It’s hard to explain the benefits of mindful or contemplative photography. Much better to give examples.

The other day I was in our basement, beginning a thirty minute walk on the treadmill. The windows in the room are quite large for a basement and the blinds on the two windows were closed. The walls are a darkish colour.

After I began walking, I noticed these stripes of light on the wall created by the closed blinds. Then, I turned my focus to the window ledge. I felt compelled to get off the treadmill and take these photos with my iPhone.

Back on the treadmill, the bright sunlight was, of course, moving and the scene before me kept changing. It was like watching a movie.

Now, the light was extra strong through a couple of the slats in the blind, creating two very bright stripes on the wall. Off I got again.

More and more bright stripes appeared as the light kept moving and I turned my attention again to the window ledge (we were photographing lines that week in my Photo By Design workshop.

As I focused my attention on the lines, I moved in closer to show the strong, pointed shapes created by the shadows. The images were becoming more abstract.

A 30 minute walk on the treadmill turned into a 45 minute walk and photo session. You are probably now asking what was the purpose of such a photo session? None of these images will be printed and hung on a wall.

For me, there were several benefits.

1. I was practicing seeing and composing using visual design principles.

2. Watching the light always makes me feel good.

And, most importantly,

3. During that 45 minute timeframe I was totally present. I wasn’t thinking about the past or what I had to do next. This practice in being present for an extended period of time will carry over to the rest of my life when presence is especially important.

There is a movie that you are a part of every second of your life. Are you seeing it?

David Cain (Raptitude) cites 15 powerful side-benefits to living in the present moment, with number 7 being:

The world gets a “playground” sort of feel to it again. You had this all the time when you were a kid. As we become adults we learn to live less and less in the world, and more in our thoughts about the world. When you come back to the present moment, your jumble of thoughts about your life situation shrinks in significance, and the place where you actually are regains its rightful uniqueness. This makes every scene more interesting, because you’re getting your information about it from what it actually is right now, rather than from the rapid-fire associations your mind makes.

Thanks to Deirdre Walsh for pointing me to this article.

Does photography help you to practice presence?