I’ve been taking photos of cats for a few years to help me deal with insecurity and my dark past, which luckily works for me.

Some people have asked me how I get cats so good on camera. Here are 12 tips to help you take better pictures of cats.

More info: flickr.com

Here are 12 tips to help you take better photos of cats:

1. Photograph your cats a lot

Some of you have some camera shy cats. For those who have them, photograph them step by step. You can photograph them, for example, first once a week, then twice a week and then four times a week. This will help them get used to the camera.

2. Cat treats

Give your cats a treat while photographing them. You can either give them some cat candies or play with them with cat toys. You will get the funniest results. Remember not to do this too long because they will get very impatient and will attempt to do their best.

3. Be patient and respect them

This is one of the most important things to do while photographing cats. If you’re not patient, they won’t be patient to you too and could run away if they want. Also, respect them. They’re living things and not just easy subjects.

4. Make sounds

You will mostly get their attention by making sounds. You can call their name, knock on the table, whistle, etc. When making sounds you should know that you only have a few seconds. They will look at you for about 2 seconds before doing other things. It is very annoying when they do that but be patient with them.

5. Photograph cats in daylight

This is especially for indoor photos. When you’ll take a photo of your cat indoors, you’ll notice that the photo can be very dark. It also depends on what camera and lens you’re using. If you have a professional camera, then put the iso high. For amateur lenses, put the iso a bit high for about 500 and the shutter speed low for about 60. For the lenses that you’re using then put the aperture as low as you can. If it’s really hard to do then try to use a flashlight. Remember not to take too many photos because some cats hate flashlight.

6. Photograph cats outdoors

I love to take photos of them outdoors. The colors are beautiful and most cats love to go outside. When taking outdoor photos, I recommend you to put the aperture as low as possible for depth of field. If you don’t love grainy photos, then put the ISO as low as possible. I put the shutter speed to about 300 or 400, sometimes 2000 so there is not so much movement in the photo and not to make the photo too bright. If the photo is too bright, it’s sometimes impossible to edit it out. Rather take a photo which is too dark than the one which is too bright.

7. Take photos of them during golden hour

Who doesn’t love golden hour photos. Golden hour photos are photos taken during sunrise or sunset. I love taking photos of cats more during sunset because I’m more patient and less grumpy.

8. Take your cats to beautiful places

Do this only when your cat is comfortable around you because otherwise the cat will run away. Remember to take some cat treats with you. This will make the cat a lot more comfortable.

9. It’s not a shame when they don’t look into the camera

For some of you this may sound weird, but it’s mostly a good thing when they don’t look into the camera. If they don’t look into the camera the photos say more than when they look into the camera.

10. Use manual focus

While taking photos of cats, make sure the focus is right on the eyes. This can be very hard when taking close-up photos of them. When you use auto focus, 7 out of then 10 the focus will be on the nose and not on the eyes. It’s better to use manual focus then.

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11. Use freelense

Freelense is a way by taking your lens off from your camera and hold it close to the it. You will get some great focus and blurry effects.

12. Be creative

People love when you think out of the box and come up with creative things. For example, I put a blanket on my cat when he was in front of the window, during a cold Fall day.

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