Photographing children and pets is one of the most challenging medium for an amateur and professional photographer alike. Getting that “perfect” shot that will be of a quality suitable for a picture frame can be difficult at best and tiresome at worst. But it does not have to be; by following a few guidelines and picking up a few of the tips in this article, we promise that even the casual point-and-shoot photographer can obtain pictures that will sit in a frame for years to come.

The number one mistake that people make when taking pictures of pets or children is to force the shot. Many times when taking pictures of children or pets, it is a spur of the moment decision in which little, if any planning takes place. Just think of the last Christmas or July 4th family portrait that you tried to take with either a toddler or a pot.  Getting the adults lined up was work enough. By the time that happened, the dog was long gone and the baby was either looking at the ground or crawling away, most likely following the dog. No fun.

Instead, we recommend a little preparation.

Interact in Natural Environment
The first rule of children and pet photography is to get them to interact in their natural environment.  Think of giving the children the box of their favorite legos or their Barbie doll or, better yet allow them to play outside on the swing set or in the park.  By putting the children in an environment which they associate with fun and you will immediately be rewarded with shots in which they look relaxed, natural and “capture the moment”.

Another “tactic” is to give your child a mentally challenging task.  Depending on the age of the child, this may range from building blocks to a puzzle.  As you child is mentally stimulating, your lens will be able to capture a facial expression that is unlike any other typically taken of children.

A for pets, their natural environment, besides sleeping which they seem to get their fair share of, may be sitting on the window sill, sitting in front of their bowl waiting for food, or simply running around the yard with a Frisbee. As any pet owner knows, pets are as unique as humans, so the “natural” environment will vary accordingly.

Shoot Outside and in the early morning late afternoon
Shooting outside is always preferable because the light will fall more naturally on the subject. If you must take pictures of pets inside, avoid taking frontal shots with the flash. Not only will the flash both them, but the red-eye will sometimes be impossible to remove without extensive Photoshop editing. If you ever tried to get rid of red eye for a dog or cat, you will be familiar with the challenge.

Also, when shooting outside, try to get the shots either early in the morning or in the late afternoon. Since the sun will be lower on the horizon, the light will hit the subjects more at a horizontal angle, thereby reducing the dark spots under eyes. If you do shoot at high-noon, keep in mind where the sun is in relation to the face of your subject.  Also, it may be a good idea to remove baseball caps as they often darken the areas around the eyes.

Unique Angles
Shooting from unique angles often give pictures a dynamic element, which is perfect for pets and children who are always on the move. This technique should be seriously considered. For example, shoot from the subject's level or from below them by sitting or lying down. You can also go for extreme, even distorting angles, which can give a picture a unique depth. For example, close-ups of a child's tiny hands, toes and ears can be magical. Or imagine a cute shot of your pet taken with the lens almost touching the tip of his nose or that friendly tongue that wants to say hello.

Some unique angles include:

• Consider lying down on the ground and being below the subject comes towards you.
• Right next to your child as they come down on a swing (of course be careful not to get too close!)
• Get a side profile picture of your pet. This has the added benefit that if shooting indoors, it will not cause red-eye

• Toss most cats a ball of yarn and you will have hours of picture taking time

• Ask someone play catch with your dog

Everybody has Personality
As every pet owner knows, each pet has their own personality. What sets them apart? What makes them unique?  What quirks do they have?  If you can find these, take a picture of them because this is what will make for a good photo.

Involvement
While it is difficult to involve a pet in the picture taking process, we do recommend allowing children to see and learn what you are doing.  If they are old enough, explain to them what you are attempting to do. What kind of pictures are you trying to take? Why are you doing this? Children are always so receptive to these kinds of new experiences. Show them the results in the small LCD screen and perhaps even allow them to take a few pictures of their own.  By involvement them in the process, this can become a family bonding experience.  And who knows, perhaps your child will take up the love of photography as you have.

Technical Details
If using a simple point and shoot camera, the automatic settings will probably be just fine. Of course you can experiment by changing one setting at a time with the benefit of seeing the results immediately.  It may make sense to play with the setting before you actually try to get the best shot.  For example, consider doing this with either the child or the pet sleeping.  Both do plenty and this will give you all the time you need to know what setting has what effect.

As we mentioned earlier, use flash sparingly. Not only does it make for less-than-picture-framing-quality photos, it also causes red-eye which can be severe with animals. Also, since especially pets will move quickly (our four legged best friends can easily run 20 miles per hour*) we would recommend starting with an ISO setting of 400 for outside and 80-0 for inside. Use 1/125 to reduce blurr.

Technical Details
Many cameras now have a burst mode in which 5, 10 or more shots are taken in rapid succession.  These can be very useful when taking pictures of ever-moving objects.  However, be careful with this mode because within a few short minutes you could very easily have over 1,000 pictures (100 shots at 10 bursts each!) which will not only fill up a camera, but take painstaking time to go thought once back at your computer.

Be patient, and keep your sense of humor.  Remember, you are doing something the even the professionals struggle with.  And if you are not getting results, but only getting frustrated, take a brake.  Remember that not every picture you take will be framing quality. It’s ok.  After all, isn’t the whole idea to have fun!

That’s why here at the Picture Frame guys, we say Happy Framing!

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