Tips & Tricks for Taking Pawsome Pet Photos with Danica!

My fur babies are my kids. I take a lot of photos of them. I mean a lot of photos. Are they always fabulous? No. Sometimes those photos are absolute trash. But there are times I get great photos and people ask me how I was able to do so. I’m going to give you some tips and tricks that I use to get the best photos of your furry friends using your phone.

1.    Sleepy pets

Taking a picture of your cat or dog while they are having the zoomies may not necessarily turn out the greatest. But if they are just chillin, you will be sure to get a photo that has a nice focus on the eyes and be very focused itself.

2.    Take lots of photos

If I dress up one of my cats for a little photo shoot (gotta have those cute ones for socials), I try to take a lot of photos. The more I take, the better chance I have for getting a good one –especially when they are trying to get out of their costume. No costume? Still take a bunch of photos so later you can pick the best ones.

3.    Turn that flash off  

Be sure you have plenty of natural light or some other source of light. That flash is going to mess with their eyes causing the dreaded red eye. It’s something you really don’t want to have happen and trying to edit red eye on an animal is not the easiest thing to do.

4.    Coax them with a treat or toy

You will want to be sure that your pet is focused on you especially if you are trying to get them to pose for the camera. Holding a treat or playing with a favorite toy may get them to look at you and help you get that shot.

5.    Snapchat

Did you know you can use Snapchat to take photos of your pets? The filters that aren’t even designed for pets can sometimes result in some pretty fun holiday photos for when you don’t want to dress your pet in a costume or they just don’t want to cooperate wearing one. If you don’t use Snapchat, some of these features and similar filters are also available in Instagram’s and TikTok’s filter libraries.

6. Play around with your camera’s more advanced settings

I have an iPhone and Live Photo and Portrait Mode are my friends. If I don’t get a great shot I can look through the Live Photo and change the key photo to a better looking one – and I can even turn those photos into gifs (I use the app Motion Stills). Portrait Mode lets you get some amazing shots by creating a stronger focus on the subject. Just remember to have a good light source!!

7.    Know when to call it a day

Nothing is more frustrating for you or your pet when things aren’t working out and you keep insisting to try to get them to pose. Sometimes it’s best to stop and try again some other time.

I hope these tips will help you purrfect your technique for taking photos of your furry friends! Most importantly have fun spending time with them!

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