How to Take Great Photos of Cats
I took a great photo of a cat once. After seeing it, I wondered why it turned out so nice while nearly all of the other photos I’ve ever taken resemble the work of a moderately trained chimpanzee.
After reading a few nature photography books and studying them a bit, I have an idea as to why this photo worked a lot better than my others.
Admittedly, it’s not perfect; for instance, the grass at the very bottom of the photo is not in focus and one of the things I learned by reading all these photography books is that anything in the absolute foreground (the area nearest the camera) MUST be in focus. So, take points off for that, as well as a few other minor things.
But, I also got a few things right. Below is a list of what I think are the six most important aspects of cat photography.
The cat in the photo is Mr. Moo and he belongs to my mom. I got this shot late one afternoon while he was lying in the grass.
- Get the cat tuckered out. The first thing you will need to do is play with the cat. Get one of those feather-thingys on a stick and really work it over. The reason you do this is to wear it out enough to sit still, otherwise every time you get the camera set to fire, the cat will attempt to walk over and love you up thus ruining the shot.
- Make sure the lighting is coming from the side. This is so the photograph will render with greater depth. Lighting coming directly at the animal’s face will tend to flatten out the image.
- Place the camera at eye-level with the cat. It’s what the pros do; if you don’t believe me, go look through a nature photography book.
- Hold a squeak-toy over the camera. Squeak it just before the shot so the cat will look directly into the camera.
- Hold your breath as you pull the trigger. The less you move, the sharper the image will be. If at all possible, use a tripod.
- Take several shots. Cats are notorious for turning their heads just as you snap the picture. Sometimes you won’t even notice until the cat is long gone.
So, that’s my take on cat photography. Hopefully, you learned something useful (even though I am in no way a professional photographer–just some knucklehead that likes taking photos of cats).
Dead Rooster is the online home of 
We are very speedy when Mom takes photos of us – Just like that we can switch to warp speed! Oh and we take so many naps we never really get tired. Just saying!
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William McCamment
reply on October 30th, 2008 6:51 pm:
I’ll bet Mom takes photos of you two while you’re sleeping and you don’t even know about it! LOL
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Great advice! I’d like to take an action shot of my cat, hoepfully falling off or into something so I can realize my dreams of making it on to icanhazcheeseburger.
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William McCamment
reply on October 30th, 2008 6:52 pm:
LOL I love that blog! Good luck!
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Those are all really great tips! I don’t know why I had never thought of # 1 – duh, of course I should’ve been excersizing them first! :0 Thanks for the help!
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William McCamment
reply on October 30th, 2008 6:52 pm:
Thanks! …and, you’re welcome!
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You’re a guy who likes to take photos of cats and you’ve only got one good one?
Here’s a link to a guy who has some advice on taking pictures of cats….
http://deadrooster.com/cats/how-to-take-great-photos-of-cats LOL!
I always like your blog. Thanks!
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William McCamment
reply on October 30th, 2008 6:53 pm:
Actually, I’ve taken a few good photos of cats–if you check my “About” page, you will find a link to Photography that shows more of my (amateur) work. LOL
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Mr. Moo?… MOO?! ….
Why for the moo, Rooster? Why?
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 12:12 pm:
It’s short for Mookie. LOL
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That is a great shot! I will not model unless I will not model unless I get treats. Many, many treats.
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 12:14 pm:
You are a star! You’re famous! I’d be blogging for treats too if I was as famous as you. But, I can’t even afford a single devil costume.
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I’ve always found it a severe pain in my ass to take a snap of my kitties…thanks for the tips!
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 12:15 pm:
You’re welcome. Start by photographing them while they sleep. Haha!
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Wonderful tips! Cats are not easy subject of photos but when I get a good picture, it’s all worth it!
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 7:23 pm:
I have a couple of cats and, even though they try to mess me up, I sometimes manage to get off a decent shot once in a while.
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cats = models with attitude!
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 7:25 pm:
Oh, they have an attitude alright! Usually a BAD attitude! My cats work me over so much that I rarely have the energy to take their picture. They tag-team me constantly. LOL
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damned good advice! i don’t have, nor do i like, cats, but i have children, and i figure there about the same.
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William McCamment
reply on October 31st, 2008 7:26 pm:
I would think these tips would work equally well with kids.
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William whats up hope all is well .
You just gave me an idea for a header pic
Hope you had a good Halloween
Stumbled
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William McCamment
reply on November 2nd, 2008 4:59 am:
Hi John,
Everything’s great (as usual).
I had a great Halloween too–but, I’m still recovering. LOL
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I am going to give this a try. I have the worst time getting pictures of my cats!
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William McCamment
reply on November 2nd, 2008 5:00 am:
Good luck!
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Cats ARE tough to get good pics of. That’s the beauty of digital cameras however – no wasted film! I have gotten several good ones of Gumby however; here is one of my faves – it looks so posed!:
http://www.tinyurl.com/gumbythecat
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William McCamment
reply on November 3rd, 2008 7:24 am:
That’s a GREAT photo!
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I would add to the list: Get a high-resolution digital camera (10 megapixel or better). That way, you can take a great pic without putting the camera too close to the cat – which is a sure way to lose any cooperation from said kitty. Afterward, you can crop and magnify the part of the image you want to keep, without sacrificing too much ‘sharpness’. That’s what I did with the photo I linked to above.
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William McCamment
reply on November 3rd, 2008 7:29 am:
That’s a great tip too! I thought about that, but I wanted to keep it regular for people that don’t own, or can’t afford, a 10 megapixel rig. The photo I took above was scaled down, but the original was taken with a 5.2 megapixel camera set at 3 megapixels.
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Great tips and I will use them as soon as I get a hold of a cat with which to try them out. This was funny William.
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William McCamment
reply on November 3rd, 2008 9:40 am:
I borrowed my mom’s cat. LOL
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I love the pic, William. The cat looks so regal. I’m not sure that I would have the patience, but I admire good photography.
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William McCamment
reply on November 3rd, 2008 9:32 pm:
Thanks! I’ve always loved to take pictures, I’m just not that great at it. I’m still learning.
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A cat named Mr. Moo?!?!?!?!? Bwa HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I do love the photo though. I’ll have to remember that light from the side thing.
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William McCamment
reply on November 3rd, 2008 9:34 pm:
He was actually named by my niece so his official name is Mookie, but several years ago my mom started calling him Mr. Moo and it stuck.
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I just got the D90 for my birthday. Ive been watching how-to You Tube videos. Any books you can recommend? I love that cat.
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William McCamment
reply on November 6th, 2008 7:59 pm:
Wow! The D90 is a GREAT camera! I want one!
I like the nature photography books of John Shaw. They are kind of outdated and geared toward film cameras, but I LOVE his photographs.
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Cats like to run and if your camera has a bad shutter rate (like a camera phone), it can be difficult to catch your feline friend, or so YOU think.
I find if you slightly injure your cat, maybe even break one of it’s legs, it won’t run. This way you get the perfect feline picture with minimal effort and only a little but of animal cruelty. But, shh. I won’t tell if you wont
Dwayne.
probablysucks.com
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William McCamment
reply on November 9th, 2008 8:52 pm:
…or, just have it stuffed–no one would know.
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Awesome picture of the cat.
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William McCamment
reply on November 11th, 2008 5:33 am:
Thank you!
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