If you like photography, have a camera, and have pets, they're going to meet sooner or later. Here, Matt Granger gives you his tips for photographing your pets at home.
When I got my first ever strobe light, my portrait subject that got the test flight of the unit was my cat. As is with the case with 99% of animal lovers, if you have pets, they're going to be photographed. Fortunately for me, my cat is very inquisitive to anything new being placed in the house and so testing my portrait lights out all those years ago, couldn't have been simpler.
I did no work for this test shoot, whatsoever. I set the lights up, she came to investigate.
Granger in this video offers some tips I hadn't considered, despite how obvious they are. For example, I didn't think to bribe my pets with treats. Instead, I have always tended to get them to do what I want, and then thank them with food after. Then again, my main subject for many years before he passed away was my parents' standard poodle, which did whatever you asked of him at any time.
What tips do you have for photographing your pets at home?
My advice would be to keep a camera ready to shoot around the house at all times, in order to capture the cute moments when they happen organically. In my opinion, those natural and spontaneous moments make for the best pictures.
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Yep, always have some gear ready to go. Also, take that first shot quickly, then worry about composition for the next shot.