Over the years, I've realized we can’t ever truly experience what another is feeling or accurately see the world through another person’s lens, but we can get glimpses into other's perspectives if we keep an open mind and heart. And we can believe people when they share that they’ve experienced the world (or a color, symbol, rule) differently than we have.

If we're not intentional about expanding photo culture to include a variety of perspectives we may shift the style of images created and shared, but the culture itself will remain pretty much the same.

This concern is the foundation for why I insist that sharing beautiful images and educating people about nature will NOT solve our social and ecological crises. There are innumerable, easily accessible nature photos and documentaries, and, yet, we continue to destruct our planet - photographers included. Let's try something deeper, more complex, and more relational to get to the root of the problem. Explore a list of books I recommend for this approach here.

To bring it back to your perspective on photography, take a look through your images and pay attention to what feels peaceful to you. Make notes, make comparisons, and begin to define your cultural perspective so your perspective doesn't become the default or norm that you compare (and judge?) everyone else's images against. Consider what experiences shaped your perspective. 

Now take a look through someone else's images. How are their images similar or different? How are their cultural backgrounds similar or different? Have you only noticed images and stories that reflect similar perspectives? Have you noticed images and stories that reflect different perspectives? Have you surrounded yourself with images created by folks from your own cultural/socioeconomic/gender/etc. lenses? Or are you surrounded by diversity? If you are inspired by other cultures, how can you ensure you're respectful and not extractive?

As nature photographers who want to help shape a more nurturing culture, it's important we acknowledge that photography can serve as an accessible, culture-shifting art form when we are intentional, considerate, and honest about what influences our images. Some of those perspectives may serve us, our communities, and Mother Nature well, and some of them may need to be dismantled to create a deeper sense of relationship and reverence for people and the planet. ​

Nature Photography can provide expansion to our lives when we refuse to limit ourselves by only seeking perfectly stunning views and rigidly defining "nature photographer".

Before I talk about my personal experience, I want to share a bit about my professional experience. I went to school for photography in 1999, worked in the photo industry from 1996-2007, and, though I was never a professional nature photographer, my nature photos have been in art shows and gallery exhibits. In addition to public displays, I've also created several commissioned pieces of nature-based photographic fine art.

I share this not to establish expertise or claim anywhere near perfection in my images, but to highlight the fact that my personal experience as a woman supersedes my professional experience and conditioning as a trained photographer. I'm grateful this is the case, because nature photography has the potential for providing healing when we  expand our views.  
  
As a divorced woman who photographs solo and has been twice diagnosed with and treated for violence-related PTSD, there are a few things I do differently than many who call themselves nature photographers.  
​

• I remain vigilant of my surroundings. For me, staying safe means I need to be able to move quickly. I travel light, I don't use a tripod, and I rarely set up in one location for an extended period of time. Traveling light is not only good for me, but less gear means less nature destruction through less production.
  
  • Visit the Slow Photography Movement's blog to read my article "Relational Nature Photography."

​

• I keep mid-day hours, regardless of the location. Full sun isn't considered ideal for most nature photographers, but being out in broad daylight makes me feel safe and gives my stressed-out body the Vitamin D it struggles to produce. 
  • ​Visit the Slow Photography Movement's gallery "There is No Bad Light" for a collection of images made in full sun.

​

• I center myself and my relationship with nature. While out, I've come across folks who warn me to be careful, who tell me what/where to photograph, and who run me off trails. I don't allow these interactions to shape my experience, unless I choose. ​
  • ​Read my blog using lines and shapes to notice and honor your subject's energy.

​​

• I honor my comfort-zone. Lately, that has been my own neighborhood. I don't let my need to stay close to home and photograph within the city make me feel less of a nature photographer. Plus, staying close to home makes me feel like a better steward because I am on my feet rather than in my car. 

If we are paying attention, nature has a way of supporting our ever-changing emotional needs. 

The style of photography you choose at any moment has the potential to express your current state of emotion and/or help shift you to a different state. Both options have their benefit, but, either way, the benefits are maximized when you're using your camera intentionally.

Before I move into my personal insights on how I perceive photo styles, I want to be clear: this is by no means the only way to view the purpose of macro and landscape photography. Feel free to take what you want and leave the rest and/or adapt it to your own personal experience. Continue reading below for ideas on how to use macro and landscape styles of photography to support yourself.

Now that I have my own home again for 2021, I've found my self creating more images that have a stronger sense of place again, too. Feeling more grounded and connected to a community that has always felt like home, even while away, my photography has begun to incorporate intimate landscapes that express the feeling of being attached to a particular place. The practice of doing things differently is a good mental challenge, as well. I've been using the Slow Photography Movement blog to get ideas on how to improve, but landscapes are hard!

