IMAGE GUIDELINES

capture quality reference photos for your custom pet painting

The most important part of your custom pet painting is the quality of the images you submit. The more individual hairs I can see, the more detail I can deliver! Luckily, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to take great photos of your pet. Follow these tips and tricks to capture quality reference photos for your pet painting:

photographing your pet

  • Use a smartphone or a high-quality camera. Most smartphones can take fantastic photos.

  • Remove any unwanted items such as a leash, harness, collar, tags, etc.

  • Use trigger words, sounds, or food – a toy, a treat, or whistling - for alert eyes, ears, and mouth.

  • Take several photos. I ask for 5-7 photos for submission.

  • Focus on the eyes. Capture your pet’s personality, and spirit, and showcase any unique markings.

  • Be patient and have fun!  

Lighting

  • Take a few photos or choose existing photos that are taken in daylight or in a brightly lit room. A well-lit setting with natural light helps with color, quality, and focus.

  • Avoid overly filtered photos to ensure your pet’s coloring is correctly captured.

  • Avoid using the flash.

ANGLE

  • Position yourself and the camera to be at eye level with your pet. Don’t use the zoom, get closer to your pet instead! The objective is to capture them in their world, where you can get the best view of their expressions from their eye level.

  • The best poses are when your pet is sitting or standing, not laying down.  Bust shots (head and chest) make excellent pet portraits. Other positions are acceptable, but your pet will be shown in that position in the final portrait.

  • Make sure your pet is looking directly at the camera, facing forward. Ensure the entire face and chest are visible. No hiding. No partial view. No cut-off ears. Side angles of the face are okay, so long as you can see both eyes and ears without any distortion.

Examples of quality reference photos

 

✔ Natural Lighting ✔ Face + Neck Visible ✔ Photo Taken at Eye-level

✔ Personality Showing ✔ Face + Neck Visible ✔ Natural Lighting ✔ Photo Taken at Eye-level

 

common elements of low-quality photos

  • Blurry and out of focus - the entire photo is blurry and/or pet is blurry. This may happen if your pet is in motion, you are too far away from your pet, or you zoom in too much.

  • A poor angle of your pet - pet’s head is angled down; face and chest are hidden, partial views of your pet, head and/or ears are cut off, or pet is laying down.

  • A poor angle of the picture - usually happens when you are not eye level with your pet. It’s easy to snap a photo looking down on your pet, however, this tends to make their head appear larger with ears tucked back.

  • Poor lighting - a dim-lit setting, flash, or artificial lighting tends to distort the color, quality, and focus of your photo.

Examples of low-quality reference photos

 

✖ Dark Lighting ✖ Blurry Photo + in Motion ✖ Fur Detail Lost

✖ Entire Face + Neck Aren’t Visible ✖ Laying Down Position ✖ Ears + Head Cut Off ✖ Poor Angle

 

Not sure whether your images will work?

If you are unsure of the quality of your reference photos, email your images to info@carmavisions.com I often paint portraits of pets that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, so I understand it’s not always possible to follow all of the guidelines above. I will find a way to work with the photos you have!