How to shoot pets

It's easier to shoot at home

Whether photographing cats or dogs, photographers need to be quite familiar with the habits of pets, and the owner is the most familiar with pets, so the owner had better photograph his own pets. On the other hand, because pets are used to getting along with their owners, it is easier to show their most natural side and capture some interesting actions when shooting.

On the contrary, if it is taken by someone else, it may take some time for pets (especially cats) who resist strangers to get used to it. Because cats are afraid of unfamiliar environments, they are more suitable for shooting at home. As for the dog, it depends on its character. Dogs that don't shop very much are very excited when they go to the streets. It's hard to control and it's hard to shoot. In a word, pets can only do it in the most comfortable and safe situation? Into the play? It is necessary to spend some time getting familiar with it before shooting.

The importance of patience

It takes a lot of patience to take pictures of pets. When it takes time to get familiar, it takes a lot of time? Wait? What are you waiting for? Just wait for the pet to make interesting moves. Pets can't fully understand people's speech, and some natural movements can't be made through guidance or training, such as sticking out your tongue, yawning and licking your hair. It may take a long time to take pictures.

Guiding method

You can guide cats and dogs to make some actions worth shooting, such as licking their tongues when taking out their favorite food. If the dog is well-trained, it is easy to shoot many interesting actions through instructions, such as somersaults, running, hurdling, catching the ball and so on. When shooting with the guide method, the owner had better guide the pet, while the photographer focused on shooting. Pay attention to the direction of the camera when guiding the pet. The photographer should shoot in front of the pet, and then the tour guide will guide the pet to walk or look at the camera, not to shoot behind the pet's ass. When shooting, you often use a horizontal angle with the pet, because shooting from a high angle can usually only capture the pet's back, but not the face. Because it is often taken at a low angle, it is much more convenient to take pictures with the camera's LCD screen.

Consideration of light source

When shooting indoors, the light source is the most important factor to consider. The simplest thing is to shoot with natural light during the day and illuminate with natural light outside the window, which can achieve natural effects. It is best to have family and friends to help fill the light with reflectors to reduce the backlight shadow of pets. If there is no reflector, you can use white towels and sheets instead. If there is no natural light, turn on all the lights in the room, and use a higher' sensitivity (such as ISO 800 or above) and turn up the aperture to reduce the jitter and blur of the picture. A more flexible method is to use a flash to reflect the light source to the pet by jumping the light, because the direct flash will make the pet's eyes reflect? Red eye? Phenomenon. Flash and soft light device can make the light source softer.

Use the natural light by the window.

In terms of white balance, you can use the automatic white balance mode if you use a flash. If shooting in tungsten lamp, you can directly set the white balance to tungsten lamp mode without using a flash. As for using other indoor light sources, it is best to calibrate the white balance manually to reduce color cast. In addition, when focusing, the focus position should be in the pet's eyes. If you focus elsewhere, the photo will appear blurred. If you shoot fast cats and dogs, the continuous focus mode of the camera can reduce the out-of-focus situation.

The way to shoot a beautiful cat's eye

The cat's eye is a little special. In a bright environment, the pupil will shrink into a narrow vertical line, and in a dark environment, it will Zhang Kaicheng into a circle. Most people think that round pupils look cute. To shoot such eyes, it is necessary to use jumping lights in a dark indoor environment.