A Beginner's Guide to Cat Photography (2024)

I always find that the perfect way to capture a moment is in a photo. With nine fantastic felines, I take a lot of photos. I have had the same camera for a couple years now and while it has been awesome, it was time for an upgrade.

I wanted a camera that was more compact and something that would take my cat photography to the next level. Thankfully, that came to me in the form of the Fuji X-A3! I used the camera’s fantastic features and options to create A Beginner’s Guide to Cat Photography. Enjoy these helpful tips!

A Beginner’s Guide to Cat Photography Tips!

Choose Your Cat Subject: Every cat has a personality. When you are beginning cat photography, it is super important to work with cats that are easier to shoot. These are usually the friendly, easy-going type of kitties.

I found with the Fuji X-A3 that taking cat photos in Macro came out gorgeously, as you can see in the close-up photo above. My cat subject was my sweet ginger kitty, Jasper and you don’t get more easy going and lovable than him!

Capture Moods: While we can attempt to elicit a particular response from a cat, it is pretty unreasonable. Cats are independent and prefer to do their own thing.You want to capture your cat in their truest form, which means letting them be themselves. If your cat is grumpy, then let them be grumpy.

If your cat feels irritated, then capture that. We all know how cute irritated ears can be, as you can see in the above photo of my cat, Figaro. He is a gorgeous Ragdoll and his moods are many! I loved that the Fuji X-A3 has a touch screen, which allowed me to “touch shoot” and “touch zoom” no matter what mood I was capturing!

Focus on Image Quality: If you are taking the time to photograph cats, you want the images to be at their very best. While leaps and bounds can be taken when it comes to editing, you still can’t achieve greatness with a poor quality photo. There are many fabulous choices out their for cameras, but I am loving my Fuji X-A3 because the quality can’t be beat.

It has a 24.2 megapixel image sensor, so it allows for outstanding image quality. Eleven film simulation modes and advanced filters also gives me more options. Soft focus and partial colour are two of my very favorite for fun effects when photographing cats!

Skill Level Minimal? No Worry! These are Cat Photography Tips For All Skill Levels!

Appreciate Details: When we think of cat photos, the first thing that comes to mind is head or full-body shots. This is great, but there is so much more to a cat than just the main features. Every aspect that makes up a cat including the tail, eyes, nose, ears, whiskers and especially paws are photo-worthy. I personally love cat paws and they are adorable to shoot.

It gives you a stylistic approach to your photos and who doesn’t love that! I like to feature my photos on my social sites as well as on the blog. The Fuji X-A3 allows for wireless communication, which means I can sync the camera photos to my phone. I can also print photos and remote-control shoot!

Add Cool Effects: The beauty of photography really is in the camera options. You can never go wrong with a fun “pop of colour” or whatever fun setting your camera can offer. My Fuji X-A3 allows for Partial Colour, so I was able to highlight my handsome cat, Jinxy, with the orange setting. The other colour options are blue, red, purple, green and yellow. This fun setting allows me to save a lot of time on editing as well!

Enjoy It: Photos are meant to be taken with passion. You want to be enjoying your cat photography so that you can take those perfect shots and grow with the craft. This isn’t meant to be a painful experience for you or your cat. I personally found that taking photos with the Fuji X-A3 allowed me to enjoy what was happening more so than usual.

I attribute this to the compact design, the awesome pink colour of the camera I chose, the ease of shooting and all the fantastic features. In summation, love your cat, love using the right camera and you will love the photos you are taking!

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