Professional animal photography: photographing dogs, cats, horses & co correctly

In a 14-part tutorial series, I would like to tell you something about my passion for animal photography. Among other things, you will learn about the right preparation and equipment as well as tips for indoor and outdoor shoots. In individual tutorials, I will go into more detail about dog, cat, horse and small animal photography. There will also be a few suggestions for image editing via Photoshop as well as general tips on photography with a digital SLR. I hope you enjoy reading!

Would you like to buy your first SLR camera so that you can go traveling with it in the animal sector? But you are still undecided as to which camera it should be or what you really need? Would you like to expand your equipment or buy a better lens, but don't know which one? Then you've come to the right place. In this tutorial, I've written about camera and lens types and packed three bags for photography and two bags for studio use, each tailored to the right budget! Of course, I haven't forgotten the important accessories for your camera either.

This tutorial deals with the main problems of light and focus, which photographers naturally also encounter in the animal world. The tutorial is very suitable for beginners, as I go into detail about the settings and conditions of light and light sources for outdoor and studio photography and give you some tips and tricks on how to use the light ideally for your photographs. I will also go into more detail about focus and camera settings in this regard and how you can use them to make your image a little more interesting. For all photographers who use autofocus for their animal pictures and are annoyed by blurred images, I would like to help them out with this tutorial. I hope you enjoy reading it.

In this tutorial, I would like to take a closer look at the technique of choosing the detail and perspective of the subject. It's often no different with animal models than with other things, but there are a few special features. In general, however, I would also like to say that you should let your imagination run wild! Always. Why not try something new? Besides, tastes are different; if you don't like one thing, you might like something completely unconventional! If you are photographing for clients, ask about special wishes and preferences. Everyone has seen pictures before and may want something exactly like that of their favorite. Otherwise, be creative, and to give you some food for thought, I've written this tutorial with a few ideas on how to approach it! This tutorial is explained almost entirely through photos, so I've used less text and more images. I hope you enjoy reading it.

This part of the tutorial series is intended to tell you a little about preparing and planning an animal photo shoot. Whether you are just trying out animal photography or are hoping for more in-depth tips on the subject, this tutorial should help you in any case. Starting with making an appointment with your animal model, through to planning and carrying out the shoot, this tutorial will hopefully give you a few very useful tips to make your work easier. Four-legged models come to me for a photo shoot almost every day, so I have gained some experience that I would like to share with you.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

Photographing dogs is simply thrilling! Especially when the photographer can capture the truly spectacular movement of such a powerful animal. These pictures are always breathtaking and have a thrilling and extremely impressive effect on the viewer, not least the photographer. The dog owner is delighted to see his pet in exciting poses, frozen in a jump, with flying lips and dancing ears. Simply amazing! This is also the reason why the photographer and his dog will always prefer the green meadows. The studio is a kind of alternative here, a nice thing that can be added, but it doesn't have to be. After all, where does man's best friend look better than in his natural environment?
In the dog photography tutorial, I would like to invite you on a journey with "Bello", who is available as a model both in the studio and outdoors, while we put him in the right light from all sides and perspectives. Please don't be surprised that Bello looks different in every photo, it's all just camouflage. Because Bello has the most exciting costumes at the ready!

Cats have always fascinated people. Unfortunately, although they often have a bad reputation and are considered mean and unfaithful, you simply have to know these animals a little better to know that they are not only noble and graceful, but above all have a wonderful character. I have three cats myself and wouldn't want to be without any of them. Each of them is a soul of its own, a personality of its own, wandering around our home on four paws and making it adorable. Their unique characters make them so incomparably charming and wonderful. No, they can't be trained or educated, they have a mind of their own! But that's exactly what makes them special. For humans, these animals have a very special charm, little graceful cats of prey that snuggle up to our hand and demand to be stroked. They tilt their heads cheekily and look at us with wide eyes to flirt with something tasty from us. For the photographer, however, the incredible beauty and grace of these animals becomes a wonderful rendezvous with four paws. There is hardly a more beautiful subject than a cat. In the following tutorial, I would like to show you just how wonderful it can be to work with these enchanting animals! About the content: As these were somewhat neglected in the "Dog photography" tutorial, I will go into more detail about the camera settings here. It also covers the position of the cat and photographer, how you can instruct your helpers in the studio to give you a hand, character traits of different cats, photographing pedigree cats and a whole host of tips and tricks for photographing unwilling cat models. I hope you enjoy reading this book!

