Smile Like a Dog » Mark Rogers

Chihuahuas Everywhere!!!!

Mark Rogers — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:49:10 +0000

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the San Francisco Chihuahua meetup at Stern Grove – Pine Lake Park. This is not to be confused with the venerable Chihuahua Cha Cha that’s still held up at Corona Heights but, boy, this is one well-attended event. There were easily 75 small dogs there along with their owners and an onsite concession with tiny costumes and dog-treats provided by a local dog boutique. Needless to say, the cuteness factor was extremely high. You can see all the best shots I took in an online gallery but I’ve taken the liberty of posting my faves below…

Spring at St Mary’s Dog Park

Mark Rogers — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:46:19 +0000

Now that the rainy season is truly behind us one of my favorite dog parks in the city is open again (actually, it’s been open for a few weeks but I didn’t get chance to go down there again until yesterday). St Mary’s is one of those great little secrets in San Francisco. Technically it’s an outlying part of Bernal Heights wedged in between Mission St and 280 but the neighborhood has its own distinct flavor. The best part is the rec center which has an upper level dedicated to humans and lower one with a nice, grassy, fenced-in dog park. The dogs love it and you can actually see people take a deep breath and chill out when they walk throught the gate. I get the vast majority of my smiling dog shots here. It just makes the pups happy…

Ok. So I drool when I’m happy. So what?

In a clearing stands a boxer…

Clearly, I don’t need a bath

So, then I told them it was a package deal. They either hire both of us or they can forget about it

In the Cards

Mark Rogers — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:13:52 +0000

Excellent news from Mark Rogers Photography land: a number of my favorite photos are being featured in a new line of greeting cards called Sincerely Fido. It’s a pretty cool concept the cards are written from pets’ perspective either to other pets or to human companions. The cards range from just plain funny to really racy to very touching.

You can buy cards from their online store for now but be prepared to see them at retailers of the brick and mortar variety soon. They were recently featured as a staff pick in Modern Dog magazine which in turn was featured on the Ellen show (she’s on that issue’s cover)

They ended up using about 25 of my shots — some of my faves below — and are hoping to release another set later in the year. Check ‘em out….

Love this one….

One of my favorite senior-dog shots. This is Willie, my next door neighbor’s 12-year old terrier mix

Another one of my favorite shots. It’s a really soulful pitbull mix I see down at Ocean Beach a lot

I Love My Boy

Mark Rogers — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:13:42 +0000

I just can’t help myself. Been meaning to post this shot of the Biz for weeks now. Does this say unbridled joy or what? Man, he loves to play

Chance Encounter

Mark Rogers — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:59:07 +0000

I had a shoot last week with a great dog named Chance. He’s a Rhodesian Ridgback mix who lives with his dad in the aptly named Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Chance is a rescue dog from the Milo foundation and boy did he land in a great home.
Chance loves his toys but is fairly picky about where he plays with him. Inside it’s pretty much anything goes but outside it’s the bouncing green ball or nothing at all. Chance has an extraordinarily expressive face and can do things with his eyebrows that would pretty much make anybody give him anything. My favorite excerpts are below

Pure Chance, Pure Joy

I love the nose freckle

This is the eyebrow thing I mentioned before. May I have a steak, please?

Smile and say Chance

The end

My Mutt Posters

Mark Rogers — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:44:38 +0000

I just got the word that my first three My Mutt Posters are in production. You can see the proofs below. These include shots of Emma, Sammy Darby, jr and Jake. They should be hanging in the Walnut Creek, Novato and San Francisco Market Street Petfood Express stores in the next few weeks

Mark Rogers Photography Hits the Books – I’m published!

Mark Rogers — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:51:13 +0000

Very exciting stuff going on in Mark Rogers Photography land. Some of my shots have just been published in a new book: Luxury For Cats from Fusion-Publishing. Those interested can purchase it here.

Shots of the cover (not my shot) and one of the spreads (my shot) are below. The cool cat in the spread, Guido, is one of my favorites. His handle is “The Italian Kitty” and he actually has his own blog

All the shots were taken at a fabulous new cat kennel (Cattery is the proper term) that just opened up a few months ago in Presidio Heights in San Francisco. It’s called Pet Camp – Cat Safari and is owned by the same fine folks who opened up the original Pet Camp 10 years ago.

Now, some of you may ask why on earth anything having to do with cats is showing up in a blog named Smile Like a Dog. Well…I photograph all sorts of animals: dogs, cats, camels, birds but Smile Like a Pet just didn’t have a nice ring to it.

Bucky

Mark Rogers — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:59:12 +0000

I met a fine young lad named Bucky this week. Bucky’s a strapping 1 1/2 year-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel whose mom, Djuna Woods, is a realtor down on the peninsula who specializes in finding and selling homes for dog owners. Check out Djuna’s excellent blog and website if you’re interested in finding a dog-friendly home want to learn about places to take your pooch for a walk or hike in the bay area or just want to pick up some general dog-owning tips. Djuna’s a wealth of knowledge.

Bucky loves the beach and is a fan of tennis balls and birds (mainly birds) You can see some shots from our walk below as well as all the photos from the day here.

Sammy Darby Jr

Mark Rogers — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:30:19 +0000

I recently completed my second assignment for Pet Food Express’s My Mutt Program. This time the star was a tiny little guy named Sammy Darby Jr. He’s an 8-year old dachshund whose new owners adopted him from Rocket Dog Rescue. His name was orginally just Darby but when his new parents discovered he only had one eye they renamed him. I think it’s the best dog name I’ve heard this year. Sammy is a nice old guy who’s really found himself a good home. Look for him in a poster at Pet Food Express sometime soon. My favorite shots are below but you can check them all out in this gallery.

reacting to the paparazzi

On the couch

I’m a Photographer for My Mutt

Mark Rogers — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:44:43 +0000

Look for my photos soon in a Pet Food Express near you.

Anyone who’s shopped or walked by any of the Pet Food Express Stores in the Bay area has seen the My Mutt posters they have hanging in the shop and in the windows. They’re of dogs and cats adopted from various rescue groups. Owners make a donation to Pet Food Express in the name of their pet and the rescue group or shelter where they found them and Pet Food Express covers the costs of photography and poster production.
It’s a great way to support the rescue groups and shelters out there that have helped thousands of animals find their forever homes.

I was recently asked by Pet Food Express to be a photographer for this wonderful program and I couldn’t be more honored.

This week I want to highlight my first shoot which featured a nice old guy named Jake and his compadre, Badger who both belong to one of the founding members of Rocket Dog Rescue.

Check in again soon for outtakes from future shoots.

Jake

Badger

The dynamic duo