Shoot fur the best

Rhiannon Buckle

From furry to scaly and everything in between, Rhiannon loves capturing the unique personalities of pets. Based in the studio, she uses a variety of lighting styles to capture fun moments. rhiannonbuckle. co.uk, @rhiannonbuckle_petphotography.

Find the eye contact

A portrait of a pet looking straight down the lens is powerful and engaging, but you need to get their attention. I have a treat pouch on my belt and I’ll continually reward them for good behaviour.

For eye contact it helps to hold a treat directly on the top of the lens so they are focused there, but you don’t have to do this yourself, you can get the owner or someone else to guide them in the direction you want. As well as treats and toys, noises are great for getting a pet to look your way. I’m comfortable making a fool of myself during shoots, and I do a selection of whistles, squeals and animal sounds! In particular, high-pitched noises get that iconic head tilt with dogs.

Make it fun

As much as I love creating classic portraits, I always like to add an element of fun and movement to my sessions, too. This makes for great images and it also keeps the pet engaged during the shoot. Try throwing a treat or toy their way to allow you to capture some goofy expressions. If you have the space, you can also have them running or jumping under the lights.

In the studio, flashes are great for this. My lights fire as fast as 1/10,000sec, so I can use them to control the full exposure of my image and freeze movement. For best results, keep any natural light to a minimum.

Get the right light

I use a hard light, which helps create definition in fur. I use an arrangement of three of four softboxes with the outer