Welcome to Pro Tips – a feature where I answer a reader question about pet photography (and photography in general). If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, click here to email me.

Jackie sent me this question and I think it’s one that a lot of people starting out in pet photography struggle with -how do I get their attention when photographing them?

These are my two best tips for getting their attention

1.) Find their trigger

What makes them tick?Are they food obsessed? Toy obsessed? Noise obsessed? Once I find this out, I like to try the following methods –

• Food obsessed – using the treats as a reward, I’ll get them to sit, drop, or lie down. You will need to learn how to do this one handed, because you’ll need the other to hold your camera! Having the owner help with this makes your job a lot easier. Make sure only one of you is giving commands at a time, because otherwise they will end up confused and peeing on you (this actually happened to me)
• Toy obsessed – I like to turn this into a fun playtime, and snap away while they are playing. This is particularly effective with cats – again you’ll probably end up doing this one handed! My secret weapon for cat photography is a feather on the end of a bendy stick – I am yet to meet a single cat who doesn’t go absolutely crazy over these. For dogs, I’ll often play a game of fetch or tug of war and shoot while we are playing.

“PLEASE THROW THE BALL PLEASE THROW THE BALL”

Noise obsessed – This one is my favourite because I get to act like a total idiot. I have made chicken noises, squeaks, and whistles, I have sung in a high pitched voice (deadly to the human ear), and my personal favourite – meowing like a cat. I have also been known to say “poooooooooooork” “cheeeeeeeeeeeese” “waaaaaaaaalks” and “caaaaaaaaar”. The neighbours must think I’m insane. But you are guaranteed some great shots!

Ellie’s trigger word was “Poooooooooork”

2.) Let them get their manic energy out of the way first

All shoots follow the same formula – manic happiness and running around, a twenty minute window of good behaivour, then exhaustion. Let them have the manic running around time, the good shots always come after they’ve let off some steam. And keep the camera out as they fall asleep too – you get some great shots during this time.

That’s it for this week – tune in next week for another handy pet photography tip! And if you’d like to read more, you can do so in my ebook – Snap n Paws, Adorable Pet Photography in a Snap