As a photographer, it seems strange the concept of closing your eyes and looking WITHIN to see and connect with the world. Of course mucking around in nature, on hikes and adventures, makes one appreciate and SEE all the magic and wonder this Earth has to offer. But recently, I've discovered something that has helped me and I'd like to share it with as many people as I can. I have been a believer in yoga since college. One of my favorite mottos is "No yoga, no peace. Know yoga, know peace" which I believe to be very true. I personally love hot yoga ( I go to
Sumit's yoga in Scottsdale ) as well as Bikrahm yoga. But besides my savasana at the end of every class, where I can let my body relax and my mind focus inward, I've never tried any kind of formal meditation. You can see where this is going now, right? I'm talking about
transcendental meditation. The reason I decided to share my new practice on this forum, a photography blog, is because I've found that it positively affects every aspect in my life...especially professionally. I am an anxious person by nature, it's something I struggle with daily. And I'm sure any photographer you ask will tell you that your nerves can get the best of you when, let's say, you are shooting someone's wedding. The biggest day of their life! No pressure! I have had to teach myself to harness this nervous energy and turn it into creative energy on any photo shoot. And I'm very excited now that TM is in my daily routine because I think that will become much easier for me to do. How I got introduced to TM is very odd. Lately, I've been watching all things Russell Brand. Get Him to the Greek, a classic! Most of his stand up can be found on youtube, including the most recent show The Messiah Complex which is hilarious! He speaks very honestly about his struggles with addiction and how TM and yoga has changed his life. So take a watch of this video montage a fan put together brilliantly... watch it with an open mind and always remember, one writes his own destiny...maktub.
Lately, I've gotten many e-mails (thanks Mom!) about my website Love&Photo -I've been re-vamping it and gearing up for "wedding season"! So thank you all who have emailed me your compliments and tips :) It's been helpful. And one thing I've heard a few times is that my galleries need more photos. So today I've been looking thru my old photos for possible candidates that make the cut and I came across the photo above. I have been published in 944 magazine many times when I worked for them and it's never lost it's excitement for me! Seeing your photos in a glossy magazine is major as a photographer! And I've also been published internationally twice, and believe it or not one was a COVER! Once I sold a photo of Britney Spears (she was at a club I was at in Newport beach-don't ask!) to a tabloid in Australia. And then the cover was this photo of a thai yoga teacher named Gabriel. It was featured on a Thai health/yoga magazine. This photo shoot was so fun because he was really flexible and down for anything! He was based out of Scottsdale, so we shot this at the Civic Center and sent it on over to the Thai publication. I was e-mailed over the cover with all the text, but I'd have to dig thru my gmail archive to find it. So random. So priceless.
