This is the second of my posts about the time I was invited to photograph members of the Romanian National Circus in 1992, as they relaxed in-between performances. Part one can be found here. . One of the photos I took during the time I spent in the circus encampment still ranks, for me, amongst... Continue Reading →
Mindful Photos mindfulness reminder - My most recent posts have involved photographs taken a long way from home in locations that are guaranteed to stimulate the senses. For balance, I thought I'd show some examples of how, with mindfulness and a camera, it's possible to see the most ordinary moments of life as though they are... Continue Reading →
Good news! My wife Ali just called to me from the loft with the enticing words "I've found something you might be interested in". I walked onto the landing to find her hand dangling a very tatty looking "Prince Cigarettes" bag from the loft hatch. Inside were my long-lost black and white prints and travel diaries from the... Continue Reading →
Some more personal photographic treasure found in the recesses of our family loft - These photos were taken during a backpacking trip my (then) future wife Ali and I made from Spain around Morocco during August and September 1997. I love the painterly effect this photo of children playing in the blue and white, north Moroccan town of Chefchaouen has... Continue Reading →
For the last few days we've been clearing out our loft before moving to a new bungalow. This morning, squeezed behind a tottering pile of boxes, Ali found a shopping bag full of negatives and prints that I thought were long-lost. They are mostly snappy snaps from a back packing trip to The Gambia fifteen years ago and... Continue Reading →
Mindful Monday Mood Lift: I've added a new page of photographs that I shot on film in Israel and other countries during the early 1990's to Mindful Photos. It's a "select" group of images that I'll be adding to as and when I come across more negatives and prints. Please do take time out to have a look. It's amazing... Continue Reading →
Mindful Photos Sunday Reflection: Does the taking of certain types of photograph contradict Buddhist or Mindful ethics? Any introductory book on Buddhism would be likely to mention the Five Precepts. They're ethical guidelines designed to help us avoid harming, and to create conditions helpful to the arising of wisdom. At number two is "not taking that which is not given"... Continue Reading →
I spent a relaxing afternoon yesterday meditating with friends who I'd first met on a "Breathworks" mindfulness course last year. Breathworks run 8 week courses designed to help people living with pain and illness. I've completed 2 of the courses (never one to under do things!). If I didn't have the tools that I learned... Continue Reading →
My last post showed just how crowded Venice can get. Amazingly, it seems that most visitors don't move very far from St Mark's Square, so it's actually easy to reclaim some personal space by taking a short walk or water bus ride away from the area. Venice is famous for beautifully crafted glassware. The most famous (and... Continue Reading →
Photographs taken with an Olympus OMD EM1 and 12-40mm f2.8 or Olympus OMD EM5 with Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8 - In my opinion the perfect mirrorless travel photography kit. All photographs © all rights reserved, Miles Pilling
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. Have you ever seen those car stickers that say "ONE LIFE - LIVE IT!"? They always seem to smack of desperation to me; as though beneath the surface someone is frantically kicking their legs around trying not to... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. There's a saying: "Instead of trying to coat the world with leather, get yourself a pair of shoes". It comes from the 8th century Indian Buddhist monk Śāntideva who said - “Where would I find enough leather To cover... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. Did you know you have a different body to the one you had seven years ago? I don't just mean that you've aged and might have put some weight on; your physical body has been replaced with virtually a completely... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. It might sound strange, but for me there are benefits to only being able to walk at a snails pace. I've practiced walking meditation in mindfulness groups for years but rarely had the confidence to walk really... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. There's a very simple theory explaining how mindfulness reduces the suffering of physical and mental ailments - If we reduce as much as possible all of the "secondary suffering" that we pile on top of any health issues we have,... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the About Mindful Photos page to see the life altering circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. . I've been meditating regularly for around 15 years so it seemed natural to use mindfulness meditation to help me come to terms with the news of my "nearly terminal" illness. My local Triratna Buddhist... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. Every evening for a week of the eight week mindfulness course that I've been a part of, I would write a list of ten pleasurable things that I'd noticed during the day. We were encouraged to open up to the subtle, pleasant... Continue Reading →
At the top of the first chapter of meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg's book Loving Kindness are two words - "only connect". Taken from the epitaph of E. M. Forster's famous novel Howards End, they sum up just what mindfulness practice and Loving Kindness are all about. It's also what any half decent photographer tries to do as well, but I often... Continue Reading →
"There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path" ...is a phrase I heard Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh use when I was on retreat with his sangha. If you have not come across Thay (meaning teacher in his native Vietnamese, and the term affectionately used for him by his followers), then I suggest it's a very worthwhile Google search. His "engaged buddhism" suggests... Continue Reading →
Day one of any good Buddhism course would probably mention the five precepts: a list of guidelines to help us stay on the ethical straight and narrow. Second only to not killing is not taking that which is not given.....This poses a big dilemma for me as a "mindful" photographer. When we squeeze the shutter to capture an unmissable (aren't they always?) candid picture, are... Continue Reading →
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