Animals and Pets

Pet photography (or animal photography of any kind) can throw up a host of technical and practical challenges and it's safe to say that the outcome of any shoot can never really be predicted. Most animals move around, some more than others, and comparatively few of them understand what we say to them (and like people, many suffer from selective hearing). Animals should always be photographed in a secure and familiar environment, which of course isn't always the ideal environment for photography. But when we're shooting we often have to play the hand we're dealt. Of course, that can be a great opportunity for a photographer to see what is or isn't feasible in the toughest conditions - very low light (with repeated heavy showers) and animals which might be enclosed behind reflective rain-splattered glass. Practice always brings us closer to the results we want to achieve, so photograph your friends pets, your neighbours pets, whatever appears in your garden, and any other animals you might have the opportunity to see.

So what does this mean in photographic terms? First of all most animals move and I'd like to get a shutter speed of at least 1/200 of a second for slow moving animals, and in an ideal world around 1/1000 for fast moving species. In dark conditions this is completely impossible, and you'll soon reach the limit of ISO and aperture - in the end I was shooting at anything from 1/15 of a second to 1/60 if I was lucky - and at ISO 1200 - and at f2.8. The risks then are blurred shots due to subject movement, noise from high ISO settings, and very shallow DOF at wide f stops. Oh - and don't forget the reflections off glass if the animals have to be contained in this way, and the fact that accurate focus is difficult and often impossible in low light, not to mention through physical barriers. All in all, it isn't always certain if any worthwhile shots will result, but the trick is 'shoot many to keep a few' and of course, the aim is to have fun. I don't know anybody who doesn't have a big smile on their face after shooting animals, and we are no exception.

The kit comprises a Canon 5D and a Canon 40D, and so that we can travel light we often use just two smallish lenses - the fantastic Tamron 28-75 f2.8, and the highly accomplished Canon 70-300 f3.5-5.6 IS. For a few hundred pounds each, these lenses have near 'L' quality optics.

 

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