PhotoWalking
PhotoWalking – just what is it?
To those amongst you who haven’t yet read the “bible” of living in the moment – The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle – your bewilderment or scepticism is excused. First published in the early 1990’s this book is still a foundation read for anyone of us who has a pressing need to de-stress their lives for the sake of their own wellbeing and mental health.
Radical and new age upon publication, this heady mix of spiritualism, psychology and scientific examination of human brain function has since become the go to guide for those in need of guidance and, for those who want, or need, to press life’s big fat red reset button.
Many of the wellbeing and mental health therapies we know so well today as well as the need for positive work life balance are made out in the book and indeed some of them were first described within the narrow lines of text exploring our complex relations with our own brains, ego and thoughts. Mindfulness walking, the outwardly bizarre slow-motion perambulation through the countryside advocated by many practitioners comes from here.
Simply summarized, living in the moment is about unburdening yourself from regrets about the past or your anxieties about the future. It is about seeing the life and vitality in whatever it is that you are doing – right this moment! No distractions!
By some wonderful event of serendipity (for The Forest of Dean & Wye Valley School of Photography)) it turns out that photography is a wonderful vehicle for just this endeavour.
These two new courses are your introduction to the practicalities of being in the moment and spending some quality you time whilst you are there. As an added bonus, we’ll feeds our own need to be creative and help create a reflective diary for personal development for use after the session
As a fan of the book as well as a long-time practitioner both of living in the now and positive thinking, the concept of photography walking is as new to me as it is to you. However, I have now discovered what I’ve been doing all this time without realising it! I have long known that the best pictures I take almost always (luck notwithstanding) come from being “in the zone”, free from distractions, relaxed but hyper sensitive (in a good way) to life around me. Concentrated and aware, calm but able to react as situations develop into a winning image.
Putting my two passions together for the first time was an “of course it is” moment a bit like when a science tells us dinosaurs turned into birds - of course they did! We can all see that can’t we, it’s obvious – but it took a moment of insight or someone really clever to tell us about it.
Photography Walking is about seeing, not looking. How many of us wander around looking but never actually see anything? It’s where the “no win, no fee” legal vultures all come from, where the “gorilla in the room” psychological experiment lives and its where my ankle first slipped of the tiny pavement in Strasbourg – see previous blog above.
Because Photography Walking is a really useful mental exercise to get you started actually seeing things, it can help with creativity, composition, managing light and your own personal photographic style as well as with relaxation and inner calm so can help photographers develop a better “eye” or help with in the moment training. We love the grey area in the middle where the two approaches collide.
We have lots of experience of delivering bespoke training and these new courses can be easily adapted and refocused to either group. Please say when booking the course which approach you would prefer.
For those looking for a guided mindfulness session we’ll help with practical hints and experiences to get you into the “moment” and improving mood as well as creating a mindfulness visual diary for reflection. The key here is simplicity and connection so these sessions are ideal if you wish to use your phone as your camera. If you prefer to bring a DSLR, keep the kit very simple.
For those looking to develop a better eye and a personal photographic style we’ll guide you toward the unusual and creative angle and start training the photographer within. Again, we’ll ask you to keep the kit simple.
On one of our two-hour introductory sessions it’s not about speed of working, camera envy, having the stamina to carry every piece of gear you own, trying to look like a professional – whatever that looks like – or radiating photo wisdom over a twenty-metre fall-out zone.
Sessions begin with a short, but challenging for many, session to clear the mind, I mean empty – nothing!
Your eyes and brain successfully re-tuned and in perfect sync to your surroundings we’ll walk through the process of challenging and interesting viewpoints for things most others didn’t even see. It’s brain training for photographers to develop a creative style and mindfulness training for those who need it. Everything becomes interesting and your curiosity will run out of control.
These sessions are about the simplest of capture and most creative use of the image. They are suitable for all and for all cameras/devices. In fact, the sessions lend themselves to less not more gear and so you’ll be intentionally restricted from delving into the whole of your kitbag. For example, I routinely go on assignment with only one prime lens. I have to make it work. To use all of my creative thought process to make that one piece of equipment work hard. These sessions are really suitable for smaller cameras and phones too and we’ll look at the processing and sharing options from your device or later (for DSLR users) in post-production.
These sessions are pre-booked and take place in the great outdoors. They are suitable for all, with venues catering for access challenges. We go whatever the weather – so check what Bert Fish has to say on precipitation by all means, but bring a coat anyway.
Caution! David Broadbent is not a real therapist, he has no qualifications, does not wear coloured spectacles and he doesn’t insist on cash payments for sessions.
We run these sessions in countryside and urban environments. They are suitable for all but please tell us if you have access issues. We are also happy to run your session in a place already familiar to you to make the follow 365 plan programme easier. A two-hour introductory session at one of our venues for one person costs £50. Payment by BACS or credit cards (via Paypal) is accepted. For more information or to book a session contact us on [email protected]
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