Capturing the unexpected with Dr. Chris Brown

Dr. Chris Brown is as well versed in photography as he is animals. On our road trip we stopped at this curious spot and found some new friends to photograph. Here Chris shares his animal photography tips to help you take great pictures of your furry friends at home and on your travels.

You never really know when that diamond of a shot is going to pop out from nowhere. In fact, photographing animals is something that takes time and patience. Travelling often provides the most unexpected subjects in everyday places, from a mysterious black cat to a beautiful dog on the back of a ute.

I always find when you’re out and about the best plan is a very flexible one. I have had to photograph a lot of animals in my time and quite often they’re un-cooperative so what I try to do is get the aperture as low as possible.

Get the shutter speed as high as possible and use some spot metering. That way you know that the light allocation for the particular animal you're photographing is going to be perfect. For example, if you're shooting in a fairly dark area and your subject is a black cat, then a bigger aperture such as f/1.4 will let a lot of light in.

The thing I love about cats or really any animal in a location is they add a real mood to that spot and cats always seem to just top up the mystery factor.

The key with any animal shot is working with them, not against them, so if like here, they decide that they want to have a rest, that’s fine. And you just work with the shot you’ve now got. So it just goes to show no matter what yore doing, even if it’s just a little cup of coffee, you should always take your camera. You never know what little surprises could pop out of no where.

Watch the next video with Chris: photographing food