We believe that pets are real family members. Do you agree with us? If so, we’re sure you photograph your pets often. However, not everyone knows how to do it right. Today we will reveal all the secrets. After you read our article, you will know how to take the best photos of cute pets.
Post-processing is an important thing that will help improve the pictures. You can read about the best photo editor software for PC on Skylum’s blog.
Let’s look at the equipment
Remember once and for all: you only need high-quality equipment to take pictures of pets. When choosing a camera, it’s worth considering the following:
- FPS (frames per second). Very often, you have to take pictures with animals in continuous shooting mode, so this will be one of the key factors.
- Buffer speed. This parameter is closely related to the previous one but is very important. High-speed shooting is good, but high buffer speed will give you the ability to quickly process the photos and save them to the SD card. This means you can shoot without interruption.
- Sensor size and resolution. There’s not much to talk about here. The higher they are, the more detailed picture you get.
- Fast AF system. Few pets will sit in one place and wait for you to get a good shot. You need a fast AF system to get a great photo of them.
You may be surprised, but there are special cameras designed specifically for photographing pets. You can search for them on the Internet.
When it comes to lenses, you have to choose whether you want a prime or a zoom. The former has a wider aperture and weighs less. This gives you the ability to take pictures in dark places, as well as outdoors. The zoom, on the other hand, allows you to switch forward and backward through a range of focal lengths. However, it’s heavier, and the risk of breaking it is higher. Whichever lens you choose, you’ll definitely want autofocus and image stabilization features.
Let’s take a closer look at the camera settings
As we said, pets rarely sit still. That’s why you’ll need a fast shutter speed. If you want to shoot a running cat, it should be at least 1/1000 sec. To avoid digital noise, do not set the ISO to a high value. 100 is fine if you are taking photos indoors or outdoors. If you notice some issues in your pics, you can use an animal photo editor to remove them.
Want to take a picture of a fast-running cat or dog? Your best helper is the continuous shooting mode! If you want to shoot a sleeping pet, use portrait mode. In any case, you should set auto focus so that after the photo session, you don’t have to cull the good pictures and delete dozens of bad ones.
How to photograph pets
We have prepared some tips that will make your paintings perfect. Well, let’s get started:
- If you want to capture a moving pet, give it plenty of room to maneuver. As strange as it may sound, you’ll have a much better chance of taking a great photo if he has a chance to move easily.
- Photograph where there is enough light because you will have to use a fast shutter speed.
- If you want to take the perfect portrait, why not apply a little creativity? We’re talking about using props, of course. Cute pillows or fun accessories are great.
- Remember, it’s better not to use the flash at all. Yes, of course, it can significantly improve the quality of pictures, but your pet’s eyes may suffer. This is especially true for small kittens, so be especially careful when taking pictures with them.
If you don’t have a professional camera, that’s okay. You can always take great pet photos with your smartphone. The thing is, manufacturers are making smartphones with pretty good cameras, so the photos will be much better than even five years ago. In addition, such pictures will be more candid, because they are most often taken spontaneously. Indeed, what could be faster than picking up a smartphone and taking a picture of a sleeping kitty?
How to get started?
At first glance, it seems very simple, because all you have to do is take a camera or smartphone and take a picture. However, that is not the case. If you take a hundred pictures, you will be disappointed, because 3/4 of them will be really unsuccessful.
Well, try taking a portrait first. This will give you a chance to learn the basic settings. After that, move on to taking pictures of moving objects. After a couple of weeks, you’ll learn how to take pretty good pictures that you can post on social networks. Who knows, maybe you’ll find clients there, and you’ll be able to combine business with pleasure.
Final thoughts
We’ve given you some advice, now it’s up to you. What are you waiting for? Take your camera in your hands and practice!
