How to Shoot Your Beloved Pet?
By shooting, of course, I mean photographing. 
Our pets bring out the best in us. They give us comfort. They give us joy in our hearts. They are like our children and we love them dearly. Sure, sometimes they get us mad by chewing something or destroying something, but this is just the way they keep us on our toes.
Our pets do not care how we look. They give us unconditional love, and know when exactly to cheer us up or comfort us. When they give us that look, our hearts melt and we can’t help but smile.
As you can tell, I am HUGE animal lover. I love to take pictures of them. I love to capture their personality. As if I become part of them reading their body language.
Nobody knows our pets as well as we do. So how to capture their essence? How to capture their personality? How to freeze that moment of playfulness, that moment of smile?
First of all, we got to get down or up to their level. We already know what they will do next by reading their body language. Although, they still can surprise us. The best way to shoot is when our pet does something surprising. I must admit, though, some pets are camera-shy. They freeze when we show up with that thing in our hands, especially if it is a large camera. It is unknown to them. So, my solution is to have pets get used to the camera. Practice makes it better, and pets might usually get used to their pictures taken.
Here are some photos I took of our pets. Each one of them has a different personality.
Here is Romeo when he was a cuddly puppy. Sure, he will make you smile:
The boy and his toy
Sleepy dreams
Romeo’s first time at Siesta Key Beach. Notice sand on his nose?
Even though he was tiny, it took two of us to catch him.
Sleepy puppy
Am I going to grow as big as she is?
You got to be kidding me?!!! First time on a leash. He still plans an ultimate revenge on his leash every time we walk him out.
Romeo in the back of Mom’s Jaguar. The most saddest day was when he could not fit there anymore.
Sleepy time. The work must be so exhausting.
Smile!
Romeo LOVES to take shower.
Let the fun times begin!
I just stole my Mom’s bra!
Waiting for dinner
What to do with Junk Mail?
Water+Romeo=Inseparable
At the speed of light
Gosh, that feels good! Let’s do it again!
And there he goes in the water again!
Introducing Smokey, the smartest African Grey Parrot on Earth!
Preening time!
Smokey talks, whistles, dances and shoots. If somebody comes close to the house, she makes a real gun shooting sound, and they run away. She and Romeo are the best protectors. Here Smokey’s tail is lit up by sunlight.
“Good Morning,” Smokey says to Romeo. They are the best buddies, and they give each other kisses.
What are you looking at?
Smokey LOVES broccoli
Here she dances and whistles to the tune.
I believe I can fly!
Even horses have a different personality. Introducing Tango and Princess Adora.
Rock Star Tango. He is Thoroughbred, retired racing horse and a rescue
Princess loves to run. She is a Dutch Warm-blood and has a wild spirit.
Princess Adora and Tango after the shower.
Princess loves showers!
She loves showers so much, she goes into the dirt, rolls over, gets dirty and comes to ask for more shower. Smart Princess!
Princess lets loose!
Best Friends forever!
It is great to capture pets from different perspective, by being creative. Here stands Underwater Princess.
The hair in the wind!
Princess looks on in a distance
Princess loves the breeze in the air and a cooler weather.
Let’s kick start our day!
Jungle Beauty
Feeding time! Tango LOVES to eat.
Princess gets wild!
In the splash of shower.
Princess is very curious in nature. Everything fascinates her. Did I mentioned she loves to run? She can’t wait for cooler weather. Right now she loves to splash in the pond.
So, whenever you would like to shoot your pet, look into their personality. Capture not only what you see, but also what you feel.
