Since most of us are still staying home more than usual, here are a couple basic tips for you to take better pictures of your pet using your cell phone.
Get Low....Nope, Lower
Here is a quick picture of Loki sitting on the couch and one of Kitten trying on a cloak I made for her (she looks thrilled, I know). Both are cute, but really not that interesting. I was not very high above them but I definitely wasn't down on their level.
It's amazing the difference getting low can make. When you get down to your animals eye level, or lower, it really changes the look and feel of the photograph. Now compare the above to these this photo of Loki below.
This photo is much more engaging, I'm right at his eye level which makes him more dominant in the frame. This was taken and edited on my iPhone using the built in photo editing, nothing fancy done.
Find Some Good Lighting
Sounds great, but what is good lighting? Well, it depends on what you are after, but here let's discuss window light. I love photos with the cats by the patio window. Let's look briefly at backlighting and frontlighting.
The photo of Loki above is using backlighting, meaning the light is behind him. That photo was taken in the afternoon when we get the most direct sun through the patio window, so the backlighting is pretty harsh. When you are using such bright backlighting with only natural light you will often end up with a background that is very bright. It can be a fun artistic choice though and you can even try some lens flair, which gives a much different look.
Kitten came over and I took a seat facing the window, which is now frontlighting. She was also in front of the blinds and that produces a nice soft light, meaning the shadows are not as harsh. Fontlighting is nice because it produces fairly even lighting across the animals face.
Give these tips a try and tell us how it went or share your results on our Facebook page!
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