Each year on July 11 pet owners around the USA celebrate All American Pet Photo Day!
Well, maybe they do – maybe they don’t, but Americans certainly take lots of photos of their fur babies! Any day on Facebook, people will do the “post this # photo on your phone” and at least in my experience most of those photos turn out to be of their pets.
So today – lets go over SIX low tech (read as amateur) tips to get great pet photos.
Number 1:
Take lots of pictures… Some are bound to be great. And hey, it’s not like in the old days when you had to get them developed and that could get expensive.
Number 2:
If you are using your cell phone, set it to the Burst setting… You’ll get a quick bunch of pictures. Cell phones tend to have a bit of lag time and this will often help with blinking etc. and can get some nice action shots too.
Number 3:
Remember the “Rule of Thirds”. Dead center looks flat… If the eyes are in the upper third, lower third, or right or left third, the photo will be more dynamic.
Number 4:
When taking a portrait type photo: Make sure the EYES are in focus. The rest won’t matter nearly as much as getting the eyes right.
Number 5:
Remember if you love the picture but the background is ugly or someone/something is in it that you find distracting, cropping is an easy fix.
Number 6:
Get down to their level. See things from their point of view.
Bonus Tip Number 7 for IPhone users Only (for now):
There’s this really great app called PupPic. This app creates noisy that will get your animal’s attention and maybe even get the fabulous head tilt!
So get out there and take pics of your furred, feathered, and/or scaled friends!! And if you take some you really love, make sure to save it to the cloud, because a lost phone/camera/laptop can take them all away. (Been there, done that. Lesson learned.)
Tricia Sutton is one of the co-founders of Paws for Kids for Paws. Despite complaints from her spouse, she spends a lot of time with her dog Elsa, who also is one of the board members.