Pets Photography

Photographing your pets, whatever they may be, requires, as you may have already discovered, not only a certain amount of skill, but lashings of patience and a very mild and even temperament.
So, with that in mind, I have discovered that the best opportune time is when they have either just been aroused from a deep sleep or have recently eaten a large meal.
Of course, you may be lucky enough to possess a pet which is fully responsive and quite willing to do whatever you want, but I assure you these individuals are very far and few between. Especially at juvenile age.
I would advise that you plan the shoot to be undertaken indoors, in a restricted room, where there is a good amount of natural light coming into the room from a large open window. It is important that your pet is familiar and comfortable with the room and its surroundings, but if you are unsure I suggest you set up the planned area with whatever you intend to use in the shoot, such as props, favourite toys, etc., a couple of days before hand. That will at least put the animal at ease.
By the way, natural light is best to use in these situations. You don’t want to use on-camera flash, as it tends to create nasty shadows and blown out areas as well as red eye and not to mention the fact that it could be uncomfortable and cause the animal stress when fired at close range.
It is important to note here too, that you are fully aware of your camera’s capabilities, as some of the requirements here may restrict you.
Apart from the props you use, you really need a tripod and a cable or remote shutter release would be an asset but not essential.
Your camera and its lens needs the ability to not only get full body shots of your pet, but also close-up, Macro type shots, which might include just the eyes and face.
It is important that the animal has had a recent bath to ensure the eyes and face are clean, as this is likely to be the main focal point and where you will be mainly directing you focus control at. You should also be attempting to convey the character of your pet by catching some quirky little antics that also bring out the emotion not only in yourself but those who view the images.
A classic shot to get is when they show sudden alertness such as, when have been playing quietly with something for a while and you suddenly whistle or clap your hands.
Don’t be satisfied with just one or two shots. Even if it means keeping the area set up for a few extra days, get in as many different shots as you can and from various angles and viewpoints. In particularly those shots that bring out the best in your pet.
Life is too short - even more so for our pets. And even more reason to make the shoot worth while.

Induced Blur

There are times when blur in your images can be really useful.
We have discussed in other chapters, blurring the background to enhance our subject or to disguise any unwanted background elements, such as bright spots, intrusions or other distractions. Working with slow shutter speeds you can also induce blur to create a sense of movement. As with “light trails”.
For example, in broad daylight, inner city street scenes of crowds walking to the subway or traffic stopped at an intersection, whilst other vehicles are speeding away or a train pulling away from the station or subway.
To achieve these effects, a good sturdy tripod is really quite essential, because of the slow shutter speeds you are working with. I would also recommend a cable release. And because we are working in broad daylight, you may have difficulty in getting down to your required speed, as slow shutter speeds mean wider apertures which means more light is getting in to the lens.
If you can operate your camera manually, it is best set to “Shutter Priority” and whatever it is you are shooting will determine the speed at which you set it.
There are three main factors to take into consideration: the speed or rate at which your subject is moving, how much blur you want to give and how much light you have at the scene, because obviously, a person who is walking or even jogging is moving much slower than a bus or train and if you photograph the moving vehicle the pedestrian may totally disappear from view. So you need to find a happy medium there.
It is with this type of photography that the Neutral Density filter will really come in handy. They allow you to get down in speed, come in various densities and will not alter the colours in your scene. Also “Grey Grads” are handy for street scenes where one side of the street is in bright sunshine and the other is in shadow. As Grads (graduated shading), they are shaded at one end, then feather off to clear at the other.
A polariser will also drop your speed by a couple of stops, but will probably not be enough in bright sunshine.
A good versatile lens is all you really need for this sort of work. A zoom lens in the order of about 28 - 200mm will do the job admirably.
So, if your kit fit’s the bill, before you go rushing off to the big smoke, may I suggest that first you get in some practice a little closer to home. This will ensure your confidence for the task ahead.