Therapy by Bodhi Smith

Oct 30, 2020

"therapy" a brand new impression and blog from me...
 
"my therapy is found somewhere out in nature, behind the lens of a camera...each time the shutter opens and closes and goes 'click', i'm breathing in, and breathing out...and, living" ― bodhinku, my therapy 
 
"each evening, take the time to slow things down and drop everything you are doing, stop thinking and go take in the sunset. take a picture so you can remember clearly these ordinary moments. take the time to just be. breath in, breathe out, feel those eleven seconds of perfect awareness" ― bodhinku, therapy
 
"well there's a feelin' in the air, just like a friday afternoon...yeah, you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon. so go on, let it be. if there's a feelin' coming over me, seems like it's always understood this time of year... think about the good times, and you live with all the bad. you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year" ― better than ezra, this time of year   
 
“those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. there is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature” ― rachel carson, silent spring 
 
"i experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. i am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters 
 
"nature in her green, tranquil woods heals and soothes all affliction...the soul hath no sorrows that earth cannot heal" ― john muir 
 
"here’s harmony! here’s repose! here’s what may leave all painting and all music behind, and what poetry only can attempt to describe! here’s what may tranquillize every care, and lift the heart to rapture! such therapy! when i look out on such a night as this, i feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world; and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of nature were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by contemplating such a scene" ― jane austen, mansfield park  
 
"i must stay alone and know that i am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full; i have to surrender myself to what encircles me, i have to merge with my clouds and rocks in order to be what i am. solitude is indispensable for my dialogue with nature" ― caspar david friedrich, german landscape painter 
  
"let my thoughts come to you, when i am gone, like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence" ― rabindranath tagore, stray birds   
 
"creating is a form of therapy; sometimes i wonder how all those who do not write, compose, paint, or photograph can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in the human situation" ― graham greene, ways of escape
 
"i've realized therapy is incredibly therapeutic" ― lisa schroeder, i heart you-you haunt me
 
this song is one of my favorites from the 1990s, however, you have more than likely never heard of it before as i think it was never officially released as a single, it was only on the band's album...but it reminds me of the fall when leaves are tuning color and falling to the ground, there is a cooler chill in the air, especially in the evenings at sunset when the temps seem to drop from the sky, and there is a strong sense of change that is oddly like therapy this time of year. you can feel it in the air: feeling right his time of year...and for me, this song is therapeutic, it always brings a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart...it's a wonderful accompaniment to connect music with the meaning of my impression and blog today: 
 
"this time of year" by better than ezra ...(just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....

"well there's a feelin' in the air, just like a friday afternoon...yeah, you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon. so go on, let it be. if there's a feelin' coming over me, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change. well, i know there's a time for us. think about the good times, and you live with all the bad. you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year...well, there's a football in the air, across the leaf-blown field. yeah, and there's your first car on the road and the girl you steal. so go on, if you fell. if there's a feelin' that there's somethin' else, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change (this time of year). yeah, i know there's a time for us (this time of year). think about the good times, but you live with all the bad (this time of year). you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year...well, there's a feelin' in the air, just like a friday afternoon. yeah, you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon. so go on, let it be. if there's a feelin' comin' over me, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change (this time of year). yeah, i know there's a time for us (this time of year). ya think about the good times, and you live with all the bad (this time of year)...you can feel it in the air, feel it in the air. yeah, i can feel it in the air. well, i can feel it in the air. yeah you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year" ― better than ezra, this time of year
 
"everybody needs beauty...places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike" ― john muir  
 
"some people seek the comfort of their therapist's office, others look for it at the bottom of a bottle, many tune into music and listen for it, some stab a vein hoping for it, yet others look for it in another person...as for me, my therapy is found somewhere out in nature, behind the lens of a camera...each time the shutter opens and closes, i am breathing in, and breathing out"― bodhinku, my therapy  
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MEANING
"what you see pictured here from my point of view is eleven seconds of pure awareness...eleven seconds of curling my toes in the soil, breathing in and out the crisp autumn air, in tune with the pink clouds and green grapevines, the sunset...in touch with everything that matters, for eleven seconds i am exposed...from the moment my shutter opened for those eleven seconds until it closed, i am totally aware, and enlightened" ― bodhinku, eleven seconds of pure awareness 
 
