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Photographing Pets

As a professional pet photographer one thing I am always get asked is how to take good photographs. OK, you may not have a £1000 lens and camera combination - but you can get good pictures with a compact camera. It's all about the composition. If you follow the rules below you will be able to create great pictures.

Note: I've written this for dogs - but it applies to any pet (or animal).

The rules
1 Get to eye level
There's nothing worse than lots of pictures of the top a dogs head. While we may see our pets mostly from this vantage they definitely look better from lower down. Get low to take your pictures, you may need to lie down but the pictures will be much better.

2 Get the right perspective
Do you have lots of pictures where your dog has a huge nose and a tiny bum? This is due to the focal length of the shot. Zooming in doesn't just change how much is in the frame it also changes the size of close objects compared to far ones. So it is much better to shoot your pet across the room zoomed in than right up to his face zoomed out. Unless you are going for the wacky look of course.

3 It's all in the eyes
As well as being at eye level make sure the eyes are in focus and can be seen. The eyes are the most important part of any animal shot. Other bits can be out of focus - but not the eyes.

4 Co-ordinate
Try not to shoot a beige dog on a beige background. He'll get lost. Dark backgrounds for light dogs and light backgrounds for dark dogs give a photo impact.

5 De-clutter
The dog should be the main subject so try not to have too much in the background. A grassy field is ideal - a busy paisley patterned carpet is not! The background is still part of the photo so don't forget about it.

6 Space to move
Photos are a moment captured in time. Your brain fills in what will be happening in the next few moments. If your dog is moving or looking to the right you need more space to that side. Basically it's the space that the animal would occupy in the next few seconds and gives the photograph balance.

7 Fill the frame
There is nothing worse than a tiny dog in a huge photo. Get in close and personal.

8 Make the crop deliberate
If you cut out part of your pet make it look deliberate. So if you crop then crop close - ie head and shoulders. Try not to make it look as if you accidentally cut the feet out of the photo. If you do have the feet in the photo make sure you have some space below them as well to ground the photo.

So that’s it – hopefully you should be producing stunning photographs in no time - let me know how you get on
Fiona Cowieson
Edinburgh Pet Photography

Author's Resource:

Fiona Cowieson Photography - Pet Photography in Edinburgh

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