Tips for Taking Great Photos of Your Cat

Cats are beautiful and interesting pets who give their owners endless hours of affection, amusement, and love. Capture your cat's personality with these tips on taking great photos of your beloved pet.

1. Get on their level. Most pictures you see of pets are taken from a human's eye level, looking down on the cat. To get a more natural shot and capture more character in your cat's face, lie down on the floor to shoot their picture. Or, you could put your cat up on a chair or couch to make it easier to see their face.
2. Find a neutral background. Try not to take pictures of your cat in front of anything that is too distracting in the background. Choose an area with a plain coloured wall behind it, or even drape a plain sheet over the chair that your cat is sitting on. Think about what colour would look good with your pet. Yellow to match her eyes? Red to set off the black in his coat? If you are taking natural shots outside, set your camera with a smaller depth of field to make the background blurry, thereby focusing the attention on your cat.
3. Focus on the eyes. Once you've got your cat in a good position, you'll want to focus your camera on her his eyes. This is where the most expression is and provides a central focusing area in the face. Cat's eyes are very striking, especially when they are unusually colored, so this simple step will increase the attractiveness of your photographs.
4. Use an assistant. Talk to a friend or relative and ask them to help you out with your photo shoot. They can keep the cat in the correct position and allow you to concentrate on taking great photos. The assistant can make noises or movements to attract the cat's attention to get the cat to pose for you.
5. Use toys. Your assistant should have toys to get the cat's attention, but ones that won't cause the cat to run away. The best toy is something on a string or wire that can be dangled in front of the cat so that it's eyes are engaged. A crumpled piece of paper or plastic can make an interesting noise to keep the cat focused.
6. Be patient. Patience is definitely needed to take great pictures of cats. They will jump down from their chair, or run and hide, or just lie down and sleep. But all photos of your cat doing something interesting can be great photos. Often, when the cat is being the least co-operative is when you get the best photos.
7. Take lots of photos. Cats move very quickly and can cause a lot of blurring in pictures, so taking more photos increases the chances that some will be in sharp focus. Some cameras have a setting to take sports or action shots; this will help slow the movement of your cat and create a sharply focused picture. Having a good flash allows more pictures to be in focus, but can create harsh shadows. Try to have as much lighting as possible if taking action shots of your cat to prevent blurriness and shadows. If your pet is lying still, you can turn off your flash and use a tripod to create a soft, natural photo with the ambient light in the room.
8. Know when to stop. A good pet owner will know when her cat has had enough of the camera and just wants to be left alone. Don't push your cat too far and create a negative association with the camera or with you. Be sure to reward you cat with a treat or a cuddle when you are done with your photo shoot.

Taking pictures of your cat can be a fun and interesting hobby. Follow the above advice and get to know the settings on your camera, and you will produce great pictures of your cat to share and enjoy.