Now in its fourth year, our Mindfulness Photography Challenge has become a much-loved tradition in the Excio community. What began as a simple fundraising idea to support the Mental Health Foundation has grown into a month-long journey of creativity, inspiration and reflection.
Each day throughout July, participants are invited to explore a new theme designed not just to improve your photography, but to help you slow down, notice the details, and reconnect with the world around you. The challenge continues to inspire photographers of all levels to reflect on their personal journeys, experiment with new ideas and discover the beauty in the everyday.
Here, we’re proud to showcase some of the most thoughtful, moving and creative entries from this year’s challenge. These images speak to the power of mindfulness, both behind the lens and beyond it.
Gentle textures by Mathias Ellis. This is a shot of a fluffy bumblebee on a fluffy plant. I created a double exposure in post using the same photograph to fill the frame and enhance the soft, textured feel.I can hear by Mike Milsom. This young king penguin was making its voice heard among a colony of its peers in the Falkland Islands.Black and white by Mark ChiversThe quiet ones by Cynthia Stoks. I was surprised to see this monarch butterfly after all the rain. I wondered where it had been sheltering.The colour of calm by Bill Rosenberg. For me, the blue-grey of approaching evening adds to the calm or even the sense of being becalmed in this Wellington scene.Black and white by Murray Lowe. Between platforms on Sydney’s new Metro rail system.Contrast by Ann Kilpatrick. Party lights on a pool fence.Weather moods by Sandy McCleary. It's a foggy day today, at least it's not raining yet. I have played around in editing and what I thought was quite depressing has turned out to be the opposite.Flow by Ruth Boere. Fortunate to be away and simply watch the receding tide flow in and out.The quiet ones by Sandy McCleary. Sit for a while and you start noticing all sorts of things. I sat on a rock by the fence, and looking down, I noticed this seed that had fallen onto the leaves below.Fresh start by Cynthia Stoks. My friend had a serious health scare. Now he starts each day taking breakfast on the eastern verandah. He completes Wordle and the crossword. He takes in his Vitamin D. This is his view.Contrast by Heather Mickelson. The black and white version of these Water Lilies turned the image into art work left you wondering just what they were - such a contrast from the original!The quiet companion by Mathias Ellis. It stayed just for one evening, on the wall behind my desk, the night I stayed late on my computer.I can dream by Cynthia Stoks. What is a dream? That moment on waking when you are not sure what is real and what is a haze.Lightness by Dafydd Davies. A saddleback against a light green canopy this morning at Zealandia.A breath of calm by Bill Rosenberg. A suspended leaf in the bush, hanging like peace by an invisible thread.I can dream by Lorraine Neill. I took this photo yesterday, so my lens wasn’t guided by imagination. But with a little creative editing, I thought it could suit today’s challenge nicely. Here is my photo that feels like a dream - pillowy-soft with a hint of turbulence. The plant is Persicaria capitata, a lovely groundcover with red leaves and stems, and pink pompom flowers. But like many dreams, there’s a darker thread: it’s invasive and considered an environmental weed.Lightness by Rudolph Kotze. An early morning walk with mist rising and sunlight shining through.Contrast by Lorraine Neill. I’ve always felt that wildlife in cemeteries evokes thematic contrasts: nature versus human-made, movement against stillness, life alongside death and memory. This was taken at Hamilton East Cemetery yesterday.Lightness by Linda Mead. The soft light at the end of the day. A shell and rocks on the beach at Kāpiti Island.Flow by Stephen Garner. Stepping off the train today at my station.Weather moods by Lorraine Neill. I love taking photos in the fog. I love the way it diffuses light, softens edges and colours, and makes the familiar or ordinary look new or mysterious. But I definitely don’t enjoy driving in it — especially over the Kaimais.The quiet ones by Lorraine Neill. A steelblue ladybird on a hydrangea leaf. Not just quiet, but tiny and with no macro lens on hand, a different approach was called for.Weather moods by Ruth Boere.I was very fortunate to have a misty morning, which certainly set the mood for photography.The quiet ones by Mathias Ellis. Tiptoeing around.Letting go by Sandy McCleary. I took this late in the evening, up in the bush. The leaves are no longer perfect, and the sun was going down, letting go of another day.Patterns by Heather Mickelson. I couldn’t walk past the screen at the Velodrome without capturing it. I had to take the opportunity, and it resulted in this image, which is full of patterns, of course.I can hear by Lorraine Neill. I can hear rain, though it’s now muted by the sounds of traffic and people heading home.Hidden in plain sight by Gavin Murphy. Melbourne. I turned to the right and saw...
