Pepper by Terence Carter Photography
Hello Maryka
Thank you so much for buying us coffee! Terence, the photographer in the family, has answered your request for tips for photographing animals, domestic and wild. Hope his advice is helpful!
Also hope you like Terence's photo of Pepper when she was a kitten, above. Please don't hesitate to let us know in the comments below if you have more questions and we'll expand here.
Lara x
Hi Maryka,
Photographing animals – both wild and domestic – is one of my favourite things to do.
Domesticated animals are much easier to photograph than wild ones. Firstly, because they know you, they will be calm, and they will respond well to your movements. Secondly, you can get someone to hold up their favourite toys or snacks right behind you, which gives you a prime opportunity to get a great photo as the animal will appear to be staring into your camera. The most important objective is to get their eyes in focus. A quick point on that: whether it’s a dog, cat, rabbit or horse, make sure they are groomed and their eyes are clean!
Wild animals are so much harder to photograph, unless they’re, sadly, in a zoo. In Africa on safari, I had three cameras, half a dozen lenses, and a driver/guide who was used to working with photographers, so that helped. I still only came back with a few photos that I’d hang on my wall! Keep in mind that full-time wildlife photographers spend days camping out just to get one photo. Patience and being prepared is the key.
You'll find more tips here to photographing animals on safari.
Happy snapping.
Terence