A short time ago I had the joy of doing some photography for a pet rescue organisation. They wished me to photograph quite a few kittens and cats on the same day. This was a fantasy come true to me. Not only am I a photographer but I am a cat lover. I found this responsibility was a lot of fun yet especially difficult .
You may have heard that cat photography is very challenging. It's difficult to think that taking photos of sweet little kittens could be very tricky. What is so tricky about this kind of photography? It is the similar thing that makes other types photography difficult; quick movement. Let's talk about tricks and techniques to overcome some of these frequent issues.
Kitten photography
If you are photographing kittens the initial factor to understand is that you will be photographing an unpredictable subject. It is very extraordinary for a kitten to just sit and stare at the camera. You must use toys to guide your kitten with no intimidation or fear. It is crucial to keep the kitten as calm as possible. A bouncy kitten is very hard to photograph. A relaxed kitten is ideal.
How can you calm a kitten? One of the ways that kitties relax is by letting them spend as much energy as possible. Once they begin to fatigue then you will have a better chance of gaining the photographs you want. You can ask someone to tinkle a toy or blow a whistle over your shoulder so that the kitten stares in the direction of your camera. You can also give them a little bit of kitten food and the minute they raise their head up following eating, take the shot. Strive to get them to look at your camera if doable. This can be hard if they are still in play mode. This is why I say it's more intersting to take pictures of them when they are starting to calm.
If you would like a spontaneous and fun playful photo then it might be at a nice idea to let your kitten have some fun with a ball of string or toy. You can take some wonderfully natural and fun photos using this method. You can take a shot of your kitten reaching up and playing with toy. You can also take a photo of your kitten being very interested in something. These spontaneous and candid images work very well as an alternative to the standard pet portrait photo. I have taken many spontaneous photos by doing this.
Professional Pet Photography Tips
What are the right shooting modes to use for kitten photography? People who have not understood manual mode suitably tend to take photos using semi-automatic shooting modes. I do not trust you can get the correct exposure when the camera dictates the controls for you. You are smarter than the digital camera. I always shoot in the manual setting mode for absolutely everything. Kittens included.
What is the reason for this It is beause I understand more than the camera does. I realize what will work. I want to have absolute control over my fstop because I want to be in charge of my own depth of field. If you let the camera control your f-stop then you are letting the camera to control your depth of field. Your camera doesn't understand how to capture a first-class image, it simply knows that it needs to expose for lighting and capture depth of field. It does not comprehend how to get sharp photos of moving kittens.
I usually place myself about a meter away from my kitties. As the focal point moves all the time I make use of auto focus. (Due to the movement of the kittens). Using manual focus can take too much time for your kitten to move into the plane or focus, if at all. I chase the kitten about with my finger on the button, repeatedly focusing and refocusing. To help me to get clarity of the kittens eyes I am thorough and precise about what F stop range to use. I am inclined to use an aperture between F5 .6 and F8. This allows me to have a reasonably short depth of field without focus challenges.
I use a shutter speed of around 200th of a second or higher. Your kitten can move about very fast and you want to be able to freeze the action without blur. If you are using the speedlite you will find that you do not need to fret about shutter speed. Flash will freeze the movement at around 250th of a second. This is really useful to work with due to the fact all you have to do then is set your aperture knowing the flash will manage the shutter speed, so to speak.
If you set your f-stop to a wide setting, like F2 .8 or F4, you may discover sharpness eludes you. This may be since your kitten has jumped out of the focal range and the image is no longer holding sharp focus. However, if you use a slightly smaller aperture you might find you do not undergo this predicament. The cameras aperture and depth of field are very much linked. It is important that you get the correct aperture for the distance from your kitten. In other words the larger the aperture the closer to your subject you need to be. Deliberate this when you are photographing your kittens.
What happens when you can't use the flash?
