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

Bailey and Max get married in their own backyard…

Can’t wait to share the rest!

Between photographing pets and weddings, and starting my little calligraphy offshoot, I’ve been keeping myself extremely busy this summer. Here are some more calligraphy pieces I had the pleasure of working on lately.

Lisa and David are having their wedding in New York state this fall. Their invitation suite is being crafted in letterpress by Parrott Design Studio in Providence, RI. They didn’t have a particular calligraphy style they wanted to use, so this was a great chance for me to come up with something new. Even so I didn’t have the courage to do anything too crazy or unconventional, though I wanted to! Instead I decided to have flourishes that swoop under instead of over, and to add little curlicues at the ends.

Anna and Jeremy are getting married on a private island off South Caroline this fall. Their invitation suite is being made by Goosefish Press, who just won Best of Boston 2010 for best stationer!

Aside: I really, really, really very badly really want to photograph a wedding in the South. Savannah, Charleston, Georgia Islands, anywhere in Louisiana. Want it so badly my teeth hurt. I almost had my own wedding in Vacherie, Louisiana just outside New Orleans where I spent some of my childhood. I wanted the ceremony under ancient live oaks that are so prevalent in the south, its canopy of arms so gnarly and dripping with Spanish moss. I wanted a camelia and Spanish moss bouquet, a crawfish boil for dinner and beignets for dessert. Ah too bad I was too lazy about planning an involved destination wedding, so hopefully one day I can crash someone else’s, heh.

Anna is having a live oak letterpressed onto the main invite. Their invitation suite is a little more formal with both outer and inner envelopes. Her wedding is going to be amazing. I’m jealous!

Here are the lovely and talented Rajiv and Anupama, married over the 4th of July weekend just outside New Haven, Connecticut. Their wedding was ablaze with color and jewels, and steeped in story-telling and tradition.

Love you guys!

Here is Rummy the Vizsla of Cambridge, MA. I loved loved loved this shoot, even though it took awhile to get Rummy to relax in front of the camera. It turns out he just needed some props, something to do with the hands :) As soon as we went out into the backyard, it was like a fuse ignited under his belly. I photographed two different dogs that day!

He looks great in color and in black and white, so I had a hard time choosing. We start off with a shot of Rummy getting a calming forehead rub from his mom. Easy now Rummy. I know I’m all up in your face but everything will turn out a-okay…

{ Still not so sure about this… }

{ Yep, this is still weird. }

{ BY JOVE I THINK I’VE GOT IT. }

Hope you enjoyed the shoot afterall Rummy!

BEHIND THE SCENES

I think I am officially apprenticing Dan to become a semi-photographer. He usually comes along to my pet shoots because 1) I need a driver sometimes, ha 2) I need someone to help me get the dogs’ attention 3) it’s really fun and therapeutic. He was never really interested in learning photography itself…but it seems the tide is turning. He’s been asking me about f-stops and ISO and shutter speeds and the relationship among the three. A very big baby step! Gotta take advantage it.

Amy and Matt were married at Arnold Arboretum’s Vine and Shrub Garden in Jamaica Plain, MA. I loved this wedding. I arrived early to scope out the area, do a little recon and whatnot, but ended up wilting and panting underneath a tree instead, where the shade was not much cooler. While figuring out where to do the portraits, I spotted the groom and his party arrive with a cooler, all decked out in their multi-layers of finery. Magenta vests and ties! Hot! So very…hot…

{ ^ Amy attempts to place Matt’s ring on the wrong hand, but they recover }

{ Winners of the Best First Kiss Award 2010 }

There was a very happy grove of trees on a small incline that I wanted to do the portraits in. But in the heat, the patch of unshaded lawn we had to traverse to get there looked like a death march, so we stayed under the pavilion.

The reception was held nearby at West on Centre, where Amy and Matt first met.

{ ^ A collection of music from all the concerts they’ve attended together, as party favors. Outer envelope calligraphy by me! }

Dance party time!

Hair today…

…gone tomorrow…

This is us the next evening when Dan and I crashed their mini-moon at the Liberty Hotel. Forgive the icky camera phone quality but you can still see what a night’s worth of being thirsty can do to one’s head.

Congrats Amy and Matt!