Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

I am a full time farmer, shepherdess, chicken wrangler, heirloom vegetable goddess, Deltiologist and an “as time permits” Photographer.

You know that great line from the end of The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy looks up at her friends and family and says something to the effect about “looking for her heart’s desire she wouldn’t look any further than her own backyard.” Well, my life is sort of like that…except I discovered I didn’t have the right backyard. So, after a 25+ year high pressure career, my husband and I chucked it all, sold the house in the big city and bought the farm…really…we bought a farm.

My surroundings inspire my photographic journey and like Dorothy I have found contentment in my own backyard. This is reflected in my favorite subjects to photograph; my farm animals, vegetables or perhaps a fascinating moment in nature with many of those moments occurring in winter.

Prince Edward County Ontario is my main focus for my pictures and I enjoy sharing my view on the world through my photography, mostly my own backyard but that really is my world. I often look to the small details for inspiration (frost on a pond, a reflection in glass, a single flower head, weeds frozen by winter’s chill or perhaps weathered fences.)

As a young girl my father encouraged my early attempts at photography. That did however include several shots of the inside of my lens cap and the occasional loped off head in a portrait. I did stick with it and with his patient guidance I found my way and my own point of view. In 2005 I was so proud to have him at my side when I won Photographer of the Year at our PEC Fair but I forgot to take a picture of his smile. My camera now goes wherever I go.