I recently saw a post from a landscape photographer showing the results of playing with AI to add additional elements to her already lovely photos. The point of her post was to illustrate just how easy it is to add a bit of fog, mist or snow to an image for the wow factor, and how difficult it is becoming to discern what is real and what is AI-enhanced. For those of us who love to go out and make images of nature’s beauty, it can be a little depressing. On a bad day, it can be easy to think why bother? But, like most things in life, I guess it’s a matter of perspective.
I recently had a rare day off work just because, and spent the morning rambling around the local arboretum. Later, as I was playing around with editing shots that are not likely to go anywhere other than maybe social media, I questioned what this was all about? What is it about this hobby that makes me keep wanting to pick up my camera and spend countless hours on a computer processing files? What is the point? What will I do with all these images?
The answer to those questions actually don’t matter.
Why does anyone take up and continue to pursue a hobby? Before ‘side-hustle’ was part of the common lexicon, people engaged in hobbies for the simple reason of enjoyment. Happiness. Mental wellbeing. That was enough.
For me, that’s what photography is mostly about. It’s a path to mindfulness. A way to disconnect – or perhaps reconnect – to slow down and be present.
When I’m out with my camera, I’m noticing the world around me in a different way. How the light falls. The textures of bark. A glistening dew drop on a leaf. The calls of birds or the hum of insects. The contours of the land. The curves of trees. The patterns among leaves and flowers. The interrelationship between objects and space. My lens is a way to focus my attention. Like the steady hand of the Japanese calligrapher, this is a moment to slow down, connect the mind, hand and eye and be present and focused only upon the image before you.
Do you need to take photographs to achieve the same mindfulness? Probably not. And when I walk without my camera, I undoubtedly also get much of the same wellbeing benefits. A good-paced walk does wonders for ‘blowing the cobwebs away’ and re-setting an unsettled mind. However, I think the thing about a mindful photography walk is the slowing down. The deliberate decision to make an image that captures something that caught your eye. It takes a nice walk in the park and turns it into a more deliberate act of mindfulness. Instead of the recollection that: ‘things were a bit damp after the rain’, you may instead reflect: ‘the drops of rain sat like jewels on the broad green leaves’. Instead of barely registering the blossoms on a tree, you notice the gradation of colour, the textures, and you spend time looking for the blossoms that catch the light just so, are set in a pleasing pattern, or can be isolated from the rest of the tree.
The walk itself is undoubtedly the most beneficial part of the process.
When I started photography, I wasn’t super keen on the editing process – I work full-time in front of a computer, so editing seemed like a necessary evil of this hobby. One best to master and learn to do as promptly as possible. However, the more I play and experiment, the more I do sometimes enjoy editing.
I’ve come to view the editing process is part of the creative journey. It’s another chance to observe the things I saw through my lens, to think about why I made the image, and how to best convey what it was that caught my eye in the first place. Was it all about the texture, or the light and shade? If so, perhaps colour is immaterial, so I’ll edit in black and white. Or perhaps colour is key to one of the elements. If so, I may consider ways to emphasise that, such as though contrast and vibrancy adjustments or bringing out any contrasting or complementary tones in the image.
So that’s my take on why it is worth persevering with photography in a world where images are abundant. The end result probably doesn’t matter (at least for a hobbyist). But the process is a way to find a little bit of zen. In a mad world, there’s nothing wrong with allowing yourself some time to just be present and do something that makes you happy.
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