Just prior to one of the photography sessions my flash then began to fail. Fortunately I was shooting with continuous lighting. I decided to take my flash off the camera. I then produced my shots at 6400 ISO, 200th of a second and F 7.1. I shot with a very high ISO to compensate for the soft light. I had to get as much light as I possibly could. I also wanted to use a high ISO so that I could use a fast shutter speed. Using an F stop of 7.1 allowed me to get some clear and tack sharp photos.
How to photograph kittens
I shot a mixture of typical and candid, yet lighthearted, photos. I made the decision to produce a succession of these photos in black-and-white. I call this my "Black and White Kitten Series".There are many opportunites to capture some very resourceful photos of kittens. You might shoot some intentional blur, side profile photos, intense macro images or even use aids like baskets or flowers.
Just remember the key to photographing kittens is light and motion. It is preferable to get as much light on the scene as possible. Window light is good but you also want to illuminate the scene from the opposite side. You may want to use reflectors but it may distract the kittens. Alternatively you may like to bounce the flash off the ceiling as I did. (Before my flash stopped working.)
Bounced flash is best. It is also effective to have a white card on top of your flash. This white card assists in leading the light from the roof downwards onto your subject. It is not good to blast your kitten with front light from the flash. The direct flash may harm their eyes and frightened them.
You want to be ready to be flexible and open minded when you photographing your kittens. Always get on the ground and photograph from an angle that's near to the ground.. This will help you to hold sharp focus on the eyes. Be ready to move about with your kitten. It is vital to provide them encouragement along the way. After you capture them give them a little luxury. Animals recognize when they are treasured.
Photographing kittens requires practical skill and good light. It also demands the photographer to be calm about the shoot and happy. Some days are more productive than others. Now and then your kittens are not frightened by your camera. They will look at the camera with curiosity and even move toward you start sniffing the camera. This is a great image if you can get it. If you are working with scared kittens then be very gentle and very enduring.
Photographing kittens is a pleasurable and challenging experience. Always treat your animals with greatest respect and love at all times. Kittens and sensitive little beings and need to be treated with respect.
You may have heard that cat photography is very challenging. It's difficult to think that taking photos of sweet little kittens could be very tricky. What is so tricky about this kind of photography? It is the similar thing that makes other types photography difficult; quick movement. Let's talk about tricks and techniques to overcome some of these frequent issues.
Kitten photography
If you are photographing kittens the initial factor to understand is that you will be photographing an unpredictable subject. It is very extraordinary for a kitten to just sit and stare at the camera. You must use toys to guide your kitten with no intimidation or fear. It is crucial to keep the kitten as calm as possible. A bouncy kitten is very hard to photograph. A relaxed kitten is ideal.
How can you calm a kitten? One of the ways that kitties relax is by letting them spend as much energy as possible. Once they begin to fatigue then you will have a better chance of gaining the photographs you want. You can ask someone to tinkle a toy or blow a whistle over your shoulder so that the kitten stares in the direction of your camera. You can also give them a little bit of kitten food and the minute they raise their head up following eating, take the shot. Strive to get them to look at your camera if doable. This can be hard if they are still in play mode. This is why I say it's more intersting to take pictures of them when they are starting to calm.
If you would like a spontaneous and fun playful photo then it might be at a nice idea to let your kitten have some fun with a ball of string or toy. You can take some wonderfully natural and fun photos using this method. You can take a shot of your kitten reaching up and playing with toy. You can also take a photo of your kitten being very interested in something. These spontaneous and candid images work very well as an alternative to the standard pet portrait photo. I have taken many spontaneous photos by doing this.
Professional Pet Photography Tips
What are the right shooting modes to use for kitten photography? People who have not understood manual mode suitably tend to take photos using semi-automatic shooting modes. I do not trust you can get the correct exposure when the camera dictates the controls for you. You are smarter than the digital camera. I always shoot in the manual setting mode for absolutely everything. Kittens included.
