Increase your Visual Awareness by Improving your Mood!

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   I was thinking about how the iPhone apps, really give the photographer a chance to "inject" a mood into their image: Not that we don't already try to create an image with a mood, by choosing the color, the light, time of day and the subject, but what the iPhone apps add to those elements.  While doing an internet search today on "mood" I discovered research that was done on the subject of how "mood" impacts the visual cortex in the brain. The article appears on Physorg.com. The important finding here for a photographer is found in the conclusion of their research.

"Under positive moods, people may process a greater number of objects in their environment, which sounds like a good thing, but it also can result in distraction," says Taylor Schmitz, a graduate student of Anderson's and lead author of the study. "Good moods enhance the literal size of the window through which we see the world. The upside of this is that we can see things from a more global, or integrative perspective. The downside is that this can lead to distraction on critical tasks that require narrow focus, such as operating dangerous machinery or airport screening of passenger baggage. Bad moods, on the other hand, may keep us more narrowly focused, preventing us from integrating information outside of our direct attentional focus." 

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All research can be interpreted in many ways, but this makes sense to me. A positive mood allows us to see more in our environment and thus provide us a view of many more subjects and scenes to create images, the downfall might be keeping focus! An uplifted mood can open our eyes! I shot these images while I was in a good mood...on the beach enjoying a late afternoon walk and in a coffee shop enjoying a great cup of coffee before a photo presentation. I was not rushed, I had given myself plenty of travel time, prep time I knew my subject matter, so I was in a good mood... ; - )

These two images are images that I injected a "mood" into by using different apps and texture overlays. The interesting thing is the "mood" I gave both of them? Hmm..have to think about that! Have a great day and be in good mood to open your eyes for potential images.