We all love our pets, whether they are cats, dogs, or any other species. And what could be better than a picture of your pet that can be captured in a moment of play or just a funny shot of your cat sprawled out on the couch like a human, which is an unusual rarity?

Today we will discuss tips and tricks for cat photography and how to get the best and amazing shots.

Cat photo shoot

If you want awesome cat pics, then you need to treat it as a photo shoot with a real person. Yes, that is right, your cat is a person with all the costs. You must set up the camera correctly, know how to use the light and how to make the cat pose. So here are five basic cat photoshoot ideas to start with.

Tip #1 Camera settings

Let us start with the camera settings. Cats are restless, they do whatever they want and whenever they want it. If dogs are docile and obedient animals, then cats are more likely the opposite, they love attention, and sometimes it seems that you are their pet, which should flatter them in every way. Yes, it sounds funny, but try to take a picture of your pet, and you will find that as soon as you are ready to go, he will go away or look away or move to whatever he is interested in. So we have to keep up with the action, and so does our camera as well. And speaking about the action refers us directly to the shutter speed setting. When you are shooting anything with a lot of movement, whether sports or animals, you want to make sure and increase the shutter speed to be a little bit faster, so your photos do not come out blurry. Starting with a 1/1000 setting if the light meets the conditions and going down to 1/500 will make it work with lower light conditions. This just ensures you get that complete time-stop nice crisp image. And if you are using a cellphone, you might say that you do not have that shutter speed control. There are a lot of manual camera apps out there, you can find a number of free options in the app store to download one of those manual camera apps and get the shooting.

Tip #2 Lighting

We would recommend using just the window light. It will make your image look more natural. Try to find a spot for your cat photoshoot and direct him right into it. It is going to give it a more professional look and allow you to shoot with that higher shutter speed to get clean and nice-looking images of your cat.

Tip #3 The lens

Most smartphones nowadays will have two different lens options. One is a little bit bigger and wider, and one that is a little bit zoomed in and closer up. You want to use that one that is a little bit more zoomed in. That portrait-length or the longer lens is going to have your cat kind of ‘fill up’ the shot a little bit more and make him seem a little bit larger than life, more like a person. As we said before, you need to treat your cat as if he is a person. It is going to allow you as well to get closer up shots of your cat without being too physically close to them. You may notice if you get really close to your cat, he will end up moving or re-adjusting. So if you are further away, you can get the shot like you are not there using a telescopic or zoomed lens. If you want to learn more about telescopic lenses and wildlife photography, you can read those articles: wildlife photography and telescopic lenses.

Tip #4 Camera angle

Cats are a lot shorter than humans, obviously, a lot of the photos that you see out there are made from a human level looking down and taking a picture of their cats. Shooting from above or from your comfortable angle will provide you with nothing but boring images. You want to bring yourself and your camera down to cat level as if you are going to get a picture of cat eyes. Therefore, shoot them at the same level that you would a person. It is going to be a little bit more work for you, but it is worth it. That is probably the first tip to start with, that may lead you to professional pet photos, however, this is not a rule that you must follow for good pet photos, this is just a general rule of thumb for you to keep in mind as an option.

Tip #5 Catch the action

Follow your cat around when they are playing, moving, running, or doing some sort of action. You know you have that faster shutter speed set, so you are able to capture it without it being blurry, so it is just going to make your photos a lot more unique. Cats like to go through things, so you can make a little cat tunnel for him and shoot through it, using that tunnel as a frame for your lens to get an interesting shot while your pet is in action.

Photography cat poses

Thinking about cat picture ideas, we come up with poses for cats that you can use to get cute and beautiful shots. As we previously agreed, we treat a cat as a person, so some of the human poses or perspectives are also applicable here.

How to make a portrait of your cat

So the first pose for your kitten photography would be a portrait alike. Shooting pets seems to be tricky, but there are ways to make your pet look into the camera lens.

As we mentioned before, make sure to be on the same level as your cat, if you do not want to go down you can lift your cat up instead on some table. Make sure he is comfortable out there and keep him involved in some action. You probably have some toys to play with your cat that he will pay attention to with ease. It is good if you have someone to play with the cat while you are doing camera work so that another person will help you. What your assistant needs to do is to keep the cat distracted by playing with him and put the toy on top of the camera lens at the moment of the shot which will make the cat look straight at it.

Patience is a key

While taking photos of your cat, you have to be patient. Follow your cat and look at what he does, and you may end up with some funny interactions possible, whether it is an outdoor or indoor photoshoot. No matter if cats are our pets, they are still wild by nature, so let them do what is natural for them and see what you can get off it with the cam.

You may have seen these funny images with a funny cat smile, or when they lay down on a floor or on a couch in the weirdest positions. All that is possible to get if you are involved in the process with passion and being patient for it.

Look for what is creative

As we mentioned before, the rule of thumb is to shoot cats from their level. But there could be some good reasons to shoot them from above or below. So as with anything that is creative, it is a point to use your own judgment.

If you want to take a good picture shooting from above, you can call your cat by name to make him look up at you.

Or instead, you can let him stay focused being in his own thought process while you take a nice lower angle below your cat shooting your wise thinker to make him look gorgeous.

Stick together

You do not have to always shoot just a cat. Remember, he is a part of your life, so capture these moments when you are together playing or just chilling. But for that, you need someone to photograph you both. You can both be doing your business and be careless about the cameraman, this will bring more life to a photo.

Also as an idea, you can also be attracted to cam together if you have someone to photograph you both, that way you can get a simple nice looking photo with your beloved pet.

To get a photo like this, you can ask your assistant to call your cat by name to make him look into the lens, or just gently help your pet to turn his head to the camera.

Some general tip

That was all the cat photography ideas for today, hopefully, it will make your photoshoot diverse and engaging. Do not forget that all of this should be entertainment for you first even if you are up to professional pet photography because engagement is the first thing to become good at something, plus dedication.