What is the reason for this It is beause I understand more than the camera does. I realize what will work. I want to have absolute control over my fstop because I want to be in charge of my own depth of field. If you let the camera control your f-stop then you are letting the camera to control your depth of field. Your camera doesn't understand how to capture a first-class image, it simply knows that it needs to expose for lighting and capture depth of field. It does not comprehend how to get sharp photos of moving kittens.
I usually place myself about a meter away from my kitties. As the focal point moves all the time I make use of auto focus. (Due to the movement of the kittens). Using manual focus can take too much time for your kitten to move into the plane or focus, if at all. I chase the kitten about with my finger on the button, repeatedly focusing and refocusing. To help me to get clarity of the kittens eyes I am thorough and precise about what F stop range to use. I am inclined to use an aperture between F5 .6 and F8. This allows me to have a reasonably short depth of field without focus challenges.
I use a shutter speed of around 200th of a second or higher. Your kitten can move about very fast and you want to be able to freeze the action without blur. If you are using the speedlite you will find that you do not need to fret about shutter speed. Flash will freeze the movement at around 250th of a second. This is really useful to work with due to the fact all you have to do then is set your aperture knowing the flash will manage the shutter speed, so to speak.
If you set your f-stop to a wide setting, like F2 .8 or F4, you may discover sharpness eludes you. This may be since your kitten has jumped out of the focal range and the image is no longer holding sharp focus. However, if you use a slightly smaller aperture you might find you do not undergo this predicament. The cameras aperture and depth of field are very much linked. It is important that you get the correct aperture for the distance from your kitten. In other words the larger the aperture the closer to your subject you need to be. Deliberate this when you are photographing your kittens.
What happens when you can't use the flash?
Just prior to one of the photography sessions my flash then began to fail. Fortunately I was shooting with continuous lighting. I decided to take my flash off the camera. I then produced my shots at 6400 ISO, 200th of a second and F 7.1. I shot with a very high ISO to compensate for the soft light. I had to get as much light as I possibly could. I also wanted to use a high ISO so that I could use a fast shutter speed. Using an F stop of 7.1 allowed me to get some clear and tack sharp photos.
How to photograph kittens
I shot a mixture of typical and candid, yet lighthearted, photos. I made the decision to produce a succession of these photos in black-and-white. I call this my "Black and White Kitten Series".There are many opportunites to capture some very resourceful photos of kittens. You might shoot some intentional blur, side profile photos, intense macro images or even use aids like baskets or flowers.
Just remember the key to photographing kittens is light and motion. It is preferable to get as much light on the scene as possible. Window light is good but you also want to illuminate the scene from the opposite side. You may want to use reflectors but it may distract the kittens. Alternatively you may like to bounce the flash off the ceiling as I did. (Before my flash stopped working.)
Bounced flash is best. It is also effective to have a white card on top of your flash. This white card assists in leading the light from the roof downwards onto your subject. It is not good to blast your kitten with front light from the flash. The direct flash may harm their eyes and frightened them.
You want to be ready to be flexible and open minded when you photographing your kittens. Always get on the ground and photograph from an angle that's near to the ground.. This will help you to hold sharp focus on the eyes. Be ready to move about with your kitten. It is vital to provide them encouragement along the way. After you capture them give them a little luxury. Animals recognize when they are treasured.
Photographing kittens requires practical skill and good light. It also demands the photographer to be calm about the shoot and happy. Some days are more productive than others. Now and then your kittens are not frightened by your camera. They will look at the camera with curiosity and even move toward you start sniffing the camera. This is a great image if you can get it. If you are working with scared kittens then be very gentle and very enduring.
Photographing kittens is a pleasurable and challenging experience. Always treat your animals with greatest respect and love at all times. Kittens and sensitive little beings and need to be treated with respect.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is a professional photography teacher. She is the author of several photography ebooks and a monthly photography emagazine. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. Click here to learn photography the easy way.