San Francisco, California-based Animals photographer Mark Rogers has a talent for capturing the quirky humorous moments of our furry friends. His latest book with return publisher Ulysses Press is titled “Let Me Knock That Off the Counter for You,” and focuses on the enigmatic world of cats. This is Mark’s second book with Ulysses, following his “Thanks for Picking Up My Poop – Everyday Gratitude from Dogs.” With a keen eye for feline antics and a knack for bringing out each cat’s different purr-sonality, Mark created a project filled with attitude and charm.
Mark started working with Ulysses Press back in 2014. After noticing a surge in book sales a few years later, the client wanted to publish a new humorous animal book, this time focusing on cats.
The initial directive I got from my editor, Kierra, was to go with images that evoked sass, disdain, or superiority. That was a good starting point but we quickly realized that including some completely silly and ridiculous expressions and behavior could also work — with cats this can be especially funny since they tend to act very aloof and above it all.
Working closely with his editor, Mark brainstormed ideas to make sure that they got the desired expression out of each feline model.
Any kind of planning when animal photography is involved has to be fairly flexible. Sometimes this can be really nerve-racking — especially on a commercial shoot when you’re on set with crew and a client and you know lots of money is being spent every minute and you’re depending on a cat to do something you want them to. Hah! Like that ever happens.
The primary goal was to create images that were anything but typical “cute kitten faces.” Each photo had to exude snarkiness and personality, accompanied by witty captions to match.
In this case, cat attitude really helped with the project. We actually wanted the cats to do something willful or silly which is pretty much guaranteed so a lot of the planning really went into casting and making sure I had variety in the settings and types of cats.
Mark’s shoot took him to a variety of locations, from private homes to animal shelters. Many of these images came from his volunteer work with animal shelters and rescue groups, where Mark shoots adoption photos for rescue animals.
The book has 50 images and in most cases, each one came from a separate shoot. These animals are not used to working on set and being around a lot of lights and people in a strange place, so we had an extremely light production footprint.
About 90% of the images in this book were just me, my camera, a couple of lights and modifiers plus the cat and some cat toys. Most of the time I’m lying down on the ground either at or below cat level holding my camera with one hand and waving some ridiculous feather wand with the other. Some of these places have the cats in tiny rooms where I’m curled up in a ball on the floor, surrounded by three or four cats, trying to focus on just one while the others crawl all over me.
As you can expect, the energy on set varied depending on the cat’s temperament, or should I say, cattitude.
They’re very different from dogs so you have to be careful with making noises or acting silly to get their attention or to evoke a response. I often spend a lot of time just hanging out with them for a while to get a sense of their personality and what makes them react. Sometimes the energy can get really amped up quickly — especially if they like toys and go into play/hunting mode when you flick a ribbon toy toward them or toss a felt mouse their way.
Mark handled all post-production and retouching himself, ensuring each image was polished to perfection. With cats, this involved a lot of eye-gunk removal and straightening images. Since animals move around a lot, Mark often finds himself in tight, awkward positions, holding the camera with one hand while using the other to hold a treat or a toy. Therefore, it’s not hard to lose track of the horizon line.
Reflecting on the project, Mark realized how much he enjoys working on books. His very first job out of college was with a book publisher, and he remembers it as one of the best jobs he ever had.
There’s nothing quite like seeing something you’ve worked on printed and out there in the world. Even if it’s not on the NYT best sellers list it’s still a thrill and I’m just as excited about it now as I was when I was one of many on a masthead.
See more of Mark’s work on his website.
Credits
CEO at Ulysses Press: Keith Riegert
Editor: Kierra Sondereker
Further Reading
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