The mindfulness of photography

It dawned on me a while back when I mentioned to my wife if you see me at the computer and there is music playing, I am in Photoshop processing images.

A funny thing happens whenever I start to go through images. My favourite music is playing on youtube and for minutes or hours I am carried away, completely lost in what I am doing.

From wikipedia, “Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.”

All thoughts of the day or of life are lost in the moment. The “real” world doesn’t exist for that time and the creative process takes over.

The final images that I post are different from what I used to post and how I processed them. Years ago I would rush to finish an image and post it almost immediately.

Todays photos are often the result of processing, leaving for a few hours or days, revisiting and continue processing. The final result is often much different than the RAW image.

It’s like taking the picture is going to the grocery store and buying ingredients while processing them is being in the kitchen and deciding what to do with them.

When in this “mindful” moment there is never a goal or a final result that I am attempting to achieve instead it is continually moving within the image, lightening, darkening, changing the colour and doing whatever “feels” right.

When you get lost in the moment, something from somewhere guides your hand. It is magical and cannot be explained. Accept it and love it. That is where your best moments come from.

Happy shooting,

Dan

 

~ by Dan Jurak on April 1, 2019.