Pet peeves
By Robert de Gast

We love our pets. We spend billions of dollars every year on their care and feeding. By definition, a pet is a domesticated or tamed animal that is kept and cared for affectionately. Thus it could be a parrot or even a snake, but for most of us, “pets” are dogs or cats.

We like having them around. We think they should be included in the family album. So we take pictures of them but the results are rarely satisfying. Why is that? 

Well, for one thing they don’t understand much language. You can’t just ask, “Would you please move a little to your left so that the telephone pole is not sticking out of the back of your head?” It’s also hard to control them, and so you need patience and persistence. Here are eight suggestions for improving your pet portraiture.

· Photograph your pet at eye level. Usually the dog or cat is lying on the floor or slouching on the couch. Don’t “look down” on them. Get down on the floor. If your knees or hips won’t let you do that, elevate the animal to a level that is comfortable for you. A table pushed against a wall makes for a great modeling stand. 

· Enlist another person as a helper to assist with your subjects. 

· Avoid trying to photograph the entire animal. If you’re making a portrait of a person, do you need to include their toes? 

· Use props. A toy may get you more cooperation. A treat may improve their attention span.

· Look for a plain background. Move the animal to an area without visual distractions. 

· Prevent “red-eye.” Your pet will look straight into the lens (tracking you, just like babies), so a flash will bounce off the animal’s retina and produce red-eye (with pets it also can be blue, green, yellow, white, or red). Several things will help avoid this disagreeable effect. Have your helper distract the animal so that it doesn’t look straight at the camera. Turn the flash off even though you have a “red-eye reduction” feature on your camera. This is easy—check your camera’s instruction booklet. With the flash turned off, you’ll need to shoot in a relatively bright location. 

· Take many pictures. It is unrealistic to think that somehow your one and only effort will result in that great image you’ve always hoped for. Even seasoned professionals shoot lots of pictures.

· Move in close. It’s a fair bet that if you’re not happy with a picture, you weren’t close enough.

And with a little luck your dogged efforts will be the cat’s meow!

Robert de Gast lectures, leads small photography workshops and offers short tutorials. He can be reached at 152-7396 or robertdegast@hotmail.com.