Who does not wish to capture fantastic images of their pet? But as easy as it sounds, it is not really a piece of cake when it comes to capturing the true nature of your pet in these images. Hence, you need to learn a few tricks to capture better photographs of your pet.
- Get Their Attention:
To be able to get good shots, you need to first grab the attention of your pet. If you want candid photos, let them do what they want and work around it. You will get great natural shots organically. But if you are looking to click pictures that show more interaction of the pet with the camera, then you need to divert its attention towards you. You can do that using their favorite treat, calling their name while clicking, or holding u their favorite toy. This way, you can capture images where they directly look into the camera.
- Groom Them Before the Shoot:
If your pet is dirty, the images will definitely not be up to the mark. When I click images of my Goldendoodle, I use the best shampoo for Goldendoodles to ensure my dog is clean, neat, and looks good in the shots. A good shampoo will make their fur look more fluffy, and when you give the dog a nice haircut, they look more beautiful in all the shots you click.
- Use Burst Mode:
When you have a playful pet that is not very attentive, it gets tough to get that right shot quickly. In that case, you would want to grab all photos without missing them for a second. Burst mode helps in such a scenario where you can capture their action shot. You will get multiple images, and choosing the right one becomes easy. You can also use this set of burst images and join them to create a gif that makes it look like the pet is in action.
- Use Live Images:
A few cameras can capture live images, which means you can capture the pet while doing some action. You can edit these photos to covert into gif, which is also a great feature, and create a lot of impact on social media. For example, you can capture a live image of your pet running and convert it into a gif which would look more realistic.
- Plan Your Shots:
While candid shots look great, planning a shit creates better images. Accordingly, plan a setup and get a wide range of images in the setting to get the right shot. You can use various backdrops, a home corner, or get a few props. Just be as creative as possible and understand the output you are looking for.
- Train the Pet Before the Shoot:
The pet will understand and respond better by teaching the pet a few commands, such as stay, look, sit, stand, and down. This makes the entire photo session much easier, and you will be able to capture better photos.
- Get the Right Equipment:
No matter what shots you click, your photos will never turn out as expected if you do not get the right equipment. The equipment you use is one of the most important aspects of getting good images. Be it a DSLR or a high-end smartphone. Getting the equipment is not enough, as you must also learn a few photography techniques and how to use the camera before you get comfortable taking shots with it. You must research which camera suits your needs and get the right lenses for your photos. Take some time to understand the entire process so that you finally learn to click good pictures.
- Use Faster Shutter Speeds:
Taking photos of a pet is challenging, mainly because they are highly energetic and constantly move, which makes it tough to get stable pictures. You will end up getting blurry images instead. Hence, quick the shutter speed, which will help you capture every action accurately, and you will quickly be able to get good pictures of your pet.
- Capture their Personality:
Instead of planning all photo poses, let the pet behave naturally. It is better to capture the pet’s true personality rather than create an artificial one. If your pet is playful, aim for shots that showcase their high energy. If your pet is naughty, then catch them in some action that showcases that. This way, you will not just click great images but also have the ones that genuinely portray the pet’s nature.
- Take shots at Their Level:
Get down to the level of your pet to truly capture unique photos. You should aim to capture shots at their eye level or lower, which helps capture their expressions more effectively. We tend to click pictures from the top, which is not the right way to do it. Make it more interesting by getting to their level and capturing engaging images.
- Make Use of Natural Light:
I have tried several complex lighting setups to get my pet’s best shots, but I have noticed that the best photos I usually capture are under natural light. This is mainly because pets get irritated under harsh photography light and might get agitated with the use of flash. This can be avoided when you plan the photo session under natural sunlight.
- Get a Few Costume Changes:
There are so many cute pet clothes available in the market that could be used to get interesting shots. Putting the dog in a nice t-shirt or a dress can add more character to the image and make the photos stand out. You can also re-purpose a few of your older clothes for the photo session.
The images you have clicked are not final. You can always do some touch-ups and editing to improve the image quality. There are ready-made filters available that make this process easier. At last, do not forget to frame a few of these images and create a pet gallery wall in your home.
