Pets and kids

Pets and kids relationships make great pictures

YOUR CHILD AND YOUR PET TOGETHER ARE A NATURAL FOR PICTURES

Who gets along better in life than pets and kids? They were made for each other, it seems. And what better way is there to capture and record that great relationship than with a camera?

DON'T WAIT TILL TOMORROW

If your pet and your child or children are inseparable, don't let too much time go by without taking pictures that will remind you both for life of the way they were. Watch them at play with your camera handy, awaiting the right moment. And there will be at least one opportunity for a memorable photo, probably many.

FOR MORE NATURAL PICTURES, BECOME A SILENT OBSERVER

To minimize your influence over the relationship and keep it as natural as it is, use a telephoto lens if you can, or the telephoto setting of your zoom lens, and keep yourself under control.

Avoid saying interfering things like "Smile, honey." If possible, don't even let on you are photographing them, so their behavior will remain natural and unaffected by attention from you. If you can keep yourself out of it and simply record on film what happens, your resulting pictures are probably the best you can get, because they are true to life. Happy memories of a really happy event.

SHOOT A SERIES OF PICTURES

If a series of related pictures can be taken, like the sequence shown here between a little girl and a bull terrier pup playing on a sand pile, don't hesitate. You will look at the pictures several times in your life, and be reminded every time of how wonderful pets and kids are, especially yours.

START WHEN YOUR NEW PET ARRIVES AT HOME

Your pet-and-kids picture-taking can begin with the day you get your new pet, or the day you introduce your new baby to your old pet.

About to pick up a new pet? Bring your camera to the kennel, the SPCA, the animal shelter or the pet shop, and capture the delighted looks on your children's faces when they find out it's real, and YES! We get to keep him.

If the pet is young, a puppy or a kitten, for instance, and the children are permitted to hold it, their mixed expressions of happiness, awe and care when the little animal is handed to them will probably be unrepeatable later and should be photographed then and there. Make sure you get down to their level and compose the image so that the frame is filled.