Ever wonder why it's so hard to get a good picture of your pet? Or to manage to grab a fantastic photo at the zoo, aquarium or petting zoo? Look, you aren't alone. It's not easy to make your animal pictures look like they belong in a calendar, but there are tricks to getting the shot you want. And it all has to do with patience.
I am not great with patience. I don't like to stand in line at the grocery store, I didn't like being pregnant because it took too long, I don't like the month of November because I have to wait until the VERY END for my birthday. But if I can manage to do this, anyone can.
Animals are fickle. Especially cats. Duh. The trick to getting a great picture of a household pet are simple though, I promise.
1. Get down on their level. If you expect your dog to endlessly stare up at your camera lens while you get just the right angle and get things focused you are crazy. Think about it on your terms. What if someone wanted you to crane your neck back and stare at the sky for 15 minutes and stay really still while you did it? You would think they had lost their minds and you would bolt. The same goes for your pet. So getting on their level (think: sitting on the floor, laying on your belly, etc) is a good place to be. Plus, it makes the animal look more natural.
2. Take the picture outside if you can. This is the best for anything, really. From people to animals to things, natural light always photographs the best. You don't have to worry about the flash blurring things or turning the animal's eyes demon-like. More importantly, the flash freaks them out. We don't like flashes in our eyes and we understand exactly what's going on. To a cat or dog a incessant blinking bright light may make them loose their mind. And a picture with your animal running away from you isn't exactly worthy of Facebook, much less a frame.3. Lastly, and this rule is the hardest one for me. You have to be patient. Animals, like children, will do what they want. If they don't want a picture taken, it's going to be harder. If you chase them with a digital camera in your hand yelling "here kitty, kitty!" like a crazy person, they will run from you. I'd run from you. Hell, you'd run from you! So your best bet is to sit outside and let the animal chill, be comfortable and then get on its level. Let it get comfortable with you sitting on the ground. When it starts to just wander around and sit calmly, come in for the kill. Not literally. That's not this blog.
Now, let's move on to the zoo, aquarium, game ranch, etc... Anywhere with wild animals. The aquarium is the toughest because you aren't supposed to use flash. Do people? Of course, because they are hateful and don't follow directions and would rather scare the aquatic life for forever. Look, I don't know why they don't want you to use flash. Maybe it causes the seahorses life span to shorten by 27 years, maybe the hammerheads will have seizures. I'm not a vet, and neither are you (I don't think). So if the sign says 'No Flash' then act right and turn your flash off. You don't have to have it anyway. In fact, the pictures turn out better without it.
The tanks are made of shiny stuff, so a flash will bounce off shiny stuff, be it glass or plastic. It will cause a glare and everything will look all smeary. No on wants that. You want to see your adorable child smiling while a giant piranha swims behind her. And you can. Turn off the flash and try to be still. But it really won't take using a tripod to make that happen. Just focus, and shoot. Easy as pie. People just assume they need the flash because it comes on automatically. But that's not always the case. You may argue that inside the aquarium is dark in many places, and you're right, but the lights in the tank help, and so does the reflection you will get off the glass from those lights and the lights in the hallways.To get those super cool pictures of the silhouette of your loves ones in front of the giant tank, simply take them from behind. Because there are lights in the tank and not many in the viewing room, in fact, at the Atlanta Aquarium, it's just about completely dark. So the shadows will pop out against that beautiful blue background. Easy as pie. Try not to stand right up on your subjects though. It's better to have to zoom in later during editing then to take it too close and make things look smudged.
In my family, we love places like Dauset Trails and the Yellow River Game Ranch, which means we are pretty frequent visitors. We don't visit the zoo nearly as much, but the idea of taking pictures at these places is all the same. Well, almost.
Some animals are friendly, and some will eat you face. Please keep that in mind when reading the next part of this. At the game ranch they have goats and donkeys - more friendly animals - that are out and about and available for touching. To get a good picture of these animals, I get all up on them. I stick my camera right up in the goat's face, and I always try to get more on their level, though I don't want my camera nibbled on, which will happen if they are given half the chance. But if the animal has, let's say, razor-sharp teeth, a reputation for being cranky, has before been in the news for eating someones face or attempting to, DO NOT get all up in it's face. These are not your house pet who may nip if annoyed. They are wild animals and they will bite you. Please keep in mind what animal you are trying to take a picture of before you go leaning in their cage like the Crocodile Hunter. We say what happened to him.
If you have a camera with a long lens, use that. You can usually put the lens right against the holes in the fence and shoot through them, that way you aren't getting a bunch of criss-cross shapes blurred around your giant alligator photograph. Don't stick the lens through it, just put it against it, just so you can shoot through the hole.
If you have a standard point-and-shoot digital camera, you can usually force it to zoom in pretty close, but it will get grainy, so it's best to shoot without forcing the zoom. If you can't tell what the picture is of, what's the point?
The biggest tip I can give it to just have fun with it. Remember, you are there to enjoy the day, usually with people you at least like, if not love. If you don't get a perfect picture at the zoo of a giraffe gazing at a monkey, so what? If you dog has demon eyes, it's okay. Get it together and try again. If you yell at the dog and chase it the animal will likely become scared of the camera and run whenever you get it out.
Just have fun, not only with pictures, but with life.
Cheers!
-A
