Pet Photography

Photo your Pets… 

Pets are something like love. They bang into your life without any warning, and when they leave, they do so at the tip toe. You might have rescued an injured squirrel, taken pity on a mangled up puppy at the orphanage at an impulse, but before you must have realized, that mangle of a creature would have become an absolute part of your life.

Just when you feel the bliss is going to last forever, that apple of your eyes may have suddenly taken ill and slipped out of your life even before you were prepared for the loss…

That’s the way it is with these fragile creatures. So it’s a good idea to pamper them with a lot of photo-sessions. Not just because some pets absolutely adore to strike a pose or two and may gladly oblige whenever you take that camera out, but because these pics will be a treasure of memories a long time after too…

 Be Patient Pets do everything on their own sweet will, so cajoling them to sit down and look some specific angle is a big task. Especially so, if you have a naughty lil’ puppy who keeps running about in circles after its own tail or takes a fancy for the camera lens and insists on licking it every time you gear up for a close up. So the bottom line is, ‘Be Patient’. Also, keep clicking away all the while, without being too choosy.

You never know what shot might look simply killing though it may not have seemed such a ‘good click’ to you initially.

 Experiment This goes with almost everything you do, especially so with photography. Try a new angle, try a different light. Or simple try clicking their eyes, the expressions they give when they are playful, hungry or when the kitten is growling with her tiny fangs spread out. How about a close up of their baby pink paws, simply the rosy head-portions of a lovebird pair? (Btw, found some nice Lovebird pics at http://123bubbles.com/)Click anything which gives you the pleasure of observation without worrying about how the ‘results’. Digital photography allows one to be a lot more frivolous with the camera than it was back, being worried about wasting up the roll on lousy photos…

 Cover all their growing years Many a times it so happens that the arrival of a new pet in your life so takes you by the whirlwind of joy that the idea of clicking your pet just doesn’t click! But imagine what fun it would be if you maintain a detailed diary of the all their times, right when they were in their babyhood, till they are roaring adults… Fix up a time-line, say, you will click the pet once every three months or so for canines, felines and such alike which tend to grow a bit slowly and after about each month for birds and fish…This timeline should be accompanied by dates and age of the pet. It really helps to know when the hatchlings start feathering, start roosting, etc and when the puppies begin to teeth, their ears get erect, etc. By the way, it’s quite an occasion when your pup actually gives up those cute little fallen ears and pops them right straight one fine morning. The entire look of the pet will change, so you better click it for keepsake… 

Keep the equipments ready Keep in mind that your pet might choose to look adoring just about at any moment, and might strike the most cartoonic pose only for a short time. So make sure your equipments are within easy reach and keep most of the things readied up so you don’t lose much time when your pet obliges you with that photo of a lifetime.

 Get some company  While you are behind the camera, it’s a good idea to get someone to play with your pet. This will ensure that he gets into the mood, playing jolly and stuff and you might come with some wonderful pet moments. On the flip side though, the puppy/kitten may get hyperactive and leave little time to click those perfect pictures…

 Photo any visible signs of illness too This won’t serve as such a pleasant memory, but photos of illness, especially skin disorders, or any visible signs like an ulcer, tumour, etc. will let you inspect your pets’ illness better with the zoom functions and all. This will also come in handy for the vetenarian. It may happen that you can’t manage to take the pet himself to the hospital yourself. It’s a good idea then to at least click a lot of different angle pics and send them across to the pet for some immediate advice, till you can make arrangements to carry the pet too…