It’s not a well-known area, and I much prefer it that way. Solitude finds me quickly when I am here, allowing me to connect with that special creative space within. If I were to look online, I doubt that I would find many photographs from here to inspire me, which, for an artist pursuing — dare I say it — originality, I am glad. This is one of those rare landscapes that has preserved its dignity. In the modern digital world, landscapes seem to be quickly losing that, and so many people seem to be all too focused on bragging about exactly where they have been so that others might pat them on the back and then go out and follow in their footsteps. I even recently learned of an app where people share their photographs along with coordinates. What a way to kill the soul’s curiosity!

I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I’m writing this, and, come to think of it, why I share anything I create in the first place. I want my work to inspire my audience; inspire people to go out and seek their own places of sanctuary in nature; inspire them to ask important questions, and then to have the courage to find their own answers; inspire them to embrace the magic and the mystery of the unknown in pursuit of personal growth and transformation.

We live in a world in which our curiosity is quickly becoming dangerously suppressed. Too often, we are told what to think, where to go, and what we can and can’t do with our lives. I want to inspire people to do, go, and say (within reason) whatever, and wherever their creative instincts lead, and not to follow the latest set of coordinates to a place to imitate the work of the next ‘influencer’ they see on Instagram. I want to exist in a world where people prioritise their personal growth over the growth of their online following.

There is so much beauty in the world that is yet to be witnessed; to find it, we have to learn to think for ourselves, open a map, and head outside with an open heart and a curious spirit. It may have taken me almost a decade of searching, but I am now beginning to find the places that resonate with my soul. I feel an incredible amount of fulfilment that my quest to discover my own vision has led me here to these tiny pockets of raw and untamed beauty in the heart of Eryri.

These landscapes will entrance me, no doubt, for the rest of my life. As guardians of such innocent beauty, they require trust to be built and a relationship to be nurtured if they are to reveal their sweetest fruits and rewards in the form of photographs. It would be completely disrespectful to assume that one could turn up once and ‘capture’ its entire magnificence in one arrogant click of the camera’s shutter. Patience is of course the photographer’s greatest virtue. Beautiful things need time to unfold.

As we are now over summer’s hill and autumn is quickly approaching — new hope has found me after we had rain here in Mid Wales this morning for the first time in at least a month — I’m beginning to imagine what creative possibilities await in this charming corner of the national park that has been left seemingly untouched by the hands of time. There is a timeless beauty here that I feel I am beginning to recognise as I mature as an artist, and I am excited by the thought of what else might unfold as I come into deeper presence with this ancient landscape. I look forward to sharing this unfolding with you as we head into my most creatively rich time of year.

Brad Carr is an internationally published photographic artist, essayist & poet, creative practitioner, and mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Download FREE Educational Resources - Including an eBook on composition, an 18-page guide to light, and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or explore and develop your unique vision through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

Join me for an evening online as I share the process behind my woodland photography: the intentional, patient work of finding order within the chaos of trees.

The woodland is one of the most challenging landscapes to photograph, and that makes it, without doubt, one of the most rewarding. In this presentation, I’ll explore how I read the light as it filters through the canopy, how I intuitively know where to position myself in a woodland, and how compositions begin to emerge once I find presence in a place, come into rhythm with the branches, and the eye is truly attuned. I’ll also share some of the techniques I lean on to translate feelings into a photograph.

This is an invitation: to slow down, to observe more, and to consider how our presence shapes the images we make.

I’d love to see you there.

Time & Date:
7 pm - 8.30 pm, Wednesday 8th July 2026

Ticket Price:
Free for Finding Light Creative Academy* Members
£7.50 for Non-Members

*To learn more about the Finding Light Creative Academy, click here.

Buy Tickets

Finding Light: A Journey into Nature to Find My Soul:

In ‘Finding Light: A Journey into Nature to Find My Soul,’ I share my story of transformation through the lens of the camera and my interactions with the natural world.

The presentation weaves together image and written word as a deeply personal response to my experiences of both external and internal landscapes. Through my photographs and heartfelt writings, I invite the audience into my story — one of healing, transformation, and discovery — offering insight into the restorative power of being in Nature.

Many of the photographs displayed represent my emotional state at the time of their creation; they provide a simultaneous view of both the inner and outer world, moving between expansive vistas of wild landscapes and intimate studies of ancient trees and mystical woodland scenes. This presentation tells the story of human experience, capturing moments of reflection, solace, and connection with spirit.

I look forward to sharing a piece of my soul with you and welcoming you into my journey.

Time & Date:
7 pm - 8.30 pm, Wednesday 29th July 2026

Ticket Price:
Free for Finding Light Creative Academy* Members
£7.50 for Non-Members

*To learn more about the Finding Light Creative Academy, click here.

Buy Tickets

Remember who you are.
Remember who you could have been.
Remember, you are just a man.
Remember, you will die one day.

Back in 2020/ 2021, when I was flirting with the idea of pursuing my purpose, these words became a morning mantra for me.

I wrote them in my journal almost every day for 18 months.

These four simple lines are permanently ingrained in my psyche, and have a whole depth of layered meaning, some of which will always remain personal.

'Remember who you are' reminds me to contemplate all the life experiences that have occurred for me to be here, in this moment, with this perspective, doing this work that I feel truly matters.

'Remember who you could have been' is my catalyst to think about how my life could be today if certain events had played out differently.

These first two lines help me find gratitude for the events that have shaped me, no matter how painful and ugly many of them might have been.

'Remember, you are just a man' is a line that was inspired during my time as a student of Stoic philosophy. I read about how Marcus Aurelius used to hire someone to stand beside him, hitting him with a palm leaf and speaking the words, 'you're just a man' over and over again as he walked the streets of Rome, receiving adulation from the people.

'Remember, you will die one day' was also inspired by the Stoic concept of memento mori, which is meditation upon one's death. The idea of thinking about death will probably be morbid to many. For me, however, it was a beautiful, life-changing process that led me to live more meaningfully, take actionable steps towards my goals, and find deeper layers of gratitude for early-life events I was desperately trying to make peace with.

If you're starting your personal development journey, I would highly recommend not only practicing the concept of memento mori but also developing a simple mantra of your own to carry forward with you in your life. You might be surprised at what you become.

Have you ever developed your own mantra? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Are you searching for a place to belong in the world? A space to develop your creativity, think deeply about life and landscape, and find more meaning in your photography? I want to invite you to check out the Finding Light Creative Academy. It’s now opening its doors to its founding members.

Learn more and fill out the survey & application form here.

I began my journey to create almost nine years ago. The pain of my first heartbreak had thrust me into the open arms of Mother Nature as I wandered outdoors with conscious intent and purpose for the first time in my 25 years on the earth. Of course, I had been outdoors many times before; I remember fondly my childhood adventures searching for frogs beneath the plant pots in the greenhouse in the back garden of my grandparents’ home in Southwater, West Sussex.

Occasionally, I would wander through the gate at the bottom of the garden into the magical woodland that formed the borders of Southwater Country Park with my siblings, mother, cousins, and aunties as we went to play on the zipline, swings, and the slide that seemed to descend from heaven. Our route to the playpark was never a straightforward one. We were often distracted by the grass snakes and slowworms in the woodland, or by newts in the undergrowth. Plus, we had to pitstop to fuel our impending repetitions on the endless slide with the blackberries we foraged beside the footpaths on summer days.

‍In my teenage years, I also fondly remember venturing to the summit of Cader Idris — once the home of a legendary Welsh giant named Idris — led by my friend and housemate, Rob, during my first year of university. It was my first ‘real’ hike and my maiden voyage to a height of over 400m on foot. I stood at the edges of the mountain during the descent in awe of the jets that circled the Mach Loop beneath me. The roars of their engines still echo in my eardrums to this day. The majestic views over the Mawddach Estuary, earlier on the hike, occasionally find their way into my dreams, too.

I certainly was not starved of Nature whilst growing up, despite being raised mostly in largely built-up environments throughout my childhood. My mother — raised entirely in the peaceful countryside of West Sussex — always seemed to see the value in finding us places of beauty that offered plenty of breathing room for four young children. She likely needed the escape, too. It couldn’t have been an easy task to raise my siblings and me practically single-handedly in tiny government-funded, social houses, whilst suffering frequent physical abuse from the various no-good father-figures who were present in body but absent in every other way for the first eleven years of my life.

It was during my late teen years that I began to lose my way in life and disconnect, almost entirely from Nature. In hindsight, I see how the examples of my father-figures and my dysfunctional youth impacted me. During my time at university, I became increasingly reclusive. Apart from the hike I referenced earlier, I rarely went outside, despite living in arguably one of the most beautiful parts of the country on the west coast of Wales. If I weren’t ‘out on the town’, sinking Admiral’s — a legendary Aberystwyth university drink containing four shots of vodka and a can of Red Bull — to hide my social anxiety and awkwardness to fit in, then I was likely sitting in front of the TV at my games console, disconnecting from the world and everyone within it.

For many years, I was terrified of connecting with another person, unless you count drunken exchanges in the smoking areas of Aberystwyth nightclubs, or conversations through a headset with people halfway across the world that I had never met in person, as I sat at my computer games. My home had been torn apart many times over when I was a child. My older sister and I would often wander downstairs in the morning to see that our living room had been turned into a bombsite. Ornaments were scattered across the floor, and glass was shattered from photo frames and ashtrays that had been launched across the room. On a couple of occasions, the violence had gotten so severe that my mum had no choice but to flee the home with us in tow to escape the prison of abuse that had been created. She had been left on the floor in a heap after being struck on the temple by my stepfather’s right fist. As she lay semi-conscious on the pavement, she could see that he was reaching for something in his pocket. If it wasn’t for the intervention of someone nearby, she fears the damage would have been much worse.

In the weeks preceding this assault, she was left fearing for her life. We had to leave our home on Manor Drive in Loughborough, almost overnight. There was no time for goodbyes. Connections were severed against my young will. I was thrust into the unsafety and uncertainty of a new environment: a block of flats called Cornwallis House just outside the city centre of Portsmouth. As a result of these chaotic and turbulent episodes throughout my childhood, I learnt to depend almost entirely on myself early on, withdrawing and disconnecting emotionally, notably from my mother, at the age of around 7 or 8 — a pattern that continued long into my early adulthood.

Despite my withdrawal, I always seemed to make friends quickly in new places; I was good at football and had a soft, dimpled smile, which meant the boys liked to have me on their team, and many of the girls thought I was cute — much to the embarrassment of the shy inner child in me who preferred to keep the innermost parts of himself hidden. Although I always seemed to make friends wherever I went, I never allowed anyone to really get to know me. There were corners of my heart I wouldn’t allow anyone to venture into. Truth be told, I was terrified to tread there myself.

I learnt early in my life that to be a man was dangerous. Men were volatile, full of anger, and would quickly erupt into a fit of rage without too much in the way of provocation. It took me until the age of twenty-five to find the courage to begin exploring long-forgotten footpaths into the darker corners of my inner landscape; to meet and integrate more of the masculine parts of myself, and to retrieve the anger that I had been led to believe was ‘wrong’ for so many years.

The pain of my first heartbreak back in 2017 had catapulted me forward on a journey of self-discovery — or ‘self-creation’ as I have later learned to call it. I had found myself lying on my bedroom floor one evening in a state of despair. The girl that I loved had broken my heart, and I was trapped stacking shelves in a supermarket to earn my bread. Not the kind of lives men led in the movies I had loved so dearly as a child. I had no vision for my future, and now I was alone; my dream of getting married and starting a family of my own was shattered.

For many years throughout my youth, my stepfather had projected his fairytale fantasy onto me: ‘You’re going to marry a beautiful blonde woman, start a family, and live happily ever after.’ That script had been torn up. ‘What happens now?’ I thought. I allowed myself some time to grieve my lost love and broken dream before peeling myself off the bedroom floor and picking up my mobile phone one evening to take a picture of myself, fictitiously smiling for the camera — a mask for my deep sadness and grief, that, I soon learned, ran much deeper than my recent heartbreak. This ‘selfie’ turned out to be the first photograph I ever took with the intention of telling a story. I had wanted to make something from my pain and show this girl what she was missing out on. I walked into a local gym and began turning this pain into my power.

There’s a saying that ‘breakups make bodybuilders’, and that is almost true in my case. In the same way that I used to hide away indoors and train the characters within the worlds of the computer games I was playing, I woke up, took control of my own world, and began to train myself, becoming the hero of my own game. Although my body was heavy and depressed, the same spirit that burned inside my mother’s heart and protected my siblings and me all those years ago had ignited in me. The immediate pain of heartbreak was my fuel, and there was a wellspring of further pain running deep into my childhood, and far beyond, I have since understood.

