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

I’m still volunteering at the Animal Rescue League of Boston every week (except for one that I missed, oops). And every week I mean to post some of my favorite photos of adoptable cats, but every week I’ve pushed them aside in favor of “real” clients. Real clients who have a real home, a society that all these cats would love to join. Forgive me, sob.

But I just recently received a mass email sent by one of the staffers asking all of us to get the word out for these cats in any way we can, especially the older ones and those who have been here longest. It’s kitten season now, and so the older set need our help more than ever so they don’t remain overlooked. I’m on it!! So here’s a long overdue post, asking anyone in the Boston area who may be thinking of adopting a cat to consider any one of these little (and big) gems…

TIGER
Tiger on Petfinder

He’s a pretty young cat, I believe only a year old. I hope that a cat I’ve photographed the previous week isn’t there by the next, but I’ve been seeing him too frequently. He makes his presence known my reaching out his arm as faaaaaaar as it can go from between the bars of his cage, every time I walk by. He doesn’t scratch, he doesn’t claw – he just wants to let you know that Hi! I’m here!

Can you resist a cat with such a direct, honest gaze?

I caught him making a pact with his neighbor.

“Whoever gets out first will put in a good word for the other, k?”

Read more about Tiger on Petfinder!

*******

MARMALADE
Marmalade on Petfinder

Marmalade is the definition of a pretty kitty. I took her upstairs to the sitting room and she very nicely let me photograph her on the red couch. She was SO pretty and SO photogenic, that I quickly snapped something like 50 photos of her in 60 seconds. She has the most beautiful buff-colored coat, and the daintiest eyes and mouth.

I just put my finger on it. Marmalade looks like Kate Moss.

Read about Marmalade on Petfinder!

****

TONY
Tony on Petfinder

Here is Tony, a sweet kitty with the swishiest ear tufts and swoopiest whiskers. Have you noticed that I like orange cats?

Read more about Tony on Petfinder!

****

FIGARO
Figaro on Petfinder

Remember Figaro? He was the first cat I photographed when I started volunteering two months ago, and he’s still there! Back then he was already at the shelter for too long. Someone please take him home! He hates being in his cage and hates to be left alone. There have been several times when I’ve come to the shelter to use the playroom, only to find that Figaro is already hanging out there. I hate and love to see him! When he sees me, his eyes light up and his purr machine goes into overdrive. He’ll do the same for you! He’ll get so attached that he literally becomes a gigantic, purring burr on your ankles, making walking extremely dangerous! If I could, I want take him home in an instant.

FIGARO! FIGARO! FIGARO!

Ask to visit Figgy. Because he hates the cage so much, you can ask to have him transported to the sitting room upstairs (where the red chair is!) and get to know him there, where both of you can get all comfortable and purry. You’ll fall in love.

If anyone is thinking of adopting a new cat, come down to the ARL of Boston for a visit. Spread the word! These cats deserve a warm and loving home.

More to come soon!

From the moment I began to exist, I loved three things.

#1: Cats. We do not need to elaborate too much there. But as an anecdote, my favorite comment was made by a boyfriend a long time ago as we were traveling through Europe, in towns littered with strays, each of whom I tried to befriend. As I crouched and extended my hand to the umpteenth feline, enticing it to come out from beneath an overturned rowboat in exchange for a head scratch, he observed, “You stop for all cats.” I never realized it until he said it, but yes. Yes I do. I stop for all cats. And I think my traveling companion was kind of annoyed and/or horrified by it, because by all he meant ALL. The one-eyed versions, tail-less versions, the oily-haired versions. I’d stop to pet them all, pet them all good. And then go back and reach for his hand. Ha ha.

#2: Strawberries. I also stop for all strawberries. Dan has a co-worker who loves to bake desserts on the weekends. On Monday he IM’d me to say that this co-worker had this time brought in her own chocolate-covered strawberries, and they were colossal. I made him do a ghetto move and bring one back for me in a Tupperware. When he came home, I removed the strawberry from the Tupperware and the chocolate from the strawberry, ate just the strawberry, then said, “Oh hi you’re home.”

#3: Paper, and any paper-related goods, such as pens. My mom said I knew how to “write” before I could talk. If there was no paper to write on, I used my arm, my leg. Several years ago when my college BFF and I were unhappy at our desk jobs, we dreamed up a plan to start our own business in custom wedding invitations. She would be the right brain of the business, I would be the left.

We particularly liked letterpress so we decided we’d specialize in letterpressed stationery, and even went so far as to name the business The Cats on Beacon Hill. (By the way, this friend of mine calls me Cat and I call her Kitty. This whole cat thing runs deeeep.) Beacon Hill was (is) my favorite neighborhood in Boston. The residents are the type of clients we would want to cater to. Also we thought it sounded nice.

We had a couple of brainstorming sessions and even a few excel spreadsheets were drawn, but the start-up collapsed due to insufficient funds and lack of…anything and everything else necessary to start a business. For example, one question that came up during brainstorming was, “Um OK so how does letterpressing work…?” Neither of us really knew, and then we had a meeting to go to and a conference call to make, and well we never got to researching that part of our letterpressing business.

