Dried brown curled leaves and delicate small white flowers create a moody nature composition in soft focus.
Close-up of dried brown fern fronds and delicate wildflowers in a moody, autumn forest setting.

It took me a while to realise that taking your camera out for a walk in the countryside is mindfulness. Looking for little details around you, a small patch of lichen, dew drops on a leaf, the way the light catches the grass grounds you and connects you to nature in a way that, dare I say it, just walking through nature doesn't.

The desire to be there in the moment, to actively look closely for the tiniest detail, finding something that speaks to you, evokes a feeling, a mood. Noticing how the landscape changes week by week, what's died off, what's new. It makes you feel a part of the landscape and that my friends is a magical thing.

Black and white close-up of delicate wildflowers and ferns creating a moody natural composition in low light.

This connection doesn't stop when you leave, when you get home and kick off your boots and put the kettle on. Because then you upload those images, of the things that called out and made you feel something. And then you get to look at the scenes again, almost always noticing some small detail that you completely missed the first time.


Next, the editing. Time to try to add part of what you felt when you took the photo. How did you feel? What mood are you trying to evoke? I really love this part. It's taking that snippet of nature and adding to it, giving it your own stamp, your angle.

Black and white photograph of delicate fern fronds and small wildflowers in soft focus against a dark background.
A winding dirt path with wooden railings leads through a misty wooded area in black and white.
A black and white photograph of a rustic wooden footbridge crossing over a winding stream in a misty landscape.
Dried brown fern fronds curl against a dark moody background in abstract autumn nature macro photography.
Dried brown fern fronds among delicate white wildflowers in a moody autumn nature scene.
Two stark bare trees stand in thick fog on a misty winter morning creating a moody black and white landscape.
Black and white photograph of delicate wildflowers and grass stems creating a dreamy, soft-focus nature scene.

All these steps are what make photography and indeed inner-peace for me. Cathartic, getting lost in the moment, remembering the moment and keeping that moment so that I can revisit it any time I wish.


It's magic.