One thing I have learned over the years as a pet photographer is that cats, dogs and in fact any domestic animal is not always going to react exactly how we think they will.

Ari is my fur niece - adopted by my gorgeous human niece and her partner during lockdown 2020. I had met her a couple of times before her sitting and she seemed a sweet and relaxed cat. And she was when I arrived for her photo session too ………. until I pulled out my camera with it’s big shiny lens.

Then she became noticeably more weary and anxious to escape outdoors.

This is quite common I’ve found. Cats especially are often suspicious of anything out of the ordinary in their environment and when that strange thing being pointed at them looks like a large unblinking eye, it can be pretty unsettling for a normally laid back cat.

This is nothing for a fur-parent to fret about however. As the saying goes “good things take time” I’m not watching the clock and am happy to let a cat find their confidence. If you relax - so will they.

In this case I think it helped that Ari’s flatmate Olive joined in on the shoot and was posing up a storm. Not to be out meowdelled, Ari gave me a range of facial expressions and even some action shots!