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The story of a photo 5

This is the story of a photo in portrait format. Not the version you see above, but the original that is at the end of this post. Most of the time I am drawn to shoot in landscape format. I even chose to do that for my recent portrait project,…
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Meaningness

Look at the things around you, the immediate world around you. If you are alive, it will mean something to you, and if you care enough about photography, and if you know how to use it, you will want to photograph that meaningness.Paul Strand I…
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Your Unruly Mind

With mindfulness, as you practice - be it meditation, mindful photography or simply being present with the one thing that you are doing - your present awareness develops. As this happens, your understanding and appreciation of the moment has…

The story of a photo 4

My current overarching photographic intention is to create expressive photos. I am responding to Aristotle's belief that, "the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." In terms of the…
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A tour of the Photography for Well-Being Online Course

What follows is a small tour of my new course, Photography for Well-Being (The Ultimate Mindful Photography Course), which is still at half price until 30th September. It will go up by 25% on 1st October! When I started creating online photography…

5 common photography mistakes

1. Taking too many photos Digital photography is too damn fast! You can take dozens of photos every second. Point and shoot again and again. You know that it's not costing you. Sure your memory card fills up, but you can ignore or delete…

Ailsa’s story – ‘How Mindful Photography helped me’

Hello there I hope that you're enjoying the day. This post is all about what it is like to do a Mindful Photography Course with me. Ailsa Brims, whose story follows lower down, enrolled on my first Mindful Photography email course a few years…

The story of a photo 3

This photo is from my last photography practice, an amble through the woods on a warm September day. Over the last couple of weeks I have been practising with my 90mm lens. On my Fuji X-T4 this is full frame equivalent to a 135mm lens,…

The Ultimate Mindful Photography Course open for enrolment

Once upon a time a midlife man had an idea. He thought it was an original thought, Why not teach Mindful Photography? It wasn't, but he did. The End. Or the beginning..... Back in 2013 when I googled Mindful Photography, I discovered that…

A Walk in the Woods

"It is clear that our bodies still recognize nature as our home…" – Walking in the Woods, Yoshifumi Miyazaki There is now much research that supports our intuitive knowing that a walk in the woods is good for us. Yesterday I was struggling…
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Urban photos with meaning

Today my practice involved wandering the back lanes of urban Swansea, with an intention. This is best explained by Guy Tal who said, "I consider myself not just a photographer, but also an expressive artist, meaning, among other things, that…

The Story of a Photo 2

Today's photo is from yesterday's photo practice. Context first: I had some guilt around only managing one photo practice last week, but I took a deep breath, got back up from where I had fallen and went back to the practice. It's all you can…

Disrupted Practice

There is a school of thought that suggests you should practice (your art, meditation, work) in a quiet, undisturbed environment. However, the truth is that rarely exists. Perhaps it is wiser to embrace the disruption to your practice, and do…

The story of a photo 1

Every photo tells a story huh? But what about the story of the photo? The tale of how it came into being. Here's the first of a new series. This photo was created on a warm summer's day. It is born of my photography practice and a desire…

Practice

I use the word 'practice' a lot. I use it to describe the 20 minutes I spend doing yoga and meditation each morning. I use it to describe the photography activities I do and share in my eBooks and online courses. But is it only recently that…

Creating photos of a place – Cromer

We've just come back from a week on the east coast of England. Cromer is a seaside town in North Norfolk's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whilst we walked a good six miles of the coast either side of the town, we also spent a few days…
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Generosity

Generosity is regarded as a mindful attitude. Jon Kabat-Zinn added it to his initial list of seven attitudes that are found in his book Full Catastrophe Living, along with gratitude. This post will detail what it is and explain how can you develop…
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Arts on Prescription

Swansea has just started an Arts on Prescription service. Read on to find out what that is and how the arts can support your well-being. HARBWR is the name of Swansea's Arts on Prescription Service. It runs creative and engaging arts activities…
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Simplify your camera setup

I have written in the past about how imposing limitations can fire up your creative juices, but simplifying your camera set up can also allow a greater connection with the visual feast in front of you. Let me explain. I believe that the greatest…
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Street Photography Lenses

There is plenty of debate and loud opinion about the ideal focal length for a Street Photography lens. I thought I would put two to the test during a recent walkabout in the city of Swansea in Wales. I'll be considering the merits of a 27mm…
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Creating art for exhibitions

Let's reflect upon the process of creating art for exhibitions. The first few months of each year seem to be, what I have now named, 'Call' Season. Many national and international exhibitions and competitions call for new work to be submitted.…