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Image by basykes

Pets are part of the family and everybody loves taking pictures of them, but getting that perrrfect picture (pardon the pun) of your best friend can prove harder than expected.
Whether you use a camera phone, compact camera, or DSLR, the tips below will help you improve your furry friends photographs.

1. Patience is a virtue. ‘Never work with children or animals’, or so they say. However if you are patient, and take your time, you can bag some fantastic pictures. Follow your pet around with your camera, if your pet is playing or is mischievous, try to capture them without disturbing their playfulness. Have plenty of toys and treats to get them relaxed.

2. Ground Zero. Most people take photographs of their pets standing up and looking down at them.
To capture your pets personality, trying sitting or lying down on the ground, and take the picture at their level.

Image by fazen

3. Avoid distracting backgrounds. TVs, kids toys, the ironing board, branches, etc are all very distracting in a photograph. Before you take your shot, check that the background is plain and simple. If you see something distracting than either move it, change your view point, or move your subject elsewhere, persuade them with a treat.
If you are using a DSLR, a long lens is better as you can sit further away from your pet, which will make them feel more relaxed, and you will also get a nice blurry background. If you don’t have a long lens, then use the widest aperture that you can, for example F2, F4, F4.5 etc.

4. Fill the frame. When taking a photo of your pet, zoom in or get close, the best portraits are either, head and shoulders, or all of the body. Try not to cut your pet off at the torso as it makes the shot very unbalanced.

Image by Seamusmurry

5. The eyes are the key. The most important part of the photograph are the eyes. It’s the light and the eyes that make the image. When taking a photograph of your pet, focus on the eyes to get them sharp.
Tip: if your camera has the ability to lock the focus, you can focus on to the eyes by pressing the shutter button half way, then recompose your picture then press the shutter button fully.

MJ Mac

6. Variety is the spice of life. Shoot your pet in both portrait and landscape mode i.e.
horizontal and vertical format.

7. Avoid flash. Photographs using natural light gives the best and most flattering pictures. If you are taking pictures of your pet outside, then keep away from direct sunlight as it is too harsh, try to capture them under some shade, in the morning, or later on in the day are the best times, as the light is more subtle.
If you are inside, try and use the available light from the window. Sometimes however, you will find it is just too dark indoors and you will need to use Flash. Using direct on camera flash will give you the worst results as you will get harsh background shadows, or an unnatural looking photo. If you can bounce the flash off the ceiling a wall or move the flash off-camera. Unfortunately for camera phones and most compact flash cameras this isn’t an option, so trying using a combination of the window and flash for more natural photos.

Last but not least as I always say, don’t be afraid to experiment, try different shutter speeds, apertures, angles, compositions, go lower down, shoot from higher up, the possibilities are endless.

Have I missed something, do you have any tips? Then share them with us in the comments.

Popularity: 46% [?]

Photo taken by Ctd2005

Are you a beginner to photography and need some help to improve your pictures, or are you just in need of some inspiration? Then read on. In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can take better photos by changing your composition.
When I look at friends and families photos they are usually all taken the same way, and that is horizontally. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but after a while they all start to look the same.

The reason most people take photos in horizontal format is that our eyes are set horizontally, for instance televisions and movie screens are mostly horizontal and we naturally view the world approximately in this shape, rather than square or vertical.

Vertical Format.

Most cameras are designed to be used comfortably in horizontal mode and turning them on to there side can seem a bit unnatural, but in doing so you can dramatically improve your photos or at least make them more interesting.
Horizontal format in general is fine for portrait pairs, groups of people or landscape shots, however by changing the composition to a vertical format, you can often make a pleasing change to your photos, as shown below.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is that they always hold the camera horizontally. Next photo you take, try turning the camera on to its side and taking some pictures, what a refreshing change.

Square Format.

One of the most popular photo subjects taken by photographers and beginners alike are portraits. Again beginners tend to take them using the horizontal composition, which can become dull and boring.
One way to enhance your portraits is by using the square format.
Take a look at the photo below.

