With the beautiful holiday decorations and the fun that happens this time of year, it’s a great opportunity to get some nice photos of your pet.

As most pet owners know, taking good pet pictures can be a real challenge. Often you end up with shots that are too close, too far away, very blurred or feature your pet with green eyes.

There are ways to get good images of your pets, but it takes a lot of patience. Here are some tips to get quality images of your beloved animals, during the holidays or any time of year.

• Before the photo session, make sure your pet is well groomed and its environment is clean. Check ears and eyes for dirt and wipe it away gently with a cotton pad. Bathe or brush the pet to make its coat shine and remove any dirt or foreign objects.

• Make your pet comfortable. A picture of your pet looking happy and chewing on a favorite bone may be better than a photo of your pet looking scared, without the bone. If your pet likes a special toy, try to capture it when it’s playing and at ease. Offer lots of treats and make it fun. If your pet starts to get uncomfortable or nervous, stop the photography session and try again a little later. Be sure to offer lots of treats and pets to make the animal understand that posing for photos results in great treatment.

• Get down on the pet’s level. This is key to getting good photos of any subject, especially pets. Doing this fills the frame with your pet and helps to eliminate background clutter, plus your pet will look more real than if you take photos while standing above it.

If it’s hard for you to get down on the floor for any reason, see if you can get your pet to pose on a sofa or table. Make sure the pet is safe and can’t hurt itself trying to get down or escape from the location you’ve chosen.

• Try to avoid using a flash. In a dark room, or with a completely automatic camera, you may not have a choice. But the flash can startle many animals, and the resulting photos are often poor and feature those haunting green eyes.

While photo editing software can sometimes remove this “green eye” effect (much like red eye in humans), it can’t always be used successfully. Often photos that are retouched by an amateur will show signs of it or look unnatural. It’s best to try and get an original image that doesn’t need a lot of work beyond a little lightening or sharpening. A flash can also be unflattering for dark-furred animals.

Use a higher speed of film or adjust the settings on your digital camera for low light. Make sure your area is as well lit as you can make it, and experiment with different sources of light. Remember that photos without flash may look more blurry. If you want to try using a flash, try it at the end of the session, so if the pet gets scared, you can easily stop.

• Choose a neutral background that doesn’t compete with or overwhelm your pet. A white background for a white cat, for example, will make your pet look washed out. And a black pet on a dark background will lack definition. Look for backgrounds that contrast with your pet, and that aren’t too busy. Plain is best, so you don’t see plants or furniture “growing” out of your pet.

• Take lots of pictures. Because pets can be unpredictable, and often move right when you have them where you want them, you will need to be prepared to take dozens of photos.

If you do not use a digital camera, you might consider borrowing or purchasing one to take pet photos. You can get lots of frames without worrying about the cost of film or of getting it developed.

Another benefit to using a digital camera is that you can see immediately whether you’ve gotten a good image. If you don’t, keep trying — but you won’t have to wait until you get your images developed to find out.

To get the best quality digital prints without investing in a photo printer and excellent quality photo paper, consider sending or taking them to a photo processor that can make prints from digital files. Rush Hour Photo in Corvallis, for example, now lets people order digital prints online through their Web site, www.rushhourphoto.com. If you are a Costco member, you can get a similar service through their Web site, www.costco.com. You send the images electronically and pick them up when it’s convenient.

The most basic rule of pet photography: If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Unless your pet is completely traumatized by the camera (some dogs are), you can always try again at a time when both you and the pet are more relaxed.

Jennifer Gardner is a freelance writer and editor and a board member at Heartland Humane Society in Corvallis. She enjoys writing about all animals but specializes in rabbits and other small pets. If you have questions or comments about this column or other pet issues, please e-mail Jennifer at jennifer@visualpeople.com or write c/o The Gazette-Times.