| Lighting | | | | Correct angle of view |
| Correctly lighting an animal requires a slightly different | | | | The height from which the photograph is shot is very |
| approach to lighting a human subject; fur does not | | | | important. Too often I see aerial shots of small dogs |
| reflect light in the same way as skin. The exact | | | | and cats photographed by their towering 6-foot |
| position of the main light source and level of modelling | | | | owner. The simple rule is - try to get the camera on |
| is subordinate to the need to capture texture (e.g. | | | | the same level as the subject. |
| their noses do not cast shadows on their faces). The | | | | With cats and smaller dogs, it can be easier to place |
| main light source still needs to fall from above and to | | | | them on a table or any other suitable item of |
| one side, but the exact angle of the light is less | | | | furniture or support. Sometimes you have to get |
| critical, and stronger and more direct illumination can | | | | down on the floor, but many animals will think you |
| and should be used. | | | | are playing a game. |
| I recommend the use of flash light combined with | | | | Encouraging co-operation |
| good daylight to make fur shine. Cats and dogs do | | | | The hardest part of pet portrait photography is |
| not appear to be aware of flash light, nor worried by | | | | getting the subject's co-operation. |
| it. There are however, two potential problems to | | | | The pet owner should know the best way to |
| avoid: "red-eye" and "black halo". | | | | accomplish this; the place in which their pet is most |
| Red-eye is caused by the reflection of light from the | | | | likely to feel comfortable, whether they are more |
| retina of the eye. This can be minimised by using an | | | | amenable before or after feeding/exercise, what |
| off-camera flash (if you have one), positioned slightly | | | | commands or noises they will respond to. |
| above, below, and/or to one side of the axis of the | | | | My personal tips are:- |
| camera. Most modern cameras with built-in flash units | | | | 1. If possible, work in the place and at a time that |
| have a red-eye reduction mode. This uses a series of | | | | best suits the pet. |
| pre-exposure flashes to close the subject's iris. The | | | | 2. Leave the commands/noises to one person, |
| use of flash as a fill-in with bright daylight also | | | | preferably the photographer. There is nothing worse |
| minimises red-eye. | | | | than instructions coming from all around the animal. |
| Black-halo is the hard shadow cast by the use of | | | | 3. Don't dangle food/toys in front of the subject - |
| flash in low light conditions. The way to avoid this is | | | | they will inevitably move to get them. |
| to ensure that the flash isn't the main (brightest) light | | | | 4. One way of getting pets to stay still for a few |
| source. | | | | seconds is to rub something tasty on their jaws. |
| Exposure and focus (dark subjects) | | | | They will almost certainly stop to lick their lips. |
| Modern cameras are fully automatic in this respect, | | | | 5. Avoid placing the animal on grass, which will cover |
| but most do not perform well when the subject is | | | | and hide their paws. |
| something like a black dog. I use an expensive Leica, | | | | Posing the subject |
| but it still underexposes, and hunts for a focus lock | | | | If your dog has been trained to sit or stand, that can |
| when photographing my (black) dogs. | | | | be very helpful, but mostly, you will need to be very |
| If your camera has a spot metering facility, use it. If | | | | patient and wait for the required pose to happen. |
| you have a manual override capability, try | | | | With male dogs, watch-out for "things popping out", |
| "bracketing" (i.e. repeat each shot and deliberately | | | | and reposition if it does. |
| over expose). If you have control over shutter | | | | Don't photograph cats lying down. They often tuck |
| speeds, use a fast setting. Similarly, if your camera | | | | their legs under their bodies, which results in the |
| allows manual focusing, try doing this yourself. | | | | overall body shape becoming little more than a fury |
| Underexposure can be corrected using Photoshop | | | | blob. |
| (etc), provided that the lighting was more or less | | | | Be objective; it's too easy to see nothing more than |
| right (i.e. under exposure due to backlighting cannot | | | | the pet you love, and overlook the fact that the |
| be corrected). | | | | shot you are about to take is dull. |
| Poor focus cannot be corrected retrospectively. | | | | |