Tips for the best family sessions with your animals


When switching careers, I never expected to love photographing fur babies so much. Actually, my very first professional photo shoot was for a woman & her dog. The woman was my best friend & her dog was a very young puppy named Grey. 


I can’t tell you how many you tube videos I watched on how to photograph animals and what settings to use. I was VERY nervous I wouldn’t be able to get any good images. 


BUT I loved the challenge! Animals are hard to capture. But when you get the shot and truly capture their essence; it is SO good. (Don’t tell the humans but the animal photos are some of my favorite in my portfolio.)


So needless to say, I encourage everyone to bring their animals to sessions. And if I happen to be doing a brand or lifestyle session in your home…I will take unsolicited photos of you fur babies (if they will let me)!


Here are the keys to getting GREAT animal photography:


  1. EXERCISE the fur babies before the session. I want them to be relaxed and tired. It is really exciting for them to go to a new place and meet me while I stick weird equipment in their face. 
  2. TREATS & TOYS. Bring all the familiar items that motivate your animal. We need their attention, and we want to try to get them to focus on the camera/ me during the session.
  3. An EXTRA PERSON who is either in the session or just along for the ride is great to have at a session. I love it when one of the family members helps me get the animals attention while I snap away. This is especially helpful when I am trying to get a solo animal headshot.
  4. PATIENCE. The more anxious you are around your animal; the harder it will be for them to obey your commands AND the harder the session will be on all parties. Relax & let's play!
  5. LOCATION. I am lucky enough to have a few prime locations that allow us to let the animals run off leash without fear. Harnesses & leashes, while sometimes necessary, depending on the animal are not the prettiest in photographs. So, when we can and the owner feels comfortable, we like to allow the fur babies to roam free in a safe & protected environment.
  6. CAMERA SETTINGS for solo shots. Because I shoot outdoors in sunny Arizona most of the time my ISO is at 100 and my aperture in usually F/ 3.2 -5.6 depending on the background but this is the adjustment I play with the most depending on lighting. My shutter speed will also vary depending on lighting but I try to always keep it at 1/500 or above for moving animals. 
  7. SD CARD SPEED I feel like this can also play a factor in catching the quick shots with a high shutter speed. I really like 200mbs or higher. This is not required but I feel like it helps.
  8. OVERSHOOTING is a given in animal sessions. In a typical 30 minute session, I will have around 300 images that I cull down to 20-50 for editing. In a fur baby session, I will have double the images of a family session at minimum. Granted, most are a HOT mess i.e. blurry, bad composition, and not quality images but it’s how I am able to get a really good set of animal images and still meet my minimum delivered image count.  


We love having your fur babies at sessions! Please bring them so we can capture their sweet spirits. They are are a big part of your family & should be a big part of your memories too.