“Wild” Filming

Filming Spokane’s Riverfront Park Without a Plan

Creating my latest travel montage at Riverfront Park in Spokane turned out to be an adventure all on its own. I didn’t walk in with a shot list or a rigid plan — just my camera, some instincts, and the hope that the city would give me something worth capturing.

The park itself is gorgeous: wide open spaces, bursts of urban energy, and little pockets of quiet that almost feel hidden. But filming “in the wild” is never as simple as pointing the lens and hitting record. Every shot had to be discovered in real time. One minute I was crouching low to catch the glow on the river, the next I was spinning around to chase light bouncing off a building. It was equal parts patience and reflex.

Wildlife, of course, brought its own set of curveballs. The ducks on the river were a constant tease — perfect one second, gone the next. The water was especially tricky, too dark to hold reflections and constantly shifting with ripples that ruined what could have been great moments. Add to that the human factor — people noticing the camera and either freezing like statues or locking eyes straight into the lens — and I quickly realized that filming in public comes with a dance of its own.

What surprised me most, though, was how freeing it became to let go of perfection. The montage stopped being about nailing “the shot” and turned into an exploration of process. What I ended up with wasn’t a polished postcard version of Spokane, but something more alive — a little messy, full of movement, and shaped by surprises I couldn’t have planned.

That’s what I love about projects like this. They force me to work with what’s real: the changing light, the unpredictability of people, the rhythm of a place as it actually is. Spokane gave me that — not in perfect frames, but in genuine ones. And honestly, that’s better.

— Yogi Castor
Founder, Yogi Films