Slow down

Hello everyone,

As April draws to a close the world around me here at Old Oak Barn is alive with birds singing, wildflowers showing through in the hedges and multitude of green shades in the trees and bushes. It makes me feel very energised.

But with masses of energy often comes confusion, if you're anything like me, you probably want to make images but the very fact that the world is coming alive with growing energy means that the scene in front of us is so chaotic, cluttered, an unfathomable mish-mash of branches, flowers, leaves, light, shade and not to mention weather!

How do you find a way forward, where do you connect with the clarity needed to make an image that settles the mind and reminds your soul of that moment of calm when you released the shutter.

Firstly I would urge you not to add to the noise by racing around with your hair on fire! It is so easy to do when faced with a multitude of subjects all seemingly clamouring for attention.

Find a place to sit, settle down and relax, allow yourself to arrive in the location, really engage all of your senses to start looking and then begin to see into the location, looks at the way the light shows, the shadows, the spaces between subjects, watch for the gentle movement, or listen for a sound. Allow yourself to be curious, I always write down a list of all that is going on around me, colours, light, shade, smell, sounds, textures, I then go back over the scene to really see by paying attention to what I did not notice the first time round. 

As photographers we are in the business of noticing which we can only do if we sit still.

When we are still we can cultivate the detail and start to make sense of what is in front of us, we can be led by the shape of a branch, the curve of a leaf or the beautiful light falling between the shapes of plants.

Noticing what is important to you, the photographer, is the key to making photographs that resonate, that have feeling or soul. Photography requires practice, as does seeing, the world will look chaotic if you only go out once  a year with your camera.

Learn to refine the way you see by taking time everyday to notice things, to slow down enough and pay attention to the subtle changes that happen every minute of everyday.

The new online workshop 'Discover Still at home' is designed to help you become better at noticing, it is a year long project using monthly prompts that will be challenging enough to make you think but not overwhelm you. The course runs from May 29 2024 - May 28 2025, you will be encouraged to make around 6-8 images for each brief and these can then be made into small books so that over the year you end up with a small library of books to chart your progress and share with your family or friends.

Anyway I hope you all slow down enough to enjoy the spring energy and notice what is important to you.

Thank you so much for your time.

Best wishes

Paul