Animal portraits

Photographing family pets and rural animals is rather like photographing young children. You need a lot of patience because they cannot be told what to do; they are unselfconscious (although capable of showing off ) and their relationships with people are a great source of situation pictures. For best results always take the camera to the animal rather than the reverse. In other words, don’t put the animal in a false or unfamiliar environment just because this is more convenient for your photography. Animals do not really belong in studios. As much as possible, try to convey the individual character of the animal you are photographing. Often, you can do this by showing the bonds between a pet and its owners, particularly children. It is also possible to show the interaction between animals, although you may have to keep your distance and so avoid disturbing them by your presence. Decide what is a typical activity and environment for your particular animal. Large pets like ponies and big dogs are often more placid than small dogs and kittens. Even so, it is not helpful to overexcite them by making the photography a ‘big event’. You can suggest size by including other things in the picture to give a sense of scale. Also, make good use of camera viewpoint. A looming great horse can be shown close from a low angle, but use a normal or long focal length lens – coming in close with a wider angle gives ugly, steep perspective. A small cat or puppy looks tiny cradled in someone’s arms, or photographed from a high viewpoint, perhaps in front of a pile of crates and casks. Create candid images of your pet by photographing from the end of the garden, inside the house or across the street with your zoom lens on telephoto setting. Have a helper – preferably the owner – to control the animal and if necessary attract its attention just at the key moment. But make sure you brief the helper to stand near you behind the camera, and not to call the animal

until requested. Another approach is to give the animal time to lose interest in you and your

camera and return to its normal activities, even if this is just dozing in the sun.