Cute pet pictures

Hamster whisperer Peter Travers on how to photograph pets View The Video

never work with children or animals, they say – and they are often right! However, that didn’t stop us trying our best to grab some great pet portraits for this project.

We decided to photograph our little pet hamster, Cloudy, and it instantly threw up challenges, the main one being able to get a decent shot before she scurried off. Hamsters move very quickly, and aren’t in the habit of staying still and posing in your direction, but with a few key techniques, and being ready and in position, with our lights tested and set up, we were finally able to get a winning shot (see right) after using her play tube to keep her stationary for a couple of seconds before escaping.

We set up a small home studio using a piece of blue background paper stuck to the wall and on the top of Cloudy’s cage, plus two off-camera flashguns set on low power so as not to scare the little rodent. Read on to learn more.