The next time you want to take a picture of your pet...

If you’re taking a photo of your pet – get down...

Some professional pet photographers have some really good tips to get a much better shot:

• Make sure to crouch, kneel or even lie on your belly. Getting down on the pet’s perspective will make your pet look better and give you a much more interesting shot.

• Get in close. You want to fill the frame with your subject and avoid getting too much of a distracting background in there.

• Use natural light whenever possible. Flashes will almost always result in red-eye and can take away detail and texture of their fur and other features. Filtered light by a window is best.

• Capture their personality. If you have a lazy cat – consider a shot of her yawning. If you have an active dog – capture him doing his favorite trick.

You might get lucky on that first shot – but in most cases you’ll need a lot of patience and plenty of time to get some really good photos of your pet. Be prepared to take a lot of pictures - some of the best animal shots are the ones you weren’t expecting.