For a while, I shared my bodybuilding journey online, with a new dream of standing on a stage, lathered in fake tan and ‘flexing’ my biceps in an attempt to impress the onlooking judges. I began uploading video clips of myself training and photos of the food I was eating. My physique was changing rapidly, so I would often upload pictures of my progress as I focused intently on my new dream. I had also developed a love of journaling through this creative chapter, so I would occasionally write about what I was learning: patience, discipline, consistency, and commitment.

Ultimately, I was learning what it took to be a man, with the dumbbells and barbells as my teachers. Interestingly, I was learning more about psychology than I was about bodybuilding. I became obsessed with learning about the mind, picking up every book I could find and learning from everyone I deemed successful in their field: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jordan, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few. I was a sponge throughout that period of my life, and I was hyper-focused on evolving into the greatest version of myself I could be.

Through the process of creating myself, transforming my physique and uploading photos and videos to the Internet, I was also learning a great deal about the art of storytelling. Eighteen months into my transformational journey, I picked up my sister’s DSLR camera and ventured outdoors to one of Wales’ most sacred sites: the legendary Pistyll Rhaeadr, with a newfound curiosity, love and appreciation for life, and respect and reverence for the spirit of Nature, which was growing with each adventure into Wales’ most wild and untouched places. I have always had one of those mindsets that wants to improve and is never entirely satisfied. The camera was the next logical piece to my storytelling jigsaw puzzle.

During this soul-searching chapter, I began to recognise Nature as much more than just a place to go for a walk. The trees became my father, best friend, and therapist; many of my childhood wounds started to heal whilst I was held in the safe embrace of their branches. I began to see the natural world as a living entity and a mirror of my true nature and deeper self. My eyes were opening to my own place within the earth’s ecosystem; a sense of belonging that my broken ‘homes’ (a word I use reluctantly) had stolen from me, and one that continues to ebb & flow as I wander along my creative path towards wholeness.

Following such a painful chapter of darkness and bleakness, I found sanctuary in the silence and stillness provided by the natural world. Rather than escaping into the made-up worlds of my computer games or getting so blackout drunk that I forget my own name, I experienced transcendence by awakening to the beauty of the natural world in which I walked. By turning the camera outwards to record what I was seeing through my once-again-curious eyes — wildly alive with renewed awe, innocence, and wonder — I began to unearth what was missing in the lives of my father-figures, and so many men whom I now observe wandering without aim through life, searching externally for things to fill the gaping void inside their hearts.

The art of photography has gifted me, so early in my life, something that evades so many people for the entirety of their earthly existence: a profound sense of purpose that invigorates my soul and awakens me from the clutches of my slumber in the mornings. The man I am today is unrecognisable from the boy who set out upon this journey nine years ago. My excursions into the world of Nature have been an initiation — a much-needed one for the spiritual evolution of man that has been long forgotten in our egocentric Western culture, which places far too much importance on external metrics to measure one’s masculinity.

‍As I sit to write this, I can’t help but recall the acts of ‘initiation’ that sports societies at university encouraged where the amount of man you were was measured by how much alcohol you could drink in one night before you collapsed in the road for your teammates to perform publicly shame-inducing acts to you, recording them on their phones to ensure you were never able to forget your moment of ‘weakness’. My desire to be an inspiration and role model for young men grows stronger when I recall these disgusting, shameful memories that still haunt me sixteen years on.

The painful memories of my broken youth have become my greatest source of creative power; my adversity a catalyst for profound personal growth and transformation. Now, I exist to help others unearth their own source of power, awaken to the beauty of Nature, and find healing in the arms of ancient oak trees. The men who raised me became the Gods of their own worlds, and I observed innocently as their self-serving actions caused these worlds to burn before them. I made a vow to myself early on that I would not make the same mistakes as these men, so I chose to kneel and surrender, in service to the spirit of Nature, sharing messages whispered by the winds, and translating the wisdom entrusted to me by my friend, Solitude.

‍Whereas I was once obsessed with hiding away in my room, escaping reality, I now choose to spend my days out in the world, practicing my craft and telling stories of hope and transformation through my photographs and writings that have recently reached international audiences and lined the walls of the prestigious Welsh gallery, Plas Glyn y Weddw. I long for nothing more than to spend the rest of my life creating beauty from my deepest pain and sharing that beauty with others.

It is my mission and ultimate purpose to inspire, educate, and empower an army of storytellers through transformative workshops and retreats, as I attempt to help restore humanity to a place of balance and harmony with the natural world. During these desperate years, when all we seem to see are stories of two sides: black vs white, left vs right, and man vs woman, I hope my work can stand as a beacon of hope for a different future for humanity; one where we learn to integrate both halves of our psyche and find a place of wholeness, balance, and harmony within ourselves, so that we can begin co-creating that in the world outside of ourselves.

I have longed to exist in a world where Beauty has the time and space that she needs to reveal herself to our eyes. I decided some time ago that I would begin creating that space within myself. I have witnessed many profound moments of beauty since then, both inside and out.

Through my transformative creative retreats, immersive Nature photography workshops, and private tuition & mentoring services, I now create environments where these moments of beauty can emerge, facilitating non-exclusive, healing and integrative spaces for creativity to thrive, where the entire person is welcomed with open arms; where they can express whatever emotions arise and transmute their deepest pain and suffering through the cathartic creative processes of photography and writing.

Through my private services, I work with people of all levels and abilities, whether they are just embarking on their creative journey or preparing for their first major exhibition and looking to create a cohesive body of work that speaks from their soul.

I have also recently produced my debut photobook, Finding Light, in which I share my story through a series of over 20 creative essays, weaving together more than 100 photographs of the natural world.

As I turn the pages to write the next chapter in my story, I’m in the process of recruiting the board of directors to help establish a mission-led social enterprise of the same name, Finding Light. It will educate, empower, and inspire adults and children alike to use creativity and Nature as gateways to healing and transformation, and to forge their own sense of purpose, repair relationships, and build a strong and stable community around themselves.

Thank you for reading my story.

Written in service to the spirit of Nature,

Brad Carr

To learn more about the Finding Light mission, visit www.findinglight.co.uk. If you’re interested in joining the board of directors, you can fill out this short form.

To work with me privately to unearth your creative voice and develop your vision, or to book your place on a group workshop or retreat, visit www.bradwcarr.com.

We live in a results-driven world that is dominated by ego, and we carry a deep-rooted fear of the feminine energy that calls us to slow down, open ourselves to receptivity, find our ‘flow’, and enjoy the process and the unknown of the C-Z, rather than the certainty of the A-B.

It has become all too easy to find immediate answers to some of humanity’s deepest questions with the entire Universe seemingly at our fingertips. We are losing our ability to be in a place of wonder and awe and enjoy the mystery of not knowing. What happens when this is lost from the human psyche altogether? How ‘‘depressed’’ do we have to become to realise that this is rapidly becoming a serious problem?

One of our greatest existential crises is in our sense of belonging, which is partly rooted in our constant pursuit of results over process. There is a dangerous imbalance of energy between our masculine, forward-driven, ‘‘yang’’ energy, and our feminine, surrendered-to-the-now, ‘‘yin’’ energy, particularly in our Western culture that over-prioritises results, growth, achievements, performance, and accolades. In the rare moments we do find time for stillness and quiet, we are usually found incessantly longing for the next thing: the promotion, the goals, the holiday, the car, and the next home to buy: anything to avoid being in peace.

The beauty of the destination we seek can only be fully appreciated when we have been truly present throughout the process and absolutely alive in each of the finite moments in the in-between. When we are not present in the ‘‘now,’’ attuned to our bodies and their senses, we lose ourselves to fear or fantasy. Our experience is not our own. Rather, it is one we think we should be having, or wish we could have, moulded by the impossible hands of expectation or the cruel voice of comparison.

Discovering a New World Through the Lens

In the world of nature and landscape photography, things are no different. We usually pick up the cameras out of curiosity: for the natural world, for ourselves, or for the art and the creative process itself. We lose ourselves immediately in a world that looks brand-new through a wide-angle or macro lens, which allows us to stare into the eyes of insects we never previously knew existed. We are reconnected with our childlike senses as we point our cameras in every which way possible, in search of new opportunities and stories to tell. We are introduced to footpaths that promise to lead us to treasures that will make us richer than any pirate ever was. We awaken to beauty that fills the inner landscape of the soul with a medicine that heals all our wounds and helps us remember what it means to be fully alive once again.

Before long, the silent assassin, comparison, enters through the back door and slowly begins to siphon all our newly-discovered treasures whilst we are out on yet another quest to unearth more. One day, we wake up feeling the weight of emptiness that has been increasingly burdening our shoulders. We might, if we are lucky — before it’s too late — realise that our ongoing search for more has led us to forget about all the beauty and wisdom we have accrued through the journey so far.

The Wisdom is the Reward

On our never-ending quests for more: more money, more followers, more fame, more rooms in our homes, more capacity in our cars’ engines, we mustn’t forget that the ultimate reward of our human journey is the wisdom we gain throughout the course of our ephemeral earthly existence. Who we become during our time here, and resultingly, what we pass on to those whose tiny feet follow in our bootprints, will be the only thing that lasts, as all of our certificates, trophies, money, and other possessions disappear into the void of nothingness from where they came.

When we embark upon our creative journeys, we must vow to never lose sight of what is most important. That means remaining connected to the eternal process of becoming rather than losing oneself to the results and getting lost in the expectations and comparisons of others who are walking a path only they can walk. As a friend said to me a little while ago, whilst I was navigating some turbulent waters and struggling to find new motivation to create anything: ‘‘What if you’re the art now?’’ These words of wisdom, delivered during a time of need, will stay with me forever as a reminder that my own becoming and unfolding to the light is the real reason I picked up the camera and the pen and set out on a journey to find acceptance and understanding.

Beyond all my achievements over the past few years and the few professional, artistic, and commercial successes I have had thus far, there is the obvious fact that I am not the boy I was when I started out on this journey of awakening and becoming. The boy I was back then would not have been able to stand on a stage in front of 200 people and open his heart to share his story; he would not have had the courage to reach out for an opportunity to freelance for an industry-leading company, and, more importantly and in-line with my friends perfectly-timed comment, he would not have had the presence to allow someone the time and space to unfold before him and reach new depths in their own being and creative practice.

The latter point, for me, was the sole reason I set out on my path almost a decade ago; my intuition was guiding me to a place where I could give back to others and make the world a better, more empathetic and understanding place by sharing the wisdom I had embodied through my journey. I had to prioritise my own growth and healing so I could prioritise the growth and healing of those around me, which I now do increasingly more frequently through my workshops, tuition, and mentoring services.

Using Photographs as Mirrors

I recently launched my brand-new mentoring programme, A Bridge Between Two Worlds, for members of the Royal Photographic Society’s Digital Imaging group, following the success of a shorter, three-part series I ran for them earlier this year. Ten keen, meaning-seeking photographers have joined me for a twelve-month journey into the deeper realms of photography and creativity. We will work together to uncover themes and concepts interwoven throughout their art, curate portfolios, and eventually create meaningful projects such as books, zines, exhibitions, and presentations that help to convey the stories each participant wishes to tell.

One of the first tasks I have set is for the participants to trawl through their photographic archives to identify a collection of 5-7 photographs that hold significant meaning for them. These don’t have to be cohesive photographs from the same portfolio, but my assumption is that many of them will be connected in some way, shape, or form if they look deeply enough and spend enough time with them in thought and reflection.

Through my own process of reflection — one of my Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography — I have unearthed many of my own core themes and concepts over the past few years. These are topics and ideas I consistently write about in my essays, poetry, and prose. Particular words emerge organically through my almost-daily writing practice. As I bring my conscious awareness to my creative process, I can shine a light on these words and identify them as my core themes: things that my subconscious — or soul — is guiding me towards.

If we are open, curious, and willing to ask meaningful, searching questions of our creations, they hold an abundance of creative wisdom that can lead to profound levels of growth and self-understanding. Our photographs can be our greatest teachers and perfect mirrors of ourselves when we excavate the inner landscape and search deeper beneath our surface. If we are to learn their lessons, however, we are required to approach our practice with a level of humility, admitting that we do not know, something that might be terrifying for anyone who has spent their years refusing to allow layers of their ego to melt away.

Crossing a Threshold into the Mystical World of Nature

When I walked outdoors into the world of Nature for the first time, awakening to the beauty and the mystery of the unknown, I crossed a threshold. My willingness to wander and my openness to new direction guided me to the light of morning, where Mother Nature was waiting patiently for me to come with all my wounds and pain and grief and confusion about who I was and where I was going. She rewarded my curiosity and courage, answering my deepest questions by pointing me inwards along the footpaths of my inner landscape. These paths led me home to my heart; it was a home I had been longing for since my broken youth.

