Photography from the Heart

“Anyone with the camera can take a picture. Not everyone with the camera is a photographer.

Technical information can be learnt in schools. Great photographs can be seen in libraries and museums. But where is photography to be found?

In the heart.”

~ Robert Leverant

In recent months, I have been focusing my creative efforts on photography using both my iPhone and my DSLR camera.  Photography is another way for me to live in the present moment.  When I am living in the present moment, I am grateful for all that exists and I see more details and the things I would normally miss because of rushing from one thing to the next.  I am aware of bugs, flowers, insects, and so much more.  I see and appreciate the colors in the foreground and sky.  The shapes and textures of everything in life mesmerize me and I get excited about life.  My body, mind and spirit are integrated and I capture images that come from my heart and soul.
 
Facebook, Instagram and a plethora of other social media sites have allowed everyone with a smartphone to take snapshots and post them for the world to see.  I enjoy seeing many of these photos, but the ones that I am drawn to most are the ones where the person has gone beyond pushing the shutter button to plan the composition, effectively capture a mood and tell a story.  I agree with Leverant that anyone can take a picture but not everyone with a camera is a photographer.  He wrote this quote before smartphones with cameras even existed, but he understood that photography comes from the heart. We must all be present and conscious when photographing our world.
 
Do you take photographs?

Do your photographs come from the heart?

Do you think about the story and emotion you want to convey?