17/7/2024 0 Comments Taking better pet picsI am an experienced amateur photographer and semi-professional artist. Now, offering pet portrait commissions for reasonable prices. Acrylics on canvas (within New Zealand only). I thought it might be helpful to give some tips to help improve your amateur photos. Especially if you are looking at commissioning a painting of your pet. All photos in this blog post are uncropped/unaltered (just resized to smaller), unless stated otherwise. I used to take photos of pets when I offered a pet sitting service (caring for pets in their own homes). Phone pics were sent to clients to reassure them their pets were fine. I also took pics with my camera (an inexpensive 'bridge camera' with a built in zoom lens). Many clients said they loved the photos, said they were better than 'professional' photos or any other photos they had taken of their pets. Mainly, because they captured their pet's personality and a connection. Are phone pics good enough for reference pics?Phone pics are not ideal but they can be adequate for reference pics for smaller paintings. I am currently offering pet commissions on 8x10" (203x254mm) stretched canvas. This will be most suitable for 1 pet but may also be fine for up to 2 pets. Other sizes and extra pets would need to be quoted. Phone reference pics are okay but don't usually have enough detail if working with larger sizes. The lens and sensor of phones are not great either, so may lose a lot of colour and details. Also, the digital zoom with phones is practically useless. All it does is crop pixels, deteriorating the quality of the image. Care is needed to not have distortion (if too close to your pet). This means some body parts are exaggerated larger/smaller/longer etc. Try to have your pet (head or body) fill most of the frame. Camera pics without costing a fortuneProfessional photographers will tend to use either a DSLR or a mirrorless camera with detachable lenses. However, these can be very expensive. I own an entry price-point mirrorless (Canon EOS R100) with two lenses (mainly for bird photography, low lighting photography and photos of my paintings for art prints). I have also used a 'bridge camera' (Panasonic Lumix DC FZ-80) with a 'superzoom' for many years (and still use it). It has a built in zoom and was good value for money. A bridge camera can be great for beginners who may not want to get bogged down with technical stuff, or want better photos but don't want to spend extra on a more expensive camera. My Canon takes sharper pics (which is why I use it for my art prints). However, the Panasonic is more versatile with travelling, walking, smaller birds etc. The sensor on a camera is larger than that on a mobile phone. Plus optical lens zoom is superior to digital zoom on phones. It's not really how expensive the camera is that determines whether it takes a good pic or not. It's helpful to have a 'proper' optical lens, which can zoom in a bit (super expensive telephoto lens aren't needed for pet pics). Use an actual camera, if you can. When choosing from my wide to normal lens (18-45mm) and normal to telephoto lens (55-210mm), I usually use the 55-210mm which can zoom in more for subjects. The 18-45mm more with wider landscapes, forests etc. My bridge camera has even more zoom but all the zoom isn't needed for pets, in general. I will give some tips on taking pics in this blog post. Bridge camera picsI actually took the main reference pic of my sister's dog for the painting 'Explore Outdoors'. I could have zoomed in more but I thought some background looked nice. So did my sister, who asked for some background in the commission. You might notice that I didn't try to copy the reference picture exactly. It's just a reference. I also didn't grid, nor draw out the dog. I just started from the paws, and worked upwards, like a jigsaw puzzle. Now, the downside of bridge cameras, is they have small sensors and don't do as well in dim lighting situations. However, the pic was still fine as the main reference pic. I asked for additional pics taken in different lighting (which my sister took with her phone), so I could see more face features and colours. The original photo below, could be adjusted somewhat but was pretty limited. If I wanted it to be less blue, I could alter it a bit with software or I could have changed the white balance when originally taking the photos (white balance adjusts the temperature so the photos are less warm or cool, and whites are more neutral). I don't want to fluff around with settings when I just want to capture a spontaneous shot. More bridge camera pics with tipsI've pulled out some photos I took of some kittens, first time meeting them. Their first time exploring outdoors. Also taken with the bridge camera. One big tip is to get down onto their level. This also applies to wildlife. Often, we don't have much control over