With the rise of online sales and livestock auctions around Australia, good livestock photography has become an important tool when marketing your animals for sale and show.
Professional animal and lifestyle photographer, Tenylle Stringer, is no stranger to photographing sheep, livestock and their owners. Tenylle resides in Central Victoria and travels the countryside photographing animals, families and Australian landscapes.
Tenylle shares some of her professional tips on how to take better images of your livestock for marketing purposes.
Tenylle’s Tips
Background: Try to have a plain background (shed or grass) so subject stands out.
Lighting: Natural even light, not too bright. Morning or late afternoon is the best time to achieve natural, even light for your photoshoot. Shade is also great as it gives the subject even lighting.
Position: Photographer to get down to animal level. Shooting too high or too low can distort the shape and size of the animal so its important to get down to the animals level.
– Try to make sure the head of the animal is looking up.
– Capture the whole animal, not just the head.
– Maybe stock could be tied up to help keep them in position.
Angles: keep in mind your angles and positions when shooting your subject. Tight angles can also distort the animals shape and size or highlight certain features.
Distance: A distance of approximately 1 metre from the animal is best for a whole shot of subject.
Camera vs Iphone: A camera will always take a better photograph than an iphone/ipad, however, if you do prefer to take photos with an iphone/ipad, please see my tips below.
Using your iphone/ipad for taking photos
The iphone/ipad is a convenient way to take photos of your animals. There are some basic editing tools on the iphone/ipad that can be useful in improving the output of your photos but I generally limit this editing to ‘exposure correction’ only, to ensure your images are natural looking.
Taking photos with phone/ipad
When taking photos on your iphone/ipad I recommend using the ‘Portrait Mode’. It’s great for scenes with distracting backgrounds so your subject will stand out much better if the background is blurred.
Editing photos on your iphone/ipad
Once your photo is taken you can use some simple editing options on the iphone/ipad.
Step 1. Select photo
Step 2. Click the ‘edit’ button
Step 3. Select Auto Option – then next to that will be an option of Exposure this can lighten or darken a photo if required.
Tenylle Stringer | photographer
tenyllemariephotography.net
