I shot this for a poster used for a literary event held every fall in Corvallis, called The Magic Barrel, with help from my friend Jim Bolker, who helped steady the kayak so the typewriter wouldn’t tumble into the drink. The Magic Barrel features a number of local poets, novelists and nonfiction writers reading their work, with the proceeds from the evening going to the local food share for hunger relief. I should also add here, for the purposes of complete transparency, that I am a board member of the Magic Barrel, in charge of photography and web design.

I designed this shot to blend the literary theme of the event with the outdoorsy culture of the town. And that’s what brought Jim and I to the shores of the Willamette River at sunset, far off in the wilderness about a block from downtown Corvallis, to try to balance the typewriter on the rounded shell of the kayak. I thought the coffee cup was a nice touch. We got the ducks through the local actors union, but they were impossible to work with, squabbling constantly about bread breaks and the union pay scale.