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

When I saw this new edition of Pride & Prejudice, my favorite book of ALL TIME, I knew I had to have it. I hadn’t realized there were two other classics illustrated in the same manner by artist Ruben Toledo for Penguin Classics, so I bought them too. It’s part of Penguin’s “deluxe editions with graphic covers” collection, and I must say it’s a brilliant marketing move! I already have half a dozen editions of Pride & Prejudice, bought for their varying typefaces and literary commentary, and several of editions of Wuthering Heights. So I totally bought these books for their covers.

Edward Gorey if he were still alive would have been an excellent choice to illustrate these classics too. Can you imagine his cover for Jane Eyre? Goosebumps! I hope JE is next on their list.

I’ve never read The Scarlet Letter. In high school I was in the English class that got saddled with David Copperfield, which ruined me from all things Charles Dickens for a very, very long time. But we did read Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables and the only thing I got out of that book was what a “gable” was. And that New England sounded intriguingly bleak (I grew up Atlanta). Perhaps now with this spiffily illustrated cover – and a full appreciation for New England’s bleak winters – I will be able to enjoy Hawthorne’s writing more, heh.

(As an interesting side note, Toledo’s wife is fashion designer Isabel Toledo, who designed Michelle Obama’s lemongrass shift dress and overcoat for the inauguration. I wonder what their house looks like.)

So for 2010 I plan to do “Things I Like” posts on a regular basis with things that I…uh like. And things that inspire me. This is number 1!

I was going to let my short and sweet “Favorite Photos of 2009” be my year-end review but then I decided I was doing myself a big disservice by not documenting all that’s happened this year. Even though I have far to go, I did accomplish a lot in this my very first year of business.

I spent the last part of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 getting everything together for the launch of this business, and finally did so officially – by announcing it online – in Feb 2009. The rest of the month and March found us busy hitting the streets with some old-fashioned face-to-face marketing. We visited pet grooming salons, vets, pet boutiques and animal shelters. I say “we” because Dan had a huge hand in this. It was extremely hard for me to go about soliciting and making cold calls as I am normally extremely, very, painfully shy. There were a lot of nervous stammering and ineloquent pitches when talking to store owners about something as simple as leaving a stack of business cards! But was I in it to win it or not? It was time to work outside my comfort zone.

The first pet boutique I decided to was Pawsh in March, and this meeting proved very lucky as they were just organizing a second grand opening event in April, and invited me to photograph it. A TV camera came by and the back of my head made it onto the 10 o’clock news! The owners of Pawsh have continued to promote and to support my business and for that I am very thankful.

In March I also partnered up with the South End Buttery and photographed the owners’ dogs in exchange for some wall space in his cafe. I’ve had large-scale prints hanging there since April, including one round of updates. They have really really helped me drum up business. {By the way, there is a video review of the Buttery up on Boston.com, and some of my photos got the up-close camera treatment which I think is hilarious.}

Before I even had my first official client pet shoot, I was convinced to photograph a small wedding in March. I never gave weddings much thought – other than I didn’t want to pursue it! – so the fact that I nevertheless found myself building a small wedding portfolio alongside that of the pets was a huge surprise.

In April I started getting clients! My first client was the adorable 6 week-old puppy named Logan. Strangely enough even though it was the first “official” shoot as a launched business, it was also my most comfortable. All the practice the half year before on friends’ pets really paid off, and I thought it a sign that I really was meant to do this.

In May, I had a pet photography Q&A published in Gadgetwise, a personal technology blog of the New York Times. That was very. very. ex.ci.ting. And tangentially with that came a rather unenthusiastic mention on Gizmodo.com. My photos are deemed “OK.” Heh. My site hits go through the roof, I get tons of very nice and supportive emails…but no new client booking as a direct result. The NYTimes keep trying to sell me overpriced plaques of the article. I keep refusing but now I’m thinking, Why not?! I’m in the Times!

In May, June and July I started photographing more weddings as a second shooter for Lisa Rigby, and find myself enjoying it much more than I thought I would! So it’s really her doing that I’m getting into weddings.

In August I attended Cowbelly’s workshop on pet photography. Cowbelly is based in Seattle had has been in business for 6 years already. Keep up, Boston!

September to December turned out to be my busiest months. Along with an influx of pet shoots, I donated my pet session in a silent auction at the Urban Barn Dance and Harvest Supper, organized by the Massachusetts Farmers Market federation. I donated a session at another silent auction hosted by Pop’s Restaurant with proceeds going to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. There were events at Bark Place Spa and SOWA Open Studios both in the South End.

There was a NEW CAMERA.

There was also a lovely wedding, which was recently featured in IntimateWeddings.com, my first wedding feature ever! And of course I had a great time with my first engagement shoot.

The year has also been about meeting with fellow aspiring pet photographers in person: pet photographer April Ziegler of Philly, who also atttended Cowbelly’s workshop and stayed at our place, Alexis of Alexis Hall Photo, Maria Andrews of White Whiskers Photography, Abby Christensen of Lorenz Photography, and portrait photog Grace Benson.

It was also about collaborating with other artistic professionals in the wedding industry: Lisa Rigby of Lisa Rigby Photography, Jennifer Cox of Esq.Events wedding coordination services, Sarah Parrott of Parrott Design Studio paper goods, and Bryn Chernoff of Paperfinger calligraphy. She will be designing a wedding-ized version of the Fat Orange Cat logo, incorporating both calligraphy and hand-drawn elements. So excited for this!

