Capture pets like a pro
Turn your attention to capturing the furriest members of you family for stunning pet portraits at home.
Just as with kids, pets make some of the most photogenic subjects, but are among the most technically challenging portraits to take. Dogs, cats, and small animals are extremely agile and fast-moving, which results in difficulties when looking to set up a stationary lighting arrangement. This can be even more challenging at home, where we might have limited space to work in.
One of the biggest issues is that, with restricted space, it is difficult to put enough distance between the lens, the subject, and the background to sufficiently control background detail through depth of field.
It is essential to master ways of positioning the animal to create the ideal composition, giving the subject space in the frame while pushing the surroundings out of focus. The aim with home pet portraits, or any family portraits in the home environment for that matter, is to convey enough of the setting to provide images with context, while tightly controlling what the viewer can see to avoid unsightly distractions.
In this section we hear from pro pet photographer Phil Hawley, who gives us some useful insider tips for easy pet exposures in the comfort of your own home or garden.
22 WORK AS A TEAM
“Since you’ll be spending most of your time looking through or at the back of your camera, you’ll need someone to look after your pet between shots – as well as to get it in position so that you can photograph them,” Phil says. “For this reason it’s essential to work with a family member. Animals can very easily get bored, distracted, and overexcited, especially if you’re more interested in your camera than in play time!”
23 CREATE A SET
Set up a fake background if you’re shooting in your garden or house. Old pieces of wood can look like doors when out of focus, or you can employ a seamless background. Phil says, “I use backdrops from Seamless Photo in Ireland for the studio, but you can use a Lastolite popup backdrop or even just a black sheet if you’re shooting at home. Just make sure that you iron it first!”
24 KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
Your choice of lens is important not just for the shot itself and the end result, but also for the animal’s comfort. “A 50mm lens is good for wider shots, but it’s no good for shooting tighter. Some photographers use it and get in really close, but a lot of animals don’t like you getting into that proximity,” Phil informs us. “Use an 85mm prime or a 100mm on your zoom lens to get those close-up shots. It enables you to shoot at a comfortable distance, where the animal doesn’t feel like you’re too much in their personal space.”
25 CONTROL EXPOSURE
Pets with dark or light fur often cause difficulties when using the camera’s internal exposure meter, which can sometimes become confused into underexposing or overexposing the rest of the frame. In addition, dogs won’t sit there for lengthy periods of time while you test lights and play around with your settings. Phil’s Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478DR enables him to keep control of what his lights are doing quickly and accurately to make the process as smooth as possible.
26 EXPERIMENT WITH ORIENTATION
“I almost always shoot in landscape orientation, Phil says. “Sometimes I’ll shoot in portrait format for bigger dogs, for example, but most of my work is in landscape – and I always try my best to make use of the negative space.”
27 CONSIDER APERTURE ESSENTIALS
Depth-of-field control is critical in any portrait shoot when working with humans or pets. When shooting at home we need to control background detail but must also adapt our approach to aperture choice for our furry subjects. Phil’s approach is to “keep the aperture at around f/11 – while shooting at f/8 is okay for people, humans don’t tend to have the long noses that dogs do, so you need that depth of field if they’re looking straight at you.”
28 PREPARE BEFORE THE SHOT
“Dogs and cats don’t like sitting still for photos, they don’t like having lights flashed in front of them, and they don’t like having things shoved in front of their faces. So how are you supposed to meter your lights?” Phil ponders. “Simple – just meter the light where you want the animal to sit, make your lighting and camera adjustments, then lead your pet into position.”
29 STAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL
“Puppies can often wander off sniffing and exploring right when you’re ready to start shooting. Using a dog-lead stake (also known as a tether or anchor) will stop your pup straying too far, and in conjunction with an assistant out of shot can help get the pooch in exactly the right spot for the shot,” Phil says.
30 KEEP IT SIMPLE
When you’re working with active subjects such as pets, especially in a home environment that has limited room to manoeuvre, use a simple light setup – preferably a one-light arrangement. Use a single speedlight or one strobe. For his studio shots Phil uses Gemini GM500Pro units, with the key light bearing a 75-degree Softlite Reflector with BW-1866 Grid Diffuser. Hard directional light is delivered by a honeycomb in the middle, surrounded by softdiffused light with a ratio of 3:1 – perfect for those home pet portraits.