Taking 'selfies' with your pet is never easy. You sit down, hold your camera out and try and get your pet to look at the camera. Instead, they get distracted and do anything but look at the lens. Most pets have very short attention spans. There's definitely an art to taking selfies with your pets. You might snap the perfect picture by chance if you are very lucky, but with most pet selfies it definitely takes a few tries before you get one decent photo. Here are some helpful tips if you want to take the perfect pet selfie.
Tire them out first
Make sure your pet has done some exercise before attempting to take a selfie with them. They are less likely to be as fidgety if they have burned off some energy. For example, if you have a dog, don't try and take a selfie pre dog walk.
Have a treat handy
Always have some sort of treat handy, or at least something that interests your pet. You will need it to get their attention when you want to take a picture and to reward them. If you are going to use a toy don't choose their absolute favourite or they may get over excited and want to play with it instead of taking a photo.
Use a decent camera
Try and use a decent camera or a smartphone with a high quality camera. Some of the front facing cameras that people take selfies with tend to be very poor quality and the pictures come out blurry. You won't be able to get a good pet selfie without a decent camera.
Try a selfie stick
You might want to purchase a selfie stick if you want to take lots of selfies with your pets. This will help you to take a photo from further away and hopefully get more of your pet in the picture. It might also help by not startling your pet as the camera will be further away than if you were to just hold it. You can even get a special 'Pooch Selfie' attachment for dogs that is basically a tennis ball that you clip to your phone or camera which catches dog's attention.
Don't force a picture
Selfies can sometimes look a little force, and it will be pretty obvious if you snap a picture desperately trying to get your pet to pose. Go to them instead of forcing them to come to you and try and capture more natural moments with your pet. It's important to realise when your pet has given up or is getting stressed and make the decision to try again another time. With pets you have to work quickly, you can't spend ages trying to get the perfect picture.
Turn off your flash
Avoid using the flash when taking selfies with your pet. It could startle them or make them feel scared. Try taking pictures without the flash and make sure you find the right lighting.