I like to photograph dogs where they’re most comfortable. For my Berner Taylor, that's outside, on a trail with constantly-new smells and different scenery. I’m inspired by his enthusiasm about absolutely everything he can see and smell, and the natural settings we walk in. And that’s what it’s about – capturing some of the fun we have in gorgeous landscapes. Wherever we go, he makes me forget about life for a little while. And that’s priceless. If I can capture some of the joy he gives back, I’ve had a good day.

I’ve lost too many dogs, and want to preserve some trace, some small piece of their too short lives. Photography can’t bring them back, but it’s the best trigger for the memories of their goofy smiles and sloppy kisses. Dogs’ lives are way too short, but having your dog’s love for a short time is far better than never having it. So I use the best way I know to keep that love alive.

Mark Bohrer has been photographing since he found a Leica camera in his parents' basement as a teenager. That Leica led to a camera store job and his own (wet) darkroom work. After college and a couple engineering degrees, Mark went to work in Silicon Valley and played music on the side (keyboards and vocals). There were IC design patents, managing design teams, and design-ins by Cisco and others. If you bought a router in the mid-1990s, you used some of his work.

Mark got back to photography after about 25 years, shooting pro mountain bike races in the 1990s and wildlife in the 2000s. Somewhere in there he went digital, and says he doesn't miss the wet darkroom at all.

After leading photo tours in places like the slot canyons of Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks, Petroglyph National Monument and Ancestral Puebloan ruins in Chaco Canyon, coronavirus restrictions changed Mark's focus to dogs. He's been photographing them for most of his life. He shares his home with his wife, a Bernese Mountain Dog named Taylor and a Sheltie named Jessie.