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

The first pet shoot of the new year began with Logan’s third and final session of his Puppy Progress Package, which started back in April. His life began tenuously and he was barely the size of a shoe when I first met him.  Now, he’s a lean, mean, snow-eating machine. All 50 pounds of him. As with his second session in July, we began the day at home and then headed out to Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, right outside Boston. The Arboretum is not far from where we live, but we only think to visit during their lilac festival in the spring. We’re going to have to come out here more regularly. There was already several inches of fresh powder on the ground, with more falling lightly from the slate-colored sky. All around there was quiet whiteness, brittle branches, the occasional spray of red berries. It was beautiful; the perfect day and place to spend frolicking with a puppy.

But sniff! A puppy no longer!

I’m going to miss Logan. It has been so fun watching him grow from that fragile, nearly-euthanized little mite, to this handsome, healthy adult.  And it’s been a pleasure to document his first year for his parents. I might have to do a “seasons” package now to keep this going! So though this shoot might have been the last of the Puppy Package, it’s also the first of the Four Seasons Package – we have Spring, Summer and Fall to look forward to now! How ’bout it Logan?

I thought for blog posts going forward I would include some behind-the-scenes shots when Dan is accompanying me and holding the other camera, or self-portraits when it’s just me. Dan has absolutely no eye, so the simple technical accomplishments thrill me, like when his photograph is in focus. So it’s been a pleasant surprise that he’s actually improved his compositional skills too, and catching things that are interesting, like a line of snow collecting on a tree trunk:

And I thought I’d include some bloopers too:

Bye Logan!

Keira is the final 4-legged member of the family that included Emma, Casey, and Logan.

This is what Jean has to say:
Keira is the youngest at almost 4 years. She is a skinny orange tabby, and you can see the devil in her eyes! She is constantly moving around, causing trouble. She’s so annoying and opinionated I threaten to give her away, then she will just plop herself in your lap and settle in.

A subject with the devil in her eyes, causing trouble, being annoying, constantly moving around…not exactly recipes for a successful photo shoot. I was sitting on the stairs hoping to catch Keira as a non-moving blur and as she roamed continuously up and down the stairs, from one room to the next, this way that way up here over there, I was like, Great. FAIL.

And then I opened all the images from the shoot, and while I cooed at Logan’s puppy face, whistled at Emma’s green green eyes, and aww’d at Casey’s tortoise-shelled coat, it was Keira and her photos that made me HAHAHAHA! What a kangaroo!

Here is Keira with the Devil in Her Eyes:

Keira as Trouble:

And Keira, Constantly Moving Around:

The unfocused shots, which I might have trashed back in the day, are becoming my favorite kinds of shots. Not that I would deliberately shove the camera in the animal’s face to get it of course. It has to happen naturally, like it did over and over and OVER again with Keira. You would have thought my lens was a giant opened can of steaming tuna the way she kept making a bee line to press her wet nose against it.

I was actually trying to get Casey in the above shots, and then Keira’s tweaked out face appeared in the viewfinder. What a little camera hog.

She’s UP the stairs, she’s DOWN the stairs, she’s ON the stairs.

She’s IN the lens again. Tweak!

But finally, a few still moments by the window. Shhh…

Keira’s toes are from Funky Town.

I wish we could hear the thoughts that go inside of a cat’s head, especially in one so loony tunes.

All the aspects of her personality that make her extremely difficult to photograph turned out to be exactly the qualities that make her a wonderful subject. Keira was not the most photogenic kitty (let’s be honest), but she certainly was the most expressive and the funniest.

Orange tabbies rule.

I have a queue of felines lining up to have their moment in the internet sun, so without further ado, here is Emma, the lovely emerald-eyed matriarch of a family of two humans, three cats, and one puppy (Logan!).

This is what Emma’s mom Jean has to say about her:
Emma is my first cat (11 years old) and is very special. She’s a dark gray tabby with green eyes. She’s a bit more standoffish than the others, but that’s just a facade. She’s actually the most codependent of the 3. She is extremely smart (trouble!) and gets into things. I can’t really explain what it is about her that I love best!

She may not know what it is about Emma that she loves best (if it were up to me, I’d say Those Eyes!) but off camera, Jean told me she does love her best. We all try to appear unbiased and diplomatic, but let’s not p-foot around the issue here and call a spade a spade. We all have our favorites. Favorite color, favorite aunt, favorite cocktail, favorite method of social networking…There’s a reason my business is Fat Orange Cat Studio and not Skinny Grey Tabby Cat with the Truncated Tail Studio (Baxter does have a truncated tail, all crunchy and occasionally troublesome, remind me to show you). It is true: My choice is Veebs, and Jean’s is Emma.

