Breath Before you Click

Mindful photography is a way to slow down and notice the beauty in the ordinary. It involves taking the time to breathe, focus, and connect with your surroundings. By practicing mindfulness in photography, you can also tap into the creative flow, improve your technical skills, and produce more meaningful and impactful photographs.

First let’s look at what it even means to be mindful: Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. It involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment.

What a beautiful way to treat our photography practice. With out judgement or believing that there is a right or wrong way of creating. “To capture what we see through a nurturing lens”. That statement just brings a smile to my face.

---

Being in the Creative Flow

The concept of mindfulness is nothing new. I was first introduced to it back in my make-up artistry days. A friend of mine introduced me to Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist Way” and I have continued practicing her teachings ever since. With the exercises she suggests in "The Artist Way," you can get rid of mental and physical clutter. It helps you get out of your own way and rediscover what bring you joy and inspiration using Artist Dates . Back to a sense of play and wander without real purpose or outcome. Practicing mindful photography allows the moment to present itself in front of the lens.

When we are kids, we rarely create with purpose. We just play for the the pure pleasure of experimenting and the wonder of what the outcome will be. When I am styling a photo for example, I love playing with props in unconventional ways. Rules are meant to be altered, negotiated or broken. Just ask my teenager. (Insert eye roll here)

With mindful photography, we can gain more experiences, creativity, and well-being. Using photography for self-reflection and expression is fun. Bringing mindfulness into our photography goes beyond the images we create - it can give us new perspectives and ways of seeing, and help us cultivate a sense of gratitude and awareness.

A great images can make you feel like you are right there with the photographer and capturing great images is the act of being present WITH the creator.

Be patient, be aware of the light, shadows, colours, and the emotions you are feeling.

Explore and Experiment.

Breath before you click.