Manes flying in the wind, nostrils puffed out and thundering hooves flying over the earth. This is the most beautiful happiness on earth. Join us on an excursion to the creatures that have inspired mankind for so long. They have been used in many different ways in the past and the list is still long today. Whether riding or working animal, best friend or means of transportation, sports equipment or therapy horse. I would like to show you this wonderful animal horse as a unique motif for your pictures! Let yourself be fascinated by noble thoroughbred horses romping across meadows, strong cold-blooded horses in front of nostalgic carriages and encounters with big and small shaggy horses in all leisure activities related to horses. I would like to tell you about my experiences with these animals as a model, in all situations in life in which these wonderful animals are able to inspire us. I would like to include my own personal love in this tutorial and invite you all to take a closer look at the horse as a wonderful subject.

Part 9 of the tutorial series is about small animal photography and what you need to bear in mind. It is primarily about photographing rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets indoors and outdoors. Birds are also included in this tutorial. We will work together to create such a small animal photo shoot and summarize the preparation and knowledge required for it. I hope you enjoy reading it.

More than once, the German weather has put me off a shoot. Appointments have often had to be postponed, and there's always a check at www.wetter.de to see whether the appointment will go ahead or not. But it's not just to be more flexible when it comes to scheduling, but above all because studio photography has its very own charm, it's an interesting thing. The photographer is rewarded with beautiful photos after just a short time. Creative minds can let off steam with the decoration options alone, because there are no limits to the imagination here. Thanks to Photoshop, studio shots can be wonderfully post-processed, whether it's wiping away cat hair or blurring the background edge.

In this tutorial, I will focus exclusively on studio photography. No matter whether you are thinking about buying a studio or just want to take some nice photos of your pets at home. Everything you need for studio photography, the necessary camera and lamp settings as well as equipment and accessories, is covered in this tutorial. You will also find cost examples so that you can see what you need for a studio. I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, I look forward to your feedback, whether positive or negative. This is the only way I can possibly improve in the next tutorial.

Having already written a few tutorials on various pets, I would now like to dedicate a complete workshop to photographing animals outdoors. In contrast to studio photography, there are far more possibilities and challenges for the photographer here, starting with the search for suitable motifs that you can stage, through the different lighting conditions (depending on the time of day and the season) to the suitable natural background. And Mother Nature has a lot to offer here! Of course, although more wildlife than pets, a visit to the zoo is on our list of outdoor photography tasks. So let's take a look at what spectacular things the animal world has to offer us outdoors.

Nowadays, image editing plays a decisive role in photography. In this tutorial, I would like to invite you to rework a complete shoot with me on the PC and work out step by step how to optimize images, be it retouching or fine-tuning. I will focus on Bridge and Photoshop, as I use these programs exclusively for editing. I hope you enjoy reading this tutorial and look forward to constructive criticism, both positive and negative. Note: This tutorial refers exclusively to the editing of animal photographs.

I have now reached the end of the "Animal photography" tutorial series. I would like to summarize the most important tips for you once again and give you some ideas and suggestions based on a few pictures. Regardless of whether you are interested in animal photography in your private life or are planning to climb a new career ladder on the side. Here you will find lots of useful tips for getting started in animal photography.

I added this tutorial to my animal photography series; it wasn't actually planned. There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, I was crazy about photographing these wonderfully fascinating animals myself and on the other hand, it is important to me to convey the careful and species-appropriate handling of these animals. I would like to urge every photographer to follow the rules of the game when photographing reptiles. Of course, there are also some tips and tricks on how to photograph reptiles in a species-appropriate way and how to make this as bearable as possible for the animals. So if you would like to photograph reptiles and are curious about how to go about it, this tutorial is definitely the right thing for you! I hope you enjoy reading it.