Tips to help you as a Pet Photographer

You love animals and whether you plan to make your living from being a professional pet photographer or whether you just love doing animal photography here are some tips to help you get better photos and improve your pet photography.

Pet Photos take Patience

Most animals are camera shy if you make it obvious what you are trying to do. There are plenty of things you can do to make it easier for your animal subject. If you are a professional pet photographer you need to be sensitive to the different needs of individual animals. This is actually quite simple if you are patient.

Visit the animal in its home environment. Spend some time watching and interacting with it. This will probably only take 10 or 15 minutes. Show the owners you care and ask what sort of treats they give their pet and take some along. Use these to help the animal gain trust in you, but always make sure the owner is there as part of the exercise.

Watch this video
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=q5eoaFLLH8Y

Have your camera handy, even sit down and have a coffee and let the animal feel relaxed around you. Keep a watch out and take some random natural photos. The results will surprise you. Wait for cats to curl up and go to sleep to get wonderful pet portraits. Or watch a kitten at play outside and capture its image forever as it explores its world.

Using a telescopic lens gives you the best opportunity to capture animals on the move, in their natural environment and state. This applies to wildlife and animals in captivity as well as to our beloved pets.

Depending on the light and whether you are working inside or outside, using your flash can give good results with clearer definition in your photos.

Animal Photographers get up close and Personal

Something to consider when taking pet photos is to get down to their level. Try not to always stand over your subjects. Crouch or sit down to get animal photos from their best angles. This way you can capture the detail of their fur and their features. Concentrate on the eyes, or a paw. And, no, do not try getting close and personal with an elephant or a tiger use a telephoto lens.

The great thing about the digital age of pet photography is you can take as many photos as you like and just delete the ones that don’t turn out.

Use your Flash to Freeze your Subject

As an animal photographer, you want to get action photos of people’s pets for great results. Go down to the park with a ball and take photos using your flash as the dog chases the ball. The difference with the flash will amaze you as it helps to capture all the minute details. Use your digital camera to experiment.

Another pet photography tip is to set your camera mode to the action setting. It gives better results and defines the finer details of your subject. This will let you capture your pets as they run and play in full motion. But always remember, you can take many, many photos just to get a few really good ones. Practice and experiment with your camera’s capabilities. Learn how to produce excellent animal photos.

While working with animals may be a little harder than with other subjects the everlasting rewards are worth it. Here’s a book a like on pet photography.