Social media has made taking and sharing photos of your life even more popular than it used to be. After all, in the days of film-based cameras or polaroids, you had to be a bit more conservative about who and what you were taking pictures of unless you had a lot of money or were pursuing photography as a hobby or a profession. Nowadays, with everyone walking around with a camera in their pocket thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, you can be a bit more frivolous and fun with what you take photos of, including your pets!
Many people even make Instagram accounts for their dogs or cats, with other animals like hamsters, guinea pigs, lizards, and chinchillas gaining online popularity as well. Thanks to the internet, it’s possible for pet lovers to see people’s pets from around the world, from the United States to London and China. Whether you’re setting up a new profile specifically for your four-legged friend or are just interested in sharing some new shots of your animal on your own social media profile, it never hurts to spend some time and energy staging the photos you’re taking. Here are five ideas to keep in mind as you embark on a quest to get some great digital photos of your pet!
1. Get your pet’s tail wagging with PawTree Products.
You’ve probably heard of the old trick of using a treat (or peanut butter for dogs) to get your pet to sit, stay, or make a certain face when you’re trying to take a photo of them. Food is a powerful tool to have on hand when you’re composing new photos of your pets. However, even with the speed of your iPhone’s camera, you may find that it’s hard to keep your pet in one place. This can be particularly cumbersome during a photoshoot since you’ve likely arranged a specific area to serve as the backdrop for the photos you’re taking. As a result, you won’t get the best pictures of your animal if you don’t have the right food, like the kid PawTree offers, to keep your pet behaving.
This is where a product like PawTree’s Superfoods Seasonings can come in. PawTree specializes in creating a unique way to level up your pet’s food with seasonings that offer variety and let you shake things up a bit. With ten different seasoning flavors, there’s bound to be a new taste your pet will love. Plus, PawTree’s seasonings are based on high-end natural proteins like poultry, fish, and meat, so you know that your pet is getting a nutritious meal as well when you buy PawTree products. Whether you’re shopping for your cat or your dog, it’s easy to find a PawTree seasoning that will get your pet’s tail wagging. For the best deals and pricing, you may even want to contact them about paw tree direct sales. PawTree is sure to have a solution for you—and even your pet store if you own and operate one!
2. Paint a special backdrop.
Having the right background is key if you want to shoot engaging pet photos. That being said, there are only so many places you can travel with your dog, and, if you’re taking photos of your cat who only lives indoors, you can only rearrange your furniture so much. Even with these limitations as a pet parent, it’s easy to spark creativity if you have the right resources and inspiration. In fact, with a bit of practice, you may find that painting your own background on canvas is the best way for you to find even more artistic fulfillment during your pet photoshoot.
PAINTLoose is an excellent way to find confidence and inspiration, especially if you don’t feel like you have much experience in painting, illustration, or visual art. PAINTLoose is the best way to help turn any pet lover into an artist, thanks to their carefully-curated acrylic paint kits and acrylic painting ideas. The acrylic paint kit includes eight different acrylic paint colors, as well as a storage bin, paintbrushes, canvas, an easel, and an ebook on working with acrylics. In addition to offering acrylic paint kits, you can also learn about PAINTLoose founder Amy VanHoy’s creative journey and work, which might just give you the inspiration you need to create a beautiful background for your next pet photo session.
3. Experiment with different angles.
Whether you’re shooting with your iPhone or a DSLR camera, it’s important to mix things up during your photo session. One way to accomplish that is to play with composition, holding your camera in portrait and landscape mode to get more variety in the photos you’re taking. If you really want to get your viewers up close and personal with your pet’s cute behaviors, consider getting down on the floor with them to offer a pet’s eye perspective of them. Regardless of your skill level behind the lens of a camera, it’s easy to experiment and take a variety of photos. Especially if you have multiple memory cards you can fill up, you don’t have to worry about running out of the film, so feel free to have fun and get bold with your photo composition. You might be surprised by what turns up!
4. Dress up your four-legged friend.
Not all pets love dressing up, but if your pet does, it’s crucial that you get some shots of them in different outfits. If you’re planning a photo series for your pet’s new Instagram channel, consider picking a different outfit for the holidays and taking some shots in advance. You may also want to do a special outfit of the day post each week with your cat or dog in a different costume. Just like it’s important to mix up backgrounds and angles in the photos you’re taking, it’s a good idea to change up your settings with different costumes. Even if you’re stuck taking photos of your cat or dog in front of the same three walls for optimal lighting, a costume can help create some much-needed variety in your feed.
5. Backup your photos and share them with your friends.
Of course, once you’ve taken photos to your heart’s content of your precious pooch or feisty feline, you’ll need a convenient way to store them. While it’s fine for them to sit on your camera’s SD card or your computer’s hard drive for a while, it’s best to back up your photos to the cloud for even more security than a hard drive can provide. At the same time, there are a variety of cloud services to choose from, which can make it hard to figure out the right option for you. Google Photos, iCloud, and DropBox all offer different sorts of storage space and allow you to organize your photos in different folders in a way that an SD card doesn’t. That being said, even though these cloud services are more convenient than a hard drive, it’s still cumbersome to share photos from Google Photos and other platforms with others, even once they’re off your DSLR’s memory card.
One solution to consider is a photo and video sharing device and cloud service called Ibi. Ibi is a digital photo storage device that offers you the ability to quickly backup your digital photos across a variety of devices, including your smartphone, social media accounts, and computer. This makes it easier than ever to find and organize your digital photos and share them with the people that matter most to you. Ibi even offers a wealth of privacy features, so that the photos you’re sharing are only ever viewed by the people you want them to be seen by.
