How to Photograph Animals

This post is about photographing pets and domestic animals, not wild life photography which is totally different. Animals have their own characters and personality that makes them special and nice subjects for photography.

Try to capture their natural moments. Do not create a new activity called “picture taking” for them. You must be patient to take natural shots. If they are surprised by the camera, let them touch the camera (if possible and harmless for your camera), they’ll get used to and forget about it. Taking pictures when they are not attending will create better results.

If you want the pet to stay in a certain spot or stay in a position that you want, you can draw it’s attention with a toy or snack.

Shoot from eye level. Just like photographing the children shooting animals from their eye level creates sincere and warm pictures.

Pets are generally love to play, running etc. Show them in action. if you want to freeze the moment use faster shutter speeds. If light is not enough, use higher ISOs like 400 - 800. Also when a dog is running, try to take the picture while you are running by the dog (But be careful !!).

Sometimes use burst mode. Taking a lot of pictures can prevent missing a precious moment. So take lots of shots than you can delete them on your computer.

Fill the frame by getting close or zooming in. Let the animal or the pet fill all the frame.

And don’t try to use all these methods in the same picture.