Pet Photography Locations

Series Summary

Owning a pet can be an extremely satisfying endeavor, and so it is no wonder that millions of people around the world keep companion animals in their lives. The most common pets are by far, cats and dogs, however, the rising popularity of exotic pets has led to an increase of people owning snakes, lizards, rats, mice, and hamsters. Birds are also a popular pet for people who do not want too much responsibility. Studies have shown that owning a pet is actually beneficial to both the mental and physical health of the owner. In fact, there are now medically backed studies showing that therapy animals can significantly improve the well being of many patients.

In this free video series, our expert will show you how to photograph pets. Whether you are a professional photographer or simply want to take some snap shots of your cat or dog, our expert will give you tips and advice on how to pick a pet photography location and background, and how to light this unique photography shoot. You will also learn how to use depth of field and perspective for unique pet photography. If you are interested in photography or simply want to introduce yourself to pet photography, our expert will show you everything you need to know.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Erin Lee Neumeyer for Expert Village. I'm a professional photographer living in Venice , California and I've been taking pictures for over 8 years now. Professionally here in Venice for two, I specialize in portraits and head shots and today I'm going to talk to you about taking pictures of your pet. Now, for this example, I'm going to use a dog but it can apply to any pet that you might have. Now, when you're photographing your pet it's important for you to carefully choose your location. You have a couple different options and I'm gonna start out with the obvious one, which we are in right now, which is an indoor studio. Now, this can be a professional photography studio or in my case, it's my professional photography studio that happens to be in my garage. Now, bringning a pet into a space like this is going to give you photographs that are more formal, typically. Because, you're doing the whole background set up you've got a lot of control over your lights and that can lend itself to making the dog, or any pet, a little bit more nervous or anxious. So, keep that in mind if you do choose to go to the indoor studio. You might also wanna build in some time for the animal to acclimate to the studio and settle down. Another way which is sort of like this for Mika is to be shooting in your home. A lot of photographers will go ahead and join you on location. And that can be great because maybe your dog has a favorite chair or a place that they like to lay, and they'll be relaxed alot more quickly. When you are going to someone's home though you have to take into consideration the available light, availability for you to plug in your own studio lights and a room to do a setup like that. And, also to decide if those are the kind of pictures that you wanna get 'cause they may tend to be a little more informal. Now, the last thing you can do is go somewhere on location, like with a dog it's easy to go to a park or a beach. With a hamster or a cat that might be a little more difficult. But, photographs on the beach, for example can be fabulous because alot of beaches have areas where the dogs can run off the leash so you can let them run around and really be themselves and let their personality come out. And, it can be fun to get other people involved in shots like that in parks or beaches. Now you dont have as much control over the light, so it can be more difficult in that way but you can also try to set up some flashes or things like that to give you a little more of that posed look if necessary. "