Photography Tip – Pet and Animal photography
Written by Mike on February 20, 2009 – 9:55 pm -
Dyna
Animals lovers are one of the most voracious photographers on the planet! Everyone who has a pet, knows that their dog, cat, lizard, bird or whatever has its own personality, its own style and certainly its own unique look. Love of animals and animal photos means lots of time spent looking through the camera for that “special shot”.
While it is best to have a camera that has almost no lag time, you can have really good success taking most types of pet photos with any decent digital camera.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
When you want a little more formal of a photo, remember to keep your sessions relatively short. The animal you are photographing would rather be chasing something, playing with something or getting a belly rub or pat on the head. You have a fairly narrow window of opportunity so make sure YOU are ready. If you have a tripod, use it. Set your camera up to point exactly where you are going to stage your photo and entice your little friend into that zone. Adjust quickly and SHOOT! If you can, try taking photos of your pet during normal activities that are “photo worthy”. Sometimes the best shot is a candid photo that has been thought through. Have an idea, compose your photo and take the picture. Another tip is to keep your actions and voice calm. Be a little subdued and don’t start using your playful voice as this will prompt more activity from your pet.
TOYS, PROPS, FOOD…
If your pet isn’t a willing poser, break out the artillery. Squeeky toys, food, distraction items of colour and anything else that may get their attention. If you are going to use this type of system it is absolutely critical that you are ready to shoot as soon as the item is displayed. It is a really good idea to have an “assistant” run the distraction while you concentrate on the shots.
GO WILD!
Snarling little Kitty
There is nothing more stunning than a really good photo of an exotic animal. Most of our photo ops happen at a zoo unless you are a safari nut or happen to trek into wilderness areas where the wild is in charge. I myself have photos that are amazing shots of animals in the wild and continue to shoot natural wilderness flora and fauna whenever I can. If you want to photograph a tiger, I would suggest doing so at a zoo unless you have a means to escape and a 600mm plus lens! This Jaguar photo was taken at ZOOS in Stevensville Ontario Canada (near the Buffalo NY border). I spent about 10 minutes getting the animal used to me being there, getting my settings just right and then started getting a little closer to her space until she decided that the nice man with the camera was getting too close to her house. I had my camera ready and then I shot about 20 frames of her snarling at me. You will notice that you can’t see any cage. If you get close enough to the cage and have a long enough lens (I suggest 200mm or better) your focal length will be longer than the distance to the cage…thus…making it seem invisible. Really close observation will show distortion of some details but not enough to bother.
THE EYES HAVE IT…
Whether shooting people or animals, it is a general rule to get as close to eye level as possible. You can truly create a very intimate, warm photo by having the eyes in a level plane with the photo composition.
THE CLOSER YOU GET…
Fill the camera’s viewfinder or LCD display with your subject to create pictures with greater impact. Step in close or use your camera’s zoom to emphasize what is important and exclude the rest. Check the manual for your camera’s closest focusing distance. This is also another benefit of having a long lens or a large ZOOM on your point and shoot camera. You don’t have to be in the animals comfort zone to get that really great close-up photo.
LIGHTS…ACTION…CAMERA…
Nicky the Boxer peeling out!
OK, what is more fun than catching your critter running around like a lunatic? Nothing. In situations where your pet loves to tear around it can be very difficult to catch them unless you have a fast camera with almost no lag time. Most point and shoot cameras simply can’t keep up with the frame rate and response time needed to catch a quick little animal. If you have a DSLR, a fast lens is also a great tool. Animals love to play and if you can get them In flagrante delicto, you may just have some of the best photos of your beloved pet that you will ever have. In this photo, Nicky is my Nephew and his girlfriends boxer. We had five dogs at the cottage (a Great Dane, an English Spaniel, Nicky the Boxer and my two Bichon Poos). There was so much shooting available that it was crazy. Everyone had a field day and there were more great photos taken of those puppies in action than you could amass in a year!
IN SHORT
Be ready, have a plan in place and TAKE TONS OF PHOTOS! You can delete any that aren’t good enough to keep but you can’t take a photo of a moment that happens only once! Have fun, keep it natural and if you are taking formal photos, be patient and organized!
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