10 Tips for Even Better Cat Photos

Whether your cat is relaxing on a warm windowsill, yawning heartily, playing with a ball of wool, or curiously exploring the garden: cats offer many great photo opportunities.

However, as soon as you grab your camera or smartphone, the beautiful feline friend often leaps away and the perfect moment is gone. But worry not! We have simple tips and tricks to help you snap amazing photos of your cat or kitten – even without an expensive SLR camera, telephoto lens, or tripod. 

The Subject in Mind: How Do You Want to Show Your Cat? 

Whether it’s on a photo wall in your living room or online on Facebook, Instagram, X or Pinterest – pet photos with your beloved feline friends in the spotlight are everywhere.

However, the quality of these pet photos can sometimes leave much to be desired: poor lighting, blurry movements, busy backgrounds, or just plain boring sleep shots. Capturing a cat in good light and an interesting pose requires quite an effort.

After all, cats typically have little interest in a good portrait photo. 

To achieve a nice photo, consider what you want to express with your picture before picking up the camera or phone. How do you want to show your cat? Do you want a skillful portrait highlighting its beautiful eyes? Or do you prefer action shots of your cat playing, climbing, or jumping? Should your cat be photographed in nature or on your cosy sofa?

Sometimes it helps to get inspiration from other cat photos online. But don’t try to replicate a shot exactly – this usually doesn’t work. Each cat is unique, and this uniqueness should shine through in the photo. 

To find the right subject for your cat, think about what makes your cat special. Does it have particularly spotted fur? What does it love to do the most? Is it still small and playful? Then a dynamic photo with its favourite toy or a shot of the curious kitten looking into the camera would be suitable.

For kitten pictures, it’s nice when the proportions are visible, like capturing the kitten nursing or in your arms. If your grown-up cat enjoys roaming and hunting mice all day, then capture it in the garden or open field. Or if it loves to snuggle on your lap, a shot of it cosily lying in the sun would be ideal. 

Pay Attention to a Neutral Background 

No matter the subject or pose you choose, your cat should be the star of the image. This should be evident in the photos. A busy background with people, cars, patterned wallpaper, or the TV distracts from your feline friend and should be avoided.

Indoors, photograph your cat in front of a white or plain-coloured wall (without pictures or posters) or on a nice wooden floor. Alternatively, you can hang a sheet or paint a large piece of cardboard to use as a photo backdrop.

Plain cushions or blankets also work well for background arrangements. 

It’s essential that your cat stands out against the chosen background. A black cat should be photographed on a light wooden floor or coloured blanket, not dark tiles. Cats with brown-red fur may not stand out enough from some wood or laminate floors. If you have a white cat, you can opt for a darker blanket or black cushions. Outdoors, choose a neutral background, like a green meadow. 

© Alex Rühl / stock.adobe.com

Ensure Adequate Lighting 

A nice background, good pose, and the best camera are useless if the lighting is poor. Good lighting, preferably lots of natural daylight, is essential for beautiful photos.

If you don’t have a photo lighting set, try photographing your cat near a large window or take the shoot outside in the garden. To avoid harsh shadows, don’t position yourself directly with your back to the light; instead, photograph from the side of the window or sunlight.

When your cat looks directly at the window, you get a white dot on its pupils – a popular effect in portrait shots. 

Indoors, you can increase your camera’s ISO setting slightly or use an external flash. The flash should always be directed upwards and only light the photo indirectly through the ceiling’s reflection.

Never flash directly in your cat’s face – it will scare it away. 

Cat Portraits: Sharp Front, Blurry Back 

Another tip to enhance your cat’s photo is to blur the background while keeping the cat’s face sharp.

Professionals achieve this by setting the aperture to a low number, between f2.8 and f3.2, for a wide aperture and shallow depth of field. The background will appear blurred, while your cat in the foreground is in sharp focus. Ensure the focus is on the cat’s eyes – sharp, expressive eyes make the portrait captivating. 

