Not so long ago, the world of farming was new and exciting to Kristen Daily, so the simplest of everyday things seemed worth of a photograph.
Now, her photography has a place of honor with the Indiana Department of Agriculture.
Her photo titled “Preparing for Planting,” of husband Ben Daily preparing for a day’s work in the field, was recently named one of 10 winners in the statewide 2018 Indiana Agricultural Photography Contest.
Daily’s photograph will be displayed in Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s Family of Business offices — including the state agriculture department — until August 2019.
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“First, I fell in love with Ben, and then I fell in love with farming. The photography just started as a hobby. It was a way to keep the memories of our life and work on the farm, I just started snapping pictures with my phone,” Kristen Daily said.
Of her winning entry, Daily said she was wanting to capture some pictures of the guys working on equipment because those are pictures seen less often.
“Farmers spend a lot of their time doing just that, working on equipment, whether it’s for preparing the equipment for the season or fixing a breakdown in the field,” Kristen Daily said.
Hundreds of photographers competed in five categories in the contest. Daily’s winning photograph was one of two winners in the Faces of Agriculture category. Each of the other four categories also had two winners.
The honor is the second time in three years that Daily was named a winner in the annual competition. The first time was in 2016, for a photo of her father-in-law Jim Daily harvesting a what field.
Farming was new to Kristen Daily, 28, because she was raised in the city. With her parents Gene and Linda Davenport, she moved to Columbus when she was 12 and had nothing to do with any kind of farming activity until she met Ben in high school.
Ben Daily was from a longtime local farming family. Ben and Kristen dated all through their years at Columbus East High School. After Kristen’s mother died, she began spending more time at the Daily Farm.
“They really had to show me the ropes because I didn’t know how to do anything. But, it was all so interesting and I really enjoyed it,” Kristen said.
She found farming so interesting that after graduating from East in 2009, Kristen enrolled at Purdue University to study agriculture. In 2010, Kristen and Ben married and she transferred her studies to Ivy Tech’s Columbus campus, where she earned an associate degree in agricultural studies.
Ben and Kristen set up housekeeping in one of the several Daily Farms that stretch across 3,300 acres of land extending from outside of Columbus to the edge of Alert.
“The boys do most of the real farm labor,” Kristen said, explaining that Ben, his brother Evan and their dad Jim work together to maintain the farms, while Kristen and her mother-in-law Carol work together to maintain the family’s store, Daily’s Farm Market in Columbus.
“There was so much work to do and so many things going on, there was always something interesting going on so I just started taking pictures,” Kristen said.
Then, about three years ago, her interest in photography became more serious when she began compiling an album of photographs for her father-in-law and mother-in-law.
“I wanted them to have the memories of their farm, their family and their life,” Kristen said. She invested in a Nikon camera and took a class on how to use her new camera.
She has since made two albums.
“She gave them to us each Christmas,” Carol said, as she shook her head and wiped away a tear in her eye. “They were just beautiful. Kristen just sees things in every little thing that the rest of us just don’t see.”
Ben laughed as he remembered finding Kristen laying on the ground by a row of corn.
“I thought something must be wrong but she said she was just taking a picture of the dew on a leaf of the stalk of corn. Who would have ever thought of taking a picture of dew on corn?” Ben said.
Though they may tease Kristen about her persistence with her photography, Ben, Carol and Jim are quick to show a healthy respect for Kristen’s talent
“I tell her she should put her pictures in a frame and show them in the store. I bet she would sell every one of them. They are very, very good,” Jim said.
“Sometimes I think I might annoy them a bit. I mean, they are busy working and here I come with my camera taking more pictures, but at least they don’t run away anymore. They just kind of let me do my thing,” Kristen said, smiling.
Photography isn’t Kristen’s only endeaver. She helps operate Daily’s Farm Market, where the family sells fresh produce, and beef and chicken grown on their farms. The store also specializes in a variety of homemade foods.
Now that the Jim and Carol Daily’s daughters Kelsy (Julian) and Kristin (Sipes) have married and moved away, it is up to Carol and Kristen and a small kitchen staff to make the store’s famous chicken salad, tomato pies and a host of other entrees and treats sold in the store.
“We keep pretty busy here, but harvest is coming soon. That is my favorite time of year, and I will be spending more time in the fields and I will be taking many more photos of life on the farm,” Kristen said.
