Who doesn’t want to capture fun and creative portraits of our four-legged friends? We know we love it. In fact, pet photography may just be the most popular form of photography there is. Think of all the smartphone snaps of yawns, big stretches, and funny moments we all take of our cats, dogs, chinchillas, and beyond.
Quick snaps aside, you know what really ups the quality of our pet portraits? Lighting. Just as with any form of portrait, lighting unlocks possibilities that can be impossible without it. But what lighting system should we use? Is a strobe the right option, or should we use constant LED lights? There’s no wrong answer, but there may be one that suits your needs better than the other.
In this guide, we’re going to look at what flash and constant light bring to the pet photography table, the situations they serve best, and where one may be more practical than the other. Without any further ado, let’s get started.
Flash
Flash provides a powerful beam of light at an extremely fast speed. This makes it beneficial in situations where photographers need to capture fast action like an indoor sporting event or in this case, animals. They can be paired with softboxes, reflectors, and other light shaping tools to modify the light’s shape and intensity.
While we can ask a model to turn their head this way and that way, pets aren’t as easy to pose. We may use treats to get their attention, but it can be quickly lost, so speed is of the essence. This is especially true if out in the field and trying to get some action shots. A dog catching a ball or frisbee is going to be hard to photograph without some good strobes.
With that power comes better range, which is helpful when you need artificial light but can’t place it close to the subject. This opens up the compositional possibilities, allowing you to take your photoshoot inside and out. This distance is also beneficial for those aforementioned actions shots, as it gives your fuzzy subject some room to frolic and romp freely.
If you’re going to use flash, you’ll need to take it off camera. One of the flaws in flash photography is the reflection we see of the light pulse in the eyes of our subject. Most of us know this as the dreaded red eye, but in pets, we get steel eye. This is due to the different structure found in cats and dogs, but the problem still remains. To correct this, we’ll need to get our flash unit off camera.
If you’ve read our guides to off-camera flash, you’ll already have a good idea of how this works. If you haven’t yet had the chance, we recommend checking them out. To keep it simple, off camera flash changes the direction of the light, thus removing that reflection. It also opens up our scene to more dramatic lighting, which can add depth to our images.
Where flash can run into some problems has more to do with the pet itself. That bright, sudden flash of light can frighten some pets. We never want to intentionally spook our four-legged family members, so what to do when your subject is afraid of your light source? You use a different, constant source of light.
Continuous Light
Continuous lights, like LEDs, constantly emit light as their name suggests. This is not only great for beginners, since it eliminates the need for guesswork and allows the user to see the scene as it is captured, but brings greater versatility to our photo shoot.
There are two types of continuous lights, panels and monolights. Panels often come in kits with multiple lights or at least a stand and some general accessories. These are great for content creators who situate the lights close to themselves or their subject, but they’re not ideal for our uses. Instead, we’re going to focus on the stronger monolights as they offer more power and greater customization with light shaping tools.
Continuous LED lights can generally be powered in two ways. For indoor shoots, simply plug your lights in with the included AC adapter. When an outlet isn’t available, many panels can run off of readily available Sony BP-U series lithium-ion batteries. Larger moonlights may require special adapters and larger, V-mount batteries. No matter the type, this allows the lights to be used indoors for longer durations without worrying about battery life, but they can also be dragged out into the field without hesitation.
Additionally, continuous lights often provide greater customization on the fly. Color temperature adjustments can be made to match ambient light, or to achieve the creative look the user may desire. For even greater creative control, many are even compatible with the same light modifiers as their strobe counterparts as we mentioned earlier.
While steel eye is not much of issue for continuous lights, the benefits of adjusting angle can still be used to add depth and drama in our images. Again, when you can see everything in real time, it makes set-up so much easier for those just getting started.
All of these perks do come at a cost of reduced brightness. Continuous LEDs are simply not as powerful as a studio strobe or flash. There are certainly work arounds, but this is something to be considered when choosing the right tools for your photography. Using constant lights means that we need to position our lights closer to the subject. In some cases, we may even need more lights, and this can get expensive.
Tips for Both
Flash and continuous lighting certainly have their differences, but the principles of lighting remain unchanged. Positioning your lights is not something we can easily give instructions on, as it’ll vary greatly on the height of your subject and the ambient lighting of the scene.
It’s generally advised to position a light at about 45 degrees to the side of your subject. It’s especially important to raise the height of your light and to angle it downward to avoid harsh shadows on the face from longer snouts. A problem we generally don’t face when photographing people, that’s for sure. We can work around this partly by using a modifier with better light wraparound.
We touched upon modifiers above, but we can’t downplay the significance of shaping light. Softboxes spread light, creating a soft, diffuse illumination on your subject, whereas a beauty dish intensifies contrast, adding more drama to a scene. In the case above, a larger softbox would be ideal as it would diffuse the light, leading to softer shadows, and the greater size would produce more wraparound as well.
Speaking of fur color, no matter which option you pick, there are other aspects to consider. A pet with darker fur will require additional lights to highlight them against the background or to fill shadows. The backlit approach is known as rim lighting and be achieved by placing a light behind the subject with a snoot. Aim it around the subject’s shoulders and the resulting image will show the pets outline more prominently.
What’s the Best Option?
In a perfect world, we’d love to say both but the simple truth is that you won’t find a single light that is best suited for every scenario you’ll face.
Flash is preferred by many, but it comes with a learning curve. Luckily, modern flash photography is made easy with TTL (or “through-the-lens") metering modes, which serve as an automatic flash mode.
In TTL modes, the flash works off the available light as read by the cameras imaging sensor. Brigtness and power are adjusted accordingly. Even when the flash is not 100% accurate, we can simply adjust a setting known as flash exposure compensation to brighten or darken our output as needed. But what happens when we eventually encounter a skittish subject?
As you learn the ropes, pick the light that seems to be the most practical for your needs. If you’re aiming to capture action shots, flash is the way to go. A standard flash or speedlight is almost always the most practical lighting tool for beginners due to its versatility. You can simply put it on the camera’s hot shoe, mount it on a light stands and trigger it with a transmitter, or simply hold it off camera using a wired adapter.
If your goal is to stay in the studio or to capture standard portraits, either can serve your needs just fine. Continuous LEDs can be turned on, color temperature dialed in, and we can get shooting right away.
The question to ask yourself is whether you’ll benefit more from power, or from ease of use? With this newly found knowledge, we can clearly see that there’s a case for both options. No matter which route you take, there will come a time when the one you pick may not serve your needs. Some pets may need to just get used to the flash, whereas others will require constant lighting. In those moments, renting is always an option.
Learning More
Pet photography is not easy, and lighting can make it seem even more daunting. Every cat, dog, turtle, and beyond has its own personality, comforts and discomforts. Luckily, we have the tools to help. Be flexible and work with the animal and their owners to find the best solution for their needs. To learn more about pet photography, check out our other guides and articles available on the B&H Explora site!