To borrow the following from another essay, The Creative Process, which is due to be published in On Landscape in July 2026:

‘‘My art now, above and beyond all photographs and words I create along the way, is in who I get to be in the world, and this version of me who stands to tell these stories today would not be here if it weren’t for the healing and nurturing embrace of The Great Mother. When I enter the world of Nature, I am entering into a communion and tending to my relationship with Her. I give my energy through service, surrender, and the love of my craft, and I receive treasures beyond words: wisdom, insights, healing, guidance, and occasionally, a series of photographs that will allow me to honour my commitment to serve.

When it comes to the creation of the photographs themselves, they are a byproduct of the real work, which is the inner work required to keep on surrendering and shedding layers of the ego, to attune myself and come into harmony with the rhythm of the natural world, and to ensure that balance is maintained within; that my ‘hunting’ is carried out with increasing respect and reverence, and never results in me forgetting my place in the soil, becoming gluttonous & greedy, and taking advantage of the goodness of Nature, for which I have now become a custodian, warden and protector.’’

It is my duty to share these stories and the wisdom I have accessed with others through the essays I write, the talks I deliver, and the workshops I have been establishing over the past few years. With a deep, intuitive understanding of the mystical powers that Mother Nature holds comes a great responsibility to protect these wild, untamed landscapes for future generations, so that they, too, can heal the wounds they will inevitably incur throughout their human journeys.

To be human is to be beautifully wounded. But one must make the courageous choice not to remain imprisoned by one’s pain and fall into victimhood, seeking pity from those around them. It is all of our duties to dedicate our lives to our own healing and becoming, so we have the strength to rise and to carry others in their times of weakness and need and darkness towards the light of morning, which burns brightly as a beacon of hope for all beings.

And so this essay leads me full circle: back to the necessity of slowing down and enjoying the process of creating and becoming; to slowing down and surrendering to the feminine energy and opening oneself to receptivity; to slowing down and engaging our sense of childlike wonder and imagination to conjure new ways of being in the future; and to slowing down and reflecting upon one’s life as one might reflect upon their creations and photographic experiences to gain new awareness and insights that catalyse ones growth and awakening. Amidst a world that constantly yearns for more, may this essay be a reminder that who we become is the ultimate reward of the creative journey.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Download FREE Educational Resources - Including an eBook on composition, an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or explore and develop your unique vision through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

That is often the case with new places I discover; it can take a few visits for my photographic eyes to make sense of the landscape, and for the all-important connection to form with my subjects. For the second woodland of the weekend, however, that connection was felt immediately upon encountering the trees for the first time, and I managed to create a series of photographs that will live in my portfolio for some time and form a foundation for many years’ worth of work that will follow.

Awakening the Imagination, Embracing the Unknown

I’m often told by people online and at talks and exhibitions that my woodland photographs invoke the imagination and inspire thoughts of fairies and elves. This always brings a smile to my face and gives me a sense of fulfilment that they are offering a much-needed escape from the madness of our seemingly increasingly dysfunctional — and dystopian — modern world of reality. This magnificent woodland atop a tiny hill in Snowdonia, overlooking the majestic Moelwynion mountains, is, no doubt, the kind of place in which such beings would be found if they did decide to reveal themselves in our visible world.

Although I was met by no fairies or elves during this particular outing, what did emerge from the depths of the woodland was a small herd of beautiful white horses. Interestingly, I have been drawn to embark on some meditative Shamanic drumming journeys in recent months, one of which guided me into an ancient forest where a horse revealed itself in my mind’s eye.

At the time, I didn’t think about the significance of my encounter with the horses in Snowdonia, and one in particular, who came to connect with me as I stood at the tripod with my camera. It was only when I had returned home and engaged in my usual process of reflection that I began to consider that it might not have been a coincidental encounter; maybe I was meant to discover the beauty of this place and the horses that roam these ancient lands at this point in my life.

Over the past few years, I have felt a strong affinity with the writings of the great Celtic poet, author, and mystic, John O’Donohue. He writes passionately about non-humanlike spirits and beings existing in the unseen world that is beyond the reach of our senses. To see them, or, rather, feel them, requires one to be connected to nature in a pure and innocent, childlike sense; to be open to the imagination and the wonder and the magic and the mystery that awakens when one has undertaken a certain amount of ‘letting go’ and shedding of the ego, which can exist only in a state of certainty and knowing.

The thought of existing in such a state, devoid of this magic and mystery, ‘knowing’ of the non-existence of such enchanting beings, is completely depressing to me now that I have uncovered the beauty of photography and the power of the camera to awaken to wonder and create stories for others to enjoy rather than simply documenting or ‘capturing’ a memory for myself to look back on at a later date.

In a world that so often feels so dark and hopeless, we desperately need to awaken the imagination, engage our senses of wonder, and believe that there might well be things we haven’t yet discovered; things of greater might and mystical power than we humans in our ordinary physical forms could ever hope to wield. Perhaps these things could be those that we discover in the world outside, but, as importantly, if not more, they might also be things we discover about ourselves, and our internal worlds, along the way.

Surrendering to the Process for Artistic Evolution

Earlier this week, following my communion with the trees, I was engaged in conversation with a mentoring client with whom I am working to explore her relationship to her photography and develop her creative writing around the photographic process. She was talking about some of her struggles to connect with photography in the same way that she does with her paintings. When she writes about her paintings, the words flow easily, but not so much when it comes to writing about the photographs she creates.

‘‘Maybe it’s because the photographs are already there for me, whereas I have to create the paintings from inside of myself.’’ She said. I was immediately thrust into the world of thoughts that exists inside my ever-curious, searching mind. ‘‘But what if the beauty needs us to witness it? What if, to some degree, without the human eye, none of it exists?’’ I said. The conversation led me back to a few thoughts I’ve had recently about photography as a practice of personal growth and development, rather than a quest for accolades, validation, and/or business and financial rewards.

Photography, for me, is a pursuit of growth, learning, and constant evolution. I take great satisfaction from seeing the world differently than I once did, and it fulfils me to see changes within my own creative vision. For these changes to occur, a person must open themselves to new possibilities; one must allow oneself to be moulded by the journey, rather than trying to mould the journey to one’s own will. Creativity, then, is an act of surrender to the path itself. As photographers, our creative vision evolves only if our souls allow it.

Perhaps, when the time is right, we are guided to the places we need to be for our souls’ ultimate growth and development, and our resulting evolution as artists. The photographs I created during this spontaneous visit to the ancient landscape of Eryri certainly mark an evolution in my own creative vision during a difficult period in which I had not created any truly meaningful work for some time, or experienced something so out of the ordinary that the work itself feels meaningful to me.

If we are willing to look a little deeper into our photographs, we might begin to see that they are a mirror, reflecting back to us not only where we have grown, but deeper still, where we might be blocking this growth by closing ourselves off to the magic and the mystery of the unknown and the unseen. Life itself is always unfolding; the path reveals itself before us if we are willing to step out into the unknown and embrace new opportunities and possibilities, such as packing up a bag for the weekend and venturing into a new woodland and wandering off piste in pursuit of wisdom and new discoveries.

One must go through the continuous process of opening and sometimes closing to the light of wonder and imagination, embracing the natural cycles of life, if they are to experience the growth they so desire—personally or creatively—and see the new layers of beauty that reveals itself only when a person is ready and prepared, and trusted enough to be its witness.

If you enjoyed the photographs in this essay, you can view the full collection in my recent work portfolio over on my website.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Download FREE Educational Resources - Including an eBook on composition, an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or explore and develop your unique vision through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

Landscape photography doesn’t have to be complicated

Like everything, we have made it that way to sell things: courses, books, and tutorial videos.

Through my tutoring approach, I strip photography back to its basics, keeping it as simple as possible, focusing on getting students up to speed with the fundamentals of the camera before moving on to the fun part: seeing photographs in the landscape.

When we stop applying a complex, rule-based, and formulaic approach to composition, it becomes much easier to find meaningful photographs.

Texture, colour, character, light, mood, and feeling become our guiding forces.

We learn to listen to our intuition, which leads us through the landscape to the places that speak directly to us, rather than over-applying mental energy to think our way towards the photographs that we feel we ‘should’ make.

My advice to anyone beginning their journey as a photographer is to be mindful of how much time you are spending consuming content.

Overconsumption quickly leads to overthinking, and overthinking quickly leads to creative burnout.

The beauty of the process is lost to the expectation of results.

And this is almost guaranteed to leave you feeling unfulfilled and is highly likely to put a premature end to what might otherwise have been a deeply rewarding, lifelong creative practice.

Instead, if you’re starting out, commit to drip-feeding yourself thoughts and ideas from a few photographers you admire; preferably those who value the process of creating over the resulting photographs themselves.

Go outdoors and put their little nuggets of wisdom into practice.

Slowly expose yourself to the next layers of learning, going deeper and deeper into the craft.

Rinse and repeat.

Your learning might be slow this way, but it will be integrated and, therefore, real and lasting.

You’ll avoid burning out from overthinking and overconsuming knowledge instead of gaining wisdom from your practical, lived experience.

Compounded over the years, the results (and rewards) will be exponential.

I know this process works because it is the same one I have been applying in my own life for the past 9 years.

My primary creative philosophy is this: brick by brick, we build kingdoms.

If you’re interested in learning more about my philosophies, you might want to check out the Finding Light Creative Academy. It’s a small, intimate educational community that is being built at the intersection of photography and personal growth. I’m searching for founding members who are committed to helping shape its future. You can apply within, and take a pre-launch survey at the bottom of the page.

Around the midpoint of last year, I began the long and arduous process of overhauling my online presence and rebranding my creative business.

I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy feat, and I also knew that the path forward was not going to be a straightforward one either, full of twists and turns, doubts, fears, mistakes, darkness, and second-guesses.

I began to analyse my current website, social media, marketing strategies, communication language, customer journeys, and pricing, realising that whatever it was I was currently doing was not working. My imperfectly raw creative chaos was in desperate need of some order and structure.

Realising I was well out of my depth on the business-y side of things, I recruited the help of my first ‘proper’ mentor, Jeff Brown, who quickly took one look at my website and told me why I wasn’t where I wanted to be as a photographer—on the business side, at least.

As is the case with many artists, I had been excelling creatively for a while, landing multiple features in magazines, appearing on podcasts, and fresh off the back of a solo exhibition in Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, which reached upwards of 20,000 people. But my business was, quite frankly, a mess, especially my website, which represented all that was going on behind the scenes. Jeff told me that in less brutal and more graceful words.

It wasn’t clear who I was, what I was offering, and where I wanted my website visitors to go or what I wanted them to do. My homepage linked to every other page possible; there was no order, intention, or clear journey for its viewers to take. So, I immediately set about making the website changes Jeff had advised, and I invested the proceeds from my Finding Light exhibition into his twelve-month mentoring programme to begin transforming my business and its offerings.

Diversified Writings & Blogs

Finding Light Journal

This publication will continue to primarily feature my own self-expressive, introspective writings about the creative journey. These writings have connected with people across the world for various reasons, and I have always wanted to maintain this space as a place for authentic expression, truth, and vulnerability without becoming too ‘salesy’. I do, however, realise I have a service to provide as a part of my purpose, one that I truly believe makes the world a better place; it is my duty, therefore, to at least signpost people to my offerings and remind them that I am here to help and guide others on their respective paths towards a life of creativity.

Beyond Technique

My evolution as an artist has led me to branch out and offer my services as a mentor, stepping into the deeper realms of creativity, where my intuition has been guiding me all along. As mentioned above, it felt uncomfortable for me to dilute my personally expressive writings with too many ‘calls to action’ and advertisements to work with me. To maintain the authenticity of the Finding Light Journal and my personal, introspective creative essays, I have decided to create an entirely new writing space. Covering topics such as mindset, business & entrepreneurship, and purpose, Beyond Technique will feature dedicated articles to help people unearth their creative voice, uncover their artistic vision, and make strides to reach their potential.

Ten Thousand Hours

New to some of you, I’m sure, is Ten Thousand Hours, which has featured on and off for a little while here on Substack. I have also given this an exclusive space on my website, making the newly rebranded bradwcarr.com a real hub for my three pillars of creative offerings. This publication will feature regular free articles on the practical and technical aspects of landscape photography, such as understanding light, elements of composition, post-processing, and genre-specific topics such as intimate landscapes and woodland photography.

My target audience for these writings is beginner and intermediate-level photographers, whom I wish to help lay unbreakable foundations that will hold their photographic kingdoms in the future.

