Tag: <span>pet</span>

Published October 23, 2017 by

With a Pet, Try for Candid Shots

Avard Woolaver, pet, cat,
© Avard Woolaver

With a Pet, Try for Candid Shots (Day 23 of 31)

Pet portraits are so tricky, especially when the pets are young and energetic (i.e., at probably their cutest stage), that I’ve found it helpful to try to get good candid shots rather than convince a pet to sit still and pose.

This has been especially true with my family’s cat, who is, of course, obstinate and full of very definite ideas of her own. Cats aren’t amenable to persuasion. They don’t care if you want them to sit charmingly in a certain place. Far better, it seems, to go about your daily business with the thought in the back of your mind, I want to remember to get a nice photo of her when I have a chance. It may take a couple of weeks, but eventually things will coalesce: lighting, angle, pose, expression, and your readiness. (If you’re doing it for some sort of project with a definite timeframe—say, making calendars for family members’ gifts—make sure you start early!)

Dogs are more inclined to try to please you, but they’re no more able to understand just what you want. If they could interpret your instructions (“Bailey, don’t move your tail! Stay right there! Look a little bit to your left!”), they’d be glad to comply. Here again, my experience has been that a happier outcome tends to arise from putting myself in the path of the serendipitous good shot than from having a certain setup in mind ahead of time—even when I’m photographing an eager-to-please pet.

When the light is good and your pet is in a suitable mood, be ready. You may have to take a lot of photos over time to get a few that seem to capture something of your beloved animal’s essence and personality, but that’s okay. Stick with it, and eventually you’ll have a photo that speaks to you at some extraordinary level. Yes, you’ll think, that’s exactly what I wanted to show.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

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31 Days Avard Woolaver cat pet

Published October 16, 2017 by

For Portraits, Look for Open Shade

open shade, portraits, cat,
© Avard Woolaver

For Portraits, Look for Open Shade (Day 16 of 31)

Daytime portraits taken outdoors give you great opportunities to experiment with different lighting, and open shade is your friend. What’s open shade? It’s the type of light you see on a bright day when you’re not right out in the sun, but under a tree that makes a solid canopy above you. Open shade is also the light you might have under a patio umbrella or a similar covering. (Dappled shade, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, is more problematic for photos; look for that solid layer your subject can be under.)

Pictures of people taken in direct, bright sunlight tend to suffer from several challenges. If the light is too harsh, you’re going to miss out on detail. Moreover, such light emphasizes the features we often want to brush kindly over—wrinkles, for instance. Bright sunlight tends to make middle-aged people look older, and the elderly look ancient. And of course squinting is another problem when people pose in bright light.

Open shade has the effect of softening wrinkles, but it’s still bright enough to capture all the details. The softer, more diffuse light flatters everyone.

People aren’t the only subjects flattered by soft light; animals are, as well. Open shade is a great way to get really charming pet pictures. And you’ll probably both be more comfortable, which greatly increases the odds of getting a nice photo that shows your pet’s true character.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

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31 Days Avard Woolaver open shade pet portrait