Pet Photography Tricks

Many of you probably do not know this but I (Tiffany) am volunteering at a local animal shelter taking photographs of animals looking for new forever homes. Well, this morning I was doing some practicing on our kitty Mocha (pictured above) and realized there are some tricks to taking quality, non-blurry animal photos. I would like to share a few tricks in my arsenal with you today!

First of all, never under estimate the power of a treat or crinkly bag. I have never met an animal that did not immediately perk up when I crinkled some plastic. I have personally found that it works better than any other obnoxious noise I could even dream of making! I'm not sure what it is about the sound of crinkling plastic, but animals LOVE it!

Second trick: praise, praise, praise! Don' forget to praise your animal! The last thing you want are pictures of your animal looking scared or like they were just yelled at so seriously watch your tone! There are a lot more constructive ways to get attention than raising your voice! (This tip also applies to child photography!)

Third trick: know your equipment! I try to shoot in either manual mode on my DSLR or El Servo mode (which is basically a fancy way of saying "Action Mode.") I also like to shoot in continuous or burst mode to make sure that I get the range of expressions that animals make when they hear the shutter snap. For example, the photo below was only possible because of burst mode, the dog-a-do pictured below tilted her head curiously after she heard the shutter snap but this would have been missed if I would have been shooting on single shot mode.

Fourth trick: capture a unique perspective! A picture is instantly better when you capture a unique view (and this applies to all photography not just animal photography!) I try to get either at the level of or below the level of any animal I shoot at least once during each shoot. The photo in the center of the triptych at the top of this post is a wonderful example of this tip. By shooting the underside of Mocha's little chin I was able to capture a perspective that people cannot see on a regular basis! Also, in at least one photo try focusing on a small part of the animal ( the ear, eye, whiskers, tail, etc.) You'll be surprised some of the unique features each animal has!

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My fifth and final trick in this post is simple: let them have fun!! Don't try to pose every picture of an animal, it won't work. Let them run around and follow them while they do because that is the easiest way to capture an animal just being its unique self, and THAT is what you want to capture!

Do you have tricks of your own when it comes to photographing your furry little friend? Share them below!