Finding Light, Beyond Technique, and Ten Thousand Hours will act as non-hierarchical pathways in my educational structure, with people eventually graduating on their journey through the school, so to speak. My vision as an educator, which really accelerated when I was studying to become a personal trainer in my mid-twenties, was always to equip people with the skills and knowledge necessary to fly in their own direction: to restore a person’s sense of self-sovereignty and autonomy in the world. Creativity offers the perfect pathway to continue doing just that.

New Services & Refined Customer Journeys

The School of Photography

Following the success of recent group workshops, private 1:1 tuition, and mentoring programmes delivered for The Royal Photographic Society and PhotoClub24/7, I decided to consolidate my offerings under the School of Photography umbrella. The overview of this, which I wrote one morning a few months back, perfectly describes the vision for The School of Photography services:

The School of Photography has been built on the premise that every photographer has their own pair of eyes capable of seeing in ways that only they can.

As someone who turned to the creative arts to find healing and a sense of belonging following some complex and traumatic early-life experiences, I understand that every human being is unique.

My creative philosophies have been developed to extract every ounce of that uniqueness from a person, so they can see clearly the artist they are, beyond the conditioning and self-limiting beliefs imposed upon them by people not blessed with the tools that we have in our inventory today.

My learning experiences are a revolutionary blend of practical tuition, mindset coaching, and artistic & spiritual development. When you sign up for any experience with me, you step through an energetic portal and open yourself up to the infinite. You should prepare to be transformed by the fires of creative practice and made aware of beauty previously unseen. You will learn not only to develop your vision to see the landscape in your own way but also to reflect and think critically about your work, adding a layer of meaning to what you choose to make.

Every experience has been carefully designed to build creative confidence, challenge thoughts and beliefs, and empower people to discover their own artistic vision and unearth their creative voice, both of which will awaken the storyteller within, who is capable of reshaping worlds.

Tuition: Practical 1:1 Sessions, Group Workshops & Residential Creative Retreats

The School of Photography offers students two pathways for their journey towards self-expression through photography, healing, transformation and creative liberation.

The first is the more conventional form of photography education in the form of private 1:1 tuition, group workshops and residential photography experiences: although my residentials are following a more introspective ‘retreat’-style experience, which I hope will appeal to a certain type of person, focused not too heavily on technical, traditional landscape photography, but more on the spiritual & self-expressive dimensions of the art.

My 1:1 tuition and group workshops follow two pathways: one for the beginners who are interested in developing their technical understanding of the camera and building their confidence to take full control of it, and another for those who are more experienced photographers and wish, for example, to understand my philosophical Five Pillars framework, or develop their own unique vision of the landscape.

Mentoring: Private & Group Cohort Programmes, Portfolio Reviews, & Guided Creative Writing Sessions

The second pathway in The School of Photography is through creative mentoring experiences. There are many possibilities for those wishing to work with me to build creative confidence, curate themed portfolios, develop projects such as exhibitions & books, and produce creative essays, artists’ statements, and poetry. They are as follows (click the titles to learn more):

• Creative Development Portfolio Review: An in-depth portfolio review designed to help photographers identify themes and concepts within their work, uncover deeper layers of meaning, and build the confidence to develop projects, launch an exhibition, apply for accreditation, or simply for self-validation away from the stringent judgment of camera club competitions.

• Language of the Inner Landscape: A guided creative writing service dedicated to helping photographers develop accompanying essays, prose, poetry, and artists’ statements for projects, portfolios, and exhibitions.

• The Photographer’s Foundations Mentoring Programme: A 12-month mentoring programme that guides photographers through different stages of the photographic journey, from mastering the technicals, to understanding their ‘‘why’’, to preparing for a first exhibition, to building the confidence to approach a magazine editor.

• The Hero’s Journey Mentoring Programme: A 12-month mentoring programme that guides photographers into the deeper realms of creativity to refine their vision, unearth their creative voice, birth new writings, overcome self-imposed limitations, build confidence, and develop meaningful projects such as books, exhibitions, and presentations.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Cohort Programme: A short, 6-week online journey into the deeper realms of meaning-making in photography. Participants will attend a 3-part workshop to learn more about my deeper creative philosophies, such as presence, intention, observation, and reflection. This is designed to be an introduction to my Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography, hopefully kickstarting a journey into the inner landscape for those who attend.

• A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Photographing with Purpose Group Programme: Building on the success of my recent Photographing with Purpose mentoring programmes with the Royal Photographic Society & PhotoClub24/7, I developed an extensive 12-month journey, which will lead cohorts of 10 photographers into the deeper realms of creativity and meaning-making. Through the programme, attendees will be encouraged to curate portfolios, uncover themes in their work, and develop projects such as books, exhibitions, and presentations, overcoming self-imposed limitations and building creative confidence along the way.

The Finding Light Creative Academy

Slowly birthing in the background of it all is the Finding Light Creative Academy. I have been gathering thoughts, data and opinions from fellow photographers recently via this online survey as I listen deeply to what is wanted and needed in the world of creative photography.

The academy will be an online hub for meaning-making photographers, and, perhaps in the future, even other artists, writers, and educators. Here, the community aspect will be the most important pillar: a space where people can connect, engage, share, learn, grow, start conversations, ask questions, and seek support, advice, or simply friendship with other likeminded creatives.

The community aspect of The Academy will be backed up by:

• Various pathways for creative growth and development, which will follow the three blog structures mentioned above: Finding Light (vision), Beyond Technique (purpose), and Ten Thousand Hours (craft)

• Educational resources such as eBooks, frameworks, editing tutorials, and videos

• Online courses covering all aspects of the creative journey from technique to portfolio development to finding your ‘‘why’’ and more

• Discounts on mentoring calls, portfolio reviews, private tuition, group workshops, creative retreats, and training courses

• Online community calls and live Q&A’s

The Finding Light Creative Academy is shaping up to be a powerful space for anyone who wants to use photography to achieve personal growth and prefers a more process-driven approach to the practice, rather than a results-driven one. Moving forward, the Academy will take much of my energy, as I shift my focus and attention towards creating more valuable content that will feed the community and educate and inspire others on their paths to live the creative life. I feel in many ways as though my entire 9-year journey has been moulding me into a man who can lead a community with trust and integrity. I am excited to see where this new venture leads and how much the community and I can grow together.

If you’re interested in any of the services I have listed above, you can use the links to learn more. If you have any questions regarding my business evolution, I’m just a direct message or an email away. I’m always happy to engage with photographers who wish to walk a similar pathway and share wisdom from my own journey so far. You can reach me via email at brad@bradcarrphotography.co.uk.

Have you ever found yourself asking the question: “Why do I create photographs?’‘

You know, the deeper why: the question that surfaces when you’re driving home following a shoot, or whilst you’re editing an image that should feel satisfying, but, for some reason, leaves you feeling empty inside.

You’ve stood in the beautiful places, waited for the light, learned the rules, refined your settings, and filled hard drives with images. And yet, there’s a part of you that senses something is still missing. Something that no new lens, tutorial video, or location guide can quite reach.

I know this feeling well. It’s what drew me quickly into the deeper dimensions of my own creative practice: the growing need to understand what I was really trying to say to the world.

That search led me to develop Photographing with Purpose, a three-part online mentoring workshop, which launched earlier this year. It was built around one of the most honest questions a photographer can ask themselves:

What does my photography actually mean to me?

Over the past few months, I have received some outstanding reviews from attendees of the programme:

‘‘I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to develop their photographic creativity, learning how to photograph with a purpose that includes emotion and feeling. This has been the perfect course. Brad has helped me to understand more about my inner self and where my passions lie, and how to express that more fully in a body of work.’’

- Janice Payne ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

‘‘The series of mentoring workshops was, without doubt, the best that the RPS DI has put on. The emphasis on presence at a location and feelings/emotions as we made work was transformational for me. Rather than a trip through someone’s catalogue or an exposition of technique, this was aimed at fundamentally changing the way I worked, and it succeeded. Brad is a very thoughtful and engaging presenter, and his gentle guidance and attention really brought out the best in me and my fellow participants.’’

- Lois Wakeman ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

‘‘I was very fortunate to join Brad for his 3-part workshop on photographing with purpose. I’ve been following Brad and his photography for a while now and was immediately impressed by his talent to bring his creations of beauty and light to the world, so I was excited to join him on this short journey. I felt great belonging and part of a kind group that helped me move forward into a better frame of mind when photographing. It helped me to photograph with much more intention and purpose, and therefore, have more meaning to my practice.’’

- Denise B. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Which is why I have now built a twelve-month evolution: A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Photographing with Purpose, and I’m gathering interested people to join me on this journey into the deeper realms of creative discovery.

Over twelve monthly 90-minute online sessions, held via Zoom and beginning in August, we’ll explore photography as a practice of presence, self-discovery, and authentic creative expression.

Between sessions, you’ll photograph in your own time and bring your images back to a private, dedicated online creative space where the group gathers between sessions to share work, ask questions, and keep the conversation alive.

It’s a space within my emerging Finding Light Creative Academy where the real discoveries often happen: in the quiet exchanges between sessions, as photographs begin to open up and collective patterns rise to the surface.

Together, we’ll reflect on what emerges, and you’ll begin to recognise the themes within your work and understand the unique voice and stories that only you can bring to your photography.

You’ll journey with a tribe of 9 other meaning-making photographers, all committed to the pathway towards purpose and personal growth through creative practice.

All you need to take part is an Internet connection, a camera, a willingness to be curious, and the courage to look a little more honestly at what your photographs are trying to tell you about yourself.

If you’re a photographer looking for:

• A safe space to explore and express yourself through creativity, and develop your understanding of the art of photography

• A sense of confidence and self-belief for your creative path ahead

• A community of like-minded creatives walking the path towards personal growth, truth, and authenticity

• A mentor who genuinely listens and holds up a mirror for you to see yourself more clearly

• A mentoring programme that places your growth and development above all

• A place to share your photographs and receive thoughtful insights and critique from someone whose work has been recognised internationally

Then, I’d gently invite you to download this PDF to learn more about my transformational A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Photographing with Purpose programme.

I stand alone. Storms are swirling all around me over distant lands. I can see for miles up here. The panoramic views extend into as many as six different counties, and the darkness appears to have swallowed them all. The hilltop on which I stand might be the only place that it hasn’t touched. After a short period of time in the shadowed valleys of my mind, reflecting and writing about another chapter of life, it is a joy to be here dancing with Mother Nature on the lands where I spent my teenage years.

The Transformational Power of Creativity

It seems like a long time since then. I hardly recognise myself when I look back at photographs and think about who I was. There have been many versions of me walking the earth over the past two decades. For many of those years, I was lost. At eighteen years old, I wandered aimlessly and somewhat helplessly into university to study a course I had no interest in whatsoever. On the first day, I realised that I didn’t understand what was being taught. After the lesson, I transferred to another course that I somehow got accepted into, despite not having the grades and resulting points to meet the criteria for entry. After a year of partying too much and missing more than half of my lectures, I dropped out and went to college for a month before leaving college to go back to university, where I repeated many of my first-year behaviours. Eighteen months into student life, I decided to leave university for good. It was, in hindsight, an expensive lesson, but one that has led me here, so I can have no regrets about what was, in hindsight, a chaotic chapter.

For the next six years, I worked in a supermarket and stacked shelves to earn enough money to go out partying on the weekends, attend summer festivals and go away on holiday with friends to party some more. Upon reflection, it certainly took me a while to grow up. There was little purpose in my life back then, and, subconsciously, I knew it. I was deeply unhappy and unfulfilled. A part of me was always longing for something more. Around my mid-twenties, I reached a crisis point when my then-girlfriend called an end to our relationship. It was the heartbreak and wake-up call that my soul so desperately needed. The grief of this painful loss sparked something deep within. A fire had ignited inside of me and has been spreading like wildfire ever since.

The seven years since then have seen me embark upon a journey of self-discovery and creation that began in the pages of my journal during the sacred hours of morning. It has been a truly profound period of inner growth and transformation. Throughout this chapter, I became a football coach, bodybuilder, personal trainer, traded in my dead-end job for another, thought that I had ‘made it’ when I got promoted to wear a suit and tie and drive a company car, picked up the camera and pen to begin telling stories, and left one life behind to pursue a dream that can only be understood through the language of the heart.

Following the Heart

It could be said that my heart’s intuition led me here to this hilltop. The chaos all around me reminds me of what my life has been like at various points so far. It was this chaos into which I was born. My home life was nothing short of a trainwreck for the first eleven years. Episodes of domestic abuse, the dark clouds that still linger over my own painted landscape. My inner world was a sanctuary throughout this period; a place of safety into which I retreated when storms swept through my home. I became calm amidst the chaos.

