Hailey might call herself urban and trendy, but this Tualitan High School senior is a country girl at heart. In fact, she’s a big country music fan and and her parents own the Baggenstos Farm in Sherwood, which is famous for it s pumpkin patch and 5-acre corn maze.

So, when it came time to deciding where to take Hailey’s senior portraits, it was a no brainer. We started off in downtown Portland and took full advantage of the rich background created by the Trinity Episocpal Church. The church’s bold red wooden doors and textured stone structure provided a stunning architectural backrop for Hailey’s portraits. We then took a stroll down the street, randomly looking for fun urban scenes such as the gardens, stair steps, and a brick coffee shop wall. You can see some of these features in the pictures below.

But, while the City was fun, the best was yet to come: the Baggenstos Farm!

Now, I’m a big fan of photographing seniors with their pets. I’ve had clients with dogs, cats, rabbits, horses… but this is the first time I had a high school senior who wanted to be photographed with her two pet goats! I was totally excited to take on the challenge! Needless to say, those critters were a bit camera shy and didn’t want to have anything to do with me! Finally, we discovered that the trick was to have Hailey distract them with some fresh grass while I snuck up on them from behind a nearby barn. It worked out great and we created some really fun and unique portraits for Hailey!

But it didn’t stop there! We couldn’t resist wandering into the corn maze, and shooting in the field just as the sun set. Some of my favorite images are of Hailey on an old iconic, beat up pickup truck that sits at the front of their property. That truck hasn’t run in decades, but it made an amazing colorful prop that showed off Hailey’s country roots – cowboy boots and all!

We were having so much fun that we kept shooting after it was really too dark to shoot. We drove out to a pond on the farm where Hailey had an old vintage rowboat. Despite the challenging lighting conditions, we used a small portable strobe to create some artistic images of Hailey rowing into the night.

In my mind, this is what High School Senior Portraiture is all about; taking the time to plan a portrait session that really shows off a senior’s many interests and personality. Every high school senior is unique, and the pictures they take during their final year in school should reflect that.

Check out the video below and be sure to click on the images below to see larger versions.

It’s not too late to schedule your senior portrait session! Visit www.brianpasko.com for more information!