Slow Down With Landscape Photography

In our age of social media saturation and fast-paced tutorials with loud intros and even louder personalities, it's important to remind one self to breath at least once in a while. This video — which outlines some meaningful reasons for slowing down — was very close to the bone for me.

With this mindful approach, British based photographer David Dixon talks about his reasons for creating videos. His videos aren't overly concerned with gear or techniques, which I find quite refreshing. While it is both fun and important to keep up-to-date with the latest in photography news, for me at least, it can become a bit of a grind, especially when a lot of  YouTubers are blasting noise and color at you. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those types of videos too, but I find them to be a little jarring after a while. It's creators like Dixon who help me to wind down and really think about why I love what I do so much. You see Dixon's videos aren't about smashing your Instagram game or crushing the competition with killer Lightroom edits; his videos are about emotion.

As he says in the video, photography is way more than just capturing nice images. Whether you're interacting with a client during a portrait session or focused on the teary-eyed mother at a wedding, what you're actually doing is capturing emotion by being completely in the moment. It's really quite a meditative process. And, landscape photography in particular is one the most meditative processes that I've ever learned. You have no choice but to stand in one spot and get a feel for the scene. Imagine that; just standing there in nature, not looking at your phone or worrying about whats going on in other areas of your life, because you've no choice. If you want to capture the landscape in an honest way you need to be in the moment. 

Landscape photography helped to pull me out of a very dark place a few years ago. While I've come a long way since starting, not all days are good and it would be very easy to slip back into some old, damaging routines so it's good to be reminded that I'm not alone. That's why I'm so appreciative of creators like Dixon.