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Mindful Moments at SMC Rotterdam

Social Media Week Rotterdam 2014 - Attending and Leading 3 'Mindfulness With Your Mobile' workshops

Everywhere I go I SEE. I try not to look at the world, but use the mindful state of ... emptiness and let the world come in without judging what I see. When you do so, you look at the world with a pure eye, 'Miksang' in Tibetan. This state of being to me is meditation with eyes open. Mindfulness with an empty mind.
During the coffee break I noticed this reflection and also the red flower:

A speaker preparing himself

Minimalism

 It was a dark, grey day, so what do you do? I looked out the window and saw grey skies, rain, no colour. But lack of colour also sooths the mind, makes you turn to yourself and I like grey too.

I used the raindrops on the window and when walking through the building I noticed a spectacular glass ceiling. Blessings from above!?

Reflection of the Erasmus Bridge, Nhow terrace

The restaurant turned out to be a place full of mindfulness. Reflection in the glasses is pure Miksang. Because of the bad weather I took my Mindfulness With Your Mobile group to the (empty) parking lot, also in the Nhow building. Meditation with our eyes open:

It's really not that hard to see with a pure eye. Just try to show life as it is, SEE subjects as they are. Struck by its beauty or remarkable appearance, in detail often, life is a beautiful composition. The above photo I took of the escalator is very inspiring because of the extra layer creating a depth in the picture. Beauty is all around us:

In stead of the left photo try to zoom in on the beauty of what you see. The right photo is taken from the exact same spot. The 'double' (two) ladders caught my eye when passing.

#SWFC16 San Francisco Writers Conference 2016 Event Photography

San Francisco Writers Conference 2016

Together with Michel Switzar of DutchLines.nl I attended, photographed and lead the Writers Photo Walk at the SFWC in February 2016. As always the energy is vibrant and the speakers, agents, publishers and writers are fab!

Check out my photo series of Presidentsday weekend:

See, share, like all 300+ photos on Facebook, Flickr and Google+





© Artstudio23.com (ft. DutchLines)

7 Photo tips how to increase website traffic

Add an image to bring your post to life.

LinkedIn is spot on. Using images will really help to create more brand awareness. October 2015 I was asked to be City Facebooker for two weeks for the local page of Dutch tourism board (VVV Breda). Being a photo specialist and a writer I kept posting photos about my walks, bike rides and much more. Showing the things I saw, that caught my eye. I combined cultural moments with 'just' outdoor autumn shots of my beautiful city. 

Choose the right image

By choosing the right image I increased the actions of the 4500 community of the Gek op Breda (Crazy about Breda) page with an average of 85%, with 101% being the highest peak during my two week job. Over 21.000 actions, just by adding epic photos.

A good image is always intriguing, and makes people think, feel

How to get that traffic 

1) Make sure you post a good epic photo! Low quality photos never contribute to your brand's name. Invest in buying the best images available.

2) An epic image will make people think, feel, love or hate it. It will draw attention.


3) Therefor: go easy with stock photos. Think twice before buying a (cheap) stock photo. The average price of a good quality stock photo is € 35,- Please keep in mind that when you hire a professional image maker (not necessarily a photographer, also other people with visionary occupations like graphic designers and journalists might be able to do the job) you often can buy photos for the same price.

4) No overkill. Go easy on photos. Twitter: max. 2, Facebook: max 9 (preferably 2, 3 or 4, depending on landscape, portrait or square size) per post. Less is still more.


5) If you really want to share more images, create an album or share an album link to your website. Make sure the album cover photo is an appealing one. This image will pop up when you share the link.


6) Use b&w (black & white) photos now and then. To stand out of the crowd a monochrome picture can really do the trick. This can also be an old historic photo of your brand or company.


7) Respect copyright. If you do not know if you can use that photo, make sure you find out. Always add the correct credits. When unsure, do not use the image.

Open studio Marianne Naerebout's atelier Breda, the Netherlands

Gek op Breda post causing most actions, these two photos of Speelhuislaan Breda in autumn colours:

If you have an old photo of your company's location, building, or area: do share. 

People just love historic photos!

Artstudio23 - Speelhuislaan 173 Breda, the Netherlands

No Tourist Fatigue

Miksang Sunset, Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco

I take another photo of the sun setting behind the famous bridge. Again a perfect moment, the sun right behind one of the pilars. Orange sky, a soft breeze stroking my face, I take another sip of my Caramel Macchiato. I feel blessed just by being here, I really am in the moment. Looking over the water, I see little dots. Swimmers, perhaps practicing for the annual Alcatraz races. Yes, I am in San Francisco, California.


I'm feeling a little mixed up though. It's my 6th time in this wonderful city and this evening the wind feels...warm? Yeah, luke warm it is. T-shirt temperature. Too funny. It's only March (2015) and I haven't seen much more than a lost cloud early morning this whole week. Not Fog City at all. California is now experiencing its worse drought ever, so it seems. This morning I got up at 6 AM and staying in Fisherman's Wharf area, I walked to the Oakland Bay Bridge along side the water. You look directly at the sun this way, perfect to capture mindful moments.


Being an iPhoneographer, I also use the square frame and I often use Instagram too. Adjusting focus and aperture by pressing on the screen, it's really easy to capture the overwhelming colours of the early morning sky. When joggers passed me by, I used their feet and long shadows, together with lines I saw on the pavement. Taking mindful photos like these will give you energy. No tourist fatigue at all. Think of the happy feeling you get when you take a photo of a happy moment. It's pure happiness and it goes straight to the heart.


Visit a place without judging and you'll receive its natural energy. The San Fran energy is one of the best I've ever experienced. After a long day in the city I now watch the sun set in the Pacific Ocean. From where I am I can see the dark shape of the Golden Gate Bridge against the red sky. I feel well tired but also very peaceful. I start walking up the hill to get back to my hotel, very happy to be here.


Be, See, Zen.

San Francisco, Embarcadero

This blog was written for World Nomads (Scholarship entry, 11 May 2015)

MOVED!

Looking for my older (English) blogs? Check PhotographerWanted.blogspot.com

This blog will be my writer's blog (in Dutch) from now on,
welcome!

City trip Los Angeles #ikzieikzie

Venice Beach - Miksang moments