Oct 7, 2012, 05:59
One of my favorite photography topics is pet photography. First I took a shot of a black cat it was a disaster. Animals are barely ever still, can easily be distracted, a moment you want to capture is often way too short for you to make experiments.. I started my practice by photographing black cat. It was a disaster and most of my photos were unusable - some were black stains, others were just boring. It was all because I didn't have the idea how hard it is to take a good photo of a black animal and I didn't really think that all those tips I heard were that much important. So, here are some tips about pet photography, feel free to add your own, as I will skip technical details and focus on interacting with pets to get the best possible shots 
1. Avoid flash and use natural light
When shooting pets, this really IS important. Something we all know is that flash burst can cause red-eye, but that's the slightest problem. Flash can easily distract the animals, frighten them and when shooting young animals, it can cause serious sight damages.
2. Get the animal used to you and your camera
Some animals are terribly curious or playful or frisky, and when they see a strange object in your hand, there is nothing you can do to get them back into their routine before they see what that thing in your hands is. When shooting animal for the first time, I usually have my camera hanged around my neck while interacting with them, and quite soon they are bored with both, me and my camera and they get back to their own business.
2. Show off their eyes
Animal eyes are truly expressive and will give awesome deepness to your photos.
3. Adjust yourself to their world
Don't expect your pet to come to you, instead, go to them, and try to capture how they see the world.
4. Get to know your 'target' and use that
It's really hard to make the animal stand still while you are looking for right angle, light, pose and everything. Watching the animal for some time will make everything way easier.
Also, using their nature is great thing to do. Curiosity of cats, dog tricks, instincts, tiredness after eating or playing, all of that will help.
5. Be patient
Don't ever forget you are dealing with animals. They don't understand what you are doing, but they can understand you being mad or frustrated.
These aren't my best, but are my favorite ones, just because of a story behind them..
![[Image: cf9bea0657d2f8efc80c093f853acd7e.jpg]](http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/121/c/f/cf9bea0657d2f8efc80c093f853acd7e.jpg)
![[Image: good_morning_by_k0rry-d2xuxyn.jpg]](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/245/9/2/good_morning_by_k0rry-d2xuxyn.jpg)
1. Avoid flash and use natural light
When shooting pets, this really IS important. Something we all know is that flash burst can cause red-eye, but that's the slightest problem. Flash can easily distract the animals, frighten them and when shooting young animals, it can cause serious sight damages.
2. Get the animal used to you and your camera
Some animals are terribly curious or playful or frisky, and when they see a strange object in your hand, there is nothing you can do to get them back into their routine before they see what that thing in your hands is. When shooting animal for the first time, I usually have my camera hanged around my neck while interacting with them, and quite soon they are bored with both, me and my camera and they get back to their own business.
2. Show off their eyes
Animal eyes are truly expressive and will give awesome deepness to your photos.
3. Adjust yourself to their world
Don't expect your pet to come to you, instead, go to them, and try to capture how they see the world.
4. Get to know your 'target' and use that
It's really hard to make the animal stand still while you are looking for right angle, light, pose and everything. Watching the animal for some time will make everything way easier.
Also, using their nature is great thing to do. Curiosity of cats, dog tricks, instincts, tiredness after eating or playing, all of that will help.
5. Be patient
Don't ever forget you are dealing with animals. They don't understand what you are doing, but they can understand you being mad or frustrated.
These aren't my best, but are my favorite ones, just because of a story behind them..