Full Stop
- Jean Maher
- Dec 18, 2025
- 2 min read
I've been experimenting with taking photos in continuous shooting mode. I'm becoming aware that it can be a good thing to use that feature, and hazardous at the same time. It's a bit of a shock how MANY photos I can capture with one press of the button. Then to cull out the ones that just aren't clear. Wading through 100 photos of birds approaching a bird feeder for example, can be tedious... more to learn on that front. However, capturing the action of a bird in flight in a still photo, full stop and in focus is so rewarding!
I sensed there was something here for me to see about stopping. Becoming still is something that I've been practicing. To get to stillness of course, I first have to stop moving so fast in my life, including thinking, and talking, going on autopilot, not being present; you get the idea. It's comfortable, those old habits, often doesn't result in me making forward progress.
However, taking a photo that captures the grace of a bird in flight is quite rewarding. I was able to do so because I stood still, waited and acted with full awareness of what I was doing. That takes me in a different direction entirely.
I guess the lesson is that there is beauty (and personal reward) in stopping and slowing down with anything!
The outstretched wings of a bird, frozen in a photo remind me that stillness allows me to see things better, and life seems to slow down a bit. I see in these photos the beauty and grace and symmetry of their feathers, how each is just the right length and held in the perfect way to be able to swoop in and land on a small target at a bird feeder or birdbath.
When I don't practice stillness, it's like looking at a blurry camera shot - the shadow of a bird. I'm not clear. Life then seems to go by in a blur. I miss things I might have seen by stopping, taking a breath, and relaxing into stillness so I can see. With stillness, I have the chance to see each feather in my life in intricate detail.
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