Although I have used examples of dog photographs, you can apply these general tips to probably most household pets. Birds and horses will require a slightly different approach, but the general advice here should still help.

Capturing a pet in a photograph can be a tricky business, especially if they are curious by nature and want to come up and lick the lens while you prepare for their fab close-up portrait!

It helps to know the animal's temperament, behaviour and the signals they give to show you when they are bored, nervous, excited...or if they seriously need to pee, never a good look on a pet portrait!!

Study your pet and get to know when they are going to be most amenable to posing for you. Work out how to get that expression of character so that you can capture it forever. When you recognise the signals, you will find it so much easier to work with your pet so that you can really show them at their best. All animals are different and have their own characteristic traits that make them so special to us, and it is this that you should be aiming to capture in your photograph.

So, having studied your pet and worked out how to get the best shots, you need to work out what settings to use on your camera. As all cameras are different, this will just be a general guide. Look up in your camera's manual to find out the specific steps you need to apply these guidelines.

Aperture

Generally speaking, a nice wide aperture will give you a great result. Throwing the background out of focus, it pulls all your attention on to the animal. Measured in f numbers, a wide aperture will be anything from around f/6 or below.

If your camera has more settings than a basic point & shoot, you can use either full manual mode, aperture priority, or program settings. You will usually have a dial or button that allows you to select the aperture you want.

If you have a DSLR type camera, the widest aperture you can choose will depend upon the lens you are using. The aperture range will be marked on the lens, and the widest aperture it can go to is the smallest f number, e.g. f/4.8 or f/2.8 or something like that. Again, your manual will be able to point you in the right direction and tell you how to select the widest aperture available.

If you are using a point & shoot type camera that has programmed settings, you have a choice of two programs that may help:

• If your pet is asleep or is sitting very still, you can use the portrait setting. This tends to be programmed to use a wide aperture and will help give a lovely light to the image.
• If your pet is moving, try the sports or action setting. Again, aperture tends to be programmed to be at its wider end and you have a better chance of getting a nice sharp shot, instead of a fuzzy furry mass as it dashes past your lens!

Shutter Speed

You will generally need a fast shutter speed for two main reasons.

Firstly, unless your pet is asleep, or is a hibernating tortoise, your pet is most likely to be moving about all the time you are trying to set up your shot. Using a fast shutter speed will help to avoid blurring caused by movement and enable you to keep focus nice and sharp where you want it.

Secondly, using a wide aperture allows a lot more light to enter through the lens to hit the camera sensor or film. Using a fast shutter speed helps to balance the exposure so that it doesn't become over-exposed, i.e. where the highlights are blown and the image is washed out.

ISO

If lighting is poor, or you need a very fast shutter speed to capture action in sharp focus... for example your horse is running with mane and tail streaming beautifully behind him, or your pet bird is in full flight, setting your iso to a higher number will help get you a faster shutter speed.

Basically, iso is a measure of sensitivity to light. The higher the iso, the more sensitive the camera sensor or film is to light. It is a bit more complicated than that, but really that explains it.

If your camera sensor is extremely sensitive to light (because you have set a high iso number of 800 or above), then you need to use a fast shutter speed to avoid burning out (blowing) the highlights in your shot. The shutter speed is exactly what it says it is... it is the length of time the shutter is held open allowing light through the lens aperture to hit the sensor (or film).

If your pet is moving, the faster shutter speed will freeze that movement. If your shutter speed is too slow, the movement becomes recorded as a blur.

Using a high ISO allows you to increase your shutter speed sufficient to capture fast movement such as a bird in flight or a horse at full gallop.

If you have a point & shoot type camera, try the sports or action settings to achieve similar results.

Focal Length

The longer the lens you can use, the better your results.

A long lens will help in several ways. It will throw the background out of focus when used in combination with a wide aperture, thus focusing the viewers attention firmly on your prized pet. It will also give a better and more natural view.

Using a short lens (less than say 35mm focal length) can distort the view so much that noses or paws become unnaturally large if they are closest to the camera. Obviously, this can be used to advantage if you want a quirky portrait of your pet, but if you want a more natural view, choose the longest focal length that you can.

Using a long lens also allows you to focus on parts of your pet rather than the whole. You can fill the frame with a paw, a sleepy eye, or a floppy ear. Get creative with the lens and try different views.

Composition

This is the way you choose to place your pet in the frame. Most novice photographers will place the pet squarely in the centre of the shot. This can have advantages when it comes to choosing photo display frames, especially if you like the ones with decorative bits attached around the frame, but often it just looks a bit boring.

Try placing your pet a third into the frame, or at least have the point of interest (perhaps the eyes) a third in. If your pet is looking ahead, leave a space in front of them to look into. Visually it is much more appealing and allows the viewer to think more... "I wonder what they are thinking?" or "I wonder what they are looking at?"

Try using visual diagonal lines. Rather than having the pet straight across the centre of the image, try framing it so that his head is one corner and the tail is at the diagonally opposite corner.

If you do have your pet horizontally across the frame, try positioning it so that there are layers of interest... e.g. foreground, pet, horizon, sky, but try to avoid having any of these lines across the exact centre of the frame. Also try to avoid cutting your pet in half with the horizon line, or having trees sprouting out of his head.

Next time you watch television, have a look and see how the characters are often arranged in thirds across the screen. They are very rarely dead centre. It creates interest and is more visually appealing than having the subject square in the middle... try it, once you've noticed it you will always see it.

Get a pet's eye view

If your pet is laying on the floor, and if you are physically able to, then get down on the floor with them. Obviously not everyone will be able to, but if you can, then try it. It gives a much more interesting view than from standing, and it also really helps with the cuteness quotient!

As I said at the beginning, because there are so many different cameras available on the market it is impossible to give specific step-by-step instructions for pet portraiture, but these general guidelines should certainly help to capture your pet's best side and record forever their appealing nature and character.

I hope this helps, thank you for reading the hub and enjoy your photography!

Aunty.