I’m Coming Back to Photography — and I Think I Know Why

The Gift of Noticing

It has been a long time since I wrote here. Nearly ten years, actually. When I started this blog, I was curious about something that had been quietly becoming important to me: the relationship between photography and wellbeing. I wondered whether taking photographs could do more than capture a moment. Could the simple act of looking—really looking—help us slow down, become more present, notice beauty, or see something we might otherwise miss?

I wrote about mindful photography, nature, anxiety, awe, and the ways that paying attention to the world around us can sometimes change how we experience the world within us.

And then life got busy; family, work, a new job.  The blog became quiet. But photography never really left me. And lately, I've been thinking about coming back.

Maybe photography isn't about the photograph.

One of the things I've come to appreciate is that photography isn't always about creating a beautiful picture. Sometimes, it's about what happens before you press the shutter. It's about noticing. I was reminded of this recently while out for a walk. I came across a large rose bush covered in vibrant yellow roses and yellow daffodils were also in bloom. Behind it was a small yellow house. The colours matched. The combination immediately caught my attention. The house itself wasn't particularly remarkable but in a neighbourhood where many of the homes are neutral colours, however, this little yellow house stood out. I'd walked by it many times, but never paid attention to it but suddenly the two suddenly seemed connected. So I stopped and took a photograph. What struck me afterward was that nothing about the scene had actually changed. The roses had been there. The house had been there. The colours had been there.

I was the thing that had changed. I was paying attention.

And that, I think, is one of the reasons I'm coming back to photography.

The gift of noticing - We move through so much of life on autopilot. We walk the same streets, drive the same roads, pass the same trees and buildings, and see the same people without really seeing them. Photography gives us a reason to stop. It asks us to look a little longer. Sometimes we discover something beautiful. Sometimes something surprising. And sometimes we simply become aware of a moment that we would have otherwise walked right past. I don't think that means photography magically makes difficult things disappear. But I do think there is something powerful about creating a small pause in the middle of an ordinary day. A pause to look. A pause to breathe. A pause to notice. And sometimes, that is enough to change the moment.

Coming back

That's what I want to explore here again.

Not how to take the perfect photograph. Not which camera you should buy. And not whether a photograph is technically "good." I'm interested in what happens when we use photography as a way of paying attention to our lives. I'll be sharing photographs, stories and simple invitations to look at familiar things differently—through nature, colour, memory, creativity, emotion and the ordinary moments that can become meaningful when we slow down enough to see them. And perhaps we'll discover that we don't always need to go somewhere extraordinary to find something worth photographing.

Sometimes, it's a yellow house behind a rose bush. Sometimes, it's a patch of sunlight on the kitchen floor.Sometimes, it's something we've walked past a hundred times. We just have to notice. So, after all these years, I'm coming back to photography. And I think I finally understand why.

It's not only about capturing what I see. It's about learning to see.

What is asking you to stop? Maybe it's the way the morning light comes in through the kitchen window. Maybe it's a shadow on the wall, or something else. Stop and photograph it. Notice how that feels to notice what you might otherwise have missed. Welcome back to the lens!