A Year of Gratitude – March 9, 2024

Gratitude was waiting for me in a photo today. It’s a photo I took years ago, through the lens of a DSLR camera that stopped working not long after. This photo might not be new, but it brought me a fresh dose of gratitude today as if I had never seen it before.

I was cataloging a few hundred photos today, working through the thousands I have taken here at the farm over the years. I’ll share more about why in a moment. I landed on this one. It has been a favorite since the day I captured it.

I love marigolds, particularly these Queen Sophia marigolds. I feel like they are often unappreciated as the beautiful flower they are. They’re relegated to being kept for utility (which they are renowned for) while being overlooked as a beautiful addition to any spot in the garden.

I also love to take photos of raindrops on flower petals and leaves in the garden. After a rain, I grab my camera or phone and run outside to capture images of raindrops clinging to petals before the sun comes out and evaporates them away.

Since the time when I was a young girl, I have loved to look at the world through a camera. On my 14th birthday, I asked for a 35mm camera and a lens. When I had that camera in hand, I felt like I could see things in the world that other people were missing.

I loved taking photos, spending time in the darkroom at school, and watching with eager anticipation while images appeared on the negatives, and later photo paper before me. There were more disappointments in that experience than I had expected.
I would spend hours (and plenty of my hard earned allowance and chore money) planning out a photo, taking the photo, and then developing the negatives or prints to find that I had missed the mark.

Far too often, the focus was fuzzy, the composition was lacking, or the lighting just hadn’t come together on film the way that I had pictured it in my mind. I can’t tell you how many rolls of film I saved up money to purchase, to develop, only to be disappointed in the results.

I could have never imagined that I would carry around a camera that fit in my pocket, took great photos, and allowed me to instantly see the images. I am so grateful that I do. It allows me to take as many photos as I want until I get one that conveys to you what I am seeing.

Over the years, I have taken thousands of photos here at the farm. I’ve started to try and catalog more of them this year, to look back on the changes that this old farmhouse and the land it rests on have undergone in the nearly 20 years since we moved in. Those first photos feel like they were taken yesterday, yet also like they happened a lifetime ago. I’m so glad to have the photos to remind me of those moments, to freeze them in time.

When my children were quite small, I sold my photos at a local gallery. I loved the entire process of taking the photos, editing them, and producing prints that could be sold and enjoyed in someone’s home. I’m so eager to get back to that, to producing beautiful images that can be welcomed into your homes and enjoyed for years to come.

Over the coming weeks, I will be working with my children to choose the first group of photos to offer. I’ll have more information to share and a few glimpses of the first collection as it takes shape. I hope that you’ll enjoy seeing it come together.

The 14 year old who wanted desperately to be a photographer, to document the beauty around her and share it with others is now a part of the 51 year old I am today. I still want to capture beauty with a camera and share it with you. It brings joy to my day and I am so very grateful that I get to do that.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.