For many years, I chose to block out the painful events of my formative years. In my younger years, I lacked the courage that was needed to revisit them. I had done well to avoid facing my demons for so long, coasting along through life, pretending that I had it all together and fitting in with crowds of people that I deemed to be ‘normal’. In hindsight, I realise that it was a rather shallow existence. Conversations rarely went deeper than the weekend’s sports results and who-did-what on Saturday night. Consciousness, however, thankfully called, and I had no choice but to wield my sword of truth and step out onto the battleground of self-mastery.

My mind, like so many of us in the modern world, had been in control for too long. It tried so hard to control people’s perceptions of me, forcing a smile to mask my true feelings of grief and sadness that were buried somewhere amongst the debris of my youth. It did all that it could to conceal my wounds and flaws, to avoid being anything less than ‘perfect’. It was time to return to the heart that had been broken since my birth. The soul was calling me home.

Thankfully, I agreed to take a spontaneous walk outdoors into the world of Nature back in 2018, wielding a DSLR camera I had borrowed from my sister, who was studying photography in university at the time. It was a walk that changed my entire life. Stepping behind the camera that day was like returning to a long-lost home. My thoughts, as I sit here to write this article seven years later in my new home in north Wales, gravitate towards the beautiful Welsh word, hiraeth, which translates indirectly as ‘a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home that maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.’ I don’t know if anyone has ever reached the place that ‘hiraeth’ describes; I would say I came close when I walked outdoors into nature and rediscovered a version of me who lost himself in books and stories and a world of imagination and wonder as a child. I realised that everything I had endured throughout my life thus far had purpose and meaning now that I had accessed the river of creativity and reconnected with the child inside. I was liberated from my pain at last. My pain, in fact, became my superpower.

For so many years, I had been coasting through life on autopilot. Things seemed to just happen, and I would react to them. I had no plans for my life and no idea of which port to sail towards. I had little to no control over the cards that were dealt to me as I entered the world. On that day back in 2018, I realised that I had the power to write a new narrative for my life. I walked towards the pain that I had felt for so long and chose to face the grief and sadness that I had been running away from for so long. By doing so, I found the deepest healing whilst wrapped in the sweet embrace of Mother Nature’s arms. I haven’t looked back since – apart from to move forward, that is. Now, here I stand. I have been guided by something beyond myself to climb to the summit of this isolated hilltop to create. I know it in my heart. This is my ultimate purpose as a human being. Through my own unique life experiences, I realise I have discovered some deep wisdom that can help humanity, and it is my duty as a man to find the courage to share what I have learnt so far through the river of creativity flowing through my veins.

Accessing Mother Nature’s Deep Well of Wisdom

As I sit here writing this article in the present day, beneath the snow-covered mountains of north Wales, I am now seven years into my creative journey. It seems fitting that I have recently left my hometown for good, in what feels like the end of one of life’s natural cycles. In recent times, my focus has shifted away from the process of creating photographs towards the written half of my practice. Sometimes, over the past few months, I have even found myself entertaining the thought of never venturing out into the world of Nature to create photographs again. I remind myself that my time will come. It always does. The souls’ thirst to express itself beyond the limitations of language will remain, and my need to connect with Nature on such a deep, spiritual level will only grow stronger with time. The wisdom that I have gained so far tells me that I must continue to embrace the natural ebb and flow of life’s ocean and let go of the layers of conditioning and ego that try to convince me that I belong anywhere else but right here in this moment.

I was asked recently, upon delivering a framed photograph to a beautiful new home, what the purpose behind my art is. The lost and wayward twenty-something-year-old version of me would have felt intimidated by such a question, so it filled me with great pride, whilst now in my early-thirties, to be able to talk passionately, and with my once-closed-heart wide open, to another person about the wider mission behind my work as an artist and my hearts’ deepest desire to aid in the evolution of humanity by sharing my personal story of healing and transformation through Nature and creativity.

It is with the deepest respect and reverence paid towards the great spirit of Mother Nature that I sit here writing these words today. I would not be here in my current form if it weren’t for her healing embrace, and I live my life in service to her for what she has done for me. Nature is the portal to the soul – a gateway to the Self. It is through the portal of Nature that we can access higher levels of consciousness and develop a greater awareness of ourselves and our collective existence along the way. If we are to prevent the further self-destruction of our species and planet, and ascend from the darkness of fear, shame, guilt and anger towards the light of love, joy and peace, then the spirit of Nature is the force that will save us all.

Despite our years spent wandering through the darkness in the world of ego, none of us has completely forgotten who or what we truly are. If you think about your own adventures away from the busyness of society and structure into the world of Nature, I am sure that you, too, will recall feelings of a deep peace and tranquillity quite like no other; a sense of ‘returning home’, perhaps. Maybe you, too, have experienced the feeling of ‘hiraeth’ that was mentioned earlier in the article.

These feelings of love and appreciation towards Mother Nature are ones that we all share. Beyond race, religion, political stance, or gender, our nervous systems react in the same way when we walk through a silent woodland at sunrise, and the same emotions arise when we feel the salty sea envelop our weary bodies at the end of a long and tiresome week. Whilst I marvel at the beauty all around me upon this hilltop that stands here bridging the country in which I was born thirty-three years ago, and the country to which my mother brought my siblings and me to escape the chaos at the turn of the new millennium, I realise that Nature is the only thing that binds and unites us all. The red river of love flows through all our veins, whether we are black, white, Christian, Muslim, male, female, left, right, or anything here, there or in between.

Healing Through Creativity

Despite the storms swirling around me in every direction, I sense a promise of light breaking through the dark clouds. My heightened senses swiftly bring me back home to my body. I plant the legs of my tripod firmly into the ground beneath me and wait patiently for the light that inevitably follows every storm. In the moments between, I feel the deepest gratitude and find acceptance for every experience that has led me to this sanctuary here within, and to the hilltop and panoramic views reflected in my outer world. My intuition rarely fails me. The clouds part, and the softest golden blanket spreads itself across the landscape, illuminating the darkness momentarily. It smothers me long enough for me to draw in a few short breaths. I open my camera’s shutter to freeze a moment of beauty that will provide me with a lifetime of reflection. Words quickly follow:

I have known sadness
and I have known pain,
but at least now I know what it’s like
to feel the sunshine after rain.

As I stand alone up here and make peace with my past through the lens of my camera, turning my darkness into light, and reflecting upon my own life and seven-year spiritual journey so far, it becomes clear to me how important it is that we all come home to our hearts and begin to look towards Mother Nature’s love, innocence, nurturing embrace and divine beauty as we journey towards collective healing in pursuit of a better future for our species here on earth.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Download FREE Educational Resources - Including an eBook on composition, an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or explore and develop your unique vision through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

When you stop seeing photography as a hobby and look at it through a lens of personal growth, everything changes. The camera becomes a catalyst for transformation, enabling us to develop transferable skills that enrich our entire lives.

We learn to look at the world in abstract ways, becoming problem solvers along the way. We deepen our presence, alter our perception, and become more decisive as we develop our unique way of seeing the landscape.

As we improve and refine our artistry, we might even uncover a certain style of photographing that is unmistakably ours. By creating ‘better’, more original photographs, our confidence and self-esteem increase immeasurably. We are forced to overcome challenge after challenge on the pathway to mastery, not only challenges to understand the camera, but also in putting that technical knowledge into practice in the field: understanding light, composition, depth, subject, and texture; the list goes on.

The constant overcoming of self and our self-imposed limitations as we seek deeper and more meaningful photographs and experiences creates a positive feedback loop. In our pursuits, we must engage the creative process with greater courage, experimenting with more abstract and out-of-the-box photographs, and exploring farther-reaching places. We might eventually reach a point in our journeys where our creativity earns respect from peers, impacts our audience, and starts conversations that make change.

This emerging voice, alongside our vision, can empower us to be so much more than someone who ‘captures’ photos; rather, we become someone who stands for something; someone who is aware of our humanness, and all the pain and joy and grief and beauty that comes with being truly alive on this earth; and someone who chooses, consciously, to make something meaningful of our precious and temporary human existence.

When we spend our days studying light and shadows in the landscape, we become aware of the same two forces within. Therefore, we begin to understand the importance of balance, recognising the beauty of the darkness we so often reject as a part of our human experience.

With greater clarity of vision resulting from our training, we might begin to see the world as it truly is, ridding ourselves of the ego’s projections and seeing beyond our conditioning into the true nature of reality.

When used in this way, we become practitioners of photography, rather than ‘hobbyists’, ‘enthusiasts’, or ‘professionals’. This spiritual practice can lead us towards a deeper truth and authenticity if we are open to being guided by our souls’ intuition, which is naturally drawn to walk the path of wholeness, healing, and integration towards the light of creativity and love.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Download FREE Educational Resources - Including an eBook on composition, an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or explore and develop your unique vision through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

Winter can often be a lonely time. Long nights, grey skies, and empty pockets following the excesses of Christmas and New Year; we’re often left searching for something meaningful to carry us through the January blues.

When I first spoke with Melanie Chalk of the Digital Imaging group within the Royal Photographic Society to arrange a presentation and three-part online workshop one afternoon last summer, accompanied by Janice Payne who had kindly introduced my photography and philosophies around finding meaning through the lens and landscape to Melanie, it became clear to me that January would be the perfect time for a reflective mentoring workshop to get to the bottom of the all-important, soul-searching question: why do we create?

For almost eight years, I have been walking the long, dark path into the unknown, mysterious realms of nature and creativity in pursuit of purpose and meaning. I picked up the camera on the threshold of my masculinity, confused about what it meant to be a man after a childhood overshadowed by episodes of domestic abuse and violence. The camera quickly became not just a technical tool to document a time or place, but something far more profound: an instrument for healing, self-understanding, and the kind of personal growth that has since shaped every aspect of my life and my work as a creative mentor. I was delighted to have been granted an opportunity to extend this service when Melanie invited me to work with a group of fellow meaning-making photographers from across a multitude of different genres within the Digital Imaging group.

Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of working with 150+ photographers through various tuition and mentoring experiences, but this was a first-of-its-kind mentoring programme that I had recently developed. I was, as I usually am before anything new, slightly apprehensive about how the programme and I would be received by the attendees. I do, after all, have a particular ‘way’ about me, as I have been told by my partner, my family, and many clients over the years; a way of being that allows people to trust me enough to open up and share deeper-than-usual parts of themselves with me. It’s a position that I do not take lightly, and one that lends itself perfectly to the path I am walking as a mentor, but, my ways, I am told, can be daunting to people on the other end.

As is usually the case in my workshops, I was almost immediately reminded that there is never really anything to be apprehensive about. I sat down on a Zoom call during the peak of the January blues to open the Photographing with Purpose mentoring programme with a group of wonderfully enthusiastic and engaged attendees, who seemed to take to the programme, and me, thankfully, like ducks to the water.

After laying some strong and stable foundations during the first session by introducing myself, my ‘A Dance Between Thought & Being’ philosophy, the structure, some ground rules, and then gently inviting others to introduce themselves and share a bit about the work they create, I was left with a real buzz inside, and couldn’t wait to get the group back together again.

That buzz only became louder. Momentum quickly built within the safe confines of the container, and the creative energy flowed freely between us, sparking a fire that burned brighter throughout; a fire that was nurtured by all in attendance as we danced around it together. Over the course of the next two sessions, I sensed a real connection and unity forming within the group. We explored some vulnerable internal landscape territories together, identified individual and cohesive creative themes, and got closer to the bottom of that all-important and ever-evolving question: why do we create?

What struck me most was the willingness of each person to venture far beyond the surface. These were not your usual photography conversations about aperture settings or compositional rules. We journeyed deep into the realms of identity and belonging, exploring what drives us to create, and conversing about what our photographs might be trying to tell us if we slow down, find stillness, and create the space necessary to listen to the inner voice. The container held strong, and within it, something mystical and powerful unfolded; it fostered the kind of growth that is difficult to find in the traditional, and often logical and rational, world of photography.

One participant reflected on the experience with the following words:

“The emphasis on being present at a location and on feelings/emotions as we made work was transformational for me. Rather than a trip through someone’s catalogue or an exposition of technique, this was aimed at fundamentally changing the way I worked, and it succeeded. Brad is a very thoughtful and engaging presenter, and his gentle guidance and attention really brought out the best in me and my fellow participants.”

