How to take better photos of your pets

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Like the pets of any self-respecting millennial, my cats have their own Instagram account.

Noodle and Loaf — aka Carb Cats — aren’t exactly celebrities. But they are used to having their photos taken a lot . Between their Instagram account, my regular need to test smartphone cameras, and the fact that they are two adorable idiots, I’ve taken on an unofficial household role as pet photographer.

I know I’m not the only one. It’s become standard practice to maintain a camera roll full of blurry bleps and dozing dogs. But pets are rarely easy to photograph. They’re usually small, fast, and don’t take direction well. Here are a few ways to improve your odds.

Most of the photos I take are because one of the cats is doing something cute right now , and so the best camera for the job is the one I have on me. That’s usually my phone, which is how I’ve taken the overwhelming majority of my pet photos, with a handful more shot on film.

A good camera will certainly bring advantages, and I wouldn’t want to put anyone off getting into the hobby. In this case, a better phone camera might be more beneficial though — and is probably cheaper.

If you really do want to make an investment, the best bang for your buck is in lighting. I have a cheap $40 softbox light from Raleno , originally purchased for the sake of taking product photos, but occasionally repurposed with the cats in mind. The extra light helps bring out details and stops indoor shots from looking too flat or too yellow, common issues when you’re reliant on regular household lights. It can be useful for the occasional staged shot (easier with some pets than others), but won’t help much with candids.

I also mostly shoot in the default camera mode. What can I say? I’m lazy. That may work just fine for you too, but if you want to dive into specific shooting modes or play with settings manually, there are some tweaks worth making.

The big one is shutter speed. Most pets aren’t great at sitting still, and you’re probably used to taking photos that are ruined by motion blur. The quickest fix is a faster shutter speed, which shortens the exposure time to capture sharper shots of moving subjects. Many Android camera apps have a dedicated sports mode, which does this for you — how much difference is there really between a professional athlete and a cat with zoomies?

iPhones don’t have a sports mode, but instead you can try burst mode, which you’ll also find on most Androids. It takes a bunch of photos in quick succession with short shutter speeds, perfect for when you’re trying to catch a dog mid-run or a cat darting after a toy, giving you a selection of action shots to choose from.

The caveat is that shorter shutter speeds mean less light capture. That’s usually fine in bright daylight, but in dimmer lighting — and sometimes even simply if you’re indoors — quality will drop.