Finding the Extraordinary in the Everyday

There’s no magic pill for better photography.

The truth is more engaging and enjoyable. Growth comes from practice. Not relentless, exhausting effort, but painless practice: small, joyous moments of awareness woven into daily life.

As we step into 2026, I want to offer an invitation rather than a prescription—an invitation to slow down, look deeper, and bring the act of creatively seeing into your everyday life.

To really see as an artist, you need to exercise your vision often, not just while traveling to new places or heading out on a scheduled photo outing. Vision is a muscle. When we only use it occasionally, it weakens. When we exercise it daily, it becomes instinctive.

Many photographers believe they need new terrain to grow. And it’s true—new places stimulate our vision. They wake us up. But familiarity offers a different challenge to growth: learning to look more deeply at what we think we already know.

Naturalist John Burroughs said it perfectly:
“To learn something new, take the path you took yesterday.”

Think of the first bite of a truly memorable meal. Your senses are alive, flavors and textures are exciting. As you continue eating, the intensity fades. Nothing has changed, except your awareness.

Photography works the same way.

We stop noticing the places we see every day: our homes, our routines, the paths we travel again and again. Yet these are often the richest places to have a daily photography practice in seeing.

You may be a landscape photographer but you can still practice seeing when sunlight pours through your kitchen window and casts long shadows from cooking utensils. You may love dramatic coastlines, however growth can begin with the quiet geometry of light on a wall.

A daily photography practice celebrates your life by discovering the unseen moments already present in your world. This way of seeing doesn’t replace travel or adventure—it enriches it.

Marcel Proust, novelist and literary critic said:

“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

When you learn to notice more at home, you arrive everywhere else more awake.

I challenge you to find new ways of seeing in the places that are most familiar to you:

• In and around your house
• On your way to places you frequent
• Restaurants and cafés
• Waiting rooms
• The gym

Pay attention to the constantly changing light coming through windows. Notice how it falls across ordinary objects. Look for fleeting moments of texture, shadow, form, and shape.

These moments are gifts—but only if you’re paying attention can you receive them.

Stop apologizing for using your phone camera.

The camera you have with you is always your best tool for practice. Grab your phone and capture what catches your eye—but don’t get lazy. Composition still matters. Bring the same intention as you would with your big camera.

It shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds to work out a balanced composition. Move your feet. Shift your angle. Simplify the frame. Train yourself to see before you press the shutter.

This way of seeing – slowing down, paying attention, and finding meaning in familiar places is something I return to again and again in my own practice, and in the experiences I share with others.

Whether practiced at home or photographing new environments, developing visual awareness is a skill that deepens with time spent looking on your own as well as in workshops and tours that are lead by a professional who shares what they see.

If you feel drawn to exploring photography in a more guided, immersive way, you’ll find that same philosophy woven seamlessly throughout my workshops – whether on a remote island, aboard a sailing vessel, or exploring lighthouses. It is all an invitation to slow down with your camera. I’ve highlighted below the best three workshops for this practice.

For now, start right where you are. Let daily practice sharpen your vision and see where it leads. As you move into the new year, don’t wait for the perfect location or the ideal conditions. Practice seeing today. Practice often.