Happy Monday! For those who pushed their clocks forward yesterday, I hope you are making it through your Monday with enough caffeine! My second cappuccino is barely cutting it for me…

I just came back from a short getaway to lake country and of course, took tons of photos with my iPhone.

I was thinking about how going out for mini photo shoots with my phone camera always gets me in The Zone.

The Zone is that state of flow you get into. It’s like a reflex, a natural response, where things feel automatic and there’s very little thinking required.

It’s when you take photos just for the fun of it, exploring light, shadows, shapes, colour and the space between objects ...and simply marvel at the various captures that come of it.

No shot list. No objective. No pursuit of perfection.

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Simply playing with light.

It’s one of my favourite things to do.

I found myself on the frozen Lake Winnipeg, a massive body of water in central Canada that covers about 23,750 km².

It was after a fresh fall of snow and a wind storm, so the surface of the frozen lake was absolutely fascinating.

watch the behind-the-scenes video

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The shapes of the snow drifts and specks of shining ice were absolutely mesmerizing, and I got into The Zone with my iPhone camera pretty quickly.

All I wanted was to look for interesting compositions to frame up in my camera.

This got me thinking about the health benefits of being in a state of flow.

If you’re like me (and the mass majority of humans), you probably spend more time doomscrolling on social media than you’d care to admit.

The idea of constantly consuming information can feel pretty gross when you really think of it.

Rather than inspiring us to be more creative, our phones are tempting us to consume - getting us into a state of endless scrolling, looking for quick hits of dopamine with the smallest effort ever (quick thumb taps).

This is where I think:

How can we turn our phones into instruments for good?

How can we counteract the negative impacts on our mental health?

Answer: Getting into The Zone with your camera!

Instead of constantly consuming information, CREATE something.

Go out in nature. Actively look. Notice. Feel.

Take your phone camera, frame up a composition, take a photo.

Create.

Capture.

Observe a subject, let yourself feel the story, the emotion, then interpret the message and respond with a photo.

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When I take photos or do a creative activity, I feel my brain growing and I feel my body relaxing.

Getting away from consumption, and moving towards creation, has massive mental health benefits, and what better way to exercise this than by taking your phone camera and going on a “just for fun” shoot.

Combatting overconsumption of media is not effortless.

But once you make a habit of engaging your creative mind more often, rather than only consuming data all the time, you are doing good for your mental health.

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So next time you’re out walking and you have a few minutes to spare, look around you. Look for

shapes.

Interesting shadows.

Fascinating light.

Pull out your phone camera, frame up a few compositions and take some photos.

You’ll feel better.

You might even get into a state of flow.

And maybe, you might just start a new (healthy) habit.

Enjoy the journey!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video of my photo shoot on the frozen lake: WATCH THE VIDEO

-Gabrielle

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