How to Take Good Photographs of Your Pet

We're more attached to our pets than ever and one thing we want is plenty of photographs of them, whether we take them ourselves or have professional portraits and candids made.

Digital photography has made it far easier and less expensive - and infinitely less frustrating to get the shots you want. Getting a good picture of an animal isn't easy in most cases. They don't necessarily want to pose and after that first flash they're far less inclined to cooperate, but at least with a modern digital camera you don't have to burn rolls of expensive film to get a few good shots or hold back and miss the shots you want because there is a finite quantity of film in the camera - and budget for developing and printing.

If you want to take portraits, it's a good idea to prepare your pet by burning off some of their excess energy, whether it's by playing a short game with your cat (and you don't want to overdo it and give your cat an excuse to curl up and snooze as cats are wont to do), taking your dog for a walk or having a short game of tug or fetch. Just enough to take the edge off and have a reasonably calm animal to work with.

Keep some favorite treats, like cheese, where you can grab one to offer quickly and easily, but keep them out of sight so your pet will follow your hand with the treat in it rather than fixating on the one place it knows you've stashed the Mother Lode. Treats can be used to con your pet into an adorable cocked head pose complete with bright eyes and alert ears, a picture of eager anticipation.

A favorite toy is handy to catch your pet's attention, or something that makes a unique noise that piques interest without making them bolt from position to go find it. When your pet's interest flags or you need a head turned your direction that little noisemaker can get you exactly the shot you want. If you're quick.

Using a tripod and a remote trigger - cord or wireless - can make it easier for you to interact with your pet to get the poses and attitudes you want and the shot together. If you're holding the camera and waving a treat or toy around there's a good chance you're going to miss the photo you want, either by completely missing your chance or by moving the camera inadvertently while tempting your pet with your other hand.

Candid and action shots hold wonderful memories and can be less tricky to get than good portrait shots, especially with a long lens that enables you to keep some distance and allow your subject to forget you're there with that annoying flashy thing again. Take some time to watch and get a feel for your subject's mood, whether it's your pet or someone else's. Then set your preliminary focus - manually or if you're using an auto focus set up by letting your camera get it (most autofocus cameras will do that if you depress the shutter release partway) and then panning your subject until you see the shot you want begin to form. You have to learn to anticipate. If you wait until the moment the shot you want appears, it's too late. By the time you depress that shutter release and the camera reacts you've missed the shot, and that's frustrating. Like so many other things in life, timing is everything.

"The more the merrier" can hold true for your pet photography. Interactions between friendly animals makes for very appealing photos, and series of pictures shot at short intervals during play can give you with a pictorial story full of visual interest and character.

And if you find yourself frustrated and at the end of your leash, a professional pet photographer is easy to find nowadays. Just google.

Brought to you by the writers at Discount-Pet-Mall: where you can find a huge selection of dog beds.