Camera Shy!

[Chester]

You know how you always want your cat to pose for pictures? Well, my cat hates to! I tried to take his picture today and about 2/15 were good! He must be camera shy! I'm hoping to make him cat of the day sometime, but he must not want to be!

[Catlady711]

Alot of pets aren't very coopertive for pictures. The trick is to keep trying and take LOTS AND LOTS of pictures from different angles, lighting etc. Eventually you'll get that 'purrrfect' shot that is stunning.

See my examples below, and believe me there are a TON that didn't come out to get the ones that did!! Although no matter how good my pix are, I can always find fault with them and wish for a better one. lol

[emilysgk]

How do you take pics without ruining the eyes? Mine are always glowing and look aweful with any animal I try, dog, cat ect.. Is there a trick or is my camera just too crappy?

[Catlady711]

How do you take pics without ruining the eyes? Mine are always glowing and look aweful with any animal I try, dog, cat ect.. Is there a trick or is my camera just too crappy?

I highly doubt your camera is 'too crappy'. Yes fancier cameras have settings that help make a better pix, but great pix are possible with cheaper cameras also including disposables.

Here are just a few tips off the top of my head that may help.

These will apply to any camera.

**Use natural lighting whenever possible. Use your flash as little as possible. Lighting can make or break even the best pose with the most expensive camera on the planet or the cheapest.

**Get down on your pets level rather than shoot the pix looking down on him/her. Sometimes that requires laying on your belly on the floor. lol

**Simple backgrounds with a color that contrasts your pet is best.

**Use a toy or noise to direct the pets vision to anywhere but directly into the camera. (if you look closely at my example pix above, none of the cats are looking directly at the camera, but very slightly to the side or above it.)

**NEVER EVER be afraid of taking 'too many' pix. I have been known to take 40-50 pix to get the ones I'm satisfied with.


These apply to cameras with more advanced settings.

**If your camera has settings you can change for lighting (indoor, florescent, outdoor, night etc) make sure to set them for the correct lighting. This seems simple but you have no idea how many pix I've taken that are blue or orange because I had the setting wrong in my rush to get the pix. I personally have never cared for any camera's auto white balance settings but that's just me.

** Lighting from the side is great since there is no direct light in the pets eyes to reflect back. Or natural lighting from directly behind you (while you are facing the pet). This causes their pupils to shrink down which cuts down on the chances of 'pet eye' and also cuts down on needing the flash.

**If your camera has a 'red eye reduction' setting use it. If you don't have this setting, a flashlight shined on them just prior to taking a picture will help.

**If your camera has a setting for adjusting the power of the flash, turn the power setting down. If it doesn't have this setting then just stand/sit/crouch further back from the pet (or use your zoom) to minimize the amount of light reflecting from your flash. Also when you print your pix, crop them down some so it doesn't appear to be taken from far away making your pet look tiny.

**If your camera has ISO settings (like 50, 100, 200, 600, 800) use the lowest number you can without the picture blurring. The higher numbers will take pix in lower light but come out grainy looking, lower numbers require more light but look much sharper.



Just in case you were curious on the specifics...

In the first pix it was mostly natural lighting coming from a window directly behind me. I used flash but set at the minimum setting simply to help keep moving kittens from blurring. The kittens are actually looking at a toy I held above the camera.

The second pix was taken with indoor florescent lighting from a ceiling light, and I used the flash on a medium setting. The cat is not looking at the camera so no 'pet eye'. I was also using my zoom setting while standing farther away, so this one is a cropped pix.

Third pix is natural lighting from same window as the first pix. I used flash set on minimum setting.

Fourth pix was entirely natural lighting taken with the zoom on max from across the room so I wouldn't distract the cat. It's also slightly underexposed so the reflection would show up.

The last pix was with natural lighting from a picture window directly behind me. I used flash on minimum setting and used the zoom lense. Cami is looking at a toy just to the side of the camera.


BTW I'm a photography nut in case you hadn't guessed. lol

[Russian Blue]

I totally agree with Catlady.

I have never used the flash when taking Nakita pics. Also, if you're always using your flash, the cat could become fearful of the flash/camera and slink away when they see you take it out. Turn on all the lights in the room instead or use natural light.

I usually have a toy or treat with me as well. Easier to direct the cat's focus and it gives the cat a positive experience with the camera, rather than a negative one.

Experiment with different angles and practice, practice, practice. That's the great thing about the digitial age. You can practice, and not pay for it!

**Use natural lighting whenever possible. Use your flash as little as possible. Lighting can make or break even the best pose with the most expensive camera on the planet or the cheapest.

**Get down on your pets level rather than shoot the pix looking down on him/her. Sometimes that requires laying on your belly on the floor. lol

**Simple backgrounds with a color that contrasts your pet is best.

**Use a toy or noise to direct the pets vision to anywhere but directly into the camera. (if you look closely at my example pix above, none of the cats are looking directly at the camera, but very slightly to the side or above it.)

[Catlady711]

Yesterday I found out that sometimes 'pet eye' can have some really neat results!!!!

[emilysgk]

Hmm... I will have to give it a try. My kids are gone for the weekend So maybe I will try sometime. I have different subjects to work with. lol Not all in one place though... I just have Snow. But I would love to be able to get a pic of the two siamese kittys im with all the time and actually see that they have BLUE eyes.. not red, white or flourecent yellow... lol

[Mad Mags Moo]

This is a fab photo - how on earth did you get wee puss to do this?????

[Catlady711]

This is a fab photo - how on earth did you get wee puss to do this?????

Timing, camera lag, a predictable cat, and a bit of luck....

I was trying to just get her to sit and look near the camera by waving a feather toy, however Sabrina prefered jumping up to grab the toy time after time. After a frustrating few minutes, I decided to just try getting a shot of her jumping. I had the camera in one hand, the feather toy in the other. I let the feather toy get down to where she'd jump for it and just as she reached up for it I pressed the shutter button and pulled the feather back out of the picture. My digital camera has a 'lag time' that has some great results if I use it right. With the 'lag', the result was a picture of her grabbing at the toy that is no longer there, however without seeing the toy it looks like she's praying! lol I got lucky that this was only the second shot and it came out perfect. The first shot was a fraction of a second too soon and she didn't have her paws up yet.

I probably couldn't duplicate this shot without a few dozen misses first.

[Catlady711]

I would love to be able to get a pic of the two siamese kittys im with all the time and actually see that they have BLUE eyes.. not red, white or flourecent yellow... lol

I know what you mean. Pooky has blue eyes also, and I love it when I get a good natural lighting picture that showes them off.