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Choose your lens wisely

You are the eyes of the world 

HOW you see matters

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My curious nature always has me asking questions. The other day, I asked my photographer friend, “What is it that makes you want to take a photograph? What is it that you see?” His clear and concise list changed my prospective of photography, and helped me to see that it’s not just WHAT you are photographing that’s important, but HOW you look at it.

My friend is brilliant, and is a master at his craft. He has fine tuned his expression of his WHAT and HOW he sees. He says that what he looks for when capturing an image is:

– Patterns, shapes & lines – Balance – Depth – Contrast – Emotion & mood – Color harmony – And most important…LIGHTING! 

His wordless photographs tell the story of how he sees the world. His work is a creative expression of his own experiences in life. It’s truly inspiring to be around. .

It recently came to me, that this list isn’t just for capturing a beautiful and interesting image, but can also be used to create a beautiful and interesting life. I can ask myself these questions with the same elements in mind: – What are my PATTERNS? Which ones serve me, and which ones don’t? Am I making the same choices and expecting different results? – Do I have a BALANCE of work and play? Movement and stillness? Inward and outward connection? – Am I living on the surface? Or am I willing to dive deep within myself? Do I have DETPH in my life?

– Am I accepting of the CONTRAST that life brings? Can I gracefully embrace both the bliss and the grit? The peaks and the valleys? – Am I willing to feel my EMOTIONS without reacting to them? Can I sit with what’s stirred up in the moment, and learn from it? Can I observe my MOODS and watch them change? – Am I blending myself with people who bring COLOR to my life? Do I feel in HARMONY with my surroundings? – What LIGHTS up my life? Am I paying attention to how I’m being guided, and choosing the path that’s most lit? .

We all have a choice in how we see the world, and how we shape our own life. Our HOW we see, creates WHAT we see. We have the power to make life beautiful and interesting! 

#haikuyogi