Before Joey’s big studio debut, a quick word about the pause. Part of it was technical; this site was moved to a stronger, faster server, and I lost a few days ironing out the kinks. The harder part was personal: my other kitty passed away suddenly, and I needed time to step back. Anyone who has loved a pet knows how deep that loss runs, and I’ll share more about it in a future post.

In the meantime, this project with Joey became both a distraction and a comfort. So what’s it like to photograph a tiger-sized house cat under studio lights? And the big question: did I manage to capture a portrait that feels true to my idea of classic pet portraiture?

I call this three-part series Checklists because, when I ran my studio business, I relied on checklists for all location jobs and for some in-studio portrait sessions. Without them, a piece of equipment might have been left behind, a group shot could have been forgotten, and so on. That habit has stayed with me; I’ll always think like a commercial photographer. Even if you have no plans to pursue that path, I believe there’s something here for any photographer who wants to succeed in their chosen genre. The most valuable lesson my career experience taught me was simple: be prepared.

The easiest way to prepare is to reflect on your past shoots, especially the successful ones, the times when you truly got the shot you wanted. If you could repeat those results, what made them possible? Was it having the right gear? Or having it positioned exactly where you needed it? Was it the timing of a landscape shoot, or the careful placement and power ratios of strobes in a studio portrait? Preparation isn’t guesswork; it’s about noticing what worked before and making it repeatable.

I’ve never thought of myself as an incredible photographer. What I do know is that I’m consistently good, and that’s a goal worth striving for. Consistency comes from practice, and practice builds good habits. I learned early on that preparation is inseparable from achieving the final image. So even though the shoot I’m sharing here was personal, just a session with my cat, I approached it as if it were a paid job. Because when you want the best results, you prepare like they matter.

Image #1
I placed a prop, a stuffed kitty my six-year-old made, on the stool where Joey will sit. It’s roughly his size and served as a stand-in while I tested lenses for each camera and made some quick light checks. Having the Sony for this step is a blessing, since I can’t test the lights the same way when shooting film with the Hasselblad. For this shoot, I put the digital back away. What I wanted was something timeless; a black-and-white film portrait of Joe that channels his tiger-cat character.

Image #2
The Hasselblad takes center stage for this session, while the Sony slips in for a few color candids of Joe warming up to the stool and lights. Still, the real goal is the classic black-and-white film portrait that only the Hasselblad can deliver (I’m biased).

Image #3
And finally, the star of the show, Joey himself, takes the stool for the first time. He’s a bit large for it, don’t you think?

Cameras, Lenses & Film

• Fujifilm X100V — my little sidekick for a few behind-the-scenes snaps
• Hasselblad 501 CM + CFi 180/4 — the star of the show, lined up for that classic black-and-white portrait I’m after, loaded with Kodak TMAX 100
• Sony a7R IVa + 90/2.8 Macro — on standby for candid moments, hoping to catch Joe’s big personality in action

Lighting

• Profoto D1 500 in Halo — main/key light (my portable sun)
• Profoto Remote Triggers — cable on the Hasselblad lens and cold shoe on the viewfinder; Sony’s hot shoe is ready to go
• Mirror Diffused — simple, effective fill light

Safety

• Electric Cords — no tape needed; all tucked left, clear of tripods
• Studio Stool — Joe knows it well, though he’s never claimed the top perch; he cannot jump up that high with the missing rear leg
• Main Light — test pops while Joe gets used to its modeling light and flashes

The shoot went better than I ever expected. Joey was a total pro, far more cooperative than your average cat, and I say that with years of whiskered experience. Usually, when I’ve photographed cats for their owners, taking them out of their home means a symphony of suspicious sniffs, tail flicks, and at least one or two hissy fits. But Joe was in his own space, so none of that bothered him. He strolled in like he owned the studio (which, let’s be honest, he does).

Because of his missing back leg, the upright pose I had in mind wasn’t going to happen, so I let Joe take the lead. He showed me what felt comfortable, and I followed his direction; apparently, he’s both a model and an art director. Next time, I’ll be ready with a larger stool, since this shoot was more of a playdate with strobes than a formal portrait sitting.

I walked away thrilled with the results, and I’ll be sharing those in a few days. I’ll also provide my film processing notes, complete with the developer and fixer recipes I use.

Joe’s candid shots were made with the Sony paired with the 90mm macro. I keep only two lenses for that camera since it’s mainly my studio workhorse for graphic design and film digitizing, but it handled his candids beautifully. My goal was to give them a Polaroid vibe with a modern twist. I processed the images in Lightroom using vintage-style presets from Luminar and no longer available presets from Topaz Labs, then finished them in Photoshop, where I created an Action for the matting and text.

Stay tuned — Joey isn’t done stealing the spotlight just yet.