For those of you unfamiliar with the dog scene in San Francisco there’s quite a few breed-specific groups that meet up in the cities parks on a regular basis. The barrier to entry is somewhat dependent upon the group. Some will allow dogs who aren’t purebred, others won’t.
Those of you who’ve read my blog in the past know that I attend the Chihuahua group that meets at Stern Grove/Pine Lake Park the first Sunday of the month (yep, there’s one this weekend) but I also recently went to my first Dachshund meet up down at the ever-popular Crissy Field. It was a complete hoot. They bring food for the owners and–you guessed it–they grill hotdogs. There were doxies of all shapes and sizes: long-hair, wire-hair, piebald, red, brindled — you name it. Check out my favorite dachshund photos below or feel free to peruse the whole set if you wish…
Where does the time go? 7 days since I last posted. Way too long. There is a good reason for it, though. For the last week I’ve been migrating my site and blog over to a new host. Talk about nerve-wracking. It’s one thing to physically move — at least you can count boxes and buy the movers pizza — but when you’re talking webhosting, email, blogs and search engine optimization it’s all electrons and at some point you have to just cross your fingers and hope everything makes it over safely.
So far, so good. I don’t think any emails got lost and as I checked obsessively throughout the weekend I never got an error page. The move did solve a major issue I’d been having for the last 6 weeks — none of my feeds were working and now they are. So, anyone trying to sign up for an RSS feed or alert by email won’t get one of those annoying error messages.
This week I’ll get back to posting more regularly and promise to catch everyone up on all the pet photography that’s been going on.
Very exciting news. On Saturday May 31st I’m going to be at Under One Roof in the Castro photographing dogs, cats, kids and any combination of the three. They just opened this new store and the space is incredible — literally 3X the size of the old one across the street. For those of you who don’t know, UOR is an amazing organization who’s mission is to raise funds for agencies providing HIV/AIDS education and support services.
This event is a unique father’s day gift opportunity so those of you in the city who haven’t figured out what to get pet-lover dad should definitely come on by between 11AM - 2PM to
Under One Roof
518A Castro Street
San Francisco 94114
415-503-2300
Cost is $65 for a 15-minute sitting with a portion benefitting Under One Roof. You can choose between a CD with high resolution files of all proofs that you can use to make your own prints or two 5×7 prints of your choice.
You can call Under One Roof at 415-503-2300 to schedule a session in advance.
I got some coverage on the Photopreneur blog this week. They contacted me because of the shots I take for Give a Dog a Bone but then things sort of expanded from there when they found out I’ve done pro bono work for a bunch of different organizations like Aids Legal Referral Panel - I did their big 25th anniversary campaign photography (yes, I actually photograph people occasionally) , San Francisco SPCA, VetSOS and Project Homeless Connect. I was a little wary at first because the gist of the article was about whether you could ultimately make money from pro bono work (not why I do it) but they finessed that part just fine — at least I thought so.
When it comes to expressive faces it’s hard to beat Basset Hounds and Bulldogs — they make a pet photographer’s job fairly easy compared to some breeds. When you have them both in the same household it’s like manna from heaven (apologies for the biblical reference — that’s about as close as you’ll ever see me come to quoting scripture). Well, a couple of weeks ago I visited a customer with 5 bullies and a basset. We could only photograph 2 of the bulldogs (Gracie and Ella Mae) and the basset (Betty) that day but trust me, there were soulful expressions a-plenty.
Scrambling for that last-minute Mothers Day gift? Looking for a something unique to give mom or dad on their big day this year? Sure, mom loves the flowers showing up on Mothers Day and Dad loves getting another Rep tie on Fathers Day but what about trying something different this time. If mom or dad has a dog or cat they adore get them a present they’ll always remember — a gift certificate for a pet photography session.
Photos that capture a pet’s personality and the unique traits that endear them to us make truly memorable presents. I offer certificates for all my different session packages and can also customize one for your particular needs.
One of the best things about being a non-studio pet photographer is that I get to go to all sorts of cool, beautiful locations all over the San Francisco Bay area. Last week I met a new client named Petunia who lives down the coast off Highway 1 near Half Moon Bay. Petunia and her mom have access to some of the most scenic hikes in the area and we happened to hit one trail in particular where the Lupins were out in all their purple spring glory. Petunia came from the San Francisco SPCA a few years back and her mom says she’s a St Francis Wood Terrier. She’s a lot of fun and enjoys hiking, playing with other dogs and napping in sunbeams
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
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 -
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.
Smile Like a Dog is the official blog for Mark Rogers Photography. I'm a San Francisco-based pet photographer specializing in casual portraits of dogs, cats and pretty much any animal folks call a pet. Contact Me.
