Photographing pets in the home and garden

Even those as young as 15 week old Belle pictured left.

So start photographing your pet today and submit your photos for other visitors to this site to enjoy and comment on. And don't forget to check out their photos too!

First a few tips and ideas for taking better photos of your cats, dogs and other pets.

Photographing pets can be challenging as they tend to be unpredictable and some of them can move pretty fast!

Getting that perfect shot may need a lot of patience. Young Belle was keen on exploring and sitting still for a photograph was boring! It took many shots to get the one above that really captured her inquisitive nature.

Of course one of the advantages of digital photography is that you don't need to use rolls and rolls of film any more, just make sure you have plenty of batteries and lots of room on your digital camera memory card.

What makes a good pet photography portrait? Filling the frame with your subject and getting the focus right are both important.

Snapshots of pets are often spoiled by messy backgrounds from which you can just pick out the animal. Get down to the animals level and focus on the features for a stunning shot, like my friend Jacquie Hookey did, with this cute photo of one of her cats.

Jacquie is an Abyssinian cat breeder and has her own website. Of course her beautiful cats are the stars of her site, but she kindly allowed me to share some photographs of them here with you.

If your pet strikes a particularly appealing pose and you have your digital camera handy (it is always to hand isn't it?) you may have to shoot your photograph whatever the background, but there are ways of making it less obtrusive. Simply taking the picture from a slightly different position may help to exclude distracting background elements, so always take a moment to consider this before pressing the shutter.

Your digital camera will normally have programmed settings for particular picture taking situations. By picking the right setting (with a wide aperture) you can throw the background completely out of focus, which will make your pet stand out crisp and clear. Be sure to read the page on shutter speed and aperture to learn how to do this, if you haven't tried it before.

Of course there are those happy occasions where your pet puts him or herself in front of the ideal background as Ramses did in Jacquie's next photo. The black setting makes his stunning colouring really stand out, doesn't it?

If you can, try not to use flash when photographing pets indoors. Flash can cause ugly shadows behind the animal and the light from the flash may reflect off their retinas causing them to become visible in the photograph, as glowing red or green eyes. Of course all is not lost when this happens, you can correct red eye in digital image editing software, but it is always better to try to avoid the problem in the first place if possible.

One occasion where digital flash photography can be helpful is when photographing black dogs and cats. In this situation the harsh light can help to show the glossiness and texture of the black coat.

Don't limit yourself to staying indoors when photographing pets. If you have somewhere safe to let the animal roam, outdoor portraits can really help to show the animals character.

My friend's Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs were having fun in the garden and I caught this shot by choosing a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.

Of course you could deliberately choose a slower shutter speed and pan (or move) the camera, resulting in capturing the animals in focus while allowing the background to blur and add a real sense of movement to the photograph.

Watching a pet for a while before taking the shot can pay dividends.

Pippa, the yorkshire terrier left, regularly stood by the flower pot in my neighbour's garden to watch what my two dogs were getting up to. Getting the perfect shot was a case of patiently waiting for her to do it again.

Using a wide aperture of f2.4, enabled me to throw the distracting background out of focus.

When you are photographing pets that belong to someone else it is a nice gesture to print out a couple of your best shots to give to the owner. My neighbour was delighted with his, and immediately sent his wife off to find some frames!


It is not just cats and dogs that can feature in your photographs, don't forget the smaller pets like rabbits, mice or birds.

Accurate focusing is even more important with close up photography. Due to the nature of the camera lens, the closer you focus the less of the picture will be sharp. This is known as limited depth of field of DOF. The closer you get, the narrower the band of focus becomes. If possible try to focus on the eyes as I did in this rabbit photograph.

An assistant is helpful when photographing pets in cages or hutches. They can be on hand to watch the pet doesn't escape while you concentrate on taking the pictures. If possible, try to remove any barriers between you and the pet, such as wire netting or glass. Obviously if you are taking photos of fish in a tank removing the glass is not advisable!

If the animal has to remain behind glass you can help eliminate unwanted reflections by wearing dark or black clothes, wrapping a dark cloth around the outside of the lens and gently pushing the lens against the glass.

If you have a tripod and your camera has a remote control you can move away from the scene before pressing the shutter to make sure you don't catch your own image in the glass. Avoid flash when photographing through glass or your picture could end up with a hot spot which could obscure the very pet you are trying to take the photo of!

Right let's summarize these tips for photographing pets before I turn this project over to you.

• Fill the frame
• Watch those distracting backgrounds
• Try not to use flash
• Photograph the pet where he/she is happiest
• Open the aperture wide
• Use a fast shutter speed
• Focus on the eyes
• Be patient and take lots of shots

Share your best pet photo

Now its time to stop reading and go and photograph your pet!

Remember take lots of shots and come back to post your best one here.

Tell us about the photo and how you took it, any problems you encountered and what you will try differently next time. Remember to be patient, but have fun, and stop when your pet has had enough, even if you haven't!

Click below to see the photos other visitors have taken of their pets. Don't forget to comment on them, tell us what you like about them or how you think they could be improved. Please be kind, but honest - let's help others take better photos.

Fuzzy 
I really like taking pictures of animals.(Especially cats.) It kinda looks like he's thinking something like "Kid, what are you doing with that camera?...

Sammi The Bull 
Sammi is a bulldog who just loves any kind of attention she can get. The instant I take out the camera, her little 'nub' starts to wag and excitment takes ...

Cosmo  
Cosmo was looking out the sliding door at a squirrel in a tree. He was holding really still (unusual!) so it was just the perfect time to take a pic.

Waiting 
I found this stray cat in a park in Nakano Japan. Did it catch a pigeon?

Sadie at Sunset 
About 15 minutes before sundown there is a warm glowing light that hits our front yard. Sadie is a very patient dog and will sit for long periods of time....

Merrydancer Baillee 
This was taken amongst the first shots after buying my new Canon DLSR Camera, it was on Full Auto mode using the 18-55mm lens. Baillee is always posing ...

Bobby  
This was one of the first photographs I took with my new Canon 400D digital camera. I was so happy it came out so well. I set the dial to macro to get ...

Autumn Beauty 
My husband was walking around the perimeter of our pasture with our dog when Clifford, our Standardbred gelding, posed himself beautifully. He even stood ...

Not Exactly A Pet 
I had a small bucket of potting soil on my porch. one day I found that a bird nest was being built there, so I decided not to disturb it and watch. First ...

Photo of a Champion 
This photo was taken at the GCCF Supreme Show on Saturday where Baillee was awarded her 3rd challenge certificate making her Champion Merrydancer Baillee!...

Yellow labrador photo 
Bramble was a dear family pet for over 13 years and the daftest dog you could ever meet. One day she stood where we had lit a bonfire the night before ...

Lucy Lou 
This is a picture of our dog Lucy Lou. It was taken with a SONY Cyber Shot and edited on photobucket.

Lazy Cat Photo  Not rated yet
Something a little different from the regular poses. Caught Ritz grooming herself in her basket.

Sam-my companion  Not rated yet
Was out with new camera, and my Lab Sam (for Frodo's Brother & best friend) was with me. This seemed a good shot to try.

In Sight  Not rated yet
On a walk with my Whippet Peepers... there was a cat stalking us, and I got some good shots of him posing in the afternoon sun... Taken with a basic digital ...

Got Mice?  Not rated yet
Definetly not as cute as Merrydancer, but a pet never the less. The neighbor boy Austin wanted a protrait of his snake. I tried the grass, bushes, and ...

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