Photographing Your Pets

By Glynis Scrivens

You don’t need to be an expert to take good photos of your pets. All you need is patience, time and a few tricks up your sleeve - plus a digital phone or camera. Don’t expect your pets to co-operate. They’ll wander off, look the other way and generally behave as though they don’t want to be photographed – just like your family and friends when you point a camera at them. But keep trying - you’ll be rewarded with a few gems among the blurred images.

Here are some hints for taking better photos of your pets:

Use comparisons/props

It’s a good idea to add something to your photo to give a sense of proportion. When our guinea pig Possum had babies, we wanted to show how small they were. One way of doing this was to photograph them playing with one of my boots. With our young chicks it was impossible to resist the temptation of posing them beside eggcups.

Don’t use a flash

When photographing your pets, try to avoid using flash. The sudden blinding light can be frightening for them and may make them camera shy in future. We learnt this the hard way with our dog Spirit. Spirit’s life was one long adventure, full of hijinks and misdemeanours. He always seemed fearless. Even fierce thunderstorms didn’t faze him. So we were surprised to see him react in fear the first time we photographed him using a flashlight. His whole body trembled, and it took us a while to pacify him.

Try action photos

Don’t be scared to try action photos of your pets. When your dog is chasing a ball or fetching a stick, photograph him as he bounds back to you. Take as many photos as you can. With digital technology, it’s easy to delete the shots that are blurred.

Catch them off guard

Pets misbehaving can make great photos. If your free- ranging hens come into the kitchen and steal the cat’s food, take a photo before shooing them out.

Capture everything

Photographing your pets doing something they hate can produce hilarious photos. Our dogs hate the B word. Any hint of a bath and they’ll slink away, pretending to be invisible. As for their expressions after a bath… priceless. Go on, be mean. You’ll be glad you did. The photos will bring back lots of funny goofy moments.

Dress them up

Pets love to join in our activities, and this includes special events such as Christmas. Who hasn’t put a piece of tinsel on their bird’s cage, or tried a pair of reindeer antlers on the family dog? Grab your camera. These are moments to treasure, and add a special dimension to our relationship with our pets. If you own a black cat, photograph them in a witch’s hat at Halloween. Buy your dog a supporter’s beanie for your favourite football team. It’ll make a great pick-me-up photo for your son or daughter to have on their desk at work.

Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal

It can be interesting to photograph just your pet’s face. Another option is to photograph pets interacting with each other. For example, mice will hold tails.

Connecting you with others

Photos are for sharing and the internet provides a range of options that will keep you in touch with all the pet lovers in your life, and perhaps even help you forge some new friendships. Email your best pet photos to family and friends who don’t live close by. Animals are a great way to put a smile on people’s faces. If you’re on Facebook or Instagram, post photos of your pets.

It can be fun to create an online profile for your pet on social media. Our rats Florence and Noah had them, and received messages from more than a hundred guinea pigs, mice and rats from around the world – even from a three-year-old cat in Maryland.

Don’t forget to email your very best photos to pet magazines, lifestyle magazines and women’s magazines. Who knows? You might earn pocket money to spoil them with.