Even though I still gravitate toward macro and I'm not great at landscapes, I choose intimate landscapes to express my gratitude for returning home. I can now use that photo style to reconnect to a bigger picture perspective and see more expansive beauty without feeling lost and untethered. I've also found that, without all the constant change and crisis management, I sometimes start to ruminate about what's happened in the past and I begin to feel isolated. When I get too focused on this narrative of loss, I can pick up my camera to get a broader view.  
​

If you're feeling overwhelmed by attempting to think ahead or want to focus on comfort, try framing the little details around you. If you're feeling overwhelmed by past thoughts or want to focus on connection, try framing the bigger picture. If you're not sure how you feel or what you want, try both and see what may arise.

After having a broken wrist that prevented me from making photos during a very stressful time, I can attest to the fact that this strategy can also be used without a camera. With or without gear, no matter what may be going on in your life (and there is likely a lot going on), you can use macro and landscape perspectives to support your emotional needs. ​

Receive quarterly, season-specific ideas for your life & photo practice​

Macro and landscape are clearly not the only styles of nature photography, if you gravitate toward a different style, consider what emotional need that style might be fulfilling. If you have insights to add, please share! You can either email me here or connect with me on Instagram. 

If we are paying attention, our personal stories have the possibility of influencing our photographic style.

Point-and-shoot was my basic strategy for making images the first many years of my photography practice - even after going to school for photography, knowing all the rules, and possessing the technical skills. Don't get me wrong, there are benefits to making snapshots and I still make them 21 years post-graduation. Practice is vital for refining your art, but continual refinement and clear intentions is what differentiates snapshots from art. 

It wasn't until I had life experience, a refined perspective on beauty, and something I felt I needed to say, I finally began to use my camera settings and the rules of composition in an intentional way. In other words, I may have known what I was doing, but I didn't know why or what I was trying to say.  

Recently, I was beginning to wonder if I was communicating my intentions (yes, I still cycle through wondering if my art is saying anything to anyone, which is also valuable for refining your story), when artist & poet Gabriele Glang gifted me with this compliment, "Imperfection, wabi-sabi, haiku - I'm thinking your images are beautiful because they are spare, focused, elegant, concise. In fact, they are poems, to my mind."

Wabi-sabi and haiku are Japanese artistic concepts, and my photographic style was informed by a life-changing experience in Japan. Feeling seen in this way inspired me to share a few ideas about how to create photographic poems. 

Experiencing the beauty of mystery in my own life, this aesthetic resonated with me - it even helped me reframe some of the most difficult events in my life. In staying true to Miegakure style, I will not be telling you the full story here, but I will say that, over the years, I have been learning to be less concerned with controlling situations and demanding tidy answers to life circumstances, preferring to instead to revel in a slow unfolding of this human drama.

And with that intention for my life, I have been experimenting and slowly refining my artistic voice to express delight in our world's subtle, mysterious beauty. 

Here are a few ideas for adding subtle beauty to your images:    ​

We have all been directly confronted with life's mysteries as we live our way through a global pandemic. When you find yourself trying to control or rush to figure it all out, try taking a stroll through nature and turning your concerns over to her subtle beauty. See if it isn't just a little bit easier to embrace the mystery. 

If I wouldn’t have chosen divorce nine years into my past relationship, we would’ve been together 25 years today. Instead of growing through marriage, I continue growing and healing through nature. 

Since moving back to St. Paul, MN four months ago, I’ve encountered more woodpeckers than I’ve encountered across my entire lifespan. There’s a Pileated Woodpecker I often see in my apartment courtyard and, because of my woodpecker neighbor, this is the first year I’ve known their laughter. It might’ve taken me 41 years to understand the theme of Woody Woodpecker, but I finally get it. I hear you, Woody!

Over the decades, I’ve become very aware of my sensitivity to sound. In fact, I think sound was one of a few factors in my divorce. I have a high startle response; I wake up to subtle noises in the night; I can’t have my stereo volume past four on a scale of eleven; my skin crawls when the TV is kept on for "background noise"; if I'm lost while driving or there's snow/rain/traffic, I have to turn the car radio totally off; and I have heard "damn, you have good hearing," by more people than I can count. It’s often a curse and can be a point of contention. Today, I intentionally focused on the blessing.

When I went to my local park to share the nature love this afternoon, I knew I was going out to focus on sounds because of a prompt from fellow mindful photographer Kim Manley Ort and her 2021 project "Seeing Clearly." In the woods of my local park today, and pretty much every time I hike there, I hear the woodpeckers. ​

Specifically, I heard a Pileated Woodpecker. For a more biological and ecological perspective on this amazing bird, please read this creatively written blog by Ken Bevis, a DNR Stewardship Wildlife Biologist, "Just About the Coolest Bird Around: the Pileated Woodpecker."

​I watched Woody continue to peck at the exact same spot. Sure, there were micro-movements, but this bird never jumped trees or even to a new spot on the same tree.

Suddenly, it dawned on me: Woodpeckers don’t move when nourishment is being received and, when nourishment ends, they fly away, laughing joyfully! I started thinking about how many times I’ve banged my head against the same person/problem/experience over and over, even when it was not the least bit nourishing. That’s exactly how I stayed in an unhealthy relationship for nearly a decade. 

