The Healing Practice of Mindful Nature Photography
Introduction
As I walk along the dusty track, I pass by many of the wicked and wild trees that have been guarding this quiet corner of the Gwydir Forest for a century or more. There are a handful of oak trees, but the majority of them here are silver birch trees, which thrive in these damp upland moorland environments. I’m just a speck of dust beneath most of the trees, and, despite my hair being a little thinner in some places than it once was, one glance at their weathering bark makes me appreciate my youth. The young should respect their elders, so I pause for a moment to think about how little I know and how much I still have yet to learn from them.
After a couple of miles walking along the winding track, I’ll be at my destination: a small and remote lake that is still unknown to the masses. It is only my second visit to this part of Eryri/Snowdonia National Park, yet it already feels so familiar to me. I recognise many of the trees as I pass and offer each of them a gentle and respectful ‘good morning’.
The leaves are alive with vibrant autumnal colours, and the damp soil fills my nostrils with rich scents after some recent rainfall. The sky is obscured by a blanket of high, grey clouds that are watering the ground this morning, and I can hear a very soft pitter-pattering of rain on the leaves in the colourful canopy to the left of me. On the weather forecast last night, I could see predictions of patchy fog in parts of the Gwydir forest throughout the morning, and, although I have been clear of it so far, I live in hope that the light easterly winds might carry some over the mountain so that it can hug the tired silver birch trees and warm the sleeping lake like a blanket.
The world feels calm this morning, and that, for me, is perfection. It is the stillness that I seek. The only kind that can be found out here in these wild places. Out here, silence is plentiful, and I forget that the ‘real world’ exists for a moment. With each step that I take along the track, I leave one of my worries behind, and it dissipates into the fog that has entered through the mouth of the valley and blanketed the ‘llyn’ (lake). I have been granted my wish. I’m filled with the ultimate joy and begin to imagine what photographs might reveal themselves to me throughout the morning. I approach the waters and feel my heart rate slowing. I come into the present. For the first time in a long time, I feel like myself. In these sacred moments, my mind falls silent. I come home.
When all is calm in my surroundings, I can hear my truest self. I know that the voice I need to listen to is the one that is buried deep inside, behind society’s constructs and limiting beliefs that have been passed on to me through generations and by my peers. When I am out here, in the wild places, beside Eryri’s (Snowdonia’s) tranquil lakes, beneath majestic mountains, with the branches of the pirouetting silver birch trees wrapping themselves around my weary body, my spirit feels a certain peace, and the voice I seek is free to speak.
Using Mindful Nature Photography as a Pathway to Presence
The art of Mindful Nature photography is an embodied practice. When practiced consciously and with intention, it leads to the development of presence and awareness.
Being outdoors in the natural world encourages us to become truly present with our environment through sensory engagement. We see, touch, smell, and listen to the landscape. Sometimes we might even taste its sweet fruits or the purity of Mother Nature's waters.
We learn, therefore, to become present with ourselves when we are immersed in the creative process, engaging with Nature and searching for photographs in our immediate environment. Our minds, bodies, and spirits become one as we move through the landscape to photograph gnarled, ancient trees and silent mountain lakes.
As we scan our surroundings, in the hope that the ever-elusive beauty of a composition reveals itself before our eyes, our energy and awareness can be nowhere else but ‘here’ in the moment. It takes true presence to see meaningful compositions. The more engaged we are in our craft — the more present we are with the landscape — the more likely we are to recognise Mother Nature’s omnipresent beauty.
Why Practice Mindful Photography?
Summary of Tips:
Reduced Stress & Anxiety
Reconnection with the Inner Child
Increased Awareness
Self-Expression with Safety
Developed Vision & Enhanced Creativity
Connection with Something Sacred
Mindful Photography Reduces Stress & Anxiety
Nature photography provides a much-needed escape from the mind. During your time in Nature, engaged with the creative process, you’ll notice your thoughts stop, the tides of day-to-day stress and anxiety subside, and your awareness comes into the present moment.
When you are mesmerised by the simple beauty of a tree’s backlit leaves, you are unable to think about the steps required to grow your social media following or how to negotiate your next pay rise. Instead, you are fully immersed in the creative process — you have no time to ruminate over past events or worry about the future.
A productive mindful photography session can be a soul-cleansing experience — a ‘spiritual reset’, if you like.
Reconnect with the Inner Child
Nature photography encourages experimentation and play. You can reconnect with awe, imagination, and wonder whilst engaged with the natural world. Trees dance, mountains share ancient wisdom, and spirits bathe in serene lakes. There are no limitations on the stories that can be told through the lens.
Mindful Photography Leads to Increased Awareness
Through the photographic process, you sharpen your observational skills. To photograph something, you first have to see it. Mindful Nature photography, therefore, teaches us to become aware of our surroundings; we attune ourselves to the landscape, seeing and listening to both outer and inner landscapes. Nature becomes our mirror and greatest teacher, leading us to a place of deeper self-awareness. We further understand ourselves and get a sense of our place here in the cosmos.
