Pet Photography can be fun and rewarding and I love 'filling the frame' with the pet.  I'm often getting really close to the pet either physically or with a longer telephoto zoom lens.  I want you to see the eyes, the texture of the fur, the color of their eyes - experience your pet fully in photographs!

Often when photographers are new to taking photographs, you look at the photo and wonder - What are they photographing?  What do they want me to see in this photo?  This is where filling the frame with your subject comes into play.  Whether you take the photograph filling the frame by getting close, cropping the photo after taking it or using a zoom lens - it all comes down to filling the frame with what you want everyone to see.

I think it's easier to fill the frame when you're not necessarily trying to photograph the entire animal - but, sometimes it's not filling the entire frame with your subject - but instead making sure your subject is the only identifiable object.  For example, you could take a close up of the animal - or you could take a photograph that is a little further away, but the rest of your photograph has beautiful blur created by a shallow depth of field (small F-stop number) or created in post processing.

Here's some examples of this week's theme "Fill the Frame".  Meet Flash, he was rescued and is now in his forever home with a wonderful couple and several canine buddies.  Flash is about 80 pounds or so and is a Mastiff mix.  This photograph has a combination of 'fill the frame' and 'negative space'.  Flash is sharp while the rest of the photo has a darker soft blur keeping the eye on Flash.

Here's another photograph where Flash is very dominant in the frame with soft brown and green blurred background.

This photograph is a little further back showing some of Flash's large size, but only the eyes and immediate area are in focus, the rest is allowed to softly blur using a shallow depth of field.

And talk about 'Fill the Frame' -- this is what happens when a rather large dog gets to close to you and then lays down - you just get a very small portion of their face - truly filling the frame with Flash.

Filling the frame is not for every photograph you might take.  Using this process to explore photographic possibilities and experiment with composition can be challenging.  There are many situations where your photographs of pets can be greatly improved by getting closer, moving in towards your subject and by filling the frame.  If you keep this possibility in the back of your mind while you are shooting (whether it is pets or some other subject), you may find your photographs are greatly improved.  It will help those viewing your photographs to answer this question "What is this a photograph of?"

For more 'fill the frame' pet photographs head over to visit Cahlean of About A Dog Photography in St. Cloud, St. Paul, Minneapolis and central MN. and then head around the rest of the blog circle.

If you would like to book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Florida).