>>> I need to take a quick detour from this woodpecker metaphor to acknowledge the sudden, tragic passing of my ex-husband in 2019. I  grew up (literally and figuratively) through our relationship. May he rest in peace. <<<

Nature photography is an experience I'm happy to continue banging against. It's something I've worked at for 25 years and, while the intention behind it has evolved and there have been real challenges I've had to overcome, it has been mostly nourishing - even when I don't get the image I intend on the first attempt or the final attempt!

I've attempted to photograph this tree with the woodpecker excavations multiple times. This last time, I followed the woodpecker's lead and made micro-movements between exposures. Here's an example of how minor movements can change an image. What do you notice about how the micro-movements changed these two?

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. 

The photographic strategy of using leading lines to pull in the viewer's attention is a common strategy for composing images that create interest. The idea behind leading lines is to make an image that leads the eye to the main subject of the image. A leading line paves an easy path for the eye to follow through different elements of a photo.

Just as the rule of thirds, which can be read by clicking here, leading lines is another concept that can easily be found on Google, but here I'm using shapes as lines. Shapes still keep the eye moving, and they also have the potential to communicate a more personal narrative while enhancing 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 leading lines, shapes, movement, 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 lines and shapes to tell a story. 

Two or more subjects next to each other on a horizontal line create a sense of stability, calm, balance. Imagine the horizontal line as balancing scales perfectly balanced.

In the images below, I find the horizontal composition of the yellow marigolds more pleasing than the purple coneflower. The marigolds have a more connected, peaceful presence. Their inherent shape and unique essence work well for creating stability, calm, and balance.

Interestingly enough, finding two or more coneflower blossoms that were naturally in a horizontal line from each other was a real challenge. After this experiment, I'm quite certain they don't have any intention to be viewed as stable, calm, and balanced!

What nature subjects offer you stable, calm, and balanced feelings?

Two or more (three or more is my preference) subjects on a diagonal line create an active, dramatic scene that builds tension. Imagine the diagonal line as steps to climb. 

I think both flowers are able to pull off the drama in the images below, but here the marigolds are benefited by the dark, contrasting background and the diagonal running both ways - one with the full blossoms and one with the unopened buds. Although it was easy to frame both this way, I prefer the drama and movement created by the coneflower blossoms and there were a multitude of natural options for finding them on the diagonal. 

​What nature subjects offer you stable, calm, and balanced feelings?

When considering shapes, tune into your subjects. What is their natural movement? Is it balanced and calming? Majestic and powerful? Active and dramatic? Gentle and comforting? Chat with your subjects and allow them to share their story with you. Listen closely and you'll be able to make an intentional image that honors their natural movement. 

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. 

I've been aware of this rule for two decades, but it wasn't until very recently that I noticed a pattern of mine: I tend to place my subject on the right side of the frame and either have a secondary subject or leave empty space on the left (when looking through the lens). Once this came into my awareness, I started to get curious about why that is, and what I came up with is based on my culture, values, spiritual beliefs, and personal experiences. 

I already knew that I valued photography because it facilitates a spiritual, mindful, and calming connection with the Earth. What I came to realize over time is that my ways of understanding the world connect the feminine, subtle, receptive with the left side, and the masculine, strong, active with the right side.

As I looked through my images, I had a sense that when I left space on the "feminine," 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, feminine/masculine, mind/body/spirit, 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, where I started working when I was 17 years old. 

​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... 

What I like about photographing nature subjects in this way is that is 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. 

Try changing your position - knowing my subject and shifting left a bit created a thin highlight that separated the leaves from the background and softened the image, aligning with my style and intentions. Minor changes in your position can help highlight your subject. 

Try getting closer vs. zooming - knowing my subject and my preference for soft, gentle images, zooming in is more aligned with my style and intentions. The spots of light and extra background shown when getting closer still feels too busy for me. Regardless of the camera (DSLR or phone), zooming should cause the background to appear closer than it is in real life.

Try blurring the background - knowing my subject was this group of leaves and not the woods themselves, the image with the blurred background is more aligned with my intention. There are many options for blurring the background of your photo, but it will require experimenting with the technology you use. To blur the background here, I used a wide aperture on my DSLR. ​

Once you're clear about your subject and are ready to use your camera to tell more complex stories, intentional camera blur is a great way to experiment with using your technology to tell your viewer more about your subject. For a simple, well-structured tutorial on shutter speed, camera gear, and intentional blur, please check out "10 Great Tips to Capture Unique Motion Blur Photos," a beautifully composed photo blog by Anisha Singh at Pixpa by clicking here. ​

When you get clear about your subject, know your style preference, and get familiar with your technology, you can be more intentional about making images that are simply beautiful. 

When photographing landscapes, it's been easier for me to immediately identify what captivates my interest. When photographing nature's details, though, it can be a bit more challenging to know where to focus. As a starting place, I slow down and look for textures, connections, movement, variation, uniqueness, asymmetry, contrast, layers, and patterns.