A Look Ahead to 2010 - and a Thank You

Happy 2010 everyone! I have made a few resolutions, one of which is to KNIT MORE this year. I'm going to start by knitting fingerless gloves, perfect for photographing in the cold.

Just wanted to share with the knitterly crew the news that I have begun the new year as both a pet and wedding photographer. I've joined the My Kate Parker Wedding family as a vendor so I think it's official!

Sarah and I have this organic synergy going on! She was just profiled on the My Kate Parker wedding blog, using my photo from their November engagement shoot as her profile photo, and a letterpress card she made for me as a product example. And I'm using a photo of her and her fiance as my main gallery image. It happens to be one of my favorites!

I want to thank you so much again for all your support and encouragement, from my first post about wanting to become a pet photographer, to following my adventures getting a portfolio and new site up, to my Q&A on the NYTimes personal tech blog which came about BECAUSE of this knitting blog, to first announcing plans to do more weddings (and I actually booked a couple because of that post!), to now.

The knitting community is amazing and without you I wouldn't have found this road that has led me to all kinds of fun and exciting and rewarding adventures. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Here's to 2010!

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Holiday cards - which photo to use?

I recently photographed the boys for this year's holiday cards, but am having trouble deciding which one to use! Obviously they're very cute in both photos. I like the differing heights in the first one, but Veeb's sultry, relaxed look and pose in the second.

Photo A

Photo B

They're just so cute and accommodating, I can barely stand it. I just might have to order two sets!

In case you're wondering, the paper flowers taped to the wall are from Paper Source's poinsettia wreath kit. It took me much longer than I'd like to admit putting each flower together but they're so pretty. I cut some lacy ribbon strands, also from Paper Source. The "table top" tree is live, from Whole Foods. I LOVE it. And I decorated it with paper snowflakes from Paper Source, and letterpress gift tags I bought a couple years ago.

And their pompom scarves are knit from Sundara Yarn Aran Silky Merino in Charcoal over Blue Lagoon and Ruby Port.

ETA: I ordered a pack of each! Hee hee.

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Filed Under: Pet Photography

First Engagement Shoot

Hi everyone! Just a little cross-posting to say that I did my first engagement shoot last weekend! Sarah, whom I spoke about here first, and her fiance came up from Providence for the shoot around Boston's Back Bay. I guess we are getting our reward for making through the endless rain this summer, because the leaves were (are) still intact even now, which made for a very lovely, autumnal shoot. I never did appreciate just how beautiful Commonwealth Avenue is, with its trees all aglow from leaves and Christmas lights alike. And Sarah & Rich, they were such a great couple. I still need a lot of work in posing people, but they sure helped me out by being relaxed, playful and comfortable in front of the camera. Not to mention gorgeous.

I can't wait for their wedding next year. Really can't wait.

To see more photos of the shoot, visit here.

Oh and this post has to do tangentially with knitting because I wouldn't have gotten this gig if Cirilia hadn't hooked us up. I feel like I owe her a bit of commission!

It's December. Wow. Time to get cracking on my goals and wishes for 2010. The list is going to be long.

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Filed Under: Life | Pet Photography

Pompom scarf

I have this dog event I'm photographing this weekend, and yes I am at that point where we have to think about the holidays. After scouring the internet for a cute accessory that a puppy wouldn't object too much to wearing, I found this cute pull-through scarf, but hemmed and hawed over the price for way too long before it suddenly occured to me that I know how to knit. Hey! What a revelation!

It took me just a few sittings of Gilmore Girl reruns (I have no clue why I can't get through the reruns fast enough when this show used to bug the holy crap out of me) to knit up two little pull-through scarves complete with pompoms on each end.

Bunny of course was the first to model. And then took it out onto the field for a recent shoot with a puppy, in time for the owner to order holiday cards with them. One of the pompoms fell off but the scarf worked great. He looked so cute!

The red one is made out of Sundara Yarn Aran Silky Merino in Ruby Port and the blue is made out of Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted. The pompoms are made from undyed sock yarn. Only the very best materials for my pets!

