It is generally accepted that arguably the best level from which to shoot dog/cat portraits is at the pet's eye level; rather than shooting down on your pet. Shooing down at your pet like this is not the best way to show off a cat or dog...
on SmugmugThere are basically two solutions to the problem of shooting at the pets eye level: bring the pet up to your eye level or get your camera down to the pet's eye level....
I shoot my formal small dog portraits with the dog on a fabric covered armchair while I am sitting on a roll around office chair. That gets me down to the dogs eye level and brings the dog up to my camera level while it still gives this old man mobility.
on SmugmugAnother way to be at the dog's eye level is to position the dog on a slope. I am lucky enough to have a slope in my yard that is perfect for shooting at the dog's eye level while I stand at the bottom of the slope...
on SmugmugThen there is always getting the camera down to the dog's eye level. Bending over, kneeling or squatting down is an easy option for a younger and agile photographer but pretty difficult for a guy just short of his eightieth year of life.
That is where an articulating LCD screen comes in handy. I can shoot from a reasonable level while having the camera down at the dog's eye level and while I view the composition from above the camera.. The only problem for me is that along with cranky joints, my eyesight is no longer as hawk sharp as it once was. No problem, that's what auto focus is for, isn't it! Well with most AF systems, unless you specifically instruct the camera to focus on the eyes (by selecting them some way), the AF will most likely focus on the dog's nose rather than the eyes and it is a bit difficult for me to select the animal's eyes while my own eyes are two feet or so from the LCD.
Why couldn't someone help me? Well, they just did!
Sony has just released Firmware 2.0 update for their A6400 camera which includes full-time animal Eye-AF. This feature (which is also available in a firmware update for the A7iii) makes dog and cat photography a lot easier by automatically selecting the eyes of the animal as the focus point...
on SmugmugAnimal Eye-AF is for me, the best thing since auto focus in general. I don't have to worry about selecting the animal's eyes. The camera does that for me...
Do I absolutely need Animal Eye-AF? HECK NO! I have been photographing hundreds of dogs each year without it.
But it does make the photography quicker and easier...
