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

I met Jameson (yes, named after the bottle) and his lovely owner one beeyootiful fall afternoon at the Boston Public Garden last month for this Sato’s first pet photoshoot. The leaves were only starting to change, not as fall-foliagey as I had expected it to be by then, so I was excited when I screened through the shots and saw so many dominated by warm golds and oranges. It’s funny what the camera will pick up what the brain sometimes doesn’t. I was even happier to see Jameson’s playful personality shine through. I really love photographing at the Public Garden – it’s not a big space, and yet there seems to be an endless amount of beautiful backdrops to photograph against. But I can see how the Garden can be pretty distracting for a first-timer like Jameson, what with all the humans and squirrels and ducks and even the occasional police horse ambling by (ooo no, we did not like the horse, not at all!).  But he worked it, he worked it good. After our shoot Jameson’s mom sent me a mobile photo of him passed out in the backseat of the car. That’s when you know you’ve done it right!

Dan and I have been back from our two-week travels in Taipei, Taiwan for several days now, and I knew that as soon as I was over being sick from the journey back (how many ways can I say I HATE FLYING) and finishing up Maple & Penny’s book layout, I was going to blog about Gigi. Gigi, the most adorable kitty on the entire island. The entire universe! We took a little trip to Kenting, in the southern-most…nub, for lack of a better word…of Taiwan with my mother, who booked us a place at the most charming little inn near the water, fashioned after the whitewashed houses of Santorini, Greece. After an afternoon of hiking, we returned to the inn but never made it back to our rooms. Gigi was lounging on the couch in the office, looking completely unreal, like an animatronic in the Japanese section of Epcot Center, complete with quivering, anime eyes. I MUST GO TO THERE!!! So we went to Gigi, and she was soooo soft, her fur shaved close to keep cool, and I picked her up and she was soooo heavy and soooo floppy, and she purred, had the most humongous green eyes, a lion’s tail, chubby legs, ears far apart, drank out of the running faucet, all the water beaded up adorably on her face, and we all nearly died.

She is Persian Ragdoll mix. I could have very easily traded sight-seeing to spend an entire day with Gigi. But now that I’ve shared, I must get back to combing the internet for a Gigi to adopt.

Her owners shared their Gigi photo album with us – click here to see. This photo in particular is just Too Much.

These girls are Maple and Penny, two copper-colored retrievers with whom I had a fabulous autumn shoot in Boston last month. I just love their names. We had a great time photographing at home, on the Commonwealth Ave Mall, and along the Esplanade by the Charles River. The two goldens of course could not resist taking a couple of dips into the chilly water, despite having just been given a fluffy pre-shoot bath. I could not resist crashing on the couch after the shoot. Between keeping up with this playful pair, and fighting the crazy wind that day, I was completely wiped! Pet photography is the greatest form of exercise, so it’s nice that it’s also the only form of exercise I’m willing to do. Anyway, this was the first time I had a chance to do a pet shoot in the Back Bay, and I can’t wait to do more. I love photographing along Comm Ave and the Esplanade – so very Boston, so very pretty.

The above are some sample layouts from their 8×8 coffee table book. I just delivered the first layout version to Maple and Penny’s owner (the last 3 images are my favorites. Oh and the ones of them debating under the table are pretty hilarious too). I hope she likes them – the final product should be very very nice!