A mother of four, photographer, nature lover. Someone trying to make sense of it all, through photos and stories. 

I try to be free in all senses of the word, so I made the leap and now work with what I love doing; taking pictures, storing this life in moments, both for myself and for clients. My heart is in photographing birth and motherhood, but I take on just about any photography job. 
(See my birth photos at www.birth.no and the rest of my work portfolio at www.mariavatne.no.)

I live on a farm in Norway with my man Nik and my children Ronja, Freja, Falk and Ulv, plus a bunch of animals. We grow our own food as far as the seasons allow it, we don't go to kindergarten, the three youngest ones will be homeschooled.

We govern our own lives, we strive for independence, we want to be in this life wild and free and full of love.

An exciting time for the Paynes!

Love + vegetables
"family life", "farm life", "the house project"
This spring and summer another one of our dreams are coming true. We are renovating and moving into the main house on the farm. 
It's going to be a lot of work, but WOW. It will be OURS. For good!
The old house & the barn - our farmyard-to-be:
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Close-up of the house:
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Ps/ commercial break: This means that we have to sell the house we live in now, which is sad, but inevitable. So if anyone has a dream of countryside living, and an extra 1,5 mill norwegian kroner to spare, let us know! The house will be sold with a big garden and outhouse.
This is where we live now, just below the main house/ barn, and this will be for sale:
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Mrs. Payne loves clocks.

Friday afternoon timeout.