AYLESBURY, Sask. – Finding patterns in river ice or rich colours in lichen covered boulders is Annemieke (Mickey) Watkins’ passion.
The Aylesbury photographer, farm woman and nature buff immigrated to Canada from Holland in search of scenes like these in the Canadian wilderness.
“I see something and I take it all in,” said Watkins.
She met her husband, Raymond, at a remote bear hunt camp near Fort. St. John, B.C., where she worked as a cook.
“It was totally isolated. It was just wonderful.”
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
The pair later married, had two children and started a ranch without running water or electricity near the Alaska Highway, before moving to Raymond’s mixed farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley.
She called her experience in nature spiritual.
“That’s what nature is to me,” she said. “If I see a deer birthing a fawn, I’m so in awe.”
She’s often so in awe, she forgets to shoot it. But when she does pick up the camera, capturing these moments as she comes across them is her preferred shooting style.
“I like to do it naturally,” she said of photography.
Watkins enjoys the opportunity to combine her love of creating something with her love of nature.
“It’s almost like painting,” she said.
The self-taught photographer is loyal to Nikon, the camera brand she first started with, using a basic body and a pair of other lenses to capture everything from ladybugs to flowers to sunsets.
A photo backpack is ready to go whenever she goes, often in the truck or on horseback to get as close to her subjects as possible.
She has lingered alongside curious fox pups and hiked through the valley but is careful to avoid such dangers as moose during rutting season.
Watkins would like to do more photography, but finds few markets apart from freelancing photos toThe Western ProducerandOur Canada.She also sells photo note cards in stores like Regina’s MacKenzie art gallery store, which focuses on Saskatchewan artists.
John Peet, gallery store manager, chose her images because the photography is good and the emphasis is on Saskatchewan.
“The images of rural Saskatchewan are appealing and they help depict the rural aspect of the province,” he said.
The Watkinses, now in semi-retirement on the farm, with one daughter in college and another working in Alberta, hire others to do the production and focus on marketing the pulse, cereal and canola crops.
Both plan to return to northern Canada one day.
“Nature has just wonderful things,” Watkins said. “I like it wild.”
