Smile Like a Dog » San Francisco Pet Photography

Bella Bambina

Mark — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:00:58 +0000

It’s been way too long since I photographed a puppy. I needed a fix and, last week, Bella delivered one. She’s a 16-week old pittie mix rescued through Rocket Dog and gives the term puppy-dog eyes new meaning. Let’s just say if you needed to pass a bill in Congress and brought her along you’d have a lot of extra votes on your hands.

Speaking of votes, cast yours on which shot below should be Bella’s top choice for her My Mutt poster at Pet Food Express.

Bella

May I help you?

Just try to say no to me

Are we there yet?

Anyone seen my wallet?

I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...

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?

Abyssinians On Parade

Mark — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:49:40 +0000

Of course, anyone visiting a blog called Smile Like a Dog will be a bit surprised to see pictures of cats. While most of my pet clients are of the canine variety I do get my fair share of feline posers and I have to say I’ve had a run lately with cats of the Abyssinian persuasion. My most recent session was with a trio of Abbies named Mike, Deano and Rose. Mike’s still very active and spry at the ripe old age of 18 and he’s got personality to spare. Deano and Rose are a bit more shy but no less photogenic. I’ll let you judge the results for yourself…

Smiling Dog of the Week

Mark — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:59:42 +0000

I thought it might be fitting to start following the theme of this blog literally. I photograph a lot of dogs (and cats — but reconciling that with this blog title is for another post entirely) and when you actually catch one grinning it can be a real rush. This week’s star is a miniature dalmatian named Junior. I had no idea there was such a breed as a miniature dalmatian until I met Junior but consider me smitten. He’s completely mellow, terribly cute and extremely photogenic

Happy Birthday, San Francisco SPCA

Mark — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:58:16 +0000

Last weekend the San Francisco SPCA celebrated its 140th anniversary and I was asked to photograph it for them (I tried to get past the irony that they shared their anniversary date with the 1906 earthquake)

It kicked off on Friday with speeches by SFSPCA president Jan McHugh-Smith, Assmemblyman Mark Leno and others along with appearances by the city’s police and fire chiefs and the San Francisco Mounted Police Unit.

Officer and Horse with San Francisco Mounted Police Unit

Better than kissing babies…Assemblyman Mark Leno

Period Horse Ambulance

Saturday and Sunday things moved inside where there were booths and demos for the Hearing Dog program, agility classes and Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) program.

Hearing Dog Demo

Odd Couple: Animal Assisted Therapy animals Guido the Car and Stanley the Guinea Pig -