Love your pets and want to get the a pic to capture their personality? Even with the most camera shy pets there’s tricks to snapping perfect pet photos without tearing out your hair. Here’s some of the know-how!

1. Natural Light

Aim to have your setup outside or in a well-lit room. This will give you the most natural looking pet photos without needing to use a flash.

2. Setting up the Background

A simple and plain background will give your pet all the attention, while adding in toys and colourful blankets will create a nice contrast (especially against black dogs and cats).

3. Trick or Treat!

Nothing gets our furry friends more obedient than the promise of a tasty reward. Using an edible incentive will make a lot of difference when trying to get your pet to behave in front of the camera, but to really get the natural look and feel of a pet pose try giving a few treats before you start snapping away.

Once your pet is more relaxed and knows you’re casual in handing out his favourite bikkies simply have your hand with the treats near the lens of the camera so he’s looking towards you. Just be careful that your furry friend doesn’t decide to take a lunge for them!

4. Capture the Character

Does your pet do something funny or have a special quirk? If it is a case of a cat that likes to play with teabags or a dog who quirks his head when the phone rings then set up the scene to capture your pet in action. This will bring out the character in your shots.

5. Say Cheese!

Getting your dog to smile is a lot easier than you might think. Simply get him active with a few games and watch how his panting, tongue-dangling face lights up the camera!

6. Make it spontaneous

While this scenario doesn’t lend itself to organisation, make sure that you use a high ISO. Or sports mode (if possible), instead of flash if you are in low light settings. This means you won’t lose the element of surprise while spying on your fur friend.

Get in stealth mode and appease your inner secret agent as you use zoom or a camera extender to get the perfect shot of your pet up to their daily antics. It’s often the small habits that our pets do when they are at ease that make the best natural and characteristic photos.

7. Dog’s Eye

Get down and sit on an equal level to your dog. Get in close and capture their world from their point of view. You’ll be amazed by the difference between this and the photos you take from a master/follower point of view!

Also, focus on the eyes to keep them looking sharp. Like portrait photography, it’s all in the eyes! The rest will sort itself out!

Now that we’ve given you some good tips to get you going we’ll end things off with some No-Nos to keep in mind during your next photo shoot!

No flash. Not only will this make the eyes look strange most of the time, but it will also bother your pet and potentially damage their eyes. High ISO settings or “sports mode” will make up for this.
No overdoing it. If your dog or cat has had enough chances are you won’t get any more good photos. this is the time to take a break or some playtime.
No forcing things. If your pet doesn’t like something don’t force them to face it. Similarly, don’t rush them with the camera. Let them get used to the idea of it being close to them.
No restrictions! Important because experimenting is the best way to learn!

Now go and have some fun 🙂 !