So yes, I am officially getting into the wedding biz! I’ve just joined the My Kate Parker Wedding family as a vendor. Before you think I’m starting to become an all-purpose shooter, I plan on keeping my focus narrow.

One of my very favorite photographers is San Francisco’s Anna Kuperberg, who specializes in weddings and candid pet portraiture. In fact, I initially discovered her as a pet photographer, and it wasn’t until a friend attended a wedding photographed by Anna that I realized she was a pretty hot-shot wedding photog too! I’ve even seen some of her work on greeting cards. Ann Hamilton is another fantastic West Coaster who has made a name for herself as a wedding and pet photographer (isn’t her icon cute?).

So I think it’s high time Boston got a pet+wedding photographer as well!

And that, at long last, is the end of the 2009 year-end review. As always, thank you so very much to all the wonderful fellow pet lovers, and you the readers, for making 2009 successful beyond my wildest expectations! With the confidence and valuable experience I’ve gained over the last year, I dare to dream bigger and reach for higher goals in the new.

Fat Orange Cat Studio says hello to 2010!

xo,
Li, Dan, Bunny & Veebs

photos by Lisa Rigby

Bunny and Veebs rang in the new year with a little change of sleeping venue. I moved their cat bed from the office upstairs and placed it on top of the radiator cover in the living room. An extra cozy room with a view! Dan joked that by morning we would have a savory cat pie all cooked up. It started snowing and I caught Veebs taking a break from his pre-nap bath to admire the falling flakes (and then later that night, the New Year Eve’s fireworks. Although he wasn’t really too thrilled with that). Later Dan and I ventured outdoors for a little winter walk and mini photo shoot. Eee! I love shooting in the snow! So crisp, clean and bright. Boston looked like a large-scale gingerbread town dusted in confectioner’s sugar and white frosting. I feel like this is really the first time I’m understanding my camera well enough to appreciate the beautiful lighting given off by the snow.

I’m looking forward to more snowy shoots in 2010!

Dan’s four favorite photos of 2009

From top:
Bunny Green Eyes: Dan says this photo is “simple, striking, and of a Bunny.” Bunny is Dan’s favorite cat so this selection is of no surprise. However, I’m not really crazy about this photo! Bunny looks in need of an exorcism. Dan keeps asking me to place it as the very first image in my portfolio, but I will never do it because we are about fresh and candid, not fresh and evil.

The Buttery Dogs: Madison, Harriet and Simon, from March 2009.
I asked why Dan liked this one, and he says, “This was hardest shots to get of all the clients you’ve had, and the payoff was awesome.”  I get the most comments from this photo that are usually along the lines of, “How did you get them to pose like that?” The secret: I didn’t. They chose this pose all by themselves! (Many, many thanks to owner Richard Gordon for encouraging me to hang my prints in his cafe-bistro.)

Dasha the 12 week-old French Bulldog, from June 2009.
Dan’s commentary: “I just love it.”

Bella the 11 week-old French Bulldog, from May 2009.
“A most mischievous face.”

Now, my four favorite photos of 2009

From top:
An Airborne Veebs: The fat orange cat is not so very fat that he can’t achieve lift-off. He was helping me practice freezing indoor action shots.  There was so much back and forth jumping between tables, and he did it all with a smile on his face. That’s my Veebs, a real team player.

Clive the Springer, from September 2009
This photo didn’t initially make the initial blogging cut, but then Clive’s owners ordered a large mounted print of it, and seeing it that size made a huge difference! Now it’s one of my very favorites. The stars on the bike, the flowers, the happy puppy – it’s all so fun and fresh!

Logan the 6 week-old Pointer, from April 2009
This was in instant favorite the moment I pressed the shutter. I was already excited we managed to get Logan to sit still alone on the stairs, but when Casey the kitty came into frame, slowly creeping down behind him with a what-IS-that-thing? look on her face, it took all my strength not to go completely bananas.

Kepler the 13 year-old Weimaraner, from November 2009
This beautiful dog was not a client. I was on another shoot in the Public Garden when we noticed him, from a distance, on a walk with his owner. All of us stopped for a moment to watch him stroll by in his wheels, and as they passed I quickly snapped two shots. I saw the Weim again on two other occasions, and suddenly realized I had met him before when photographing Pawsh Boutique’s grand opening event back in April 2009. He didn’t have wheels then, but was having difficulties with his hips. I emailed Mike, the owner of Pawsh, to ask if this was Kepler, and it was. He told me a new set of custom wheels were coming that week, and as a Christmas gift we arranged to have prints made for Kepler’s owner. A few days later, I notified Mike to tell him the prints we on their way…and he told me that Kepler had just passed away.

Later I received this message from his owner: I wanted to thank you for capturing these beautiful images of Kepler. It’s easy to love Kepler, he’s my best friend and he never once, through all of his injuries, gave up….both as a dog and a friend.

It may seem a little sad to end the new year on that note, but my intention is really quite the opposite. The photo of Kepler illustrates why I love photography and why I love our pets so much. Given the chance to flourish they will reward you in spades. And as pet lovers we will go to great lengths to keep our animals with us happy, healthy and if we can, a little bit longer.

So it has truly been a joy and a privilege capturing these kinds of moments and making them last. Just a little bit longer.

Thank you so much for all of your support in my first year of business, and to all the critters who’ve made the job so rewarding and fun. See you in 2010…