Barking Up the Family Tree
Photographer Mark J. Asher captures endearing portraits of kids and their fuzzy best friends
by Nicole Feliciano
 Barking up the Family Tree by Mark J. Asher |
Looking for a book to warm up a dreary winter day? Barking Up the Family Tree: Kids and Their Animal Kinships is an inspired way to put a smile on the face of any animal lover.
Photographer and writer Mark J. Asher captures the special bond between children and their pets in this unusual picture book. While the work doesn't focus solely on dogs, there are adequate portraits of kids with their beloved pooches to excite pamperedpuppy.com fans.
Asher grew up with animals and is a certified dog lover. He fondly remembers his childhood pooch - a caramel colored poodle named Pumpkin. As an adult, his bond with animals grew deeper when Humphrey came into his life. Humphrey's mellow disposition was the inspiration for Asher's first book, Old Friends: Great Dogs on the Good Life (see our interview with Mark on this book). After Humphrey's passing, Asher found a new companion to provide inspiration: a 2 1/2-year-old German shepherd/Labrador mix named Payton. Unlike Humphrey, Payton has to stay home on photo shoot days - Payton's pretty rambunctious.
While on tour promoting his first book of dog portraits in the fall of 2002, Asher began this new "pet" project. For his second book, he decided to expand beyond dog photos to include portraits of cats, horses, birds and other animals.
photo © Mark J. Asher |
Asher spent two years working on his current book. He found the families and their pets by networking through friends and posting notices at local veterinarians and groomers. Parents and children alike responded with enthusiasm about the book and were eager to pariticpate. The subjects came primarily from three locations Asher has recently called home: San Francisco, Southern California and Ashland, Oregon. Selecting from these three distinct geographies gave him a nice cross section of rural and urban pets for the book.
Most of the portraits were quite a departure from shooting the subjects from his last book. The senior dogs featured in Old Friends didn't move very fast. Asher found these fuzzy models to be quite obliging and very photogenic. "You never know what you are going to get: funny, sad, or poignant... there is such a range of expression and emotion with dogs," says Asher.
Photographers agree that the toughest assignments are capturing photos of children or animals. These subjects can exasperate even the most seasoned veteran. Asher believes taking both of these challenges at once is the craziest assignment he's ever undertaken. But he persevered and the parents constantly complimented his ability to wait for a great photo.
The hardest subjects to photograph were the cats, followed by an unruly horse named Princess Buttercup that preferred to graze on hay rather than be photographed. Instead of fighting the horse's wishes, Asher turned Maya around on her horse to create a clever shot. Asher says he enjoys the unpredictable nature of working with animals. Rather than trying to manipulate a session, the photographer let his creativity lead him to unique places. He gets a concept in his head and then his instincts take over.
photo © Mark J. Asher
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"Sometimes I got something good early and other times I begged the kids and the pets to be patient just a little longer," says Asher. Initially the kids were excited about being included in a book, but Asher said usually after ten minutes into a sitting they wanted the session to be done so they could go out and play. On the up side, the kids were excellent at matching the relaxed poses of their pets. According to Asher, kids don't tense up in front of a camera as much as adults.
Small dogs proved to be relatively good subjects as they were easily confined to small spaces. One little girl named Stella stuffed her tiny Chihuahua in the pouch of her overalls. On the flip side, Kyia, a particularity enthusiastic and large pet Siberian Husky, was the hardest dog to capture on film. Kyia refused to sit still long enough for Asher to snap a striking photo. Just as Asher was about to call it quits, a Rottweiller puppy appeared in the park and grabbed Kyia's attention. The puppy spellbound Kyia and Asher took the opportunity to click away and get a great portrait (p.62).
Mark's Tips for
Great Photos
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When pressed for his favorite photo from the book, Asher selects the cover shot of Allison and Andy, her pet poodle. At the end of the scheduled shoot, Asher was worn out after weeks of chasing around kids and pets. Allison was getting a tad silly and put a weed in her mouth. Her mother immediately told her to stop messing around and to take the weed from her mouth. Asher jumped in and said "no, no" and quickly snapped the engaging shot.
Although Asher believes photos speak volumes when it comes to the relationship between humans and animals, he felt it was important to include text with Barking Up the Family Tree. Readers loved the text in Asher's first book and shared this feedback. For this work, he tried for a mix of quirky and humorous tidbits of information.
Kids will delight in seeing aspects of themselves in the pages. Adults will fondly recall a special four-legged pet that kept tender secrets and brightened up the loneliest days. From a diminutive Chihuahua to an enormous Husky, these photos serve as a wonderful reminder of the important bond between animal and child.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Chicago, Asher now resides in Oregon full-time. A self-taught photographer, he began taking landscape portraits as a hobby. His creative passions soon turned into a full-time job. When he's not busy writing and promoting his books, Asher takes assignments in pet portraiture (prices range from $350-$500 per sitting). To learn more about Asher's work, visit www.markjasher.com.
