I love to take photos–and I take and post photos daily and have more more than 12 years. Some days and weeks I find myself in the doldrums where it seems like I have taken that same photo again and again. Sometimes the photo I see with my eyes just doesn’t come out of my camera no matter how hard I try.

What I love about photography is that it forces me to slow down and pay attention to the moment. I find myself paying attention to shadows, textures, colors, the interplay of light and dark…and then I notice sounds and smells and find myself wanting to run my fingers over a surface that looks bumpy or smooth or somehow different that I expect.

I came across this Mary Oliver poem the other day while scrolling my Instagram…and kept returning to it until finally I just took a screen shot so I could reread it over and over and over again.

In some ways this poem expresses how I feel about taking photos. Through my camera my aim is to be that rich lens of attention that allows me to take in the world, learning along the way. Breathing in and breathing out, slowing down, taking time, and looking with all my senses as I capture an aspect of my experience with a click of the shutter.