Dogs
By Suzanne Alicie
Our pets are an important part of our lives, and we naturally want to include them in our photo albums. Taking a great picture of your pet requires some preparation, some skill, and a whole lot of luck. Occasionally a snapshot of your pet will turn out wonderfully, but more often than not you have lost the personality of the moment in the photo. Your gorgeous pet looks as if it’s in the middle of the road and caught in the high beams. Glowing green and red eyes ruin even the nicest photo of your pet. So unless you are a professional pet photographer, how can you take a great photo of your pet?
Avoid Glowing Eyes
The glowing eye problem, whether red or green, is caused by the same thing that causes this problem in human photos. The flash reflects off the back of the eye. To avoid the glowing eyes when you take a photo of your pet, the best thing to do is eliminate the flash entirely. Try shooting your pet outside or in an area with a lot of natural light.
Utilize Props
We all know how hard it can be to get a pet to sit still long enough for the shutter to close on the camera, but to create a really unique photo of your pet you will want to incorporate some aspect of his personality into the photo. This is where props come in handy. Prepare the props in the area you want to take the photo before you call your pet in. If your dog loves a certain chew toy, place it in a well lit area in preparation for the photo. Does your cat have an affinity for walking on your keyboard? Place an old keyboard where you want to take the photo. Clean up the background or use a solid colored blanket as a backdrop and you have the setting for a great pet photo.
Timing
When it comes to getting a great photo of your pet, a digital camera is your best option. Call the pet in, and play with it near the props you are using. Once your pet is relaxed and seems content to be in the area you have selected, offer a treat or wave a toy at the pet to get it to look at you, and snap as fast as your finger will move. Often times the photo that you thought would look great will be one of those you will discard, and a random shot will turn out to capture your pet’s personality perfectly.
Much the same as taking photos of children, you have to work around their quick loss of interest and easy distraction, using those very qualities to get them to look at you and stay where they are. Having a second person on hand to help play with the animal or get it to move to a certain area while you snap photos is a sure way to get a great photo.
It may take a few tries, and you may find yourself discarding many more photos than you keep, but eventually you will get a shot of your pet that you can’t wait to share with everyone.
Read more articles by Suzanne Alicie
- Super Dog Sunday™ Tailgate Party
by Carrie Boyko, CEB Buffer We're Ready for Super Bowl XLVIIITanner and Oliver and I want to share some of our photo tips with you today. This is our 4th year producing the Super Dog Sunday™ photo contest, so we've learned a thing or two. Here...
- Photos, Please!
© photo copyright Carrie BoykoSmile for the Camera, Tanner!I am very excited to show off all of your canine best friends on my blog. I'd like to share their images while playing at America's dog parks. Those of us who worked so hard to get dog...
- Photographing Dogs And Cats– Which Is Easier?
By Langley Cornwell As you might imagine, I am one of those people who takes crazy amounts of pictures of our dogs and our cat. Now that so many cell phones have decent cameras, it’s easy to capture those precious moments. What got me thinking about...
- Why Do My Dog’s Eyes Glow In The Dark?
By Tamara McRill Ever spot a pair of demonically glowing green or red eyes in the dark, only to realize they belong to your cute and cuddly dog? What really gets to me is when I’m the one outside and I see the floating bright orbs peering out my window....
- Your Photo Could Win Free Canidae For A Year!
Wouldn’t it be cool to see your favorite canine featured on a bag or can of CANIDAE Natural Pet Food? Well, now’s your chance! Yesterday, CANIDAE announced an exciting new photo contest for dog owners. If your photo is selected as the winner, you...
Dogs
How to Take a Great Photo of Your Pet
By Suzanne Alicie
Our pets are an important part of our lives, and we naturally want to include them in our photo albums. Taking a great picture of your pet requires some preparation, some skill, and a whole lot of luck. Occasionally a snapshot of your pet will turn out wonderfully, but more often than not you have lost the personality of the moment in the photo. Your gorgeous pet looks as if it’s in the middle of the road and caught in the high beams. Glowing green and red eyes ruin even the nicest photo of your pet. So unless you are a professional pet photographer, how can you take a great photo of your pet?
Avoid Glowing Eyes
The glowing eye problem, whether red or green, is caused by the same thing that causes this problem in human photos. The flash reflects off the back of the eye. To avoid the glowing eyes when you take a photo of your pet, the best thing to do is eliminate the flash entirely. Try shooting your pet outside or in an area with a lot of natural light.
Utilize Props
We all know how hard it can be to get a pet to sit still long enough for the shutter to close on the camera, but to create a really unique photo of your pet you will want to incorporate some aspect of his personality into the photo. This is where props come in handy. Prepare the props in the area you want to take the photo before you call your pet in. If your dog loves a certain chew toy, place it in a well lit area in preparation for the photo. Does your cat have an affinity for walking on your keyboard? Place an old keyboard where you want to take the photo. Clean up the background or use a solid colored blanket as a backdrop and you have the setting for a great pet photo.
Timing
When it comes to getting a great photo of your pet, a digital camera is your best option. Call the pet in, and play with it near the props you are using. Once your pet is relaxed and seems content to be in the area you have selected, offer a treat or wave a toy at the pet to get it to look at you, and snap as fast as your finger will move. Often times the photo that you thought would look great will be one of those you will discard, and a random shot will turn out to capture your pet’s personality perfectly.
Much the same as taking photos of children, you have to work around their quick loss of interest and easy distraction, using those very qualities to get them to look at you and stay where they are. Having a second person on hand to help play with the animal or get it to move to a certain area while you snap photos is a sure way to get a great photo.
It may take a few tries, and you may find yourself discarding many more photos than you keep, but eventually you will get a shot of your pet that you can’t wait to share with everyone.
Read more articles by Suzanne Alicie
- Super Dog Sunday™ Tailgate Party
by Carrie Boyko, CEB Buffer We're Ready for Super Bowl XLVIIITanner and Oliver and I want to share some of our photo tips with you today. This is our 4th year producing the Super Dog Sunday™ photo contest, so we've learned a thing or two. Here...
- Photos, Please!
© photo copyright Carrie BoykoSmile for the Camera, Tanner!I am very excited to show off all of your canine best friends on my blog. I'd like to share their images while playing at America's dog parks. Those of us who worked so hard to get dog...
- Photographing Dogs And Cats– Which Is Easier?
By Langley Cornwell As you might imagine, I am one of those people who takes crazy amounts of pictures of our dogs and our cat. Now that so many cell phones have decent cameras, it’s easy to capture those precious moments. What got me thinking about...
- Why Do My Dog’s Eyes Glow In The Dark?
By Tamara McRill Ever spot a pair of demonically glowing green or red eyes in the dark, only to realize they belong to your cute and cuddly dog? What really gets to me is when I’m the one outside and I see the floating bright orbs peering out my window....
- Your Photo Could Win Free Canidae For A Year!
Wouldn’t it be cool to see your favorite canine featured on a bag or can of CANIDAE Natural Pet Food? Well, now’s your chance! Yesterday, CANIDAE announced an exciting new photo contest for dog owners. If your photo is selected as the winner, you...