Photographing Our Furry Friends

Our pets are part of our family and worth capturing for our photo albums and scrapbook pages. But how do you get good photogenic shots of your furry friends? I’ve gathered some tips for you to help you make your pet portrait a standout!

Julie captures great photos of her dogs Roxy and Aspen, whether they are resting or running. Here are her tips for capturing great shots.

Be patient! I’ve been known to sit silently for what feels like forever, shutter button pressed half down, squinting through the viewfinder, waiting for that perfect moment for eyes to close, head to turn slightly, ears to perk up. Patience pays off!

It’s okay to shoot in an automatic mode! I lost a lot of great shots thinking I needed to shoot in manual, either because I was messing with my settings, or because they turned a different direction and my lighting completely changed. For me, with two very active dogs, sports mode on burst is how I take the majority of my outdoor pictures. And I’m okay with that, because it lets me capture moments like this.

Be ready for anything! Literally two seconds before I snagged this shot, Aspen was running around, freaking out over a squirrel in the branches of this tree. Next thing we knew, she was IN the tree! Click, click, click. And just as quickly, she jumped out. If you take the time to bring your camera, keep focused on the task of grabbing all the great shots you can.

Peppermint always takes great photos of her cat Mo. Here are some of her tips for great pet photography.

In a lot of ways I’m fortunate because Mo is exceedingly lazy and naturally attracted to sunshine, which makes him a dream to photograph. On any given afternoon I can find him lounging elegantly somewhere, bathed in sunlight. It’s perfect for capturing relaxed, sleepy shots of him which are a great foundation for any scrapbooking page I do about him. Unlike our other cat he doesn’t have any personal space issues to speak of, so I can usually get right up in his face and take a dozen photographs of him. I only have a small window of opportunity where he’ll be interested enough in what I’m doing to open his eyes, though, and I love the photos of him staring right into the camera. So I always get my camera all set up and ready to go before I approach him, because once he decides he’s bored with me and closes his eyes no amount of cajoling will get him to open them again.

I love to capture everyday moments of both my humans AND my pets. I have virtual "rolls upon rolls" of photos displaying Mo’s quirky little habits. He can’t resist a freshly made bed and he comes tearing through the house as soon as he hears a top sheet being ruffled. These are the kinds of things that define his personality, so I have hundreds of photos of him nestled into every bed in the house. I took similar photos of our former cat, Chivus, who had an obsession with curling up inside any empty basket he could find – even if it was way too small for him. I have so many photos of Chivus doing regular cat things, but those ones that show his quirky personality are my favorites.

Mo is a legendary hunter in his own mind. Despite having never stepped foot outside he gets fiercely mesmerized by every squirrel, rabbit or bird that dares enter our yard – and the dramatic lighting effect that I get as a result of photographing him looking into a bright window is one that I never get tired of. I’m not at all above calling his attention to something in our front yard just so I can get a few photos of him this way. He stands stock still, and because the light coming in from the window is so bright it tends to "black out" everything in the background. I get a perfect picture every single time.

As for me, my cat Noodle is the subject of many of my photos. We adopted him almost two years ago. Over the two years, I’ve learned some tips about photographing him.

I like to vary the angle from which to take his photo. For this photo I crouched down and shot from below him. I think it gives the photo more interest to capture pets from below. The San Diego Humane Society liked this photo so much that they made him Mr. September in the 2012 San Diego Humane Society’s calendar!

Don’t be afraid to get up close. Sometimes it gives your photo an artistic flair to capture a part of your pet’s face close-up. I love that this photo captures Noodle’s cute two-toned nose.

And similar to Peppermint’s tip, I think having your camera always ready to capture your pet’s quirky behavior makes not only an awesome photo but also tells a story. Noodle loves to crawl into boxes. When I found him inside the box of clothes that I prepared to give to Goodwill, I got this shot.