pet photography

[Karla_petphotog]

just dabbling into pet photography. i have the standard lens it came with 18-55mm
i would love to do portrait and fun photos .. spend time at humane society’s get dogs cats adopted .. lots of dogs and cats don’t stay still so one that does great with movement but also can do portrait for family pet photos.

thanks!

[ebiggs1]

"i have the standard lens it came with 18-55mm"

I will assume you have a Rebel camera?  You have the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens?  If, yes, that is all you need. At 50 to 55mm your lens is a nice portrait lens. A better version of your lens is the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens.  It offers a constant f2.8 aperture but the same FL basically. A constant f2.8 lens is a big advantage over what you have. But what you have can work.

[Waddizzle]

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@Karla_petphotog wrote:
just dabbling into pet photography. i have the standard lens it came with 18-55mm
i would love to do portrait and fun photos .. spend time at humane society’s get dogs cats adopted .. lots of dogs and cats don’t stay still so one that does great with movement but also can do portrait for family pet photos.

thanks!

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If you have the standard EF-S 18-55mm kit lens, you may find it necessary to use a flash.  The built in flash is pretty low power, and only has about 10 feet (3 meters) of reach.  You may want to consider an external strobe, especially if you want to consider using the previously mentioned lens.

Instead of the expensive lens, invest in a good tripod, and a good external flash.  A good lens to use for your pet portrait work is the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens.  It was a wide aperture ( low f / ## ), which means it will perform better in low light, and standard room lighting than your current lens.

Another good lens to consider is the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens for your portrait work.  This would be my first choice, but I would also want a strobe and tripod, too, for pet portrait photography.  Avoid the plastic tripods they sell at big blue box stores.