10 Tips to Ensure A Great Photo of Your Pet
Here are some thoughts on how to get the best reference photo of your furry friend:
Take your picture outside or at the very least next to a window. Natural light really is the best when it comes to illuminating a subject. It’s hard to see detail when the subject is lit with artificial light. Indoor lighting doesn’t provide contrast and clarity to the same degree as natural light. Some of the most interesting photographs to work from show an animal that is partially illuminated in sunlight and partially in shadow. Scroll down to see some examples of well lit and poorly lit photos.
If you really want to capture an amazing shot, take your picture during the golden hour. This occurs an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. Try for a day with a clear sky with little to no clouds. See if you can get your pet in a place where there is direct sun or where light is coming through something like trees. Take a look at the picture of Opie to see an example of a photo with good lighting. Also, the picture of Addie in the woods shows light filtering through trees, which would make for an interesting piece.
Paul the pug is adorable. Note how his body is out of proportion because his mom was looking down on him while she took the picture. If you don’t want that effect, make sure you get eye level with your pet.
This picture of my dog, Lakota, was taken during the Golden hour in the morning. Note how crisp everything looks in the photograph. There is also a golden hue, which is why that time period was so named. It is hard to capture detail on dark animals, and being outside really helps with that.
Opie’s photo was ideal to work from. Note the light coming from the right side of his face. It provides immediate interest to the piece. It enabled me to render the cool colors of the shadows on the left of Opie and the warm colors of the right side of which gave depth to the piece. Additionally, the background is amazing because it’s lovely, and it gives context to Opie’s story.
This is also a great reference photo even though AB and Kelly don’t take up the whole shot. The background was lovely and the resolution was good enough so that I could tweak the photo by zooming in, removing the bridge and adding some sky.
Look at this example of a not-so-great shot. I took this of my dog, Addie, trying to mimic a favorite painting of mine called “Master Bedroom”, by Andrew Wyeth. There is natural light coming in on the right side of the photo, but the room is so dark, it makes it very hard to see her details. If I tried to make a decent drawing out of this photo, it would be very difficult due to limited information on the photo.
Here is a better reference photo of Addie. Although she is in the woods, there is sunlight coming in through the trees which makes for an interesting portrait. If I were to draw this picture, I would center up the picture and add the rest of her front legs to show her whole body.
The picture of Derby and Lulu was taken outside, although on a cloudy day. Even though the sun was not bright on this day, the photograph is still well lit and shows plenty of detail and some shadow. The difference with a cloudy day is that the sunlight is diffused through the clouds, which makes the light more evenly dispersed. As a result the light and shadow areas are not high in contrast. It still made for a great reference photo, and this may actually be a lighting look that some people prefer. So if you like softer lighting like this, try and get a photo on a cloudy day.
I love this picture of Peppy. Peppy’s mom zoomed in and captured a lovely shot of him, probably next to a window. The lighting of the picture helps us to see Peppy’s beautiful features, and also provides a nice contrast to the black background. I drew this one in pencil a few years ago, but I would love to redo it with colored pencils or pastels.