All pet owners are fun of their furry or feathered friends. Same emotive feeling directs their excitement toward gorgeous shots of and with their lovely little (or not so little) pets. However, while humans understand the whole dynamics of photo shooting, pets are not the easiest moving creatures to get to still positions or to pose for a camera. You will need to be extrapatient, more creativity and practice extra more times. Savouringanimal love will certainly help. Many pets are unbelievably cute. You only need to be in the right mood and captivate them. Below are key tips and tricks to guide you toward stunning pet photographic experience.
- Relax and be Patient
Pets are highly sensitive and emotional animals. They easily sense human’s emotive state. If you are anxious or stressed, the pet you are capturing might become anxious or stress too. A stressed pet may easily pose a concerned eye, flattenedears or some looks which may not translate well on film. Before taking a pet’s shot, release yourself of all worries, take a deep breath and try to have fun with it.
- Make Use of Natural Light
One foremost rule for pet photography is the use of natural light.Camera flash do causethe red-eye effect. Failing to capture the actual eye colour is already a bad shoot. In addition, flash bursts may scare the pet too. Hence, it is better to shoot outside and when it is cloudy with some soft diffused light.Indoor shoots are equally great. However, the room should be well-lit and with large light-penetrating windows.
- Focus on the Pet’s Eye
A good pet shot is often reflective in a sharp eyeshot. Hence it is pertinent to focus on the pet’s eyes and capture the tack sharped eye expressions.When your capturing environment obscurethe pet’s double eye view, ensure the eye in view is the one closer to your camera. More recent cameras offer animal eye AF. Make sure your eye AF is activated so that your camera can identify the pet’s eyes.
- Get Even with the Pet
Another important pet photography tip is to always go to the pet and stoop to its level. For you to get a pet, into a comfortable position and at ease, it is important not toforce the pet to come to you but vice versa - go to it.More importantly, get down to the pet’s level – take a sit on the floor, lie on your belly and try to shoot below or from the pet’s eye level.A stooped camera shot takes uncommon views of how pets view the world, rather than how we conventionally view pets.
- Capture pet in a Surprise and Nice Postures
It is often difficult to get energetic pets into still positions. However, in order to be able to capture pet in perfect postures, let the pet feel free to play around while you setup your camera position. Once ready, give the pet a quick whistle.Often, this will surprise your pet and you may just get few seconds to capture breathtaking alerted postures.