Today in the Miksang contemplative photography workshop, our instructor Michael Wood, talked about what it means to gloss over something. To gloss over means that we don’t pay close attention, we skip over details.

This most commonly happens with things or people that we are very familiar with – our home, our neighborhood, our spouse, our kids, etc. We have preconceived ideas about how they are based on past experiences and memories. We don’t take a good, hard look at what or who they are in this moment.

Our assignment today was to shoot texture – something that would give the viewer a felt sense of touch. Texture is everywhere and tends to fall into that middle zone of things we generally ignore or gloss over. Upon closer observation, though, you might be surprised at what you find when you take a look at our textured world.

The world of direct perception holds richness and detail that is totally lacking in the world of conception. ~ The Practice of Contemplative Photography

Welcome to my world of texture (see more on Flickr).