Although I was in the position of mentor, I also found myself being a student, learning a great deal from each of those in attendance. My own branches are reaching closer to the light as a result of leading this charge into the unconscious creative realms. What I witnessed, once again, is that when photographers are given a safe space, feel the trust, and are asked the right open, creative questions, a remarkable transformation happens not only to the work itself, but, more importantly, to the person behind the camera.

Melanie, the facilitator of the Digital Imaging group’s Zoom workshops, offered her own reflections after the programme concluded:

“The whole group responded with genuine curiosity and enthusiasm, which your approach encouraged beautifully. I found it so refreshing how you really listened to our contributions and skilfully wove them into your responses — you definitely have the knack! Your ability to make the discussion accessible to everyone, while ensuring each participant felt heard and valued, was outstanding. It’s been an absolute pleasure collaborating with you — thank you for such stimulating and well-led sessions.”

If this kind of reflective, meaning-making creative work resonates with you, I am now welcoming new cohorts to my Photographing with Purpose group mentoring programmes throughout the year. These growth-centred spaces are for photographers who sense something deeper waiting for them beyond the technical and logical. I would warmly welcome the opportunity to guide you on a transformative journey into the inner landscape. Click here to find out more.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and transformational creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, Small Woods, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• FREE Educational Resources - Including an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

The moment the shutter is opened is sacred. I bring to the act of photography all the pictures I have seen, the books I have read, the music I have heard, the people I have loved, as Ansel Adams once so famously and beautifully quoted. It could be said, therefore, that within every frame is everything that is and ever has been. We are, after all, beyond all our surface appearances, inherited ideas, beliefs, thoughts, and identities, made up of the same thing.

I also bring to the act of photography many of my current life woes; my stresses, struggles, emotional difficulties, my pain, my sadness, my grief, my trials and tribulations. The creative process is cathartic; an alchemical process in which I take my darkness and transmute it into light. I want every photograph I create to be a reminder of the beauty that can be born from something ugly and painful.

My partner, Darcia, enlightened me last year when, at my artist’s talk about my Finding Light exhibition at Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, she told me about the grief she sensed in the photographs on display. It is not by accident that I have gravitated towards the natural world in my most desperate moments on earth. Many artists throughout history have done so, too.

There is something so beautifully sacred about the space that Mother Nature creates for our unfolding; she allows those deeper, often unmet parts of ourselves to surface and be kissed by the soft morning light. We leave the landscape mirroring the same love and acceptance she models for us.

During my moments of creating, I very much get that sense: that I am not myself, but I am everything. I lose my mind for a while as I completely immerse myself in the process. Thoughts cease, and I, to a certain degree, no longer exist. I feel the gentle breeze caressing my skin; I plant my feet firmly in the soil; I hear the faint whispers of God in the branches of the trees; I engage my mind, my body, and my spirit in this one, simple activity. I can be, therefore, nowhere else but here. In this place. In this very moment. With this very subject. My soul returns home and reconnects with the soul of Nature. The act of making the photograph is absolutely transcendental.

I sat for a while one February morning, determined to write this essay on the creative process after scoffing my apple juice porridge and raspberries, and struggling to find much motivation to write my purposeless scribings of ‘morning pages’ in my journal, as has been my routine sometimes over the past few years. I have been struggling recently with a severe sense of disconnection from the transcendental creative place described above. Life has become busy with work and responsibilities; a business doesn’t build itself, after all, and, at this point in my life, three years into my wonderful relationship with Darcia, building the business that will provide for me, her, and my future family has become my priority.

I have been feeling completely uninspired by the landscape that surrounds me; I have come back home to Welshpool—from where I have tried leaving twice already—to live whilst I navigate my way in business and create stability to move forward with my life. My head, it seems, is much busier than I would like it to be: making plans, constantly writing blogs, course content, social media posts & newsletters, producing marketing materials, and undertaking the many other menial tasks that are the responsibility of any other business owner. To add to that, it’s the long, dull, grey period here in Mid Wales, where it’s not quite spring, but the landscape has lost all the excitement and novelty of winter. I haven’t carved out anywhere near enough time for connection with Nature and immersion in my creative process recently. I am deeply longing for the spiritual cleansing—the baptism—of a transcendental morning beside the silent waters of Snowdonia (Eryri).

It is during these long periods away from the landscape that I realise the importance and significance of these momentary glimpses into the eternal and divine for the human spirit. To cite a previous essay of mine, Cleansing the Soul, published in On Landscape, 2025:

‘‘Mornings spent wandering amongst the trees with a camera in hand, before the world has woken, are enough to make one forget about the madness of this existence and return ‘home’ to the soul of Nature. They offer, for a short while at least, an escape from the world of ego, invoking forgotten feelings of belonging and a deep, universal oneness, restoring internal balance and harmony.

A fruitful morning of photography presses a reset button inside and allows us to see through the thick smog once again into the clear, icy blue of the vast, expansive ocean. It is enough to make us forget about all the trials and tribulations that we have faced in our day-to-day lives. Any emotional and psychological pain we have inevitably, either consciously or unconsciously, accumulated since the last outing is transmuted into the purest of beauty and given new meaning and purpose. In the precious moments during which our shutters are opened to the pureness of the mornings’ light, we are liberated from the stresses and struggles of life at last, and we add more colour to our souls.’’

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• FREE Educational Resources - Including an 18-page guide to light and the Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™: A comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

• Creative Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

I was on a call with a mentoring client this week. He’s just signed up to my brand-new Photographer’s Foundations Programme and has come to me with a mind full of questions about the creative process, which I absolutely love and respect. These kinds of people are the ones I love working with the most. When a person has questions, it generally means they are open to learning and, more importantly, to changing and growing; the kind of people the world needs more of.

When I am asked a question about my creative process, I light up. I could talk for hours about the presence, connection, intuition, awareness, and the healing benefits of being out in the natural world. When my client spoke to me about his problems going outdoors in challenging weather, I knew the story I needed to tell and the photograph I needed to share to inspire him to go out and seek stories in all kinds of conditions.

I created Rhiwargor (pictured above) in 2022 after travelling to the Berwyn Mountains, hearing whispers that the snow had fallen on the mountaintops. This was one of those moments I was out in the landscape as it was all unfolding. I’d gone out at first light and set my tripod up in this position with this beautiful stream leading into the mountains in the distance; it had been pretty grey and flat before dawn, and not too much was happening, but as I turned over my shoulder, I could see a front of sleet and snow and rain sweeping in over the mountains behind me. It was the kind of weather front a landscape photographer dreams of, especially during these hours when there is a promise of low light breaking through the clouds.

As the sleet, snow, and rain charged towards me, I’m thinking, ‘I’m gonna get hit right now, but also I’m thinking, more importantly, that this could be really exciting in terms of a photograph because it was coming over my shoulder, and I just knew what could happen if it were to interact with the light as it passed. This is one of the rewards of listening to and reading the landscape.

You eventually get so attuned to your environment when you have spent enough time outdoors searching for photographs, that you know what’s going to happen and when, just like how I knew that this rain and sleet was going to pass over me and fall into that huge landscape bowl which holds the lake at the end of the stream.

I knew intuitively where the light was coming in, I knew where the weather front was heading, and I had already noticed that the clouds were shifting quickly across the sky, which normally means there will be at least one break of sunlight. All I had to do was man my camera and wait it out. The light broke through the clouds and backlit the passing sleet and snow, creating this magical glow in my photograph and implanting a memory in me that will last forever.

Although ‘listening to the landscape’ might sound kind of mystical and difficult to understand in the beginning, it doesn’t need to be. The key is to be present in your surroundings; to look around and observe; to tune into all your senses and attune yourself to the rhythm of the natural world; to listen to the stream enveloping the rocks and cascading its way towards the lake; to pay attention to the clouds and the way in which they dance across the sky; to be ‘here’ in your body and not lost somewhere in your mind.

When we truly learn to be present, we learn the language of the landscape, and seeing the photographs becomes our second nature. We get to a point where we intuitively know where to stand, which way to face, and what compositions will work. We eliminate all thought, and we can respond when the photographs are whispering to us. That is the beauty of learning how to listen to the landscape.

Want to learn how to listen to the landscape? Here are some tips:

• Silence your mind. Practice a walking meditation: tune into your breath and draw it deeply into your belly and chest.

• Observe your surroundings. Look up at the clouds dancing in the sky. Listen to the cascading river. Smell the fragrances of the peaty soil as you walk. Your senses bring you into the ‘now’.

• Learn your style. Be patient with yourself as you begin to understand how you like to use light in your photographs, how you like to compose a scene, and the conditions you like to photograph in. When this becomes intuitive, it’s much easier to be in your body listening to the landscape.

• Leave your camera in the bag. In the early stages of photography, we are overwhelmed by choices. Having the camera in hand can add pressure to create. Practice keeping it in the bag until you have listened to the story that wants to be told.

• Go out and practice. Go outdoors in all kinds of weather conditions. The more conditions you embrace, the easier it will become to listen to and read the landscape.

  Thank you for reading the Finding Light Journal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™ - A FREE comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Artistic Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

When I cross the threshold into the world of Nature, I do so with an openness, curiosity, and a willingness to surrender my will to whatever wishes to emerge and unfold. This is, perhaps, the most important step in my creative dance. Although I go outdoors with the intention of creating photographs, my primary focus is on the journey of becoming: of relinquishing control, letting go and transcending my own egocentric desires through the exploratory creative process.

My journey over the past eight years has been led by a willingness to be moulded by the spirit of Nature; to allow the waves of her ocean to craft me like the hands of the potter. I bowed to my intuition and left my old life behind—selling plug sockets and radiators—to become the man that I needed to be to tell the stories I felt I needed to tell, and, hopefully, to create some changes in the world by standing for the things that I believed in and inspiring people to reconnect with Nature—and their own truer, more authentic & expressive nature—through my work.

My art now, above and beyond all photographs and words I create along the way, is in who I get to be in the world—and this version of me who stands to tell these stories today would not be here if it weren’t for the healing and nurturing embrace of The Great Mother. When I enter the world of Nature, I am entering into a communion and tending to my relationship with Her. I give my energy through service, surrender, and the love of my craft, and I receive treasures beyond words: wisdom, insights, healing, guidance, and occasionally, a series of photographs that will allow me to honour my commitment to serve.

When it comes to the creation of the photographs themselves, they are a byproduct of the real work, which is the inner work required to keep on surrendering and shedding layers of the ego, to attune myself and come into harmony with the rhythm of the natural world, and to ensure that balance is maintained within—that my ‘hunting’ for the photograph is carried out with increasing respect and reverence, and never results in me forgetting my place in the soil, becoming gluttonous & greedy, and taking advantage of the goodness of Nature, for which I have now become a custodian, warden and protector.

In this state of surrender, I can tune into the deeper, more intuitive part of myself that has always existed somewhere beneath my layers of conditioning, limiting beliefs, and the projections of people who have surrounded me as I have grown. I am guided by something beyond, a certain knowing of where to stand, which way to look, and where to place my tripod. It is so instinctive now, after eight years of refining my craft, that it happens on a different plane from logical and rational thought. I am guided by the light, and by my intuition that tells me where it is, what it’s about to do, and has already read the blueprint for the entire landscape that surrounds me. This understanding compounds over time; it is now an almost-psychic ability to predict, foresee, and, as the late, great photographer and thinker Ansel Adams would have described, to visualise the final portfolio-worthy photograph.

When I am attuned to the frequency of Nature, seeing photographs becomes much easier. It takes a while to ‘get the eyes in’, so to speak, and that is why the best photographs from a place usually reveal themselves after I have spent days, weeks, sometimes even months exploring, connecting, observing, paying attention, contemplating, and reflecting; sometimes in the place itself, other times whilst apart. Time away from a landscape can be just as important as time spent with it, often resulting in heightened emotions, strengthened connection, and a deeper state of presence when I return. Distance, it is commonly said, makes the heart grow fonder, and it is in this absence that the dreaming happens and imagination has the space to awaken to a world of possibility.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™ - A FREE comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Artistic Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

I always tell clients they should spend 10x more time in the field watching light than they do shopping for new gear or watching the latest tutorials.

If you understand light, you could make better images with a £60 kit lens than you ever could with the latest £3,000 lens.

The further you go along the creative path, the more you realise it’s the subtlest, slightest shifts of light that make all the difference in a photograph.

Timing is everything.
Attention becomes key.

That’s why attention forms one of the pillars in my revolutionary Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography framework.

(If you haven’t already, you can get yours for FREE here).

Take these three photographs taken at a local stretch of the enchanted River Vyrnwy last night:

All of them are similar in composition, but different in light and resulting feel.
Not huge differences, but enough to alter the story ever so slightly.

When you’ve taken over 50,000 photographs, these micro-details really begin to matter.