"therapy" is defined as: a treatment for a particular condition or illness...therapy centers on creating a positive understanding of the way you feel and behave in order to improve relationships with yourself and others
 
some people seek the comfort of their therapist's office, others look for it at the bottom of a bottle, many tune into music and listen for it, some stab a vein hoping for it, yet others look for it in another person...as for me, my therapy is found somewhere out in nature, behind the lens of a camera...each time the shutter opens and closes, i am breathing in, and breathing out  
 
i'm most at ease when i'm somewhere out in nature, far away from civilization to a place where the earth has not been corrupted by mankind, silencing all the noise in my head by witnessing all the beauty that surrounds me...breathing in, the loveliness of the landscape. breathing out, hearing the birds sing. breathing in, feeling the sun on my face. breathing out, seeing all the colors in the sky. breathing in, smelling the sage in the air. breathing out, tasting life flow across my lips. breathing in, all the peace and solitude my lungs can hold...
 
i have been coming to this exact particular spot for many years now. i used to bring the dude here, and now i always bring besos with me. it is the spot i created my "four seasons" composition (created by taking 4 images over the course of a full year of seasons) that continues to this day to be one of my best selling pieces of artwork. and i know why this is the case: it's simply because of the solitude and tranquility that i always feel here. my feelings permeate into my photographs, as my emotions of peace are transcribed directly into the feelings and impressions given off by any image i am blessed enough to capture here. 
 
this tranquil scene is only a few miles from where i hang my hat, kick off my shoes, and make my bed for the night. and it's easy enough for me to quickly get to whenever i feel the need, or whenever the clouds are looking particularly gorgeous, or whenever i just want to chill and relax somewhere close by with my doggie. this place never lets me down, or ever disappoints me. it's a place so peaceful and quiet, and beautiful. this is truly therapy for me.
 
"i come to this spot often. it is a spot that never lets me down, never disappoints, a place i can rely to uplift my spirits. it has become therapy for me" ― bodhinku, therapy for me
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"i'm most at ease when i'm somewhere out in nature, far away from civilization to a place where the earth has not been corrupted by mankind, silencing all the noise in my head by witnessing all the beauty that surrounds me...breathing in, the loveliness of the landscape. breathing out, hearing the birds sing. breathing in, feeling the sun on my face. breathing out, seeing all the colors in the sky. breathing in, smelling the sage in the air. breathing out, tasting life flow across my lips. breathing in, all the peace and solitude my lungs can hold... " ― bodhinku, breathing
 
this scene is in the wine country of temecula valley in southern california, and pictured here is a field of grapevines that was just recently harvested to be used in the newest vintage of lorimar winery's cabernet sauvignon...
 
as i stated in the section above, i come to this spot often. it is a spot that never lets me down, never disappoints, a place i can count on to uplift my spirits. it has become therapy for me. and on this night a few weeks ago, i got to see this scene you see before you today. 
 
i was cooking some marbled steak for my dinner on the barbie in the backyard, and i looked up to the sky. the clouds were forming these wonderful little puff whisps with tails. i instantly decided my steaks could wait until much later, so beos and i quickly hopped into the grand cherokee to drive pout to my spot.
 
besos ran around and played while i set up my camera with filters on my tripod...and then the sun dropped below the houses and started peaking through the trees on the left, creating a beautiful pink glow into the whispy clouds thta were backdropped by baby blue skies. some images just take themselves, and that was the case on this night. the first picture i took turned out to be the one you see here, as the light stayed beautiful, but kinda it dropped off a bit as the clouds evaporated the closer it got to sunset...
 
besos and i stayed there for another hour until it was dark and the stars were out, just enjoying the peace and each other's company, enjoying this beautiful spot, taking in some therapy.
 