the lighting but natural lighting is often better than artificial. Kittens are tiny and it's not ideal to be towering over them. I sat on the ground and tried to hold the camera low. Another tip is to take lots of photos. With digital, it's easy to throw away any photos that didn't work out. I didn't pay much attention to how far the lens was zoomed in or out in this photoshoot but I would recommend anywhere from 50-200mm for less distortion. In general, it's better to be further away and zoom in, than to be too close and use a wide lens (say 18mm). However, when starting out with a camera, don't get too bogged down with technical stuff. Just learn the zoom in/out button, hold it steady (to avoid blur) and take lots of pics, from different angles. Try to aim for a pleasing composition. Try face and shoulders, whole body, with paws etc. Remember, it's easier to crop an image than to add missing parts back in (eg if using for a reference for a painting). Also, it's fine when starting out to use 'auto' everything. Do make sure though that the camera is set to the highest quality JPEG image (in the menu). Shooting in RAW is not needed (it actually slows things down, uses up more storage space etc). Only those who are hoping for highly manipulated images in magazine prints or large prints plus have the software to edit will find RAW useful. Another tip is to have the camera set to multiple pics with one press of the button. I never used to do this but now I use this feature on both my cameras. So I will take approx 3 pics instead of 1 (can choose the best). This feature can be helpful if get slight motion when pressing the shutter button (as I hand-hold my cameras). I've selected a some kitten pics below taken with the bridge camera, that could be suitable for a painting. I haven't checked the details but I think I just used 'auto' for everything, so I could just focus on moving kittens with changing light. This kitten is 'backlit' (which forms lighter fuzz around the edges). If you want a bit more detail in the area in shadow, a tip is to increase the exposure setting a little. The pic below shows a variety of lights and darks (ideal). It also tends to highlight the shape of their ears and that they are looking at something. If I were to use this as a reference pic for tha painting, I would leave out the furniture and change the colour of the shadows and add more colour to the kittens to make it more interesting. The kitten in the pic below came next to my tracksuit pants, then looked up. The kitten is grey but there is a lot of reflected colours like from the building. If I were to use this as a reference pic, I would change how the background has a harsh contrast of light and dark. I think this picture highlights the whiskers. The kitten below is in the shade of outdoor furniture. The shade makes colours cooler and greyer. I could have tried adjusting white balance but I find it best just to use auto white balance. There is not a lot of definition with lights and darks, so would be a softer effect to paint (unless I add in more highlights, colour etc). If I were to use this as a reference pic, I would probably leave out the furniture and brighten the colours. Below is the same kitten, poking his head out into direct sunlight. Notice how the colours of his coat and eyes are brighter? Note that direct sun on bright sunny or cloudy days will often cast a cooler, blue tinge. If very bright, it can make glare and loss of detail with whites. Direct sun also casts darker shadows, which can be helpful if want more definition, especially when painting. If I were to paint this kitten, I would consider adding ears (looking at other reference pics) and change to a protrait format. Also, leave out the mucky parts on eyes/nose & shadow on ear. I think this pic highlights eyes and paws. Considering doing a painting of this little guy. The pic below of two kittens, is the same place but in the shade. Note how the colours are softer and greyish. Of course, if I painted it, I could bring out the colours more. The grey slapped on the corner is just getting rid of someone's ugly foot! (Puts me off if painting this). Undecided whether to paint this one with two kittens, and use some colour info from other pics. Or to paint the ginger tabby above (owner of the kittens said I could do whatever with pics etc). The image below is the same reference pic but I have tried it out on an 8x10" size, plus done some minor adjustments to optimise the lighting and colours in the image. If I were painting it, I would blur the background more, likely change the colours. I am not sure about the side of the furniture (could leave out the side and change the base to a bed or cushion?) I think the 'earlines' and different eye colours are a feature, if I were to use this is a reference for a painting. Summary
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