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How it all started

I am writing a memoir that covers the last twenty years of my life. It's a tale of middle age and Margaret Thatcher; how they led me into a health crisis and how I lived through it. One positive event that came from this is Mindful Photography.…

Recovery – 2 weeks Post Op

This is me, two weeks after my liver resection to remove a tumour. I look remarkably well, but not every picture tells the true story, so here is my tale of my first two weeks post op. Ten Days of Hell Firstly, a few facts. I was scheduled…
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The right side of life

It's been a while. I've not felt at all creative for the last six weeks. There's not been much going on - apart from my lovely sister visiting – I think that it's been more to do with coming to terms with what I'm living through. The operation…
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Cancer is a Rite of Passage

Living with cancer is a rite of passage. At first, I didn’t realise this, probably because my awareness of living through a rite of passage, despite having lived through a couple already, is not particularly attentive. If we take a rite…
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Anaesthesia Alley

Beware of Anaesthesia Alley, anything that happens down that salubrious passage may or may not be true. Here follows the tale of my days before, through and after the alley. Readers of a sensitive demeanour may find there to be a little too…
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Who Am I Now Exhibition live

Finally, after several delays, my Who Am I Now Exhibition is now on the walls, at Morriston Hospital, Swansea. And it looks great! The exhibition has been developed over two years with nine patients of Swansea Bay University Health Board,…
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Limbo Practice

I don't feel much like saying much today. The title says it all. I'm in a state of limbo; between cancer in and out, awaiting operations and treatment. The practice element is two fold. Practice sustains me at this time: meditation, yoga…
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My Photography Practice

You may have read that I re-established my photography practice over six months ago. I determined that I would schedule a weekly session and follow a practice that was not outcome driven. So, how have I got on? I thought I would share my…
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Climatic

The theme for this year's Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy is Climate. This will be the fourth year I have submitted - one successful acceptance to date - so I thought I would share some of my thoughts about the process and the joy of…
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Favourite Photos 2021

Each of these photos has been chosen for a reason. It could just be a successful creative intention achieved, or a memory evoked. I try to do this every year, but I failed last year. It was a strange old year huh?  Reflecting upon that…
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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…
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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…