Photographer's goal to capture family farming gets national attention

"I'm very much someone who thinks of a photo from a journalistic perspective - that it records a point in time that can never be lost," she said.

"For me, all of my shots need to tell a story and that's always been my my goal from day one with photography."

The Warren photographer's photo of her son trying to feed the rams on the family property was just named as the winner in the National Farmers' Federation 2023 National Agriculture Day photo and video competition.

Ms Dimarzio-Bryan almost missed the competition completely. A friend in Townsville encouraged her to enter, but when she looked entries were closing that day.

Ms Dimarzio-Bryan - who splits her time between architecture and photography - had a busy day and didn't think she would have time for the competition.

Thankfully she did.

Her photo caught the judges' attention for encapsulating this year's theme #GrowYouGoodThing, beating 500 other entries.

Documenting the "raw side of farming" is one of Ms Dimarzio-Bryan's passions.

Until six years ago she had always lived in Sydney, but when she moved to the Central West, her creativity was sparked by the countryside.

"For me to visit a property like that was just so fascinating. It kind of made me want to take photos and then once I started I couldn't stop and there were more and more things out here to photograph," Ms Dimarzio-Bryan said.

Now she frequently takes her camera when they go out to the paddocks.

On the day she took the award-winning photograph, her toddler refused to stay in the truck while they fed the rams.

"He saw my husband carrying the bucket and feeling them so he said he wanted to do it," Ms Dimarzio-Bryan said.

The rams were turning away from him, but her toddler kept pursuing them, keen to copy his dad, she said.

As well as being a way to capture moments of her family, and share what life in like on the farm with those back in Sydney, Ms Dimarzio-Bryan also hopes her photos find a place in history.

"It's interesting because I love going through old photos of how our farm operated 40 years ago, 80 years ago. Looking at those photos to see how they did things back then and how kids got involved," she said.

"I just think those photos are so important to record history, to tell that story when people aren't around anymore to tell the story."

Ms Dimarzio-Bryan said she wanted to thank The Land, National Farmers Federation and Syngenta for holding and promoting the photography competition.

"I think these competitions are fabulous for exposing the world to great photographers and also exposing the world to stories of the land," she said.

National Farmers' Federation president David Jochinke said the judges had a tough job choosing a winner.

"What's exciting about this competition is there are no rules on ages or abilities and that opens the floor to some candid and unplanned imagery," he said.

"There are endless moments in farming that you simply cannot plan, like a brewing storm, an animal's expression or the way the light hits a paddock.

"These moments are some of the reasons why farmers do what they do, we really do have the best offices in the world."