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Trying to work it!

Hee. Thanks for all the What to Knit advice! I wasn't expecting replies to my whining. I think I might be ready to get back into sweaters, so I liked Monica's suggestion of Novak in the latest twistcollective. Love the collar.

I also liked Marisa's suggestion of Kate Davies' Paper Dolls (Rav link) sweater, because it led to me Kate Davie's Owls sweater. OMG owls! And in bulky yarn. I'll have owls in no time. I know this sweater has been around the block but as you might have guessed I haven't been keeping up with latest news in knitting. I have however, lately developed a thing for owls. First of all, they're cool and second, in Chinese the word for "owl" - or words really - literally translates to "cat-headed hawk." A hawk...with a cat head. How can I resist anything with a cat head? I cannot! So I think that's what I'll be knitting next. As soon as it stops being a billion degrees.

Hey. In other news (photography-related o'course), I just finished writing up a contract.

A photography terms and services agreement for the bride and groom to peruse, understand, agree to and sign, and return along with a retainer fee. I feel SO GROWN UP! I took about 6 example contracts plus tons of advice on flickr groups to cobble up a version that suits me - on the up and up, yet easy to understand. I tried to use as little "hereunders" and "hereinafters" and "Title 17 US Code Section 101s" as possible. A few might have snuck in.

Oh did I mention: I was booked last month for a wedding in Sept 2010! Knitting had something to do with it. And we did it sans agreement! Risky, but no, not really. In any case I will be sending the contract to the B&G soon. They are the housemates of Cirilia of Berroco's. I photographed Sarah's exuberant dog in April, and in return she made me custom letterpressed cards (swoon). She was engaged already then and has been keeping up a blog with all her wonderful ideas of how she wants to put together her wedding - it was going to be rustic and simple but with exquisite attention to detail and style, and family and friends. There would be a lot of DIY flair. And things you might see in a Martha Stewart spread. Our aesthetics seemed perfectly aligned. They hadn't nailed any one thing down, not venue or time or place, but already could immediately see that if I had to choose one type of wedding to shoot, it would be theirs. If I were to ever do such a thing as shoot weddings, that is. Wedding photog'y was still a tiny speck of an idea in my brain then.

Well they nailed down a venue not long ago - at a working farm in Maine!!! - as well as the date, and by then I had decided I'd start shooting weddings. Hers was always the one I kept referring to in the back of my mind as the ideal, but she had told me back in April that they'd probably be using a friend photog. I'd leave comments here and there on her blog, hoping she might change her mind...

So I was SO VERY EXCITED when Sarah asked me to their main photographer. And she wants some portraits with cows. AAAAGAGAGAKUGGG! (that was a happy noise, trust me) It's going to be an awesome wedding. Sept 2010 seems so far away. And wow. 2010. What a crazy looking number.

But yes, so far this is all a verbal agreement, so I'm happy that I finally got my contracts together and do this legit.

Also, I'm bringing a copy of the contract to my VERY FIRST CONSULTATION this afternoon. With a perfect stranger! Her wedding will be downtown in a historic church this December (on my birthday no less, but I won't mention that. I had thought about it thinking maybe that would work to my advantage somehow, like, "Hey omg that's my birthday it would be SUCH A GIFT to shoot your wedding on my birthday!!" So cheesy but more to the point, Duck rightly said it's about her day and not mine, and to keep it that way.)

Wish me luck and send good vibes so she'll book me!

Anyway, why am I talking all this photog stuff on the knitting blog instead of the photog blog? I will have to write this again on the other blog. But I dunno. I just felt like sharing this exciting news with my knitterly friends first. :)

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Filed Under: Life

Empty

I don't know what I want to knit. What should I knit? Someone just tell me what I want to knit.

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I've been up to stuff

So what have I been up to? Well, in the last couple of months I did manage to finish up Wanida, which I gave to my SIL for her birthday.

