Li Ward photographer of pets and weddings. Fat Orange Cat Studio is a fresh and candid boutique photography service in Boston, Massachusetts.

The usual cat playroom that I bring adoptable cats to be photographed was not vacant when I stopped by the shelter today. A growling, very frightened new tenant was in there, trying to get acclimated to his new environment before being placed into his cage. Poor thing. So I photographed in the room next door, furnished with a long dark gray couch that had plenty of hiding space underneath (again, I’m exhausted from the exertion of not only hauling cats up and down the stairs but also from wrassling them out from underneath the couch), and one very vibrant, fire engine-colored chair.

Place a black cat against this chair and WOW. Eye pop!

This is Dipstick.

I thought it was a really funny name, even for a cat. And then I saw his tail.

Just the very nubbly tip of it is snow white. He was on high alert, constantly whipping that dipstick about.

But after a few neck rubs and cat treats, he settled down quite comfortably in that red chair.

He has the daintiest, scalloped marking on his paws. They’re not so much bootsies as they are a French manicure.

I brought him in with his sister Paulina. They make quite the yin yang pair, not just in markings but also in temperament. She was the one I spent most of my time trying to coax from underneath the couch. Look at the difference in their body language as they react to some noise outside.

They need to be adopted together, the way Bunny and Veebs also needed to be adopted together. This was the only facial shot Paulina would give me before she jumped off and hid herself away again.

More room for Dipstick to stretch out and relax….

Read more about Dipstick and Paulina here.

PS. Had some difficulty getting sharply focused shots today. Combination of trying to work quickly before cats jumped away and…not sure what else. The lighting wasn’t too bad. Just an off day I guess. But LOVE that red chair! It saved my shots!

I’ve been holed up in my office for the last several days working on getting that coffee table book designed and out the door. I even unplugged myself from the internet, known as Most Evil of All Time Suckers, to keep myself free of distractions.

The layouts I kept fairly simple: about 2 to 3 images per pet, lots of white space, no two-page spreads or creases to worry about. Nevertheless, and not really surprisingly, each page took about FOREVER and two days to cobble together. Forever. To make them worth the effort, I’d have to charge about $999.99 per book. That’s the bad news. But for the one piece of bad news I give you TWO pieces of good news!
1) Any subsequent printings of the same book would only cost $100.00! So yay! $1099.99 for two custom coffee table books of your beloved pet! And
2) if indicators are correct, these books will come out kicking some major butt.

Here is a little sampling of the contents. It’s going to be a hardcover, 8×8 hinged book (will lay flat when opened). The first 20 sides are of dogs, the next 20 of are cats.

This is the cover. Back, spine, and front.

“fresh & candid pet photography” is my current tagline, and I’m trying to drive that point as many times and in as many places as possible. Used the official FOCStudio font throughout, and the official FOCStudio colors of sea blue (is there an actual name for this shade of blue?) and orange.

Of course as official mascot of Fat Orange Cat Studio, Veebs gets the last word. The last photo cracks me up. He looks all squished the way he flattens the top of his head when he yawns. And crinkles his nose so violently that there are two deep creases running down it. And that scratchy tongue that looks like a swooshy slide. Not to mention those little fangs, which love to tear into Cat Chow and roast beef.

I can’t wait to see how the final product turns out. Then I can more properly judge if $999.99 for a book is appropriate. Heh.

I photographed this pooch outside of his home in Beijing several months ago, and need help identifying what type of breed he is.

He looks like a Papillon but doesn’t have the obvious butterfly ears.

Maybe he’s a Tibetan Spaniel? Or a mixture of? Something else entirely?

I’m in the process of designing layouts for a book of the dogs and cats I’ve so far photographed. I had considered and then unconsidered offering books because they are so time consuming to make and thus would have to be rather pricey. But I figure if I bring a sample with me to the Pawsh grand opening party, use it as both a portfolio and possible product offering, have people be able to see it and touch it…it couldn’t hurt, right?

If nothing else, I’ll have made a nice coffee table book for myself.

So I’m going through all my dog photos and some are looking fresh and new again to my eyes. Photos that were flagged as “rejected” are now “picked.” This is why I have such a hard time deleting images forever, and why I have 2 terabytes of external hard drives to back up my files. It’s out of control. You never know, with the passage of time and a pair of fresh eyes, something that was bad might become good again.

Like these blurry oops! photos. This one of Bob the Boston cracks me up everytime I see it.

Bahaha!  Is that Bob or is that the littlest black and white shark in a sea of chum? He’s been churned up into such a state of frenzy. I like how despite the blur you can still make out his markings. In fact they might even be magnified now. Rrrrr rrrr rrrr!

Another blurry shot of Sadie the Springer:

Tossing her lovely locks about, pink tongue on the move!

Then there are these overexposed shots that I’m really liking.

I took this shot of Lola the Springer indoors, at night. A lamp was behind her right side, so part of her head is backlit, while the other is underexposed. I bumped up the exposure compensation and shot wide open. I didn’t like how it turned out, but once I switched it to black and white, oooo! So moody. So romantic. She just might be selling perfume.

Also, I heart negative space!

Sadie again, totally blown out. We had just stepped outside, a bright sunny day, and I shot with my camera still on indoor settings. I didn’t give this a second look until just now in Lightroom, where I increased the blacks and added a some sharpening. I think I might love it. A lot. Dog in negative space, yum.  And you can still make out the anticipation on her face.

I’m loving the potential of imperfect shots that turn into something much more interesting!

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the rescue league. They have many felines in need of homes, so I’ll be focusing on them for now. Not a problem, for it is I, Cat Lady. She who stops for all cats.

Before photographing I transported each cat to the “cat playroom” upstairs above the shelter, away from the cages and the unflattering fluorescent lighting. Hauling rather hefty cats in carriers up and down stairs and down hallways has reminded me once again how I need to start expecting the unexpected exercise that comes with photography. It’s getting too embarrassing to hear myself wince the next morning because I can barely operate my arms, you know?

This is Figaro, gorgeous and voluptuous. He could eat Veebs for breakfast and still be hungry. If I were to adopt him I’d rename him as Bustopher Jones.

Below is the photo I submitted for petfinder.com

But this one is my favorite.

Whatchootalkinbout, Willis?