Photographing Small Pets

Little furry pets are increasingly popular with adults and small children - they take less space than a cat and dogs but are still tactile enough to play with. Here are 5 tips for dealing with furry friends; Hamsters, Rabbits, Gerbils, Mice and so on.

1. Bring in color!

A simple piece of bright fabric or cloth can make all the difference when photographing a small pet. If using paper or card, make sure you have a few sheets incase of accidents, although these can be removed in Photoshop.

Look out for contrasts too - a white fluffy bunny looks perfect on a bright pink background, but not so great of a white background.



2. Feed them

Animals need to be fed to be happy - luckily with smaller animals, they tend to like food that is easier to photograph. Give your pet vegetables or nuts and let them eat them in the photograph. Rabbits look cute eating carrots and lettuce, but rodents look cute with nuts - they normally eat in quite a methodical manner.

Use a macro lens on a tripod, so you don't have to move around too much and make sure you focusing is spot on as any blur will be obvious.



3. Go in the garden

Very small pets may run away if you take them out but some, such as guinea pigs and rabbits love to be outside. Get low on the grass to their level and shoot them face on. Get them eating the grass and their movement. A lot of small animals will eat flowers and grass so capture that too.



4. Build a set

When making a set for a small animal its not too difficult - use cereal boxes, shoe boxes and kitchen rolls for example - paint them with non toxic white paint to create a set. You can even make a set up with white paper or cloth, then create a container that the animal can do a peek-a-boo type shot.

This works best with smaller animals but you could do a similar thing with rabbits, but using a large box.



5. Even when they are tired

There's room for shots when your pet gets tired and is just lazing about in the home. Use natural light, not flash and a macro lens with a shallow depth of focus. The natural light especially in the evening will have a warmish cast giving a sense of tranquility.

Remember to remove bright distractions from the background, keeping things neutral if possible.