Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE ANIMALS... well the furry variety... the dogs, cats, bunnies not so much the snakes although what some people may not know is even though I am immensely terrified many years ago I did have a snake that lived in my house and was a pet. I guess building trust in him made me eventually not afraid of him and he was the exception to my extreme fear of snakes! 

So with today being National Pet Day I thought it’s a pur-fect day to give some tips and tricks to capturing those wonderfully focused pet photos. Let me first say Vince is a professional model ... lol ... honestly he is amazing and lucky for me will do anything for a treat so it’s easy work for me to grab that spectacular photo of him! 

Vince .... Black Labrador Just look at those eyes!

Actually photos of pets are an excellent training experience for a pet ... except a cat ... that’s more of a training for you when working with cats!  Grey Tabby Cat Just relaxing after my cat nap!

So let’s get started

1.  Have treats! Training treats work best. They are small and don’t make a mess so they will not leave debris in your photo. Buckley Training Treats are on my favorites. They are small enough even for the little dogs at the shelter and can be found at local  TJ MAxx and on Amazon. 
2. If you have someone with you have them hold the treat just above your phone or camera or just below. You want the eyes looking at your phone or camera so don’t have the person off to the side. Then that’s where your pets attention will be. (For cats or dogs that aren’t treat driven you can have a toy and cats love a good laser light show!).  If you are alone just hold your treat right above your phone even sitting it right on the top of the phone can work if it’s a Buckley trainer treat like I mentioned before. 
3. Get some tools! iTrainer Is a free training app but it also works great for getting that wonderful head tilt! Squeak squeak quack quack or meow meow there are over 15 different sounds to use. It’s paw-some! There are other apps available but this one just happens to be my favorite! 
4. So you have the attention getters now just a couple of techniques to get those wonderfully focused images of your lovable pet. Focus on the eyes! On your phone use the little focus box to focus on the eye. With a camera do the same! Try not to use auto focus. Make sure your focal point is set to their eyes. Why you ask? Especially with dogs their nose is set ahead of their face which deals with depth of field. That’s a separate photograph lesson for another day! But for your pet photos you want the focal point to be their eyes 👀 pulling you in and make you just wanna say muah! I love that face!  Floral Collar for Dog A pretty pittie pit in a floral coollar
5. Also don’t Zoom! You can Zoom on your computer for work or with friends but try not to Zoom your phone photos especially! Zooming loses clarity. If you have taken any of my Photography Courses you know NO ZOOM! Cropping is better so if you want to narrow the frame take the photo as is and crop out what you want out of the image. 

Okay so now you are geared with a few treats, a toy, a phone and a pet GO TAKE SOME PHOTOS and share your pet love on When Skies Are Grey Photography by Denise Facebook Page   Also request to join our In Focus Private Client Group for specials, promotions and more Tips and Tricks and share your National Pet Day Photos there too! When Skies Are Grey Photography by Denise "In Focus" Private Client Group

Check out some of the Mosaic Images & Pet Items available at When Skies Are Grey DesignsA portion of your purchase for Mosaic Images will be donated to Friends of Norfolk Animal Care Center. 

Want a special blog topic sometime? Send me an email and let me get your ideas of what you would like to hear about! If you have any questions please contact me at [email protected] 

Any Questions?Raise your paw if you have any questions? Ava's 3rd BirthdaySpecial Occasion Photos for Dogs

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