, the out-of-frame, out-of-focus, or just "not right" images are jettisoned forever. A few clicks more, and those images with potential are fixed up and made suitable for framing --- a crop here, a red eye changed to brown, the elimination of items cluttering up the background.

But the best pictures aren't made in a software program. They start with the knowledge of how to get great pictures at the first shutter click. Learn these basics and you'll end up with the memories that will last forever:

Get Outside

Taking pictures outside gives your pet a more natural, healthy look. But animals won't sit still like humans. Dogs romp, cats frolic, horses trot. Learn to adjust your aperture and shutter speed to shoot objects in motion, or use predefined program many cameras include. You'll capture the best of your pet's athletic grace.

If your pet is a solid, dark color, use your flash to bring out the detail in his or her face. If you do end up with a red eye, use photo-editing software (basic programs come free with many new cameras and computers) to fix the problem.

Get Close

If you want a good picture, you need to get on the same plane as your pet. Shoot at eye level or just above the eye level to get the best visual connection. Be careful not to get too low though. A long snout shot from too low an angle can block the eyes, breaking the connection you're trying to get.

Watch the Background

Think neutral -- a plain wall, not a cluttered cabinet, or a barn door, not a tool shed. Think contrast, but not too much -- a lighter background for a dark animal, darker for a light pet. If your dog loves to curl up on his paisley dog bed, consider throwing down a solid-colored blanket before you shoot. Your cat might look better against the solid green background of the lawn than in front of a busy garden bed. You might be able to edit a distracting background later, but it's easier to avoid it in the first place.

Be Patient

If you pet does something cute and you miss it, don't despair. Chances are, if you're patient and keep your camera ready, you'll catch an encore performance.

Read it all here: http://www.pet360.com/dog/lifestyle/how-to-photograph-your-pets/dl1hECkVrkmc3GRl6YkR4Q

 

"If your pet is a solid, dark color, use your flash to bring out the detail in his or her face. If you do end up with a red eye, use photo-editing software (basic programs come free with many new cameras and computers) to fix the problem."

This isn't always as easy as it sounds. My cat has blue eyes, for example, but any hint of light and flash causes them to turn red. I can't simply edit in some brown or black pupils to somewhat clear up the image at that point because her eyes are very unique. I have yet to be able to photoshop her eyes correctly, even when trying to mimic other good photos of her.

 

Too bad, Jessi. Hopefully they can come up with a guide that applies to blue colored eyes. To be pictures with the infamous red eye aren't that bad

 

This is probably one of the few pictures I have where she's looking down and you can see that part of her eyes are blue. You can still see a bit of red in the middle, but not much. It's just unfortunate that you can't tell the true color overall, which is a really ice blue:

 

Beautiful cat Too bad this happens every time you take a picture, it surely has something to do with the flash, I believe. This also happens to me when I take pictures of my boyfriend. His eyes are icy blue as well, but I have a software that kinda does a good job at removing red eyes