Whether you want to decorate your home with beautiful pictures of your dog or you’d like to promote your pooch as the next social media superpet, you’ll need to know how to capture your pet at their best if you want the perfect pet photograph.
Keep your kit close
The good news is you don’t need an expensive DSLR camera to take great photos of your pet – you’re smartphone should be good enough. While a fancy DSLR may have more photographing power, your smartphone camera has a number of advantages over a dedicated camera – not least portability, which means you’ll be able to take a picture at a moment’s notice. Furthermore, if you’re active on social media networks (and who isn’t these days?) you’ll also enjoy being able to quickly and easily upload your photos to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Make sure you take the most out of your camera’s features. The iPhone 5 has a continuous burst mode, for example, which allows you to take pictures continuously and then pick your favourites – this is a great way of taking pictures of your dog in motion.
Say ‘treat’
You’ll find that telling your pet to ‘say cheese’ isn’t anywhere near as effective as you wish it was – but there other ways you can get your dog to look at the camera. A squeaky toy can usually do the trick, but if one of your hands is doing the squeaking you’ll inevitably have a looser grip on your camera, so coax a friend or family member into helping you capture that perfect shot by doing the squeaking instead. Then again, if you have a well-trained dog, you might be able to get them to sit, play dead or roll over on demand – with the help of a tasty treat of course.
See things from a different perspective
Just imagine if all the photos of you were taken from above – it’s unlikely you’d look that flattering. So why is so much pet photography taken from above? The single most significant thing you can do to start taking better pictures of your pet is to simply get down to their eye level. You might even find that your pet approaches you as you crouch or lie on the floor because they become curious of your unusual behaviour.
Disable your flash
You’ll find that almost every photography how-to guide will mention lighting – that’s because lighting is a major factor in the success of a photo. All the advice you’ve heard and read about good lighting applies to pet photography, but there’s one important additional point you should remember when you point your camera at your pet: don’t use the flash. Red eye is the least of your problems – the flash can startle your pet, leading him or her to associate your camera with displeasure, which will make taking good pictures much more difficult in the future.
Choose your background wisely
When it comes to the background for your pet photograph, sometimes less is more. A busy background will often distract the attention away from your pet, but something more plain will allow the focus to remain squarely on your pet.
Add a human touch
So much pet photography forgets the human element, but these pets don’t live in isolation, they’re part of the family, so don’t be afraid to put yourself in the frame. Or maybe just your arms and legs? Whatever you decide, make sure your photographer is clued up on these pet photography tips!
This article was written on behalf of helpucover. helpucover is a trading style of Pinnacle Insurance plc, an insurance company who offer a range of cover including Income Protection, Pet Insurance, GAP insurance and Gadget Insurance. Visit us online at http://www.helpucover.co.uk