"life, living is really just one never-ending therapy session" ― bodhinku, neverending therapy  
 
"my therapy is standing out in the wilderness under a canopy of beautiful clouds, contemplating nature" ― bodhinku, contemplting nature   
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HISTORY
"i do not need any scientific study to prove being in nature is great therapy, and is good for me on many different levels...i know it empirically through first hand experience. when i am out in nature, everything is better...my mood, my heartrate, my stress levels, my inner serenity. i feel more love and connection, direction and purpose. plus, later at night after being out in nature, i sleep better, dream more vividly and peacefully...and when i revisit old faithful scenes where beautiful memories abound such as this, it is nothing short of pure therapy for me" ― bodhinku, pure therapy   

in the crowded urban capital of persia 2500 years ago, cyrus the great recognized the need to increase human health and create a feeling of "calm". in response, he planted a garden in the middle of the city...city parks and nature therapy (ecotherapy) were born

nature therapy, sometimes referred to as ecotherapy, describes a broad group of techniques or treatments with the intention of improving an individual's mental or physical health, specifically with an individual's presence within nature or outdoor surroundings. it's based on the principles of ecopsychology, which look at how we feel interconnected with the earth...ecotherapy is a form of psychotherapy rooted in the idea of biophilia: people's bond between themselves and other ecosystems

"in reach, which is receiving and being in the presence of nature, place upreach, which is the actual experience as we realize our place in the natural world, and outreach, which is interacting with other people that care about the environment." ― howard clinebell, on ecotherapy 
 
one example of a nature therapy is forest bathing or shinrin-yoku, a practice that combines a range of exercises and tasks in an outdoor environment. garden therapy, horticultural therapy, kneipp therapy or even ocean therapy may also be viewed as forms of nature therapy. nature therapy may also include grounding, which can be practiced by removing any electrical insulation between a person and a conductive ground such as soil, grass, and wet sand...

the process of nature therapy:
1. stressed state: a person is in a state of physical or emotional stress.
2. restorative effects of nature: the person spends time in nature, resulting in improvements in physiological relaxation and the immune function recovery response.
3. evidence-based medicine (ebm): nature directly increases the parasympathetic nervous system and heightens awareness, causing relaxation

nature therapy has been linked to a number of physiological benefits, as well as neuropsychological benefits, as indicated by neuroimaging and validated psychological tests such as the profile of mood states (poms). spending time in nature can improve immune, cardiovascular, and respiratory functioning. nature therapy can provide emotional healing, decrease blood pressure, improve a person's general sleep-wake cycle, improve relationship skills, reduces stress, and reduce aggression. nature therapy can help with general medical recovery, pain reduction, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dementia, obesity, and other disorders like vitamin d deficiencies. 
 
a 2007 study from the university of essex in the u.k. found that a walk in the country reduces depression in 71% of participants. the researchers found that as little as five minutes in a natural setting, whether walking in a park or gardening in the backyard, improves mood, self-esteem, and motivation...
 
i do not need any scientific study to prove being in nature is great therapy, and is good for me on many different levels...i know it empirically through first hand experience. when i am out in nature, everything is better...my mood, my attitude, my heartrate, my breathing, my stress levels, my inner serenity. i feel more love and connection, direction and purpose...plus, later at night after being out in nature, i sleep better, dream more vividly and peacefully...and when i revisit old faithful scenes where beautiful memories abound such as this, it is nothing short of pure therapy for me.
 
"shhhh...can you hear it? its peace? the silence of the light, and if you truly listen, it will surely guide you to where you need to be..." ― bodhinku, shhhh   
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
and with all these quotes about therapy and nature,...here is another poignant song with apropos lyrics to give listen, a true classic from 55 years ago in 1965: "help!" by the beatles ... as well as a very strong remake, "help!" by miley cyrus (beatles cover) ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...  

