Pet Photography - what lenses

I almost exclusively use a 70-200mm for my dog shots. It isnt a great lens, but its a good starter one. Hoping to invest in a good one for xmas.

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I started off with a 28-135mm f/3.6-5.6 IS lens for both outdoor and studio use.

I switched to a 24-70mm f/2.8L for my studio use and will usually be shooting towards the upper end of the zoom.

Shooting with a longer lens doesn't accentuate the length of a dogs muzzle the way shooting with a shorter focal length does. Many owners of purebred dogs (such as Maltese) are very sensitive regarding the apparent length of their dogs nose.

I have the dog on a low table with a background (most often black) and I have the handler stand behind the background controlling the dog. I use a pair of old White Lightnings bounced into umbrellas. I sit on a small roll-around desk chair which puts me at the dog's level.

I have a feather attractor that hangs from a short cord on a stick and also have a squeeker in my mouth. Often with dogs that are attracted to the squeeker, they look directly at the camera when I squeek the squeeker with my teeth.

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RPCrowe wrote in post #6574743
I started off with a 28-125mm f/3.6-5.6 IS lens for both outdoor and studio use.

I switched to a 24-70mm f/2.8L for my studio use and will usually be shooting towards the upper end of the zoom.

Shooting with a longer lens doesn't accentuate the length of a dogs muzzle the way shooting with a shorter focal length does. Many owners of purebred dogs (such as Maltese) are very sensitive regarding the apparent length of their dogs nose.

I have the dog on a low table with a background (most often black) and I have the handler stand behind the background controlling the dog. I use a pair of old White Lightnings bounced into umbrellas. I sit on a small roll-around desk chair which puts me at the dog's level.

I have a feather attractor that hangs from a short cord on a stick and also have a squeeker in my mouth. Often with dogs that are attracted to the squeeker, they look directly at the camera when I squeek the squeeker with my teeth.

Thank you for the tips. I'll have to look for a squeeker!

With my 3 cats, I have yet to set up a shoot for them...like they would comply (not). Nor have I shot anything of pro quality with my cats. At a moments notice they can go off into tizzy and I need to be ready, so I'll have my camera close by and on. I usually have the 50mm f/1.4 mounted, I just love that lens. But sometimes I just have to shoot with whatever lens I got on the camera at the time, for I might not have the time and luxury to change glass.

If I have a zoom mounted, I usually shoot at the max focal length, I enjoy getting close to my cat's face. I'll go wide if the composition requires it, like if all of my cats are doing something together. But if it's just one cat, I get close.

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gasrocks wrote in post #6402372
I get the best results when I stay back a ways and give them space and freedom to do their thing. 200mm or 300mm.

I find this very true especially considering there can be 20+ dogs playing at the local park. I can't wait to get my 2X extender for the 70-200mm

gasrocks wrote in post #6402372
I get the best results when I stay back a ways and give them space and freedom to do their thing.

+1 for this. These two shots were taken at different times of the day with my old 18-55 non-IS kit lens, but at pretty much the maximum range both times. The other thing I've found helpful is to get down to the animal's eye level or slightly below.

I recently bought a Sigma 70-200 and will be trying that out for this winter's pet portraits.

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ceegee wrote in post #6864074
+1 for this. These two shots were taken at different times of the day with my old 18-55 non-IS kit lens, but at pretty much the maximum range both times. The other thing I've found helpful is to get down to the animal's eye level or slightly below.

I recently bought a Sigma 70-200 and will be trying that out for this winter's pet portraits.

WOW those are GREAT pics for a kit lens! Nice job... beautiful golden too!

I took these with my new nifty fifty... gotta love it!

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Here's another one, taken earlier today with my 60 mm macro. I LOVE this lens for portraits, animal or human. This is the same golden as in the previous shots, but a year later. She's over a year old now.

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Such an expressive face and eyes!!! Great picture!

Someone gave a talk at our camera club not too long ago about pet photography and she stated that it is best to have a fast zoom or wide angle lens as the dogs and cats can move around quite a bit---same thing applies to younger kids, too.

I use a 28-135 IS and got to play around with my friends canon 70-200 4.0. With both of these I ended up staying near the max focal length, it seems much easier to keep them in focus at a range and they are less likely to get distracted by you.
28-135

it depends on the dog and the place...

I shoot small dogs on a table with a background set up and two lights bounced into umbrellas.

I like a zoom lens which has a focal length of 50mm or more for a 1.6x camera. The zoom is because dogs will often move a bit, even on a table.

The 24-70L is a great dog lens but, in reality, the 28-135mm IS lens is not bad at all.

I like a longer lens so that the dog's muzzle is not elongated when I do full face shots.

Larger dogs are shot from further distances. I use my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens and fill flash for bigger dogs outdoors.

I definitely want a fast focusing zoom when shooting outdoors.

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RP- Thanks for your great tips on shooting small dogs.

the 70-200 2.8 IS great for fast moving objects such as small dogs, gizmo in flight.

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