How to Take Good Photos of People and Pets
ByPeople and pets are among the most challenging subjects to photograph, and yet these photographs command the most interest. No matter what your level of skill, there is always something new to learn about taking better pictures, especially when it comes to people and pets. We hope this article provides tips that help you better photograph the personalities of the people and pets in your life!
Taking Better People Pictures
The best pictures of people portray their personalities. While a picture may capture the person in the moment, sometimes the picture doesn’t accurately reflect the person’s usual expressions or appearance. The best way to solve this problem is to spend some time talking with your subjects and get them comfortable with the camera. When you see that perfect expression start snapping pictures.
A few technical tips:
- Keep in mind that Portrait mode tends to distort, making the subject look wider or younger. Even though some people may appreciate looking younger, normally you want to avoid this distortion by zooming in on your subject. Stand close enough that the subject fills the frame of your viewfinder, take one step back, zoom to fill your frame again and shoot.
- Whenever possible, always use natural light. If using indoor lighting, opt for lamps with full spectrum bulbs. Low ceiling light usually creates pretty bad shadows.
- Shoot in high resolution so that you can make nice, large prints of the best, then display them in frames to hang on your walls and give as gifts.
How to Take Great Pet Pictures
The first thing you need to do anytime you’re taking pet photos is to set your camera to a high shutter speed or use “sports” mode!
If your camera has a “Burst” mode this can help because it lets you shoot a lot of pictures rapidly so you’ll be more likely to get a good shot.
Sometimes instead of using the higher shutter speed to freeze the action, you might want to blur it to emphasize a crazy movement, like your dog chasing its tail. In this case, use Portrait mode for a slower shutter speed.
With animals especially, natural light is always best because flashes can upset pets plus, your pictures will come out better with outdoor lighting. If you must use flash, protect your pets’ eyes from injury by referring to your camera’s safe distance recommendations (usually four or more feet).
Depending upon the color of your pet’s fur coat, you’ll want to use different lighting for best results. For a light colored coat, you want a bright overcast sky and for a dark brown or black coat, you want to have direct sunlight to bring out the rich colors. If photographing in bright sunlight, use the same times of day you would with people, when the sun is lower rather than higher in the sky. And for framing pictures of your pets, go with a type of frame that complements the color of your pet’s fur like brown picture frames or for a more decorative look go with a pet specific frame like a dog picture frame or cat picture frame.
If you want to get really good candid photos of your pet, take time to follow your pet around with your camera and be patient until you get a picture you really like. If you use a zoom, this will allow you to get great pet pictures without distracting your pet by being so close to them. So if possible, always keep your distance and use an optical zoom for best results.
Finally as with people, focus on the eyes. Try to get “eye level” with your pet which often means getting on the floor to capture that perfect photo.
By using these tips for how to take better people and pet pictures you’ll have what you need to capture some fantastic photos. Have fun photographing and don’t forget to frame your favorite shots!
