Pigture Me Perfect

Apologies for the post being late. The compawter had to go to go to the lecky-tronics vet for a check up. It was poked and prodded and is now much better! Anyway, with our pigture contest coming up whee thought whee would have a little pigture shoot and get Mummy to give you her top tips for pigture taking. Take it away hooman . . .

Heya everyone. The piggies have asked me to tell you how I get pigtures of them, and make them look so handsome (not that it is hard with them being as cute as they are!). This is probably one of the most asked questions they get so we are finally answering it!

Here is the basic equipment you need to have a guinea pig photo session:

• a safe location, such as a sturdy table, bed, sofa, or even the floor
• camera (with tri-pod if possible, though I don’t use one myself)
• lighting, or good natural light
• props (optional, you can do seasonal themed photos like Santa hats for Christmas)
• treats (not optional if the piggies have any say in the matter)

Now here is a step by step guide to how I do it:

1. First, set up your area. You need to build a little mini studio. You can make it as big or as small as you like, depending on the size of your pet. Obviously guinea pigs are little so I put mine on a sofa. You need to choose background colours that will compliment the colour of your piggy. Pastel shades do seem to work best. Don’t use strong colours like reds if you can avoid them. Then you need to get a small stash of treats for distractions. You need to make sure your area is completely secure, especially if you know your pet is a certified escape artist like one little piggy I know! Below is Basil’s photo shoot.

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2. Next, bring in the pet!!! Guinea pigs are often startled initially in new situations so that is a good moment to get a few test shots. You need to make sure you are use lots of natural light or have a good light source. Guinea pigs really don’t like flash on cameras so try to find a way to take photos without needing that.
3. If you are using props this is the time to bring them in. Get down so you are eye level or lower than your pet. Let them relax a little and offer small amounts of treats. If they are anything like Nacho, they are happier with a teddy or toy. Nacho is a bit naughty, he likes to chew everything. When they start chewing the set you make need to deploy the treats!

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4. If you have diva piggies (or other pets) then you have your very own Buddy. He loves having his photo taken but will pout and strop a lot! In this particular photoshoot he decided he had had enough and wacked the camera right out of my hands! Cheeky!

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5. Don’t forget to fuss your piggy lots and tell them what a fab model they make. You can change your backdrop colour or props a few times till you are happy with the result.

The great thing about using a digital camera is you can take lots of photos and review them later. Guinea pigs are real fidget bottoms so you will have lots of blurred photos or bottoms disappearing out of shot. For example, I took 70 photos in this shoot and only 30-40 were usable!

Taking photos in natural setting like playing in the garden is also good. Grass keeps your guinea pigs attention and the natural sunlight is perfect for good shots.

Top tips to remember:

• Food is a very important bribe
• Speaking in a silly voice or getting someone to distract them helps get good photos
• Practice makes perfect, keep trying, you will get better!

I’m still learning and not anywhere near what can be considered good at photography but I’m getting much better than I used to be. Experiment with zoom and angles. Be brave, have fun! ^_^

To enter our pigture contest, check back to this post.

Hope you are having a great wheekend

The Hooman

xxxx