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

I have a corollary to my last “Things I Like” post back in March, regarding calligraphy. I have been keeping up with it, putting in at least one hour of writing every day – calligraphy is such an easy procrastinating device! – that I have gotten much, much better since my first post. I have miles to go before my hand looks strong and sure, and it will be some time more before I feel like I have my own style, but nevertheless I’m feeling confident enough now to offer my hand-lettering services to couples planning a wedding, without too much fear that anyone will laugh in my face.

In fact I have a few couples for whom I’m slated to do some calligraphy work. Some are couples whose wedding I’m photographing, and some are not! There will be menus to write on chalkboard, dessert cards for dessert tables, and even hand-drawn cat and dog portraitures (more on that later). Really, any little bit of writing makes me SO HAPPY.

I always knew I would love calligraphy, if I would just sit down and do it! Why I never did until now, I’ll never know. Well, I’m off and skipping and hopping down this path now, and I hope to talk about my calligraphy progress some more on this blog, as well as my inspiration, so I hope you don’t mind if the topics diverge occasionally from that of pet photography!

Here are some samples of fictitious addresses that I had a grand time concocting. (Except for Edward Gorey. He’s real and his illustrations are another source of inspiration.) My stock pile of Crane’s stationery is finally being put to good use. And yes, Jane Austen et al. are totally #1 on the list of Things I Like. I kind of localized all the characters. It is not hard to picture Emma Woodhouse as a Connecticut-suburb kind of gal, or that Rochester might be found brooding away in the bayous of Louisiana…

So if you or anyone you know is looking for calligraphy needs, and you don’t think I stink, let me know! My fingers are itching to write.

Last but not least we have the remaining crew from Sundara’s household. Just an fyi on her family timeline over the last 6 years or so: she started with Simon, then Eddie, then Augustus the dog, then found a litter of kittens, spayed and kept the mother (Adeline) and one of her babies (Ulysses), had the rest adopted, and then welcomed Lily into the household. Yes, she is no doubt that crazy dog and cat lady! I love it.

I also loved photographing in Sundara’s house. The interior is open and the walls are stark white except for a bold swath of orange (yay!) on the kitchen cabinetry. A very large window facing east I mean west let the light in all afternoon. I had a field day with sun flare and light bouncing off all the white walls.

SIMON

EDDIE (a scaredy cat. This is the only photo you’ll see of him)

ULYSSES

ADELINE

I had a lovely time visiting Sundara and her four-legged posse out in Seattle. Hope to see you all again soon!

I’m trying to catch up on the photos I took way back in March when we traveled to Seattle to visit my friend Sundara, the one who introduced me to this here crazy world of candid pet photography. We timed our visit juuuuust right, for the house was RIFE with PUPPIES! Puppies in your shoes, puppies in the rafters, puppies everywhere! For Augustus a new playmate was just added, another Cavalier King Charles puppy who is Augustus’s biological half sister. Her name is Lily. Sundara’s own sister also adopted a puppy from the same litter, whom she named Daisy. Lily and Daisy are about 4 months old here and are STINKING CUTE. Except when they tried to eat their own poo.

Here’s Lily, and a little bit of Daisy too.

That’s Daisy ^

Here now is a true fat orange cat. Yogi is a gorgeous Maine Coon, and at 19 lbs he really puts my own fat orange cat to shame. I came home from the shoot and Veebs suddenly resembled to me a small orange pea. I think I will now disclose that Veebs is really not that fat, and so my company name is a sham. It should be renamed to Cheerful Orange Cat Whose Plumbing Got Recently Backed Up Because His Mom Tried to Switch Him to a Raw Diet (but that is another story for another day).

I slung Yogi over my shoulder and it was like carrying a baby lion that had just eaten a baby hippo. I loved it!

Yogi is from the same household as Kendall the boxer. He is a funny little bugger. He was so very camera-ready.  Look at him lounging on his back, doing the occasional stomach crunch. What do you mean this isn’t normal?