Hello everyone! This week I had the pleasure of interviewing a great small business : @catpartypetportraits !

1. Tell me a little about yourself:

“I’m not even sure where to start! I grew up in the midwest, went to school in Denver,
and eventually moved to Los Angeles in 2010. I’m a fine art and portrait photographer,
but a few years ago expanded to commercial and pet photography. I have a photo
studio in downtown Los Angeles where I shoot most of my portraits. On a personal
level, I have a very supportive partner and two rescue kitties named Howl Pendragon
and Snake Plissken. My apartment looks like a mid-century carnival exploded, and I
collect a lot of strange antiques and rare Hello Kitty items.”

2. What inspired you to create this kind of business?

“To make a long story short, a couple years ago all three of my senior animals received
cancer diagnoses at the same time. I was drowning in about $24k worth of veterinary
debt, and absolutely heartbroken from losing my pets to cancer, and so I started offering
pet portraits in my DTLA studio. I quickly realized people loved my style, and I felt good
knowing I was able to give them a beautiful lifelong keepsake of their best friend. I’ve
always been influenced by so many things; renaissance paintings, baroque art, cabinet
cards, midcentury modern, 80’s movies, etc. and have pulled from that inspiration in my
portraiture. I think clients really enjoy the stiff Victorian feel to my portraits or the 80’s
horror throwbacks. It puts a little dark humor in a serious portrait.”

3. How does one book a session and are there certain backdrops that are more popular than others?

“You can book on my website! If you go to https://www.daniellespires.com/studio-pet-photography you can book at any of my upcoming dates, or email me to get a quote for in-home portraits. Yes there are certain backdrops that people love!

My green palm leaf backdrop is a hit, especially for us LA people because it’s reminiscent of the mid-century and iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. My biggest seller is my double exposure portraits. They’re quite challenging, fun and humorous to shoot, so I get a kick out of shooting and editing
them.”

4. If you had to pick 3 pop culture figures (alive or dead) to photograph. Who would they be and what animals would you pair them with while doing their pet portraits?

“What a great question! I’m going with fictional pop culture figures if that’s okay with you!
Here’s my three picks:

1.Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Creature is a misunderstood monster. No
doubt he has a pet hermit crab that the loves dearly, and he’d ask for a double
exposure portrait.

2. Hello Kitty: Obviously Hello Kitty would bring the little Sanrio hamster Kuririn (not
Dear Daniel who I truly resent for taking away Hello Kitty’s strong independent
status) as her pet and she’d definitely pick the Pink Palm Leaves backdrop.

3. Totoro: I’d like to think forest spirits like Totoro would bring in a little mini Totoro as
their pet, and ask to be shot on the Palm Leaf backdrop….or maybe Totoro would
ask me to set up a custom portrait in the forest with all the spirits.

5. Do you have any exciting news or events that you would like to share?

“I am back in the studio booking portraits with COVID precautions in place! I take it very
seriously and want all my clients to feel safe coming into the studio. I hope to do some
popups in some of my favorite cities in the fall-time or early 2022 when we feel COVID
is more under control.”

For more information on photo sessions I offer and to book: https://www.daniellespires.com/studio-pet-photography

Instagram: @catpartypetportraits

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@catpartyletsgo?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniellespiresphotography

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catpartyletsgo