This is my second cousin’s family, on an old family dairy farm in Jindivick, Victoria, Australia. (Do people say ‘second cousin’ anymore?!). Bec pre warned me that the kids are a little shy. Only 10 minutes into the shoot they were posing as piggies in the old pig pens on their farm. These kids are adorable: playful, kind, unassuming, giggly and mischievous in all the best ways. Apparently I earned the privilege of ‘best friend’ status with their youngest, I am honored.

Our branch of the Ronalds family established roots here in Jindivick in the late 1880’s. My great grandfather, Oscar, cleared the land and made a living from sheep and dairy farming. The house he lived in was transported by ox over a mile from a neighboring property. Oscar was a budding photographer. I have his photos hanging on our walls here in Salt Lake City, depicting life in those early days on that land. Pictures of tall tree ferns that no longer exist and logs that were felled on the property that are so tall the mind can barely comprehend their scale. Photos of my grandfather at aged 8, tending to the calves and Oscar treating cattle in the yards. These photos are now over 100 years old and mean the world to me.

Today each mailbox along this stretch of Main Jindivick Road features a Ronalds name or inhabitant. I feel such strong connection with this land. The farming life, the proximity of native bush and the friendly people I’ve grown up with there.

It meant so much to me to be able to photograph Stephen and Bec’s family here on their home soil. Not to mention, the light up there in the evenings just blows me away. I miss those long orange, autumn evenings as I write here from Salt Lake City, Utah.