You definitely need patience when photographing your pet and it can be difficult to get that 'perfect' shot. So here are a few tips to make your job a little easier.
I need good close-up photographs at preferably a 3/4 angle. Take your pet outdoors with the sun behind the photographer. The background doesn't matter. Position you pet so you can see the whole of one side, then get down to their level near to the head so that you aren't looking down on them. This is to minimise distortion and perspective problems. Now you can start taking the photos.
Get someone to help by standing by the photographer's side, shaking a bucket, holding their favourite or holding a treat, to get your pet looking alert.
Just take a few slightly different angles and do both sides to see which you prefer.
If you don't want the bridle, head collar, collar, etc, on the portrait then pop it around their neck so I can get as much detail as possible. Remember - the better the photo, the better the portrait.
If your pet has sadly passed away but you have photos please feel free to send them to me and I can see if they are good enough for me to work from.
If you are local to me and would prefer me to come and take photos of your pet at no additional cost. Contact me for details.
Examples of good reference photos.
Choosing your favourite photograph from your photoshoot.
So now you should have a few photos that you could use for the portrait. Choose the photographs that shows their personality. Send them over to me and we can discuss further which one would be the best to use.
Getting closer to that lovely portrait.
Hopefully you have already decided what size portrait you are wanting. If it's just the one subject on the portrait you can choose any size. However, if it's two or more subjects in one portrait then you may have to choose a bigger size. The bigger the portrait the more detail I can put into your pets.
Once we've decided on the photographs and you know what paper size you want, I can book you into my schedule and give you an approximate timescale.
If you do require your portrait for a certain date/deadline please let me know a month or two in advance, just so that I can keep my timetable open for you.