"i need somebody (help!). not just anybody (help!). you know i need someone, help! i never needed anybody's help in any way, but now these days are gone, i'm not so self assured (but now these days are gone and now i find) now i find i've changed my mind and opened up the doors...help me if you can, i'm feeling down. and i do appreciate you being 'round. help me get my feet back on the ground. won't you please, please help me?...and now my life has changed in oh so many ways (and now my life has changed). my independence seems to vanish in the haze. but every now and then i feel so insecure (i know that i). i know that i just need you like i've never done before. help me if you can, i'm feeling down. and i do appreciate you being 'round. help me get my feet back on the ground. won't you please, please help me?...when i was younger, so much younger than today, i never needed anybody's help in any way. but now these days are gone, i'm not so self assured (but now these days are gone and now i find) now i find i've changed my mind and opened up the doors...help me if you can, i'm feeling down. and i do appreciate you being 'round. help me get my feet back on the ground. won't you please, please help me, help me, help me..." ― the beatles, help!  
 
"do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. the way is not in the sky; the way is in the heart" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
"nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" ― lao tzu, tao te ching
 
"look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better" ― albert einstein
 
"when one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world" ― john muir
 
"in every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks. i only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, i found, was really going in" ― john muir
 
"both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph. both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and wonder surrounding him" ― ansel adams
 
"if you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere" ― vincent van gogh
 
"how rich art is, if one can only remember what one has seen, one is never empty of thoughts or truly lonely, never alone" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo
 
"i have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?" ― vincent van gogh
 
"when you create a piece of art, you can stop at any time. you can reach a point where it starts to look all right, where the canvas starts to take shape and begins to look like something. you can put down the brush and you can step away from the easel any time you want. you could keep going. you could keep playing with it, keep layering the paint and seeing where it takes you. maybe into a rainbow love and of what your dreams are made, pure joy. "but what if i wreck it", the cautious little voice inside says. "maybe i should stay where it is and not mess it up. i mean it’s all right, right?" art is sort of like life. sometimes we don’t move for fear that what we have is good enough and if we make a false step we’re going to wreck it. sometimes we have a hard time imagining anything other than what we see in front of us. sometimes our experiences have taught us not to hope for anything other than the basic whitewash on canvas. life is always going to make your horizons stretch. with every breath you are expanding. with every day you are being called to pick up the brush and touch up what it is you are wanting to see on your canvas. there’s nothing wrong with it. that’s life. but you aren’t going to wreck anything. this is all your path. the stuck bits, the busy parts. the decisions, the contrast, the change and all the stuff in between. it’s all our road. on the easel of life, you can put the brush down at any time. you can step back and take a long hard look at your canvas. you can sit there and stare at it as long as you need. it’s not going anywhere. and you are always able to pick that palette back up, put the bristles to the canvas and recolor the surface at any time. that’s the beauty of art and life. there really is no end, only blending from one hue to the next, like with the colors in a rainbow. it’s always a work in progress. and life can be a rainbow if you take the chance and let it" ― c. ara campbell
 
"mother nature teaches us to open the power that flows within our veins. to embrace the medicine of the wild world and connect with the knowledge of the animals, plants and stones. that we are all sacred. she tells us to heed the compass of our intuition and feelings. to celebrate the divine union between beings. that there is valuable guidance to be found in the moon, the stars and the ancient sites. that we have the power to heal ourselves, manifest miracles and change the world. she reminds us to never forget our magic, for it is something that is vital and much needed" ― c. ara campbell
 
"night air, good conversation, and a sky full of stars can heal almost any wound" ― beau taplin, remedy
 
"in all of the languages of the five hundred original native american cultures, and in most of the southern hemisphere, there is no word for "art" apart from the spiritual or tribal functions that any esthetic creation might serve. this creation is non-mimetic, that is, it is not a copy or shadow of the real but incorporates reality, in essence, and becomes the thing itself. for the word-sender, the singing of the poem is sacred and practical rather than secular and artistic. the purpose is to name, mythify; initiate, heal, unify, or psychically transport, rather than, as we understand the artistic function, for individual self-expression, entertainment, or purely esthetic pleasure. beauty is not a secondary reflection of goodness, but, as with the pueblos, "good" and "beautiful" are the same word" ― pablo neruda
 
