Doing Nothing
Summertime – recreation – doing nothing
Am I truly capable of doing nothing? Just being, without any activity, any task, without even picking up my camera?
There is action all the time, around me, myself in action, expectations, time pressure. But the noise isn’t just externale, it’s inside my head, too. My thoughts simply never stop . Do you ever feel that way?
Now it’s summer, time for recreation – time to do nothing, if only for a brief moment.
I recently tried to do nothing, and my picture is the result of that pause. No, I was not photographing initially. I was just sitting at a shoreline rock, outgoing tide. The seaweed was still wet and the scent of seaweed and ocean all around me. I listened to the gentle sounds of small waves, coming and going, rolling over shells, snails, the algæ and tang. I listened to seagulls crying in the distance. My attention was solely focused on what I could sense and the mental noise faded. I was entirely present in the world around med.
Looking down at the seaweed by my feet, I noticed some fascinating shapes, lines and colors. After observing for a while, I finally picked up my camera and began experimenting with multiple exposures. I was amazed when the layered image looked like a rose. With a bit of postprosessing in Lightroom, it became my blue rose. I loved the result so much that I wanted to share it with you – both the finale image and my mindful experience that brought it to life.
Have a good summertime, recreation and maybe some moments of doing nothing!
