People and pets are among the most challenging subjects to photograph, and yet these photographs command the most interest. No matter what your skill level, you can always learn something new that can improve your photography when it comes to taking photos of pets and people. This article will give you some valuable tips that you can immediately start using to take better photos of the people and pets you care about most!

Taking Better People Pictures

The best pictures of people portray their personalities. While a picture make 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, try to use lamps with full spectrum light bulbs. Try to avoid low ceiling light as this creates bad shadows.

-Shoot in high resolution so that you can make nice, large prints of the best, then display them in picture frames to hang on your walls and give as gifts.

Taking Better Pet Pictures

The first rule of thumb for taking pet pictures is: Set your camera to Sports mode or a high shutter speed!

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 outdoors, you want to use the same times of day you would with people, so take pictures when the sun is low in th sky.

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. Using zoom will allow you to get good shots without being so close your pet is more interested in the camera then just being itself giving. 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, you’ll be able to start taking better pictures right away and have photos that you’ll be proud to display. Have fun photographing and don’t forget to frame your favorite shots!

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