It is in these details that a photograph becomes art;
when the viewer can start to feel the photographer’s intention (another of my Five Pillars);
and the longer they look, the clearer this intention becomes.

In my newly developed 12-month-long Photographers’ Foundations Programme, I have dedicated much of it to studying and understanding light.

Over the past 5 years, educating over 150 other photographers, I have learned that the real work of the photographer is done away from the camera:
learning to observe the landscape;
to read it;
to foresee what is about to happen in any given moment;
and to know exactly when to open the shutter to create that special photograph that will live long in the portfolio and represent who you are as an artist.

If I could tell a beginner one thing, it would be this:

Close your laptop.
Turn off your phone.
Heck, even put your camera down.
Stand still, silence your mind, and observe everything that the light does and watch how it interacts with the landscape.
Pay attention to how it moves, and, more importantly, how it moves you.
Learn to feel it.
Don’t think it.

When you have reached a point where you intuitively know where to stand and which way to face, then you are ready to create work that truly means something.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™ - A FREE comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Artistic Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

Here's one of the first landscape photographs I ever took.

I was roaming around with a basic Canon Powershot camera, capable only of digital zoom and fixed in automatic settings.

I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

But I knew deep down that I loved sharing what I was seeing with the world.

The photographs weren’t what I would call ‘good’.

They weren’t reaching thousands of people online.
They weren’t worthy of gallery walls or magazine publications.
They weren’t connecting with people and inspiring them to venture out on their own self-discovery journey.

But they were special photographs, and they became even more so with time.

I don’t look back on them with judgment.

I love them as much as I love my recent photographs, some of them even more so, for the memories they invoke and what they now stand to represent.

These photographs were all a part of my process of ‘becoming’.

I understood that at the time.

I innately knew that I couldn’t simply pick up a new hobby and become a master overnight;
that it would take thousands, if not tens of thousands of hours, to become skilled at my art.

I knew that I would have to commit to sticking to the craft, through the good times and the bad - and trust me, there have been plenty of the latter!

Starting on any path is challenging, and the beginning of that journey is by far the most difficult part.

You have to suck for a while, and that can be incredibly difficult in a world where we only see the best of everything.

It is so easy to forget that those who appear to be successful started in the same place we did.

The most important thing for anyone at the beginning of their photography journey is to accept that the process takes time.

The worst thing you can do is lose yourself in a world of comparison.

Turn off your mobile phone.

Stop overconsuming content (unless it is educating you or inspiring you).

And go outdoors with your camera.

Make the ‘mistakes’. Find those who have walked the path you’re on and ask them questions. Remain open to all the possibilities.

Keep one eye on the future and what you would like to become, and the other firmly fixed on the present moment and who you are now.

Follow this advice as a blueprint, and I promise you won’t go far wrong, and you will see significant improvements in your photography.

And if you’re reading this as a beginner on your journey, my messages or emails are always open. I love nothing more than sharing what I have learnt with those who are curious and open to hearing it. Find your courage and reach out. Everything great started with a simple question.

Brad Carr is an internationally published fine art landscape photographer, Nature writer, and creative mentor based in Mid Wales. His work has featured in On Landscape, Outdoor Photography, Nature Vision, and International Therapist, and exhibited in national galleries, reaching 20,000 people. He works with photographers of all abilities through private tuition, group workshops, long-term mentoring programmes and Photographing with Purpose mentoring circles at bradwcarr.com.

📸 Where to go next?

I’m here to help you on your creative journey, whether you’re just picking up a camera for the first time, looking to get out of ‘manual’ mode, or you’re preparing a portfolio for your first book project or major exhibition. See the links below and find your pathway to more meaningful landscape & nature photography:

• Five Pillars of Meaningful Landscape Photography™ - A FREE comprehensive 40-page PDF guide introducing my revolutionary philosophical framework to help you create self-expressive art instead of ‘capturing’ soulless photographs.

• Artistic Development Portfolio Review - Book your in-depth portfolio review to gain clarity & direction and make more meaning in your photography.

• 1-1 Private Tuition & Mentoring - Master the fundamentals of photography or ‘learn to see again’ through private, in-field tuition. For those ready to pursue transformation through creative practice, I offer two long-term mentoring programmes. Schedule your FREE introductory call during which I’ll answer any questions you have and help you find your learning pathway.

• Join a Group Photography Workshop - Learn to create beautiful photographs in a mindful, contemplative environment, surrounded by like-minded creative photographers.

• Photographing with Purpose Group Mentoring Circles - Develop your artistic vision, create meaningful portfolios, and unearth your creative voice through creative assignments, reflective writing, and supportive group coaching

I began my creative writing journey around nine years ago. Nursing a heartbreak and trying to calm an unsettled soul, I found solace in the pages of my journal, untangling my busy mind and making sense of my woes in the years to come.

What emerged on the paper wasn’t exactly what I would call poetic to begin with; it was mostly gratitude lists, to-dos, and reflective pieces about what I had eaten for dinner that day, and how I had performed during my gym workouts.

At the time, I had taken to the gym to deal with my broken heart. Truth is, I was lost in the world and looking for a place to belong. I found that place for a while beneath the barbells in the gym, and then later — and still to this day — in the pages of my journal during the sacred hours of morning.

I write practically every day. It’s not always pretty, and sometimes I find myself staring at a blank piece of paper for a while or distracted by emails and notifications, but more often than not, I’ll produce something worthwhile and meaningful.

These pieces sometimes come in the form of poetry:

‘‘I have known sadness,
and I have known pain,
but at least now I know what it’s like
to feel the sunshine after rain.’’

Or mantras:

‘‘Remember who you are.
Remember who you could have been.
Remember, you are just a man.
Remember, you will die one day.’’

Or, powerful, self-expressive pieces about topics that are close to my heart:

‘‘Courage opens the window of the psychological prison we have confined ourselves to, allowing light to enter, but, more importantly, allowing us to see out to new horizons. It then unlocks the door to our cell and tempts us towards these faraway lands, where freedom and creativity await.’’

Now and then, the foundations of a creative essay might fall out of my head — sometimes the essay in its entirety might emerge before me onto the paper. See the following:

Learning to See Again
Cleansing the Soul

This devoted approach to writing has led me to produce two books, with a third due for publication in 2026, write for reputable international magazines, and connect with people in all four corners of the world.

The ultimate achievement, however, is in the catharsis that the creative process has invoked in me since I began writing almost a decade ago. Creative writing has healed my soul and granted me a sense of belonging in the world — and inside myself.

Now, as well as spending many hours throughout the day sitting at my journal and putting words to paper, I also guide others through the creative writing process.

My practice has evolved into a purpose-driven business, and I have recently launched a brand-new service, Healing Through Words, to share the creative wisdom I have accessed through my journey into my inner world and open a safe space for others to explore and express themselves through the art of creative writing.

If you have been thinking about embarking on a writing journey of your own but find yourself hesitant to start, I hope these pointers will be reason enough for you to find your courage and begin weaving your own words on paper.

Learn the Language of Your Inner Landscape

One of the most difficult things about being human is learning to articulate the complex thoughts and feelings we have going on inside our bodies; many people will spend their entire lives never being able to put words to their feelings.

I spent many years unable to share my inner experience with other people. This led to me feeling completely disconnected and alienated from the world. Friends could hardly get to know me, so they built a projection of who I was, which led to these feelings of isolation — and my internal frustration — compounding.

The most beautiful thing about the writing process is that it helps you learn the language of the inner landscape. When we can find the words that accurately describe what is going on inside of ourselves, connections with people around us deepen, and we can relate to the world in entirely new ways.

So often now, I find myself completely immersed in colourful, enlightening conversations with people around me from all walks of life. The world has become a much more interesting place to exist in. If that isn’t reason enough to begin a writing journey, then I don’t know what is.

Share Your Story with an Audience

When I began writing back in 2017, I was doing so entirely for myself — apart from the occasional caption I would share with my friends and followers on Instagram.

Although I still write for myself first and foremost, I also share my words online across many different platforms. I have watched my audiences grow steadily for years. My words have now connected with people in dozens of countries through publications and blogs.

Despite writing for myself, it has, of course, been fulfilling to know that my words resonate with other people. I feel as though I am weaving threads of connection every time I share an article online or get published in a magazine.

This adds fuel to my creative flame and inspires me to continue being the change I want to see in the world.

Do you have an inspiring story to share with the world? Would you like to connect with people in different corners of the globe and feel as though you’re contributing to a cause that is much greater than your own? Writing can open doorways of possibilities. All you have to do is find the courage to sit and write those first words.

Creative Writing Heals the Soul

I briefly touched on this in the introduction: creative writing invites profound healing in the psyche and can lead us to a place of wholeness and integration.

The act of writing allows us to access treasures that might have lain buried in the depths of our subconscious for eternity. Bringing these deep insights from the darkness of the subconscious into the light and seeing them on paper before our eyes can have a profound and transformative effect on us.

We begin to see the stories that we are telling ourselves and the narratives that rule our lives. We might come to realisations about our life experiences. Perhaps, we can begin to use the art of creative writing to write ourselves a new story for our lives of tomorrow.

There is something mystical that happens inside of us when we begin to explore the inner world of thoughts and feelings through words and write them down on paper, bringing insights and realisations into the physical, three-dimensional world.

Once we have seen them on paper, we become witnesses to them. There is no hiding place anymore. The body is forced to integrate the wisdom the soul knew long ago. We become more embodied human beings as a result and call back the fragmented parts of our soul that we might have abandoned through painful and traumatic events.

Writing Helps us Process our Emotions

Over the years, I have written angry words, sad words, joyful words, hopeful words, words of regret, words of longing, dreaming, forgetting, and letting go. I have cried whilst writing, I have laughed at myself whilst writing, and I have vented the anger invoked during writing as a spoken poem on social media.

Writing has helped me access many corners of my heart and taken me on a journey into my own world of emotions and painful memories.

I spent many years resenting the fact that I was born into a body that was so sensitive to the world and other people’s emotions. Through the process of writing about my early life experiences around domestic abuse and violence, which I always blamed for my being the sensitive person I am, I managed to work through my negative feelings towards myself and those who raised me, and reframe my view of my sensitivity, which has now become my greatest strength.

When we write our way through our feelings, our pen becomes a therapist, and the paper a safe space for us to express and release.

Many of our struggles in life come as a result of not knowing how to let go of our painful memories and release the feelings that cause us to become so weighed down and heavy. Writing can be that release we so desperately need.

We Meet — Or, Create — New Sides of Ourselves

Creative writing is an excellent way to get to know ourselves through our words. I have lost count of the number of times I have been lost in the flow of writing, only to look down to read something I didn’t know I knew about myself.

The pages are a mirror, and what emerges is often surprising and interesting. So many of us go through life thinking we know ourselves — but writing has taught me that there is so much I don’t know, and probably never will.

Although we often think of writing as a self-discovery journey, I have actually come to realise that it’s more of a self-creation journey.

Through my own writings over the years, I have identified that we are just the result of our own beliefs and limitations imposed on us by those around us — parents and the peers we kept close as we grew.

What, then, I ask, might we become if we were to rid ourselves of these thoughts and beliefs?

The version of myself that I am today — speaking in public, presenting online, sharing my story with audiences on leading podcasts — is a result of what I have written in the pages of my journal over the past decade.

What might you become if you embark upon this process today?

Practical Tips on Your Creative Writing Journey

The creative writing journey should be seen as a marathon, not a sprint. You will have days when the words flow effortlessly onto the page, and you’ll have days when you feel like you’re churning tarmac with your pen, trying to make them come.

Here are some simple, practical tips that might help you stay on the right path as you weave your words of healing onto paper:

• Create a routine. Find a comfortable corner of your house, light a candle and some incense, and let the pen lead you to some beautiful places. I wrote a book of poetry about love and relationships in just two weeks by sticking to a routine.

• Read as much as you can. Find blogs that inspire you. Pick up magazines. Ready captions on social media. Absorb as many words as you can, from as many genres as you can remain interested in. You’ll not only be inspired, but your vocabulary will increase rapidly.

• Set yourself small goals. Don’t aim to write your memoir in one week. Instead, start small. Aim to write 200 words a day for one week. By the end of the week, you might have yourself a chapter. Four chapters a month. Forty-eight in a year.

• Share your words with others. The feedback can be invaluable. But, if you’re new to this, find a select few people you trust with your innermost parts. Build your confidence before sharing with wider circles.

• Celebrate your progress. Every word represents your dedication to your own growth and evolution. It also shows how courageous you are to do what 99% of people will never do. That is a huge victory.

