Everyday mindful photography

One of the best things about practising mindful photography is that you can do it anywhere. Mindfulness is the process of being aware of your thoughts. By paying attention to your thoughts you can direct yourself to be more “present” and this in turn will lead to more photography opportunities.

Photography on autopilot

The opposite of mindful photography is when you don’t think about it. You probably have a comfortable routine where you can shoot on autopilot; but it’s time to get off autopilot and start being more present when any of the following applies to you:

your images all look the same
you’ve lost your photo mojo
you use the same settings for all your shots
you take lots of gear with you but you always need an extra lens or a different filter
you’re never completely happy with any of your images
you don’t have any new ideas
you think your photography would be better if you went to a particular location

You don’t need new gear or to go on an expensive trip to do mindful photography. You can start now and you can use your phone.

There is no right or wrong way to do it. The idea is to first pay attention to your thoughts, and then decide if your thoughts are helpful to your photography or not. Try it now:

Pause and see what you’re thinking.
If you are being unhelpfully critical of yourself, or bringing your mood down, or procrastinating: just be aware of that.
Tell yourself you’re going to take some photos.
Pause again. Take ten deep breaths and just pay attention to your thoughts again. You don’t need to direct them or change them.
Bring your attention to your surroundings. Take as long as you like to observe. Direct your gaze and your attention to different parts of the scene. Look for the light, find the shadows, see what textures you can see. You can do this anywhere - in your kitchen, in the car while you’re waiting to pick someone up, on a walk, in the garden.
Pick up your camera and just start taking photos. Follow your curiosity. Don’t have an agenda. If you were drawn to a patch of light and shade, start there.
The goal is not to have an award-winning photograph at the end of the session. The goal is to try and stay present in the moment for as long as you are shooting. This means not thinking about the previous shot or the next shot; bring your attention only to the shot you are currently engaged with.

These are some shots Emma (who wrote A Year With My Camera) has taken with her iPhone during the pandemic in moments of mindful photography. Each shows just something that drew her attention that she might have missed had she not been curious in that moment: