Smile Like a Dog » Mutts

My new toy

Mark — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:14:24 +0000

For me the only thing more exciting than getting a new camera is getting a new lens. I’ve had my eye on the canon 16-35 2.8L for a while now and just took the plunge. I tested it out on my office manager and assistant, Bizzy, a couple of days ago and all I kept asking myself afterwards was why did I wait so long to get this?

Fairly classic Bizzy stance. You typically see this when he’s tossed all available toys in some impossible-to-reach place and he wants you to get them for him. I see this probably 100-200 times a day. Oy…terriers

But, honestly, how can you not get the toy out from under the desk when he looks at you like this. By the way, this is where I discovered the autofocus was off on the new lens

Ahh, that’s better. Focus back on. I’d better get cracking on finding the toys, though.

No matter how many times I see it, The Biz’s underbite continues to slay me.

Ok. Toys retreived and back to the kitchen. Wow, this wide-angle is really cool but it picks up absolutely everything — including the paint swatches I’ve had up on the breakfast nook for the last 3 years.

Bizzy and his favorite game — kill the stack. By the way, for anyone who has an active dog and needs a new food puzzle to keep them challenged, I can’t recommend Canine Genius enough (the pink and blue bowling-pin shaped doo-hickies) You can put treats inside and plug the end with string cheese and you’re set for the next hour. Once they figure that out you can actually interlock two or three of the toys together so the treats move around between them. Dogs love it.

Have you ever seen cuter ears?

Topper

Mark — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:07:34 +0000

I had a great shoot with a nice little guy named Topper last weekend. Topper was recently adopted from San Francisco Animal Care & Control and he ended up in a great home with a dad who just adores him. One of his dad’s friends gave the session as a gift.

Topper is a chihuahua mix with personality (and energy) to spare. He also happens to have one of the more unique gaits I’ve ever seen…sort of slide-along-and-hover-with-front-paws-raised type number. It was most amusing.

Topper with his favorite toy

Topper doing his signature move — sort of looks like he’s skating

What would Brian Boitano do?

Wheeeeeeeeee!

Live to play…play to live

More toys, please

Who is Jalu?

Mark — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:17:49 +0000

A photographed a friend’s dogs today for a project I’m working on with the San Francisco SPCA (more on this in a few weeks). Her newest pup is a loveable guy named Jalu who came from Big Dog Rescue up in Sonoma. Jalu wasn’t the primary focus of today’s shoot but he’s impossibly cute and virtually impossible to not photograph if you happen to have a camera with you.

Jalu comes from interesting stock to say the least. His mom thinks he has a bit of border collie and borzoi in him. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on his heritage.

Angel Eyes

Mark — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:31:46 +0000

I just completed my latest My Mutt assignment with a lovely girl named Angel. Angel’s a two-year old dachshund beagle mix who lives in the South Bay and was adopted by her new mom at Silicon Valley Animal Control.

She loves her toys and is especially fond of a well-worn piece of rawhide (and maybe some of the living room throw pillows, too) She’s very kissy and adores people.

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

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