Photo taken by Porcelaingirl

So how do you make the picture square, take the photo horizontally, and then crop it in your favorite image editor. Its very easy to do and it gives the photo more impact, and a less cluttered background.

Take a look around you to see what images would look better in a square format.

Below are a few ideas

Photo taken by aussiegall

Photo taken by Ctd2005

Photo taken by yomi955

As I have wrote before, don’t be afraid to experiment, portraits can look outstanding using the vertical format, and some landscape pictures can look more startling using the square format.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Whether you’re a beginner to photography or have been taking photos for years, every picture you take is composed of lines - vertical, horizontal, straight or curved.
Different lines have different affects on the finale image, where you place, and how you visualise those lines before you press the shutter button can have a dramatic effect on your photos.
In this article I am going to show you 3 quick ways to improve your photography using lines, and also hopefully give you some new photo opportunities.

1. Using curved lines in your photos can often give a sense of movement, as you can see from the picture below the shape of the road is brought out and made stronger by the light reflecting off it. If the road in this image was straight, it would become just another ordinary photograph.

Next time you are out with your camera, look around you for curved lines, either natural or man-made, for instance, fences, trees, tracks and even lines on the road. Try shooting from low down on the ground, or high up, as in the picture above to capture a more dramatic affect.

2. You can use curved, straight, or horizontal lines (or a mixture of them all) in a photo to lead the viewers eye in to the main part of the picture. Again using a fence, road or tracks that will gently lead you into the picture.

Photos courtesy of gettyimages.com

3. Last but not least, scenes containing mostly vertical and horizontal lines suggest a formal sense of order and stability as in Architectural buildings.

A structure or image with mostly strong vertical lines tends to have a sense of height and grandeur, as shown below.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

Straight horizontal lines which are often in Landscape pictures, seem to give the impression of tranquility, calmness and space.

Although the horizon on the picture below slightly curves, the overall effect is static and ordered, with a sense of space.

Do you have any tips on using lines in your pictures?

If you would like your photos to be shown in my next articles, please let me know in the comments and I will get back to you.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Christmas is nearly upon us, and so are the wintery days here in the UK and also in other parts of the world, and most of us enjoy taking snow filled pictures.
What more could you want, exciting, fun, and vibrant snow filled pictures of your family and friends on Christmas day. Or maybe you just want to head out on your own with your camera and take some snowy landscape photos.
However, taking snow photos is a little bit trickier than shooting normal picturesque scenes, because if you don’t set your exposure correctly they will turn out dull and lifeless.
The reason this happens is snow can fool a cameras exposure meter into thinking that the scene is brighter than it actually is, therefore setting the camera for an underexposed picture making it appear too dark and the snow ends up looking grey.
Below are 5 smart ways to improve your snow photographs:
1. Turn your camera mode dial to AV and then set the exposure compensation dial to +1, take your photo and then check it on the camera screen.

All cameras have different menus and if you are not sure how to change the exposure compensation then read the manual if you have it.

2. If you find that the picture is still too dark then try +1.5 or even +2. Again check the picture on the camera screen.

3. Be careful, though—its better to slightly under-expose than to over-expose as this leads to washed out photos, when this happens they can’t be restored with image software. Under-exposed shots can be corrected.
That’s it, as easy as that. Hold on, I said 5 ways to improve your snow photographs. Well to be honest the other 2 great tips below are to protect your camera equipment.

4. When you are out and about take care not to breathe on the lens, because if it is really cold you could freeze it ending up with blurred and foggy shots. The best thing to do is fit a UV or Skylight filter, and if that freezes, you can take it off.

5. If you are travelling in the car from one photo location to another which are close together, don’t switch the heater on. Condensation can form inside your camera and damage the electrical components. The best thing to do is keep the car around the same temperature as outside if possible, wind your front windows down and make sure your heater is on cold. Remember to wear warm clothing and lots of thin layers are better than a few thick layers.

Do you have any tips for better snow photographs? Then share them in the comments.

Popularity: 9% [?]