My love of paper is still intact though, and if I weren’t doing photography, I still would love my own little printing business. The thing that’s stopping me now isn’t lack of focus or drive. It’s lack of space. I met Sarah’s 100+ years-old press last weekend and it’s huuuge! But so beautiful. Sigh. I want one.

I think I need to get married again so I can have Sarah do the wedding invitations. Or maybe I need to finally have that baby now so she could do the announcements. Hmm.

But in the meantime, I am so, so, so happy about this:

And this!

They are CUSTOM-MADE (eeeeeee!!) letterpress plates made from my font and my logo.

Sarah mixed up the ink paste herself, matching the shade to that of the orange on my business card. Below are some practice sheets. I saw these in her studio – ah such a pretty little studio!! – and asked if I could have them.

Something about seeing my name and logo stamped over and over on scrap notecards had me in a small state of bliss. It just illustrates how painstakingly handmade, and therefore imperfect, and therefore beautiful, the whole process is.

100 cards inked and pressed by hand, just for me. This might sound crazy, but these cards are a DREAM COME TRUE.

The plan is to include a little note with each print order I make. The cards were going to say “Thank You” at the top, but then I couldn’t resist seeing my name in print. Also, now they don’t necessarily have to be thank you cards. Wish my name were longer though…more letters to press. “Knightly” would be a great name to see letterpressed. Or “M. Night Shyamalan.”

I’ve been gliding my fingertips over the impressions like inverted Braille. I don’t think I can bear to give any of these away.

If you get one of these notes from me, you must promise to never throw it away, ok? Not even into the recyling bin.

So if anyone has their own business and needs personalized cards for that added touch, or is getting married soon or knows someone who is getting married soon, tell them about Sarah and Things are Better With a Parrott. Because they are! Go local, go boutique, go special! Check out her etsy shop too! You will love your exquisitely made cards.

Love love love.

Sarah first contacted me sometime in October ‘08, when I was just starting out my pet photography business and was looking for some canine volunteers to fill my scant portfolio. She and her fiance live in Providence, and had just gotten Simone, a Lab mix rescue puppy who was then almost 5 months old. But due to a very bad case of email accounts mismanagement, I didn’t end up seeing Sarah’s email until February. Gah!

But we emailed back and forth during the ensuing months, and worked out a deal. It was a really good deal. Because Sarah had something I wanted, something I needed really, really badly. She has a custom stationery business. She has paper, lots of pretty, pretty paper. And she has a letterpress. Maybe you’re not aware of this, but paper + letterpress = the perfect couple.

So I asked her if we could do a crafty swap – I photograph her Simone in exchange for some letterpressed Thank You cards for my business. This past weekend we finally met to exchange our goods. First, I’ll show you what I gave Sarah. Then tomorrow I’ll show you what Sarah gave me. I totally think I got the better end of the deal!

Here now is Simone, at 11 months, technically an adult now but still bursting with puppy energy and personality.

I’d just like the viewers to know that while the photos below are displayed in the order they were taken, they do not follow any linear sort of order whatsoever, in that you begin with a dog who is full of energy, uses the energy, and as time passes, eventually spends that energy so that the dog has to stop to replenish that energy. Simone did not work that way. She had internal buzzers that told her to lounge…then bzzz! get crazy and roll over…then bzzz! fall asleep…bzzz!!! look out the window…bzzz! run around in circles…you get the idea.

“Now I’m calm…”

“NOW I’M NAWT!!!”

Simone has the head of a Lab, the body of a whippet, and the legs of a supermodel.

“I know. I am part dog, part Gisele Bundchen.”

After the world’s quickest open-eyed nap, Simone headed outside to show off her amazing athletic abilities.

“Now I’m in the air! Now I’m on the ground!”

I have so many photos of her in this pose.

Here is when Simone decided that chasing sticks all afternoon long was not going to save the world; however, digging a hole would.

After a quick break and some finishing touches, Simone gives her handiwork a full inspection before she calls it a day.

“Yup. Yup. Mmhmm yup.”

“TADA I has dugs you a hole and eaten summuvit!!”

Now we come to the more posed shots of the session. I would say a photoshoot with me generally comprises 80% candids: me following the dog around and capturing whatever it is she decides to do. The remaining 20% are posed shots: me telling the owner to tell the dog to do something in front, on top, behind, or next to something else, and major bonus points if the dog smiles in the right direction.

I do these kinds of shots to give some variety in the shoot. And also to test my or the owner’s or the dog’s patience, I think! Sometimes the more you want it, the more likely you won’t get it, the more you want it…begin vicious cycle. In this case, it was Simone’s patience that was being tried. I think she was like, Dude! Enough of all the sitting. The yard has but just ONE HOLE.

But she did so good while we roamed around College Hill and the waterfront.

BYE BYE now! Thanks for visiting!
xoxo, Simone

Next up: The FOCStudio letterpress notecards from Sarah’s Things Are Better with a Parrott design studio. Her stuff is exquisite. Y’aller gonna be so jealous.