LEARN THE SET-UP PUT A RING ON IT

Use a double ring light for unusual catchlights and stunning pet photos

01 RING LIGHT

A ring light has a circular bulb that results in 360 degrees of frontal illumination. This creates minimal shadows over your subject’s face, with gentle fall-off to the scene beyond. As such, it’s a flattering light source for portraits to pet photos.

02 CAMERA POSITION

We shoot through the centre of the ring, so the light wraps around the subject from all angles. Some ring lights and flashes can be attached to your camera, but larger ones will need a stand. Be mindful to keep the edges of the light out of the frame.

03 DOUBLE RINGS

Why not try using two ring lights instead of one? Here we taped a smaller light inside the larger ring. This gave us a different quality to the light, with extra illumination over the face. It also made for distinctive double-circle catchlights in the dog’s eyes.

04 BLANKET

When photographing small pets a blanket can make for a simple, clean, backdrop for your shot. A woollen blanket like this adds texture too. We sloped the blanket upwards at the rear to make a sort of cove shape to the backdrop, and smoothed it out to keep creases to a minimum.

05 SUBJECT DISTANCE

Whether shooting a person or an animal the key is to bring the ring lights in fairly close to the face. This ensures the wraparound illumination. It also means the catchlights in the eyes will be larger and more noticeable. If the ring is too far away the catchlights show as mere dots.

06 WINDOW LIGHT

Think about how to supplement the ring light with ambient light in the room. We positioned our subject so that a window was behind. This results in the subtle backlighting that lifts the edges of the fur around the head and helps to separate the dog from the dark backdrop.