Do you love taking pictures of your pets but find it hard to
get them to stay put for that just right photo? It seems that every
single time that I find our dog Snicker’s in a photo spectacular frame he moves
just when I turn on the camera. So a
majority of our pictures of Snicker’s is while he is sleeping (the only time he holds still long
enough, and he does that often).
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These are the types of pictures I normally get when trying to capture a photo. But I received Beautiful Beasties: A Guide to Modern PetPhotography to review and I am really excited to work with Snicker’s to get some great
photo shots to be remembered for years to come. I think he is excited too! (What? You can't tell?)
This book offers great illustrations and great tips on how to capture your
pet’s expressions and how to work with multiple animals, plus lots more.
Five Tips for Pet Photography from Beautiful Beasties:
1. Have fun with it!
Make it a game. Be upbeat. Bring out the toys, participate in an activity
your pet finds fun. For cats this may be a game involving tinfoil balls or a
feather toy, for dogs this may be a squeaky toy. For horses, rodents and other
pets, this is whatever puts them in the best mood--whatever their 'favorite'
thing is.
2. Get on their level
Scoot, crouch, bend, scuffle, lay, twist, roll- whatever you need to to do
get down and create photographs on the pet's level. Wear dirty clothes. No pet
photographer ever worse expensive jeans and sneakers to a photo shoot.Animals experience the world on a different plane than we do, and being able to create photographs captured on their level makes them more emotional, more engaging, and more connected, to the person that views the images.
3. Pay your model
You wouldn't expect a human model to work for you without payment right? So
why should you expect an animal to work without getting paid? Figure out what's
the most appreciate item for payment. A toy, a treat, an old rag, a carrot-
whatever it takes to keep them engaged and motivated.
4. Pay attention to backgrounds
Nothing can ruin a perfectly good photo better than ugly, cluttered
backgrounds. Nobody needs to see that old garden hose, or your dirty sock on
the floor, in an otherwise beautiful photo of Rupert
the cat. Spend a few minutes before your photo session eyeballing the scene behind the animal. A few quick pickups of distracting 'junk' can mean you never having to say "Oh man, I wish that ____ wasn't in the photo" again, or spending unnecessary time in Photoshop or Lightroom. (Unless of course the offending object is something like a house or someone else's car, in which case--just move the animal).
5. Focus on expressions
Forget technical skill. Any pet owner will respond to an expressive,
'aww-inducing,' 'laugh-inspiring' photo over a technically perfect yet
emotionally lacking photo any day of the week.In my opnion Beautiful Beasties would make a great gift for any photographer or pet lover who wants to learn how to take better photos of their pets. Beautiful Beasties can be pruchased from the following:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I was provided the Beautiful Beasties Book for review through Global Influence Network. I was not compensated in any way in order to provide a positive review. All opinion are my own. For further policy disclosure please click here.
