Independence Day

Drive an hour-and-a-half south of Portland, OR and you’ll find warmer weather, roads that appear to lead nowhere in particular and Independence, OR, home of the Rogue Farms Micro Hopyard.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was invited to come out with Allyson who had to shoot some merchandise for Rogue’s mail-order catalog. As we were leaving Portland Allyson peered over her seat and informed us that we will be her models. This was news even to her co-worker, Rob and boyfriend, Rory.

“Oh, and Kim,” she said, “I thought maybe you could hold my reflectors, too.”

After I was done laughing (this is classic Allyson at work here) I was honored – Allyson and I first met in a photography course at Humboldt State and together we’ve been photo-dorking it out ever since.

When we first got there, it was immediately down to business: a round of beers (and root beer on tap for yours truly) to help us soak in the environment.

At 4pm everyone left for a free tour of the farm.

Ally and I stayed behind so we could scout locations for the impending shoot, which also turned into my own little personal tour.

I met Sullivan the three-legged (and absolutely adorable) dog…

… As well as tons of chickies and toiks that also live on the property.

And then it was time to shoot!

Rob brought along his friend Emily, who was way too much fun to photograph. She’s got the cutest smile, and I secretly wanted to steal her hair.

Rory’s been dipping into film photography lately and brought a Nikon SLR with him.

I snapped these photos inbetween holding reflectors, light stands and other misc. “Assistant to the Regional Manager” -esque jobs.

We even got some random folks to model a shirt or two for us…

…Some were more rowdy than others. :)

Once the sun started to set, things got really yummy around there.

As much fun as we had, my favorite was when Emily got in the Pumpkin Patch for the cover shoot. Ahhh, that light! I didn’t want to leave, but it’d been a long day, and we called it a wrap after that.

Drive an hour-and-a-half north of Independence, OR and you’ll find yourself with tired, dirty feet, a huge smile and happy belly.

Thanks for inviting me, Allyson!