How to take good photos of your animal

You don't need an expensive camera or a professional photographer. A phone, good light, a clean background and a little patience are enough to show buyers what your animal is really like.

Why your photos matter

Buyers can't stand in your pasture and look your animal over. For most of them, your photos are the first look they get at it.

A good animal in a dark, blurry or distant photo can look average, and buyers may never look closely enough to find out otherwise. Clear photos give your animal a fair chance at the bidding it deserves.

We're not looking for perfect photos. We're looking for photos that fairly show the animal you're selling.

The photos buyers need

A listing needs at least 3 photos and can carry up to 20. Start with these four.

A Highland cow standing side-on in a pasture with its head up and all four legs visible

Side profile

This is the most important photo in your listing. Stand level with the animal's side so buyers can judge its length, topline and structure.

  1. Head up and alert
  2. The whole body in frame, nose to tail, with some space around it
  3. Camera level with the chest
  4. All four legs showing, standing as square as possible
A horned, long-haired bull facing the camera with its head up

Front

Shows width through the chest and how the animal stands on its front legs.

Rear

Shows width through the hindquarters and how the back legs are set.

A close photo of a horned cow's head, with its eye clearly visible

Head

Welcome, especially for horned and long-haired breeds. Add it alongside the full-body photos, never instead of them.

Close-ups help too, where they tell a buyer something: feet and legs, the udder or testicles, and any tags or markings. If the animal has a flaw, show that as well.

Before you start

Clean and brush the animal

You don't need to fit it for a show. Take a few minutes to brush out mud, hay and burrs so buyers can see the face and eyes, and so the coat isn't hiding the animal's structure.

Choose a clean background

An open pasture, a fence line or a plain barn wall works well. Move away from equipment, vehicles, feed sacks, manure piles and other animals, so nothing competes with the one you're selling.

Several cattle crowded together behind the bars of metal pen gatesNot this
Gates and other cattle in the way. A buyer can't see the animal's body or tell which one is for sale.Photo (cropped): Sam Wilson (opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)

Clean your phone's lens

Fingerprints and dust make a good photo look hazy or blurry. Wipe the lens with a soft cloth before you start.

Taking the photos

Shoot in soft light

Early morning and late afternoon usually give the most flattering light. Try not to shoot straight into the sun, and avoid harsh shadows where you can.

A cow in solid black silhouette against a bright orange sunsetNot this
Shooting into the sun turns the animal into a dark shape, with no coat, face or structure to see.Photo (cropped): Holly Victoria Norval (opens in a new tab), CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab)

Wait for the head to come up

Photos of an animal grazing, eating hay or standing with its head down don't show it at its best. Wait until it's alert and standing naturally.

A pale bull grazing with its head down behind a wire fenceNot this
With the head down, a buyer can't see the face or judge how the animal carries itself.Photo: Graham Robson (opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab)

Hold your phone at chest height

Bend a little so your phone is roughly level with the animal's chest. Shooting down from standing height can change how its proportions look. For a side profile, keep the phone square to the animal's side.

Use the 1× camera or portrait mode

Portrait mode on many phones softens the background and helps the animal stand out. Check that the finished photo still looks natural, especially around long hair and horns.

Avoid the 0.5× ultra-wide lens, and don't stand very close. Both stretch the animal's proportions.

A calf photographed against a soft, blurred backgroundThis
A soft background keeps attention on the animal.
A cow's nose filling the photo, stretched huge by a wide-angle lensNot this
Too close, on a wide lens. The nose looks enormous and the rest of the animal is lost.Photo (cropped): Sergi Gomez Sanchis (opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Fill about two-thirds of the frame

The animal should be large enough to see clearly, with a little space around it. A distant photo that has to be cropped or enlarged will look soft.

A few cattle, very small, grazing across a wide fieldNot this
Too far away. The animals are small shapes in a big field, and none can be judged.Photo (cropped): Dietmar Rabich (opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Tap to focus, then take lots

Tap the animal on your screen so your phone focuses on it. Animals rarely cooperate for the first photo, so take 20, 30 or 50 while you're in a good spot, then choose the few that show the animal best and most accurately.

Keep it honest

Good light, grooming and positioning are encouraged, and basic edits like cropping or adjusting brightness are fine.

Don't use filters, AI or other editing tools to change how the animal looks, replace or create a background, or add or remove features. Don't upload flyers or graphics in place of photos. Every photo should show the animal you're selling, as it is today. Our listing standards set out what a listing's photos must show.

Check before you upload

Look at your photos as if you were a buyer seeing this animal for the first time.

  • Can you clearly see the animal's structure, feet and legs?
  • Is it in focus, and large enough in the frame?
  • Is its head up?
  • Would a buyer who has never seen it in person get a fair picture of it?
List an animalListing standards