So much of a favorite is Emma that there are bed linens that match the cat’s coloring. It was a deliberate, calculated move. As a fellow member of the Crazy Cat Lady Club of North America, I appreciate her choice of decor inspiration very much.

“Ha ha. I’m so pretty.”

“Unbearably pretty.”

“But I never complain.”

Emma is not only an elegant and proper cat, she is also extremely…well-trained.

Jean busted out the treats, commanded Emma to “sit!” and lo and behold. She sat. The seas parted. I freaked. She sat! On command! A cat! did this. All three of her cats in fact. Spooky!

“Lower, please.”

Jean says cats are trainable when a reward is involved, just as dogs. Not to discredit her – I mean I SAW THREE CATS SIT ON COMMAND – but I highly doubt Veebs or even Baxter is smart (or dumb?) enough to be trained. True, Veebs who will do just about anything for roast beef. But getting him to sit for roast beef won’t work, because as you’re getting ready to make a sandwich, he’s already planted himself next to you on his fat bottom. Waiting. He’s three steps ahead of you.

So for roast beef can I get Veebs to roll over? Shake hands? Stop molesting the carpet?? Use the toilet??? Do the accounting????

“Pfffth. Get real.”

No, no one’s as smart, or as pretty, as Emma.

“Going for a nap now. Please make sure the puppy’s not here when I return kthx.”

I am so behind. My parents came for a visit here last weekend for 4 days, and it threw my entire schedule off course. Blew it off course in a very nice way though, as we played Wii tennis, ate out frequently, roamed around Boston…and convinced them to buy me Stuff. It is always fun when you get your parents to buy you stuff, even though you’re plenty old and capable enough to do it yourself. Heh.

But now, back to the business at hand. I just completed a shoot on Friday with a very special client, and I am so excited about the results that I am going to preempt a post about the 3 South End dogs I shot 2 weeks ago. I’m going to talk about Logan instead, the teeny tiny puppy with big dreams and even bigger, watery eyes! I want to eat those eyes, is that gross?  We had rescheduled from the previous week because of dreary, sad weather. Not that we had planned to shoot outside anyway, with Logan at only 5 weeks of age , but I am so glad we did reschedule. The weather this past Friday was beautiful, sunny and warm, and the lighting they received in the house was AWESOME.

Except for a bit of sharpening, this shot is straight out of the camera:

Logan is a pointer, and is 6 weeks old. And what is it that makes him so special, aside from being the Number One Cutest Puppy in All of the World?

Here is his story, as told by his mom, Jean:

ETA: Below are photos of Logan as a wee thing, being tube and then bottle-fed at the vet. Photos are taken by his mom.

Caring individuals gave Logan a second chance, and look what he’s doing now. He’s rewarding their perseverance and love with healthy energy, happy puppy growls, and BIG BLUE BABY EYES! What a difference a few weeks make…

Hmm or are they green? Grey? I could have sworn they were a light blue in person. They kept shifting in the light.

Chewing on furniture and tugging at blankets are usually a no-no…unless of course it is done for the sake of Art.

Logan was at the Pawsh event last week, his first outing ever, and came home with a lobster toy that is right now bigger than he is. But soon enough Logan’s teeth will show that lobster who’s boss. He’s already a lot bigger now than he was a week ago!

Logan gets to spend his second chance at life with 3 new feline sisters, who are still not quite sure what to make of this new family member. Here is Logan being quasi-stalked by Casey (so many great shots of the photogenic cats, that they’ll each get their own posts!).

The window in front of the stairs was very little but the result was this lovely, filtered spotlight that was so great to photograph in. I could have just shot here all day.

Even the roof of his mouth is adorable. Logan works hard, 24-7, to be this cute!

I do think this was my best shoot so far. Not only because of the great lighting, beautiful furry models, the awesome parents (although all of those factors really helped), but because this was probably the first time I felt completely…at ease. Comfortable. There is always an element of shaky confidence before I start a shoot, a burst of adrenaline rushing through that makes my brain wonder, And what do you think you’re DOING?! But no case of the head crazies this time. Not that I don’t believe it won’t happen again the next time. I’m shooting a couple of horses next month, and yes I think I might freak a little beforehand. But those moments of zen I had were refreshing, the clarity and calm felt amazing, and I’m looking forward to the day when that will happen more often than not.

So many, many thanks to Jean and Rich for the honor of photographing their very special little guy. I’ll be checking in with them in a few months to document Logan’s awkward tween stage, heh. I’ll be sad to see him shed his puppihood but will be excited to watch him grow!

South End dogs coming up next…