Tips for taking photos for a pet portrait
A good starting point when taking photos of your pet for me to create a portrait from is to have your pet squarely within the frame with all parts of your pet, for example, legs,ears and tail, clearly visible if you would like a full body portrait. If the portrait is to be a head and shoulder portrait please get nice close up photos of their head and shoulders. Perhaps someone could help by holding up a treat (if you pet is a dog) so that the photos show your pet looking in the direction you would like or upwards, which always makes a lovely portrait. This also helps keep their attention or can persuade them to stay sitting if this is the pose you would like.
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Please photo your dog or cat without their collar or coat on if you would like the portrait without these items on them. The same for horses, if you would like the portrait without their tack or rug on please supply photos to me of your horse without these things on. I need to know what their coats look like under their tack and so forth.
I shall be working from one photo for the pose you would like, so please have this in mind and try and take a photo of your pet in this particular pose.. I shall then need as many photos as you are happy to provide for details of your pet, for example, showing clearly their eye and coat colour.
It is usually best to take the photos outside in natural daylight as this shows accurately your pets eye and coat colour. Electric light tends to change the appearance of colours. If you take the photos indoors please take them in light conditions and not in shadow. Please also take the photos at your pet's eye level. This will show your pets correct body proportions (for example, if you take your photos standing above your pet this will distort the photo and make your pet's head look bigger than it is).
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If you would like two or more pets in the same portrait they do not have to be in the same photo. I am often asked to create portraits with more than one pet in, but the pets are in different photos. If possible, it is helpful to have a photo of the pets together so I can see the difference in their sizes, but if not I will ask you to describe the difference in size for me. This also applies if you require a detailed background- it doesn't have to be in the same photo that your pet or pets are in.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I love to see your photos so please email them to me anytime if you would like my opinion on their suitability as photos for me to work from.
The more detailed and informative the photos are, the more detailed and accurate the portrait will be.
Please also send me a selection of photos that show your pet's personality- their character is so very important in the portrait and you are welcome to describe this to me also.
If your pet has sadly passed away I am happy to work with the photos you already have. If, however, the photos do not have a great deal of detail in them, then the portrait will also not have the usual amount of detail in it that I would normally put in to my portraits. I will always tell you how much detail I am going to be able to achieve.