For those unfamiliar with photographic terms like focus, depth of field, aperture, and shutter speed, use the portrait mode found on most digital cameras (usually marked with a head symbol). Some smartphones also have portrait mode for blurred backgrounds. If your smartphone lacks this mode, you can download apps to reduce depth of field.

Alternatively, use a photo editing program or app to blur the background post-shoot. 

Cats in Action: Fast but Still Sharp 

A challenge in cat photography is that the four-legged model often doesn’t cooperate. Instead of sitting still and looking at the camera, it explores behind the camera, jumps on the scratching post, or runs to another room. Capturing your cat in motion or mid-jump is particularly appealing. The problem: such photos often turn out blurry or shaky and end up in the digital trash. 

To prevent this, use the shortest possible shutter speed on your camera. If you’re hesitant about manual settings, use the camera’s sports mode. When the cat is playing, the burst mode is also useful. This way, you won’t miss an original pose.

After the shoot, take time to sort the flood of images. And importantly: ensure enough storage space on your camera or smartphone beforehand. 

Get Down to Your Cat’s Eye Level 

Cat photos look more natural when taken from the cat’s perspective. Pictures shot from above often aren’t convincing, as too much background distracts and the cat looks small. So, get down on your knees! 

Position the camera at your cat’s eye level and try to capture its gaze horizontally. If you have knee problems, place your cat in a higher position, like on a table or scratching post. 

For a particularly majestic cat like a Persian or Maine Coon, get even lower and shoot from a frog’s perspective. This angle captures your stately cat impressively.

But be careful: sometimes cats look larger from below than they really are. 

How to Get Your Cat to Look at the Camera Lens 

Eye-catching photos have cats looking directly at the camera. But how do you get your curious cat to do that? Waiting for the right moment can test your patience. Fortunately, there are tricks to direct your feline friend’s gaze. 

The best results occur when a second person assists with the photoshoot. Attach an interesting toy to a stick. While you have your finger on the shutter, your partner gets the cat’s attention with the toy. Once the cat’s focused on the toy, your partner rapidly moves it towards the camera lens, the cat follows with its eyes, and you snap the photo!

If you’re alone, tap on the camera body with your finger to make clicking sounds that catch your indoor cat’s attention. Cats are naturally very curious – use this to your advantage! Alternatively, hold a tasty cat treat near the camera lens. Your cat will do anything to reach it and hopefully looks into the camera as it does. 

Come Closer 

For good cat photos, the cat must be the main focus with minimal background – you already know this. Unlike landscape photography, get close to your four-legged model. Your cat will notice the camera; it should ideally look directly into the lens. Get close and let your cat curiously “inspect” the camera – with luck, you’ll capture a great close-up. 

Detail shots, like only a paw or a unique nose spot, are also interesting and impressive when enlarged on any photo wall.

Remember to photograph in the highest quality possible. This way, you can crop the image later without it becoming pixelated when enlarged. 

Add the Finishing Touches: Photo Effects in Post-Processing 

While using #nofilter on Instagram can impress, sometimes special effects make photos true masterpieces. And let’s be honest: if celebrity photos in glossy magazines are edited, you can enhance your cat’s photos too. 

Interesting results are achieved by adjusting contrasts or slightly altering the colour. Some cat photos look more professional in black and white than in colour. Adding a vignette, where the image darkens towards the edges, makes your cat in the bright centre stand out even more. 

Practice Makes Perfect 

You now know many tips for taking beautiful photos of your beloved feline friend. Still, it might not happen immediately. But don’t worry, as they say: practice makes perfect! Whether in sports, music, painting, or cat photography: talent alone isn’t enough. True expertise comes with practice and training. 

So, grab your camera and experiment with different settings and perspectives. The more familiar you get with the technology, the quicker you can capture your cat’s interesting poses in fantastic photos. 

We wish you lots of fun, patience, and of course, plenty of good light while photographing your feline friend!