Express Yourself with Safety
Photography provides a wonderful platform for the safe expression of your full self. If you’re not comfortable being seen in your rawest moments, you can channel your grief, fear, shame, joy, and love into your photographs, lightening your emotional load at a safe distance from the world. When we blend Nature photography with the written word, we develop a powerful practice for emotional alchemy and transmutation. We heal at the deepest level.
Develop Your Vision & Enhance Creativity
Photography opens the mind to new ways of thinking, building neural pathways in the brain. You’ll learn to see through many different lenses when you practice mindful photography. Your view of the world will never be the same again. Creativity increases, cognitive function improves, and awareness expands. Mindful photography, therefore, leads to immense amounts of personal and spiritual growth.
‘‘Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you.’’
- Freeman Patterson
Connect with Something Sacred
Many ancient traditions, such as the Celts and Shamans, viewed the world through an animistic lens, believing that Nature is alive with spirits. When we engage with Nature through the creative process, we enter a state of deep presence and connect with something sacred and divine that lives inside ourselves.
This connection awakens us to our true Nature. We get a sense that this existence is much bigger than we might have once been able to comprehend. We learn to transcend our own egocentric wants, needs, and desires, and begin to live a purposeful life in the ultimate service to Spirit.
How to Practice Mindful Photography
Summary of Tips:
Begin with the Basics
Reduce the Noise & Distractions
Observe More, Photograph Less
Slow Down and Focus on the Process
Recognise Beyond the Representational
Begin with the Basics
The best thing about practicing mindful photography is that you don’t need all the latest, fancy camera gear to start taking pictures. You can begin right now with your mobile phone. Mindful Nature photography isn’t about the size of your lens or how many megapixels your camera has. It is about deepening your connection with the natural world. This illuminating, expansive, creative practice is not an ego-contest — it is meant, in fact, to strip away layers of your ego so you can connect with spirit and express directly from your soul.
Chances are, your mobile phone is always nearby, which means you can practice mindful photography at any time. You can connect with the spirit of Nature during your lunch break or whilst out for your morning walk. When you make creativity a dedicated practice, you will reap immeasurable rewards and notice significant improvements in the quality of your mental well-being.
Reduce the Noise & Distractions
The practice of mindful photography requires us to come into a state of presence. Therefore, we must try to silence the busy mind and eliminate anything that takes our awareness from the present moment. The most obvious thing in this day and age would be the mobile phone. At the very least, I usually silence all notifications whilst outdoors with my camera. Sometimes, I will keep it packed away in my bag or leave it behind altogether to avoid temptations.
Whilst walking to or around my chosen location, I will often practice some light breathwork, tucking my chin, pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth, and drawing breath deeply in through my nose. This is what I call ‘conscious breathing’. Whenever I feel my awareness drifting away from the moment, and thoughts kicking in, I come back to my breath and begin to observe my surroundings, paying attention to colours, textures, and light/ shadow.
Observe More, Photograph Less
As I have progressed in my own photographic journey, I have become much more selective about the photographs I create. Rather than photographing everything I see as I once did, I now go outdoors with the intention of returning with just a handful of meaningful, thought-provoking photographs.
When we set intentions and refine our approach to photography in this way, we bring our energy back to ourselves, rather than scattering it on the many different subjects outside ourselves.
Whilst practicing mindful photography, we observe both inner and outer landscapes. Our awareness should be centred on our own inner world of feelings before anything else. To enhance the creative practice, ask yourself, ‘How does this place make me feel?’ ‘Why am I drawn to this subject?’ ‘What would I like to leave behind today?’
Slow Down & Focus on the Process
The photographs we accrue throughout the creative process are a byproduct of the connection we make with the natural world and ourselves. When we go outdoors with the intention of connecting with the spirit of Nature before anything, photographs are much more likely to reveal themselves to us. Your priority should be to connect before creating — to enjoy your time in Nature: listening, feeling, observing, and simply ‘being’.
Recognise Beyond the Representational
Nature photography is enhanced significantly when we learn to create photographs about things rather than of things. Making conceptual photographs about things rather than representational photographs of a thing or a place forces us to explore our inner world of thoughts and feelings, channeling them into something creative and productive.
When we engage these innermost parts of ourselves to tell personally meaningful stories, rather than simply ‘taking pictures’, we enter a deeper state of presence. Mindful photographs, therefore, are a result of the presence we find.
Conclusion
Practicing mindful Nature photography is a truly transformational experience. Not only do we connect with the natural world and find a place of presence that we often struggle to access in this modern, digital landscape, but we also create personally expressive and meaningful photographs by tuning in to the quiet voice that hides in the depths of our inner landscape.
If you’re interested in learning the art of mindful Nature photography, perhaps you would like to attend one Finding Light’s upcoming workshops. These are to be held in various locations throughout Mid Wales and beyond, and will be available to book from as little as £15.