Claws on Photography • Lighting

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Claws On Photography

Natural lighting

Written by Elvie

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In this months claws on photography blog I’m going to be going over some things about lighting that apply to pet photography. I’ll only be going over natural light but will probably do something on artificial lighting another time.

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Types of natural light

Indoor/window light

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This one is quite self explanatory, it’s just using the natural light coming from windows indoors. When using natural light indoors it’s best to have your subject near a window where light can get to them. You can experiment moving your pet nearer or further away from the window for different light intensities.

Full sun

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The image above is the best example that I had. When I say “full sun” I don’t mean midday when the sun is right above as that’s not ideal for photos (I’ll get into that later in the post). A bit earlier in the morning when the sun is in front of your pet can create some less harsh full sunlight.

Cloudy

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Cloudy days probably aren’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think of ideal photo weather but they can be amazing. On cloudy days the light is way less harsh and typically very soft. They can be a little dark sometimes if it’s due to rain but if not then they’re great for pet photos.

Shade

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At some point you’ll probably encounter wanting to take some photos but there’s some harsh midday sun making it difficult. Try and find some shade and shoot there instead as you’ll still have a lot of light without a bunch of shadows being cast on the animals face.

Backlight

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Backlight is amazing for creating those really dreamy photos like the one above with bokeh in the background. This is only possible during the golden hour (sunrise and sunset) as the sun is low enough to get right behind your furry subject. To create these photos you’ll want your pet in front of low foliage to filter the sun and a wide aperture. When the sunlight peeks through the little gaps in leaves and branches you’ll get your beautiful golden bokeh in the background.

Twilight

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Twilight is the time of day that’s just before sunrise or just after sunset when the sky is partially illuminated by the sun but it’s also not quite dark. It creates a really nice blue tone which can look amazing in photos. My camera doesn’t do well at all in low light situations so unfortunately I’ve never taken any twilight shots but I hope to someday!

Why you should avoid midday sun

Imagine being in a big open field/area with no shade at midday during the summer, the sunlight will be pretty intense! It’s not a good time for pet photography, especially dark pets. The sun is right above your head and it will cast on the subjects head which can often light up the top of their head and other areas can almost appear completely black.

I know sometimes there’s no other option than using midday but shooting later or earlier in the day if you can will create much nicer photos because it’s a nice colour, not so intense, and since the sun is much lower you get the option of having it in front, behind, or to the side of your pet rather than just having it above their head.

This next bit is just personal experience but I have found shooting midday on a phone doesn’t always go drastically wrong. It’s more my camera that won’t put up with it but this rule still applies to both devices.

Image below shows a photo I took in midday direct sun. There was no way of saving that with editing.

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Colour temperature

People often think of sunlight being all one colour but it varies quite a lot and it will affect your photography. I’ve got two examples below.

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Warm light will appear in golden hour whereas light will be cooler during twilight or when it’s cloudy. Luckily, if you own a camera you can manually adjust the white balance before shooting which will change the temperature of the light in your photos. You should still shoot at the correct time of day for your desired lighting though.

Angles and direction

I don’t actually have any photo examples for this section as I couldn’t find good examples of them so you’ll just have to imagine it but these are all quite self explanatory.

Front light

When the sun is in front of your subject

Side light

When the sun is coming from the side of the image

Backlight

When the sun is behind the subject (like mentioned earlier in the blog)

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That’s all for this months blog!! Next one will be posted in December.

Interested in ing the Photography Committee? Then please don’t be afraid to comment down below or drop me a pm.

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Info - Dogtography book written by Kaylee Greer

Thank you for reading

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