Photography as Meditation

I love editing my photos, maybe even more than I love taking them.  It is practice in meditation, viewing the same faces over and over again; pulling up the contrast here; blowing out the black there; sharpening in this one; softening in that one; changing the white balance to best compliment skin tone.

After a while, my brain goes on automatic, and I'm not totally aware of what I'm doing.  I don't think about the technicalities of post-production; but I do think about the people.  My muse whispers, "make his smile pop," "show off the mischievous glint in her eye," "convey the tangible warmth in these human relationships," and these things happen as if by magic, intuitively, and I'm not really thinking about the process at all anymore.

Processing digital photos is addicting.  I never quite know how the photos are going to come alive and assert themselves.  It's the way with all art.