Final Words for Your Writing Journey

There are times when I sit and stare at the blank pages before me, wondering why I write, and questioning whether any of it really matters. I could, I think, just put the notebook away and spend my free time watching films and disconnecting from the world through social media videos or computer games.

Writing, however, has led me to form deep connections with others and develop a profound, transformative relationship with the natural world. More importantly, it has allowed me to connect and relate deeply with myself — my true self; the version of me who used to bury himself beneath books and lose himself in entire worlds, not the conditioned shell of me whom the world once knew.

When you learn to write with openness and vulnerability, you open the door to your heart and invite others in to sit around the hearth to listen to your stories. You get to share your unique experiences and viewpoints with your readers, inspiring, educating, comforting, and empowering them.

If you’re feeling hesitant to start, why not start small? Share your words with a select few people whom you trust not to judge, advise or criticise you. Then, when you’re ready, perhaps you could share with a wider circle of friends or in writing groups. Over time, you’ll start to unearth your unique voice, which could be used for powerful purposes.

No matter where it leads, the writing journey can be powerful and transformational. This path, I have learned for myself, is absolutely worth taking, so long as you remember to enjoy the process of your own unfolding.

If you want to read more inspirational words, visit www.bradwcarr.com and explore the Finding Light Journal. Or, find me on Instagram at @bradwcarr.

If you’d like a guide to get you started, you can book a Healing Through Words session to work with me online.

Keep searching. Keep seeking. Keep writing. Your true creative voice is waiting to be unearthed.

I launched Finding Light in 2025 to make a difference in the lives of others and the world at large.

I had journeyed far enough along my own path, and I intuitively knew that it was time to start dreaming bigger and finding ways to share the wisdom that I had gained through my life experiences.

Ever since I was a child, I have dreamed of being someone who can help others. By the age of 29 or 30, I had been told on a few occasions that I would make an excellent counsellor. This was after spending years working with people in different fields, as a football coach, personal trainer, and photography educator. All the signs had been pointing me towards this path.

I don’t claim to be a counsellor, and I don’t wish to be one—not in the official sense anyway. I have never liked the idea of sitting and listening as someone perpetually talks about their problems whilst doing nothing about them, digging a deeper and deeper hole of self-pity, and retreating further and further into the shadows. I wish to work only with people who are ready to take the necessary action to move through their problems to access a deeper state of being.

Over the past decade, creativity has been a great medicine for my own spiritual sickness; a great sense of non-belonging within myself or the world following my early childhood experience around domestic abuse and violence.

The creative process of going out into Nature, seeking, searching, and sometimes finding the light necessary to make a meaningful photograph, whilst deeply listening to the landscape and myself, and then writing about what I learned, was the ultimate form of therapy. This 9-year journey has led me to a place of presence and peace inside my own body.

My creative journey has brought about much catharsis and invoked a personal transformation that will form the foundation of a lifetime of purpose-driven work ahead of me. Many of my days now are spent working with others who are seeking answers to their own questions; I count it among my life’s greatest blessings.

My recent experiences working intimately with spiritual seekers and creatives on their respective individual journeys towards light have inspired me to dream a huge dream for the future of humanity.

Not only does creativity invoke healing at the deepest, spiritual level, and catalyse profound inner and outer transformation, but it can also lead us to deeper self-awareness and understanding, greater presence, and offer a sense of purpose and belonging that only a few things in this world can.

Creativity connects the spirit of the human being to something far greater than we can logically and rationally comprehend. Through creativity, we find belonging at the deepest level.

Finding Light exists, therefore, as a place of education, not simply on a practical or technical level, but as a much deeper, spiritual, and philosophical education that progresses and evolves at a rate much faster than my intellect can keep up with.

This education is woven into all my workshops and creative sessions, all of which blend creativity with mindset coaching, intelligent Socratic questioning, deep listening, and elements of ‘mirroring’.

This ‘mirroring’ introduces a person to parts of themselves they might have been unaware of; an aspect of the sessions and workshops that is fundamental in the mission of Finding Light: to use the mystical powers of creative practice and the portal of Nature to deepen self-awareness, heal the soul, and awaken humanity to new levels of consciousness.

Every session and workshop is led intuitively to guide clients into the depths of the subconscious mind, where they can retrieve insights and wisdom, and bring them out into the light of day, so they can be integrated and embodied, leading the person to a place of healing, wholeness, and deeper belonging in their body here on the earth.

Creativity, I truly believe, is the antidote to a spiritually sick society; a sickness which manifests in our physical bodies as diseases, ‘depression’, chronic fatigue, lethargy, addictions, and compulsions; not to mention the many neurological disorders that we might identify with to cope with the pain of our human experience.

Finding Light was built with the understanding that pain is a necessary part of a human being’s life; something we all experience in our own way, which causes many unique and individual challenges but also many universal ones, too. One of the core understandings that I have come to for myself through the fires of creative practice can be summarised in the following quote:

‘‘Pain is the great awakener—a catalyst for change. If we find the courage to relinquish control of our emotions, let go when we find ourselves desperately trying to hold on, and allow ourselves to feel what is within deeply, we can make our pain the most incredible gift, and become alchemists of the modern world, transmuting our pain into beauty and bringing healing to the world at large.’’

It is with this philosophy in mind that Finding Light was birthed with the primary mission of cultivating creative spaces where hearts can break so light can enter. Through the services I offer, I aim to connect people with the courage to embark on such a journey of growth and transformation—and nurture the embers in their bellies so a fire ignites within.

Courage is the first positive state on David Hawkins’ revolutionary ‘Map of Consciousness’ model, acting as a gateway where one stops fighting life and begins to cooperate with it. Courage marks a shift from seeing life as a threat to viewing it as an opportunity for growth and transcendence; it allows a person to dream again and to begin imagining what might be possible with effective guidance, support, and encouragement, which sadly many people have never received in a world that has not been modelled on healthy leadership.

If you’re a curious seeker on your journey towards the light of healing or a creative person looking to access new depths of awareness or birth new writings into this world, I would invite you to explore the opportunity to work with me intimately in a private setting. My flagship Healing Through Words sessions are the perfect place to begin your journey to personal transformation.

I look forward to meeting you and guiding you to the place within yourself where you so desire to be.

In service,
Brad Carr

You can learn the basic settings of the camera (easier still, pick up a phone), visit a beautiful place, wait for the sunset, and point it in any way you wish.

It’s so easy nowadays that an estimated 5,300,000,000 (that is 5.3 billion!!!) photographs are taken every day!

What is difficult is crafting a photograph that says something meaningful about you as a person and helps others understand you, or stirs emotions in another person, brings them into presence, and awakens their imagination.

When photographers approach me for private mentoring or practical tuition, the first thing they usually tell me is that they are drawn to my work because they feel something deep down inside when they look at my photographs.

They tell me there’s something ‘more’ in them; a mystical element they can’t quite explain.

Technique only forms the foundation of what I would call a ‘good’ photograph. To me, that is a photograph with depth, meaning, and emotion within. It is a photograph with a story; an invitation to journey a little bit deeper; a portal to a world of imagination and wonder.

Many others would disagree, I am sure, looking instead to the quality of the exposure (no dark/ ‘blown out’ parts), adherence to the ‘rules’, and accurate focus/ depth.

These are all important to me, of course, but not so important that I would ever overlook what it is a person is trying to communicate through the lens of their camera—something I am told on countless occasions that photography competition judges frequently do.

This kind of judgment from those supposedly ‘superior’ photographers, who have usually placed themselves on a pedestal and sought out these positions of power for their own gain, often leaves people feeling disillusioned with their photography, reinforcing their own self-limiting beliefs, and severely inhibiting creativity.

My work as a mentor and tutor has led me to have some interesting and enlightening conversations with many fellow photographers about what it means to create photographs.

I have found myself in a rather privileged position, where people feel safe enough to open up to me and engage in creative discussions about the ‘whys’ driving their art as they seek self-understanding and strive to articulate the deeper meanings behind their photographs, so they can, in turn, feel more understood by the people in the world around them and forge more meaningful relationships as a result.

These conversations inform my own work, helping me deepen my practice and better understand the driving forces behind my art, which, in turn, helps me understand others. It is a powerful, never-ending cycle of growth that has led me to develop a deep understanding of the creative mind.

If I were to quickly summarise what I have learned about the collective of photographers so far, I would say that most:

1) Struggle to ‘think’ artistically, excelling technically, but find it challenging to engage the emotional self whilst creating. This is no surprise in the world of photography, given that it usually requires a certain level of technical understanding of the equipment to progress (for those who choose a camera as their tool for creating, that is).

But could this point us to a deeper issue altogether? The issue being that, maybe at the risk of speaking a little generally now, we don’t feel safe enough to inhabit our bodies as human beings (especially in Western culture), instead choosing to exist in our heads more often than fully embracing the present moment.

Something I have been pondering recently seems relevant to share: What if Descartes’ ‘I think, therefore, I am’ statement became ‘I feel, therefore, I am’?

2) Lack the confidence and self-belief required to embrace their ‘inner artist’, believing that the title is reserved for the special, enlightened few who are sent to walk the earth by God.

Instead of embracing their uniqueness and seeing the world as only they can, they play it safe and stick to the obvious formulaic compositions, perhaps replicating what they have seen in magazines or on social media.

3) Have not tied their work to a grander purpose than their own enjoyment and fulfilment. This, for me, is key to artistic growth and the development of a deep and powerful creative voice.

The voice often determines how we, and our work, are perceived—so, if we want to make ‘more artistic’ work, filled with depth, emotion, and meaning, do we have to start believing that our work is art and speaking in a way that says it is before the meaning and purpose can be reflected in what we create through our lenses?

Therefore, if you’re a photographer—or a creative person in general—and you are seeking to create more meaningful work that connects with the soul of another person, my advice would be to:

1) Learn to inhabit more of your body, so you can exist in the present moment, engaged in your senses and accessing more of your emotional world, rather than living in your mind and ‘thinking’ your reality (and photographs).

Practice body awareness, paying attention to sensations, sights, and sounds—things that YOU find beauty in, tune into your breath as you walk across the landscape, and write more in a notepad or journal to empty your mind of thoughts and silence the mental ‘chatter’.

Get yourself to a place where your intuition (feelings & inner sense) leads you to a photograph, rather than any formula, blueprint, or rulebook.

2) Work hard to improve your self-talk and build more confidence, so you can begin telling yourself all the things you are capable of (and believing them, too) rather than limiting yourself and your creative growth with negative thoughts and beliefs by telling yourself all the things you aren’t.

Pay attention to anyone whom you feel angry, jealous, or resentful towards. These people are often reflecting something about your own inner narrative and beliefs.

You dislike ALL rich people? You’re likely nursing some wounds around unworthiness. You hate the person who is comfortable in the limelight and speaks so positively about themselves? There is probably a part of you who wishes you were in their shoes. What beliefs are stopping you from becoming that version of you?

3) Begin the work to discover your deeper purpose, so your work reflects that in its own depth and meaning. Our photographs are a reflection of our inner selves after all. If your work feels shallow, it is likely because your purpose is, too.

A purpose isn’t something that miraculously appears when you go to Bali to ‘find yourself’. It takes hard work, dedication, and a lot of self-inquiry to unearth a purpose—and it is never truly and completely ‘found’ as it is constantly evolving, as we are.

I recommend getting yourself a journal and asking yourself some hard questions to start your journey of self-inquiry, such as: What significant life events have led me to this point of wanting to create for the world? Who do I wish I could reach with my creative work? What do I want to say to them?

Taking photographs isn’t hard.

But the work required to make soul-stirring, imagination-awakening, emotion-inducing photographs is.

To make photographs with deeper meaning, we must be willing to look within, think critically about ourselves and our work, channel our courage to face our fears, and embark upon a long journey of self-inquiry, adventure, and discovery.

This may seem challenging to you now, but I will remind you that nothing worthwhile has ever come easy.

I can assure you: the fruits of this labour are so sweet when you wake up (almost) every day with a profound sense of purpose that pulls you out of your bed and inspires you to get out into the landscape during the first hours of morning.

Photographs heavy with meaning and rich in stories can help people better understand us, allowing us to form deeper relationships and connections with others. They can help us feel seen in ways we have always desired.

If you’re someone longing to feel understood and yearning to be seen in your authentic expressions, I would encourage you to begin this work to uncover deeper meaning in your photography today.

If you resonate with anything in this article and you wish to deepen your creative practice, I’d like to invite you to explore my School of Photography.

Through one-to-one mentoring, or in-field, practical tuition, you can see for yourself what becomes possible when you move beyond logic and technique towards true, authentic, artistic expression.

Book a discovery call to discuss how this philosophy might transform your relationship with landscape photography, the natural world, and, in turn, yourself.