Plantes Ferry: A bridge to the center of my heart

Plantes Ferry is one of my most favorite places in Spokane Valley.

In fact, I’ve taken more than a few clients there for their dog photography sessions.

This will always be one of my favorites:

Ah, you see that bridge? That’s the spot.

The bridge at Plantes Ferry

It’s a cute little wooden bridge that crosses over a creek that drains into the Spokane River.

Lots of photographers know where this spot is at Plantes Ferry, so I’m not giving away a top secret spot. To get the above image of Shannon last November, we had to wait our turn while a Spokane family photographer wrapped up her shot list.

This past Sunday, though, there was nary another camera to be seen. It was just me and the heart of my heart, Bella the Maremma sheepdog.

I knew I had to get our blog images out of the way because the weather is more of the same early this week. Rain, rain, rain.

The Plantes Ferry bridge was the perfect place to grab a few images for this week’s pet photographers blog circle. Our topic is “center.”

Center-weighted composition isn’t a popular choice. Many photographers fall into the rule of thirds, a simple and effective rule to draw your eye to the subject.

I like it. It’s different.

The bridge added another trick of composition: leading lines. The rails of the bridge lead you right into Bella’s beautiful head.

I wanted to have a little fun with it, though, so I brought my three prime lenses: the 85mm (above), the 35mm and the 20mm.

It sounded like fun. It wasn’t for Bella. You can see she’s not entirely pleased with me.

Wait for it.

Because this 35mm was the first one, and she looks barely tolerant of me here:

When she’s not happy with me, she won’t look at the camera.

By the time we got to the 20mm and I pulled out my Neewer stick light, she was extremely upset:

Hell, she’s even sitting on her tail.

And that side-eye? It’s almost chilling.

Don’t worry, we made up later. She even smiled for me and lit my heart on fire when we were able to catch a bit of sunset at Plantes Ferry:

Get ready for spring blooms

It’s time to start booking spring sessions! There’s this field at Plantes Ferry that turns blue with a flax wildflower in May and June.

It’s spectacular.

A Memories session at Plantes Ferry is a fantastic way to get gorgeous portraits of you and your dog doing dog things together.

Let’s get your session on the calendar.

All around the circle

Aaaaaaand I just realized we were at Plantes Ferry for last week’s blog post, too. I guess I really like it there!

I’ll find a different spot for next week. I promise! The skies are supposed to be clear today and we might be able to get in a snowshoe or a hike.

In the meantime, let’s see how the other pet photographers in the blog circle centered themselves this week.

Let’s head Down Under. Start with Helen Green, dog photographer at Geelong, Australia.

At the end of Helen’s post, click the link to the next post and see where we take you.

When you find yourself back here at Plantes Ferry (again), you know you’re home.

Right where you belong.