A decade or more ago, a friend recommended a hiking and photography tool to me — Joyspotter’s Guide — which is simply twelve prompts for things to watch for whilst out walking. This thought-provoking and inspiring document was created by the oh-so-delightful Ingrid Fetell Lee, whose website is Aesthetics of Joy. Not only does she make the guide freely available to everyone, but she encourages her readers to spread the word.
A group of my photography friends and I started using Ms. Lee’s Joyspotter’s Guide on our walks and hikes at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, the goal being to capture an image that fit each of the twelve prompts. To a soul, each one of us found it extremely helpful. We all have our photography peculiarities; perhaps you’re a birder and are always looking up, perhaps you’re a wildflower enthusiast and are always looking down. Perhaps you approach your hike like a rucking march — all focus on reaching the destination where you’ll best find the wildlife species you’re after. For each of us, being mindful of finding all twelve objects was a game-changer and had us searching for, and shooting things that were far removed from our usuals.
Ever since that first summer, I’ve kept a copy of the guide in my camera bag. I try to create a blog post around it about once each month during the summer. One of my favourite Joyspotting adventures each year is the spring episode…. Watch this space, the first post will be coming very soon.
If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that joy actually is all around†
’Til next time, y’all…
Note: Today’s images are all from previous Joyspotting outings.
†Richard Curtis from his screenplay “Love Actually” — spoken by the character David, the Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant). The actual line is: “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around,”
Enchanting Essex 
Leave a comment