How to take pet portraits you can frame

Pet lovers are spending hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on professional photographs of their bestest fur buddies.

The photos are on walls, tea towels, and coffee mugs and all over social media.

You don’t need to be an expert photographer to take good pictures of your pets. Really, all you need is a camera or mobile phone, and a pet.

Here are some tips to make sure the photo is memorable and shareable.

First up, patience is a virtue because pets, like children and café waiters in St Mark’s Square in Venice, can be unpredictable, even a tad difficult, when having a camera pointed at them.

Some other things to consider:

• Focus is crucial. While most cameras have automatic focus, you still have to select the right thing to keep in focus: your dog, not the tree in the background.

• Is it indoors or outdoors? If outside, will there be lots of distractions? The time of day will affect the direction and intensity of the light.

• Will you need two cameras and should one of them be on a tripod to minimise blurring and shake? This could be very important if you are taking an action photo. Consider bringing a friend to help with pet wrangling so you can concentrate on the shot.

• To better manage the unpredictability factor, keep your voice and demeanour calm and friendly and bring along plenty of treats to give your pet as a reward.

Don’t forget to give your pet plenty of pats and belly rubs during the photo session. The treats should be held to the side of the camera as you shoot to keep them looking at you long enough to get a good picture.

Best not use flash, as it may startle the animal. Anyhow, most professionals swear by using natural light, especially early in the day and late afternoon.

Indoors, this could be achieved by photographing the pet near a window or door.

Shooting outside on an overcast day provides even light because the clouds naturally scatter and soften the sunlight. A shady spot will give you even lighting.

If you’re shooting in full light and shade isn’t an option, remember to keep the sun at your back to even out the contrast in the photo.

Photos that seem to show what a pet is thinking or feeling are more likely to be appealing. You know your pet best, so plan for the most likely time and place to capture that emotion.

You can shoot a sequence of shots to show your pet’s character. Come up with a concept and plan your photos around it. You can use some of their favourite toys or even outfits to show your pet’s personality.

To take a portrait of your pet sitting, plan your shoot for when they’re a little tired. They’ll be less likely to come to you or run around if you take their photo right when they wake up or after they’ve stopped playing.

If you want an action shot – while they’re playing, running, or swimming – then plan for that.

Take as many photos as you can. With digital technology, it’s easy to delete the shots that are blurred.

If you have it, use burst mode – a function that takes continuous shots while you hold down the shutter key. Newer phone models even have focus tracking, meaning your photos won’t come out blurry.

Just remember where the light source is – it should be over your shoulder – and use the automatic setting or the fastest shutter speed.

Phones may not give you as many shutter speed or aperture options as a proper camera, so just play around and take lots of photos. Practice makes perfect!

Not every photo has to be “staged”. Pets misbehaving or playing with each other can make great photos.

How about photographing them doing what they don’t like? Pictures of dogs having a bath – and what happens afterwards – can be terrific.

We love seeing the eyes of people and it’s also important to get your pet’s eyes sharp in your portraits.

Use a single focus point on your camera and try to position it over your pet’s eye. If they’re partially turned away from the camera, focus on the eye closest to you.

We are very used to taking photos from our head height. But for more interesting and natural shots, get down at your pet’s eye level.

Or shoot from higher up looking down at the pet’s face looking up at you.

And have fun! 

Related reading: PC Mag, Adorama, ASPCA