Tips for Taking Your Pet's Picture

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Ablang - 22 Dec 2004 03:47 GMT

If you consider your dog or cat part of the family, it's only natural
to include them in the family photo album. It's also natural for you
to take the best pictures of your pet; no one else knows his
expressions, tricks and unusual habits.

To help you capture your pet at his best, try these techniques:

Devote several photos to each situation you shoot. Try different
angles, different types of action, and even different lighting. The
pros often take an entire roll of film to get one great picture.

Bring on the toys. Treats and toys, a bone or squeeze toy for a dog, a
ball of yarn for your cat will capture your pet's attention. While
it's playing, zero in on the action.

Don't Distract. A camera flash will usually interrupt a pet's
activity. To minimize such distraction indoors, choose a sensitive
film such as KODAK MAX Ffilm and shoot without a flash (especially
with window light nearby). Outdoors, a slower film such as KODAK GOLD
100 Film (in bright sunlight) or KODAK GOLD 200 Film will provide
sharp, saturated color.

Get a pet's-eye view. Get down on your knees to shoot at least some
pictures. It should give you a full-face view of your furry friend.
And the unusual perspective (from a human point of view, that is) will
make your picture more interesting.

Orchestrate, rather than direct. Put Spot in a good situation, and
wait for him to make the most of it. Trying to force a pet to pose for
a picture is guaranteed frustration.

Disappearing cat? Fluffy can all but disappear when photographed on a
floral-patterned couch or against a busy wallpaper. Keep your
background as plain and neutral as possible.

"Is that him in the middle of the picture?" Don't be afraid to invade
your pet's space. For a small dog or cat, you should be 3-4 feet away
in order to fill your viewfinder. A zoom feature will close the
distance, visually speaking.

Get in the act. Hand your camera off to a friend, and get into the
scene. Pick up and hold a small dog or cat; kneel or sit with a larger
one. Your playful hugs (and even a canine kiss) will make for good
pictures.

Action-packed pet. If your dog performs any tricks, put him through
his paces. Tricks make wonderful action shots. A cat will usually jump
for a dangling string. In both cases, take several pictures and try to
capture the action at its peak.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/articles

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Mike Z. Helm - 22 Dec 2004 05:37 GMT

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 19:47:27 -0800, Ablang
<HilaryEverAfter@ablang-duff.com>

>Devote several photos to each situation you shoot.

If there's one thing I've learned from my own amateur photography is
that you often need to take several pictures before you get that really
good one, regardless of the subject.

Maybe professionals don't have to do that, but judging from the number
of pictures I see them take, I doubt it.

>Try different
>angles, different types of action, and even different lighting. The
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>Don't Distract.

Yeah - I had several great shots screwed up because the cat was
immediately attracted to the dangling camera strap.

>A camera flash will usually interrupt a pet's
>activity. To minimize such distraction indoors, choose a sensitive
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>And the unusual perspective (from a human point of view, that is) will
>make your picture more interesting.

Good advice.

--
"Freedom is not always a good thing." -- P.R. Smith, a self-described conservative and Bush supporter

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Amy Gray - 22 Dec 2004 20:02 GMT

>Devote several photos to each situation you shoot. Try different
>angles, different types of action, and even different lighting. The
>pros often take an entire roll of film to get one great picture.

Better yet get a digital camera. That way can shoot hundreds of
pictures, if you don't like the way the picture came out, just
hit the delete button and reuse the card (SD/CF).

>"Is that him in the middle of the picture?" Don't be afraid to invade
>your pet's space. For a small dog or cat, you should be 3-4 feet away
>in order to fill your viewfinder. A zoom feature will close the
>distance, visually speaking.

Many digital cmaeras have a "view" screen so you can see what
the picture looks like after it is taken.

>Action-packed pet. If your dog performs any tricks, put him through
>his paces. Tricks make wonderful action shots. A cat will usually jump
>for a dangling string. In both cases, take several pictures and try to
>capture the action at its peak.

Some digital cameras will take full motion video so you take
pictures of the pet running, jumping, chasing it's tale, etc.

Or you can get a video camera.

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Mike Rhino - 23 Dec 2004 03:46 GMT

I take better pictures with a flash, but my cat doesn't like the flash.
Sometimes she gets angry at the camera with her hair standing up. Daytime
when there's good light is better. Extremely blurred shots can be cute,
because they imply motion, but you don't want too many of those. My digital
camera also takes movies, but I wish they were higher resolution. I like to
take pictures of her when she's doing stuff.

Having software that lets you shrink hundreds of pictures at once is useful.
I shrink my pictures down from 2304 x 1728 pixels to 768 x 576 for
distribution to others. I save all the originals, but delete many of the
small pictures.

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John - 28 Dec 2004 13:20 GMT

>If you consider your dog or cat part of the family, it's only natural
>to include them in the family photo album. It's also natural for you
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>100 Film (in bright sunlight) or KODAK GOLD 200 Film will provide
>sharp, saturated color.

It will also provide a blurred image because most of the time your
pets are active and moving about quickly. It doesn't matter whether
you're inside or outside, you shouldn't use 100 or 200 film at all.
You should use one with a much higher speed. You should also manually
set the shutter speed higher. That's how to get a good picture of
your pet whether your using film or digital camera you need a high
shutter speed in the majority of circumstances. 100 and 200 ISO film
is for objects outside that are virtually still like humans, and for
still objects inside with a flash. You use slow shutter speeds for
special effects like capturing lightening on your photos and for
making river rapids appear blurred, not for photographing your pets.

<SNIP REST>

>http://www.petsmart.com/global/articles

And what an outstanding store that is.

John

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Amy Gray - 28 Dec 2004 16:56 GMT

>100 and 200 ISO film
>is for objects outside that are virtually still like humans, and for
>still objects inside with a flash.

One of the things I can do with my digital camera is when the cat
runs around, etc. I can take "full motion" videos of the cat.
Captures the situation better than any still picture.

One of the nice things about Digital, you see the result instantly.
Didn't come out right? Just delete and shoot it over .

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JoKing - 11 Jan 2005 20:21 GMT

I have a black lab X and I use a flash even outdoors. If I don't, most of
the time all I get is a silhouette. A minimal flash (I can set degrees of
this on my digital) gives a little reflection off of his shiny fur and he
shows up much better.

> If you consider your dog or cat part of the family, it's only natural
> to include them in the family photo album. It's also natural for you
> to take the best pictures of your pet; no one else knows his
> expressions, tricks and unusual habits.
>
> (Snip)

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