 To share creativity requires collaboration, vulnerability, and perspective. The photo collection below is a project inspired by fellow artist, Ann Taylor. Ann took the people portraits. I took the plant portraits. This project is a demonstration of collaboration...and mutual admiration. This experience offered a lesson on vulnerability. Theses photos are an experiment in perspective. Many thanks to Ann for sharing this day with me, for photographing me so beautifully, and for bringing new insight to a beauty lover's perspective.
How will you share your creative voice, collaborative spirit, heartfelt vulnerability, and unique perspective with the world?
 Seeing Nature ShapesLines are everywhere—whether in nature, in the places we move through, or in the subtle patterns of our own experience. Lines can give us insight on how we pay attention: they reveal connection, direction, and relationship. When we slow down and notice the lines around us—paths in the woods, the edge of a field against the sky, the way flowers organize themselves—we begin to see more than surface shape. We begin to see connection: how forms relate, how one moment leads into the next, how experience moves through time. Some lines feel grounding—horizontal lines that echo the horizon might invite stillness. Others feel dynamic—diagonals that suggest movement or transition. And some lines curve gently, inviting pause and reflection. When you practice noticing like this, lines become teachers rather than just marks in space. They show how we are connected to place, season, and our own inner landscapes. During life's transition, lines can be especially meaningful: Grounding horizontal lines can calm you when you feel unsteady, serving as anchors in external space and internal experience.
Powerful vertical lines can support you when you are seeking strength, stability, or a sense of uplift within yourself.
Dynamic diagonal lines can support you when you are seeking direction or noticing movement within yourself.
Gentle curved lines can slow you down, inviting you to linger and observe rather than rush toward certainty.
This noticing practice does not require a camera or technique. It simply asks you to slow your pace, open your senses, and observe how form and flow shape your experience of place and self. Ask yourself:
Over time, this quiet attention becomes a way of entering into an ongoing conversation between you and the world around you.  Seeing Spatial ArrangementsThere’s a simple way to tune into how our minds experience the world: notice how things are placed in the space around you. You don’t need a camera or special tools—just a willingness to slow down and observe. One approach is to imagine the space in thirds—horizontally, vertically, or both. See how objects, people, or even light naturally divide the area you’re observing. What draws your attention first? What feels balanced, and what feels weighted? Over time, noticing these relationships helps you understand not just what is there, but how it feels to move through or look at a place. Traditionally, the rule of thirds is a composition technique in which an image is divided evenly into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and the subject of the image is placed at the intersection of those dividing lines, or along one of the lines itself. If you want to know more about the technical approach, Google has a vast amount of information on this rule. You might find that certain placements invite your gaze to linger, or create a subtle tension that asks for more attention. Sometimes, this is something you’ll notice when photographing—but just as often, it’s something you’ll see by simply being present. Slowing down in this way—observing the way form and flow shape your experience—is a practice in awareness, patience, and curiosity. As I looked through my images, I had a sense that when I left space on the left side, I felt called to slow down, take space, go inward. Using that insight as a baseline, I created a personal framework for using the rule of thirds to communicate a more personal narrative through images and to enhance the traditional approach with greater meaning. Before I move into my personal insights, I want to be clear: this is by no means the only way to view the rule of thirds or any abstract concept. Feel free to take what you want and leave the rest and/or adapt it to your own culture, values, spiritual beliefs, and personal experience. Continue reading below for examples of how to use the rule of thirds to tell a story.
The framework for the horizontal line placement below came from my background in portrait photography. For portraits, we were taught that lowering the camera and looking up created a sense of power and greater presence, and that raising the camera and looking down created a softness and a gentle presence. To be honest, we were also taught to photograph men looking up at them to make them appear more powerful and women looking down on them to make them appear thinner. So, there's that little bit of cultural insight from 1996... What I like about photographing nature subjects in this way is that looking up helps me understand the big, powerful, and all-encompassing perspective of nature and I feel a part of that power. In looking down, I feel a sense of awe for each tiny detail in nature and I feel humbled to be connected to such wonder.
Next time you’re walking, sitting, or even waiting for a friend, notice the “thirds” in the space around you. Try noticing:
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