"photography is the most beautiful and most complete of the arts. it involves all our five senses, plus one more—the need to give of our best. that is my preferred therapy" ― paulo coelho, like the flowing river
 
"the attitude of tao is of cooperation, not conflict. the attitude of tao is not to be against nature but to be with it, to allow nature, to let it have its way, to cooperate with it, to go with it. the attitude of tao is of great relaxation" ― osho, the pathless path
 
"poets knew that isolation in nature, far from people and things man-made, was good for the soul, and he'd always identified with poets" ― nicholas sparks, the notebook 
 
"human thought has no limit. at its risk and peril, it analyzes and dissects its own fascination. we could almost say that, by a sort of splendid reaction, it fascinates nature; the mysterious world surrounding us returns what it receives; it is likely that contemplators are contemplated” ― victor hugo, les miserables   

"we cross infinity with every step; we meet eternity in every second" ― rabindranath tagore, collected poems and plays 
 
"meditation, education and beauty are the three transforming powers that can change individual and the whole world...and looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind" ― amit ray, meditation: insights and inspirations  
 
"my greatest pleasure was the enjoyment of a serene sky amidst these desert vastlands: yet i loved all the changes of nature; and rain, and storm, and the beautiful clouds of heaven brought their delights with them. but my pleasures arose from the contemplation of nature alone, i had no companion: my warm affections finding no return from any other human heart were forced to run waste on inanimate objects" ― mary wollstonecraft shelley, mathilda  
 
"this next song goes out to anybody who’s ever been told that the way that they think or the way that they feel is the wrong way to think or the wrong way to feel. it goes out to anybody who’s ever been pushed down, held back, walked on…anybody who doesn’t feel comfortable in their own skin, anybody…everybody...it goes out to everybody. it goes out to all of you! and the reason it goes out to all of you is because every single one of you is fucking beautiful. i’ve noticed that there’s a lot of people in the world trying to tell other people that they’re not beautiful. and i don’t stand for that, i think that’s bullshit. each and every single one of you are gorgeous, believe in yourselves. this song goes out to all of you. it’s called: therapy"― alex gaskarth 
 
"when i'm with her, i can feel myself getting better. it's like she's picking up broken pieces of me and putting me back together, and i don't even know she's doing it. we never talk about it. we don't go to therapy. she just loves me and that's enough"― ilona andrews, magic bleeds
 
"the truth is, i didn’t need therapy; i just needed to feel loved and know that someone out there craved my attention" ― robert m drake  
 
"i think i like my brain best
in a bar fight with my heart.
i think i like myself a little broken,
with rough edges, a little harder
to grasp. i like poetry
better than therapy anyway.
the poems never judge me
for healing wrong" ― clementine von radics, mouthful of forevers 
 
"the two most important phrases in therapy are “notice that” and “what happens next?” once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts" ― bessel a. van der kolk, the body keeps the score
 
"it doesn’t matter how many years go by, how much therapy i embark on, how much i try to achieve that elusive thing known as perspective, which is supposed to put all past wrongs into their rightful and diminished place, that happy place where all the talk is of lessons learned and inner peace. no one will ever understand the potency of my memories, which are so solid and vivid that i don’t need a psychiatrist to tell me they are driving me crazy. my subconscious has not buried them, my superego has not restrained them. they are front and center, they are going on right now" ― elizabeth wurtzel, prozac nation  
 
"thirty seconds of pure awareness is a long time, especially after a lifetime of escaping yourself at all costs" ― kiera van gelder, the buddha and the borderline
 
“art can permeate the very deepest part of us, where no words exist" ― eileen miller, the girl who spoke with pictures: autism through art  
 
"to feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. to have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the appreciation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be" ― george santayana, the science of beauty
 
