perfecting your pet pics

shiny eyes, blurry furs, demonic glares, can't sit still - doesn't it always seem like you can never take a good picture of your pet? 

that pic of my hamster, pancakes, is my favorite picture that i've ever taken. and through taking pictures for our blog and facebook, i've got a few tricks up my sleeve to catch that perfect pet moment, no matter what kind of camera you have.

natural light is the photographer's secret weapon to taking great pet pictures. it avoids the need for a flash, preventing red eyes, shiny eyes, distorted fur, etc. if you can't get them outside, try shooting in a well-lighted room.

get down on their level. for cats, dogs, and even hamsters, this means some creative army-style crawling to get eye level with your pet. and make sure they're at ease too.

it never fails to catch them doing something weird like yawning or bathing. classic. and close-ups are fun, too. if you have a digital camera, set it on the macro mode (usually represented by a flower) to catch every whisker.

if you can't get a great shot on the first try, use a photo editing program like picassa or picnik. a little editing magic can take a pic from this to this. editing programs usually have an auto fix, and increasing the brightness or exposure usually helps, too, especially for indoor photos.

got all that? well, start snapping! and send us what ya got.