Seeing Drala

I was lucky enough to earn a free spot on a photography course run by Julie Einstein.  (I'm not sure if she is connected to Albert!)  The course is called Seeing Drala and is a contemplative practice that is focused more on the process of "seeing" than the product (an image).  Seeing Drala focuses on learning how to identify with our perceptions and less about the photographs that we take.

Seeing Drala is seeing things as they are; on the world’s terms, not ours.  We all have ideas and concepts about what is good/bad, pretty/ugly, worthy of photographing/not worthy of photographing.  This contemplative practice helps us learn to appreciate everything that exists without our habitual overlay of concepts.of eyes.  As if you were seeing and experiencing color, light and form (and so much more) for the very first time. The moment we connect with our perceptions, a gap appears in our mind that completely frees us from our habitual thinking.  Nothing else exists except the present moment.

This week we have been asked to focus on colour and notice what colour pops out to us. The course does not allow for any post processing work such as photoshop etc and is very much about allowing simplicity and space into your photos.  So here goes for this week:

A pop of red berries against a very blue November Sky

Sunlight streaming thorugh my front door to illuminate the orange painted porch walls

I liked the simplicty of this, the relationship between the leaf and berry, and their own colours. 

More berries

I devaited slightly with this! I just liked the simplicity of finding a fallen leaf resting on the pavement.