Pattern: Wanida by Cookie A's Sock Innovation
Yarn: Sundara Yarn in Candied Chrome

I've also been doing a lot of pet photography, which has been so surprising and so great. And fun! There have been a lot of puppies - YAY - and Labs and English and German pointers, strangely. I say strangely because I don't think I've ever met one before this year, and now I see them everywhere. I have some more appointments coming up, including a couple of horses and a Shar Pei which I am SO excited for because I've never ever met one. Their folds should be interesting to photograph. The one thing my portfolio is seriously lacking however, are kittens. Where are the kittens?!

Anyway, here is a little collage of some of the new friends I made the last two months, in no particular order. But the puppies do get to go first!

I've also been doing some people photography - weddings. I did my first wedding back in March and had to be practically strong-armed into it. When I hear things like, "If you can make cats look good, then you should be able to make people look like supermodels," I want to run screaming for the hills. Nothing could be more dangerous than comparing yourself to a cat. For one, I tend to find cats to be infinitely cuter than most humans. And for two, cats are SO MUCH EASIER to photograph. But maybe that's just me. In any case, these potential wedding clients force-fed three rounds of martinis in me before I said yes.

And wouldn't you know it, I had a blast. Subjects who sat when you said Sit! and stayed when you said Stay! How refreshing.

Since then I've done several more as a second shooter, plus one rehearsal dinner on my own, to see if wedding photog is something I indeed wanted to get into seriously (forgive me if you've heard all this before on the other blog!). The world needs another wedding photographer like it needs a hole in the head, right? Can I possibly bring anything new to the table?

I don't have the clout at this point to dictate the kind of wedding I'd like to shoot, but I definitely definitely very definitely have a kind of wedding that I'd love to shoot, and be my niche. My ideal wedding would be intimate backyard, barnyard, in a forest, under a tree, beachside affairs, with a lots of DIY details and flair, tons of flowers, candles and booze. And somewhere around 50-100 people...

...I'm pretty much describing our own wedding 7 years ago, which we had on a tiny island off Puerto Rico. It was perfect - a super fun, 3-day affair with close friends and family, wonderful in every single way. Except for one thing.

What it comes down to now is me redeeming my poor choice of a photographer by shooting my own wedding. Because oh man if I could do ONE thing over again, it would have been to sink 90% of our budget into hiring the perfect photographer. I didn't because it wasn't worth the expense. And this coming from someone who has always loved and appreciated good photography. I am seriously the worst consumer - I would hate to get myself as a client!

So if anyone is planning a small wedding this year or the next, give me a shout!
Email me at
fatorangecatstudio *at* gmail *dot* com

Last but not least, I'm still doing Bunny&Veebs photography. The latest craze are action shots - not easy to do in indoor lighting I might add. But I have the greatest subjects ever and oodles of patience. You have no idea the hours I've spent amusing myself in this way. Those guys, they'll do just about anything for a single morsel of kitty treats. Love them!

So that's it! Thanks to any readers who are still visiting this site! xoxo

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Filed Under: Cats | Life | Pet Photography

Just when I was about to pull the plug on this blog...

The most unexpected thing happened last week. I received an email from a contributing digital photography blogger on the NYTimes.com - the NEW YORK TIMES!!!!! - asking if he could interview me for an article about taking good pet photos. I was like, Um. OKAY. OH-EFFING-KAY.

But I was very curious how he found me. I've been marketing all over the place, both online and in the real physical world, and wanted to get an idea of how any of my endeavors were working, or not working.

Here was his reply:

BEHOLD. The power of the knit blog. Why does that continue to surprise me?! Why do I keep taking it for granted?

So here nytimes.com blog post. It's a Q&A and I talk a little about how I shoot and what I shoot with. I think what I wanted to get across more than anything is that good photography is not lazy photography. It's not all about what camera body you use (and thanks to the writer for not asking!), it's not at all about standing around waiting for the moment to happen. Everything is deliberate, everything is work, even - and especially? - the candid ones! I'm constantly learning.

P.S. I managed to finish a pair of socks. Very exciting. A show-and-tell soon.

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Filed Under: Pet Photography