This post is an updated and refined version all about camera settings I use as a natural light Pet Portrait Photographer that I posted more than a year ago now.

The reason I wanted to update this post ASAP is because I’ve grown a ton as a pet photographer and there’s more information I wanted to include to help you guys out.

So, if you have already read this post or watched my previous video, that’s great, but just know, this one is an entire retake with lots of new information.

Naturally, as a pet photographer, I get a lot of questions from you guys about camera settings specifically when photographing pets in manual mode.

If you’re reading this right now, and you don’t shoot manually yet, some of this might be lost on you if you haven’t yet learned all about how to manipulate your ISO, aperture, and shutter speed and have a basic understanding of those settings.

Additionally, if you photograph in manual mode, I also recommend photographing in RAW.

Why? Because RAW gives you more data to work with for post-processing and the file sizes are better for producing large artwork. So, if you haven’t started photographing in RAW, do yourself a favor. It will change your life!

Okay, now that all of those disclaimers are out of the way - let’s get into all the things!

PS. If you’d rather hear me discuss all of these things instead of reading this post, be sure to watch this video here.

PS. Looking to start your pet photography business or set it up from the legal standpoint? Click here to get get my free Start Your Pet Photography Checklist and kickstart your pet photography business today!

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APERATURE

Okay, so as I mentioned a moment ago, for the time being, I am a natural light pet portrait photographer.

I, personally, love the look and aesthetic of natural light when working with pets and these settings are where I start for each session and deviate from there depending on my session goals along with the end result I’m working towards.

So as much as possible, I love to shoot with my aperture anywhere from f1.8-2.8 for a very shallow depth of field; obviously, your aperture is going to depend on your lens’ capabilities and how low the aperture can go for that lens

Now, obviously, that aperture is ideal for portraits and closer up shots, but if I am working to get more full body of the animal in focus say in their environment, I will definitely pop my aperture up to something more like f4 or f5.6 or even higher depending on the available light, so more of the images, the pet, the pet parents, and the location is in full focus.

Increasing my aperture is really to give my clients more an additional option from their session.

Because I need to keep my shutter speed higher to capture motion, I don’t usually go any higher than say a f5.6 depending on the available light. But, don’t worry, we will talk more about shutter speed in a moment.

The last thing I want to say about aperture before we move on is and listen close, if you are having trouble getting pet’s in focus, meaning their eyes tack sharp, then you might want to start photographing them at a higher aperture.

The reason for this is when you move to a higher aperture, say a f5.6, you increase the depth of field meaning the space of the image that will be sharp or in focus. Photographing at a lower aperature, like an f1.8, gives you a smaller margin of error to “catch” the focus or have the dog’s eyes in focus and tack sharp. But, with photographing with a higher aperature, you give yourself a little wiggle room at least until you have enough practice that you can nail your focus every single time.

To recap, aperture is the first thing I set before I adjust any other settings.

That’s because I have a specific style I like to aim for and that wide open aperture helps me get there.

Then, I go into changing and adjusting my shutter speed for the task at hand. So, let’s talk about shutter speed.

SHUTTER SPEED

Now that we are keeping our aperture “wide open” as they say, the next setting I set at a session is the shutter speed.

Remember, we are working with non-stop, wiggly creatures, so our shutter speed has to be high enough that we freeze motion and account for camera shake, which is much easier to have when you are constantly moving around to capture a pet.

Your shutter speed is going to depend on a lot of varying factors including the dog and how quickly they are moving, the situation, the available light, and even how much you can push your ISO.

With that in mind, I try not to drop my shutter speed lower than 1/500 since I generally shoot either with my 50mm or my 35mm currently. The rule of thumb for the minimum shutter speed states that the shutter speed should be double (or more) then the lens focal length.

In other words if you were using a 50mm lens, your shutter speed would need to be at least 1/100th sec or faster to account for camera shake.

But, with working with pets moving quickly, I always amp that up.

I have found going any lower than 1/500 will not account for any camera shake, but also motion blur with pets, especially crazy, rambunctious shelter dogs.

My base shutter speed is 1/1000.

If the dog is more focused, trained, or mellow, maybe 1/800 if I need the additional light, but most often, I keep it at 1/1000, which is my happy place.

So, aperture likely 1.8 or 2.8 and shutter speed 1/1000.

But, what if I want to photograph the fast action of a pet? Then, I need to adjust my shutter speed significantly, in other words, as high as it can go!

How high you can bump your shutter speed will again depend on the available light, your camera’s ISO abilities, and the animal you are working with, because some pets are way faster than others.

I had a shelter pup recently who was lightning fast when throwing the ball, so I had to increase my shutter speed in order to capture her frozen and in focus.

Based on the light I had, I could increase my shutter speed to 1/5000 to capture her in focus, though, it was a touch soft, but that could’ve been because I was moving to track her.

I wish I could give you a hard and fast rule when it comes to choosing the right shutter speed, but in reality, all of those factors I mentioned a moment ago - available light, the animal, your ISO, and your camera’s shutter speed ability - are going to play into your decision.

So, to recap, start with 1/1000 for portraits and slow motion, but if shooting fast action, you’ll need to bump your shutter speed as high as it can go as long as you can still maintain the correct exposure.

Now that we’ve set our aperture and shutter speed, let’s talk about our final setting that we will set and the last one I set once I’ve got my other settings in place and that’s our ISO.

ISO

Now, that leads me into talking about ISO.

ISO is the last setting that I tweak once I have my shutter speed and aperture where I want it based on what I’m trying to photograph – either portraits or action.

ISO allows me to dictate how sensitive my camera is to gathering light.

The higher my ISO the more sensitive the sensor is to light, the lower my ISO, the less sensitive my camera is to light. More sensitivity equals more light, less sensitivity equals less light.

I use ISO to help maintain a correct exposure once I’ve set all of my other settings where I want them.

A really important note about ISO: first, your camera may be really sensitive to an increase in ISO. Most beginner cameras don’t do as well in lower light and have a lower ISO scale, so the higher you boost your ISO, the more “noise” you’ll see in an image.

More expensive camera bodies have a bit more forgiveness in that they perform better in lower light and have a much higher ISO scale, so when you boost your ISO, it doesn’t garner as much noise as quickly.

To hone this point further, I used to have a Canon Rebel T7i and that’s what I learned photography on. If I pushed my ISO to 800 or heaven forbid, 1600, the ‘noise’ in my images was very obvious almost to the degradation of the image.

But, with the Canon R6, the mirrorless camera, I can push my ISO to 12,800 and it’s less noisy than my ISO 1600 on my previous camera body.

However, noise might not bother you… and if that’s the case, you might have a little more wiggle room when adjusting your ISO. Me, personally, ISO is there as an addition to setting that I use to maintain correct exposure.

In other words, I will only change my ISO if I absolutely must, because I don’t love a lot of noise in my images unless it’s intentional to create more of that film look and aesthetic.

I try as often as possible to keep my ISO anywhere from 200, 400, 800, maybe 1600.

But that’s not always possible especially given the lighting situation I’m in.

To recap, as a natural light pet portrait photographer, who really specializes in magical, heartfelt, and vibrant imagery, I generally keep my aperture at either 1.8-2.8 with an ISO of 200-800 (if I can) and always a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 or higher.

Obviously, you will find yourself in a situation where you have to go outside of your typical shooting range depending on the light, the animal, the location, the goal you are trying to achieve for the image, but for me personally, those camera settings at an outdoor session are my base starting point.

So, I hope they were helpful for you if you are just getting started in pet photography or looking to refine your style a bit-feel free to try these settings out and let me know how it goes in the comments below.