"i generally prefer to go into places where no one else wants to go. i find that in contemplating the natural world my pleasure is greater if there are not too many others contemplating it with me, at the same time" ― edward abbey, desert solitaire
 
"i’ve come to realize the power of reflection, the kind that comes only from meditation. synchronizing ourselves with the awe-inspiring environment around us is indeed a tremendous feat that, at some point or another, we must all undergo, alone yet together" ― kayla severson, nature's first gem Is green
 
"i must stay alone and know that i am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full; i have to surrender myself to what encircles me, i have to merge with my clouds and rocks in order to be what i am. solitude is indispensable for my dialogue with nature" ― caspar david friedrich, german landscape painter 
 
"the contemplation of nature means appreciating the 'thisness' of particular things, persons, and moments. we are to see each stone, each leaf, each blade of grass, each frog, each human face, for what it truly is, in all the distinctness and intensity of its specific being...true mysticism, says livier clement, is to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary" ― kallistos ware, the orthodox way
 
"we must seek out that which invigorates us, and engage it at all fronts. art, music, literature, conversation, travel, nature—whatever it is that keeps the fire of our spirit bright—we must build our life around it; for, without our passions, the years ahead become a burden rather than a gift" ― l.m. browning, seasons of contemplation: a book of midnight meditations

"what worries me is, what if this guy is really the one for me and i just haven't had enough therapy yet for me to be comfortable with having found him" ― carrie fisher, postcards from the edge
 
"speak little. embrace silence. learn the words of eternity. go beyond your tangled thoughts and find the splendor of paradise" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved"
 
contemplate and look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved  
 
"put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the sunshine in your heart. let go of thinking" ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"true therapy--the art of healing, comes from nature, not from a doctor" ― bodhinku, dawn after the darkness   
 
this composition is comprised of a single exposure, captured at 6:18pm on 10-08-2020 and was not merged with any other exposures like i often do with my photography to achieve the perfect lighting of the entire scene...
 
in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and balance the light in my composition in-camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter...for this exposure, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i used two progreyusa filters along with the progrey g-120z magnetic holder in the capture of this composition...
 
this is a single frame semi-long exposure taken a few minutes before sunset in the wine country of temecula valley (the grape vines pictured here had just been recently harvested by lorimar winery for their newest cabernet savignon vintage)...being a quasi-long exposure of 11 seconds, i needed the great set of filters and filter holder from progreyusa to help beautifully block down the light a few stops. and as with all longer exposures, a stable and sturdy tripod is an absolute necessity in order to keep the exposured image sharp in the places i wanted sharpness (the grape vines and foreground) and permit for accurate motion blur for anything moving in the image (the clouds)...for this i used my faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica tripod 70" carbon fiber tripod, because it is sturdy, tall, and perfectly compact for travelling
 
for this impression, i used two progreyusa filters...i chose to use the 3.0nd progrey antarctica filter and a to slow down the sunsetting light 10 stops and permit this exposure time of 11 seconds at f/11 to create the softening/smoothing effects on these clouds on such a windless evening, plus having a longer exposure helps to saturate all the green, pinks, and blue colors, in camera a lot more than would be possible with a short exposure time...combined with a 1.2 gnd progrey aurora filter in an inverted position to help balance down the sky in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it, to stop down the glowing sun part of image in lower right corner of image 4 additional stops, as this portion of the composition was considerably brighter than the upper left portion of the image, about 4 stops brighter than the rest of the darker parts of the image composition...along with the progrey g-120z magnetic holder to hold both of these two progrey filters and secure them to my nikon d810 mounted with a nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens (shot at 60mm in a portrait orientation)... 
 
i wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica 70" carbon fiber tripod, in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhinku, if nothing else
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty. stop the world. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhinku, my world
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary" ― bodhinku, my diary  
 
i leave you today wishing that bright joy and spiritual peace fill your life...imploring you to make every moment count, no matter what, always and forever, for that is the only thing that truly matters...    
 
and above all else,
i hope this message and impression find you well.
 
namaste,
bodhi
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