Here are my very best tips for taking amazing portraits of your pets.

It can be really tricky to get beautiful photos of them if they won’t sit still. So how do I do it?

Picture this… you’re sitting there chilling out with your beloved pet and they’re looking so incredibly sweet. You jump up to grab your camera and of course now they’ve run away!

Here are 8 ways in which you can improve your pet portraits:

1. Set aside some quality time with your pet when you know that your camera is easily accessible.
2. Keep them in a familiar location otherwise they’ll be easily distracted. If you are heading outdoors choose a park or garden that you visit often.
3. Set your camera’s autofocus to tracking mode. This is something you’ve got to learn about because it’s really useful for moving subjects.
4. Get down on their level. If you’re standing up here with your camera and they’re lying or sitting down there they’re going to be quite far away. If you are at their eye level you can engage with them more.
5.When you are ready to take the shot make some kind of noise to get their ears pricked up. You can use a squeaky toy, a whistle, or shake a bunch of keys.
6. Make the most of your available light. If they’re indoors then try and have them face the window. If you’re outside on a sunny day place them in a shady spot under a tree. On a cloudy day you can go pretty much anywhere.
7. Bring lots of treats. It will help keep them in one place and if you are rewarding them for good behaviour they will keep on being good.
8. For a pure white or pure black pet you’re going to have to set your exposure manually. What this means is making the photos lighter or darker than what your camera intended. For example a black cat would simply be a silhouette if you didn’t brighten your exposure by one or two stops.

So go out and have fun with your pet and I’d love to see your photos.