It’s the character that matters
Crouch down and look deep into your pet’s eyes. What are they like? Is your pet slow or playful and full of energy? Observe them. This will help you understand how they see the world around them. If you observe them from way up high, from the human perspective, you risk missing the moments that tell the story of your pet’s true character.
In my quest to take exactly these kind of photos, I got together with Nika Veger, make-up artist, environmentalist, and passionate chronicler of everyday beauty tips (you can find the latter on www.beautyfullblog.si), and her half-year-old puppy Arya. I was immediately entranced by the playful doggo.
I quickly readied my camera, as she darted across the field the moment her mum released her from her leash.
Framing and how to capture the right moment
I can tell you from experience that in addition to details, i.e. the nose, the beautiful round eyes, whiskers and ears, the best photos are those showing the dog’s or cat’s head and about three quarters of the animal’s body. This helps give a good impression of the details and the whole. The pictures should capture an interesting moment during your pet’s playtime, walk or feeding. The best are those where the pet is not aware of our presence; rather, they are doing what, for example, dogs do best – like digging a hole or trying to catch a fly mid-flight.
Arya, a pureblood poodle, was not above sticking her little nose into the frost-covered ground and sniffing around for the occasional mole. Later on, she proceeded to frolic around the field with Nika in an effort to warm up, the thermometer having dropped below zero.
The right lighting
As a general rule, the best photographs make use of natural light. Best to avoid using the flash, because it can frighten your pet. Direct sunlight is likewise not the best idea, since some parts of the photograph will end up overexposed, while others will be too dark.
Us three galls (two bipedal ones and one four-legged canine) arrived at the Ljubljana Marshes at the crack of dawn and were privileged to see the sunrise and the morning mists. When you depend on natural lighting, you quickly learn that it can change from one moment to the next and that’s part of its charm. Each season can be magical in its own way.
Two’s company
The winter wonderland was the perfect setting for a number of interesting photographs. You can improve the picture by including another person: a child, your mum, aunt or uncle, etc. What could be better than portraying that special bond, friendship, and, of course, love between an owner and their pet?
Matching curls
Nika and Arya are practically inseparable during the day and they even look like they’ve coordinated. They share the same hair/coat colour and curls.
That same day, following our photo shoot, Arya had an appointment at the doggy groomer and the fluffy little poodle became slightly less fluffy. 😉
