The 2022 Pet Calendar Project - Third Session
Alexa, Scottie & Crosby
Deep in the planning phase of the 2022 Calendar Project I did some informal polling on social media for local insight re: locations that would undeniably say, 'Lancaster County'. While I know the county pretty well I by no means know every corner of it and the possibility of learning about hidden gems was a definite plus. Anyway, many people suggested I include a covered bridge and I thought, "Great idea - how hard can that be?!"
It turns out it wasn't as straightforward as I imagined.
There are 29 covered bridges in Lancaster County. They're all beautiful so picking one with that criteria alone wasn't difficult because visually speaking you can't go wrong with any of them.
What wasn't so easy was finding a bridge with the following:
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a safe place to park for multiple vehicles
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located on a quiet-ish road
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one not under construction like the one I originally picked!
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decent sight lines to traffic going in both directions
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not located far down in the southern end as I am pretty far up in the northern end
And finally, the bridge had to be situated so it was possible to get the dogs and the bridge in the frame - harder than it sounds. ~ Many of the bridges would have required the dogs be in the middle of a busy road in order to see the bridge exterior. Those I discounted straight away. ~ Other bridges have unsightly guard rails that are impossible to work around for the shot I wanted. ~ Some bridges can only be seen from below and are so high off the ground that the dogs would barely be visible in the shot.
You see where I'm going with this... I'll admit I was getting a little discouraged.
I settled on Zook's Mill Covered Bridge that spans Cocalico Creek in Leola. The furkids, Crosby and Scottie were on leashes held by mom, Alexa and her wonderful helper, Sally. I had the dogs up on the wall but there was only one section large enough to accommodate both a Bullmastiff and a Pit bull!
Alexa and Sally had to hunker down on one side of the bridge holding their leashes while I tried to get the dogs to smile for the camera. I also tried them directly in front of the bridge for a minute or two because the interior trusses are so beautiful.
We hustled out of the way when we heard or saw a car coming but the drivers of the cars were great, with many of them stopping to admire Crosby and Scottie - as they should!
As a matter of interest the white sign on the right side of the bridge's interior (photo below) says,
"Water level Agnes, June 1972". Looking at the level of Cocalico Creek it is hard to wrap my head around water coming halfway up the bridge during a hurricane and the bridge surviving. It was built in 1849 by Henry Zook.
Scottie and Crosby were absolute champs about sitting on walls, perking ears, cocking heads and just generally looking adorable. What more could we ask for!?
And as you can see, dog photo sessions require a roll in the grass (and down the hill!) as a just reward for looking beautiful and humoring the hoomans.
What's next for the 2022 Pet Calendar Project?
Another adorable pair of dogs are on deck - Brie & Bambi. Check back and see some preview images of their session!
The 2022 Pet Calendar will be available for purchase in September/October and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Pitties.Love.Peace.
Stay Tuned!
If you would like to book a Rough Coat Photography session for your pet, click the button below and I will be in touch shortly!
Have questions? Request my no-obligation Inquiry Guide here.
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