Clear Mind Photos
(by Philip Goddard)

...is a new online resource of photographs by myself to broaden horizons - both physically and figuratively - and to uplift people, deepen their awareness and further their self realization and becoming altogether more complete people. This resource, although being developed with the intent of being uplifting, carries no New-Agey 'mystical' angle but simply masses of connection with what is beautiful in Nature and tends to inspire - though inevitably that does include the odd 'atmosphere' views that have presented themselves to me and which some people would feel to be 'mystical' or even, in a few instances, almost 'Gothic'.

I regard the surroundings of a nature subject as being an important part of the picture, and so I usually do not aim to fill the photo with just the primary subject. I also aim, as much as possible, to get some sense of space in each photo - very often actually with some blue sky or/and sea as part of the background. A nice example of this is the photo of the banded snail, Cepaea hortensis, which fills only a small portion of the photo, but amongst the waterside vegetation and with glimpses of blue sky it makes a beautiful picture (well, to my eyes!).

Similarly, my scenery photos have a 'natural' quality about them. That is, they do not try to be self consciously 'arty' as so many photos in camera club exhibitions and competitions do. I prefer my subjects to 'speak for themselves' without self-consciously fussy composition getting in the way.

This photo collection is still young, having started in late May 2007, so will continue to grow. I'm being very picky and discarding the majority of photos that I take, even though many of those are pretty good by normal standards. I do retain a very small proportion of photos with less than the normal degree of sharpness that I accept, but only where this is justified because of an overall great appeal of the particular image, where in practice the greatest clarity of detail would normally not be an issue anyway.

At the moment I am offering the photos only on CD-ROM or as downloads - not prints nor posters - because I have nowhere in my current small abode to store any stock of such things and the requisite packing materials. Quite likely sometime in the future I shall be living in a larger abode where I could expand the business and offer prints and posters of selected photos.

Approaches invited from print / poster publishers

I welcome approaches from any bona-fide publishers of posters / prints of photos who wish to make deals with me to use some of the photos that are on this site.

Who are these photos for?

They are aimed at anyone who wants to tune into the beauties and inspiration of Nature in its broadest sense, and wild / inspiring natural landscapes. When this project first came into my mind I was actually seeking a few specific types of nature / landscape photo simply to put prints of them up in specific positions in my living space as Feng Shui enhancements, to help make my living space more harmonious and healthy for me.

So, in developing this project I've been keeping in mind to give a fair amount of emphasis to the sorts of pictures that would make similar living space enhancements for other people. You might for example benefit from a photo of particular clouds in a blue sky (whether they be awesome thunderclouds or serene tufted cirrus) in a particular position in your living space - or a photo of foliage in a woodland setting, or a beautiful magnified expanse of elaborately structured orange lichen, or a Burnet moth on a purple flowerhead, or a paragliding or surfing scene... I could go on an on about the range of photo subjects on this site which could be enhancements for your living space.

Free photos for appropriate organizations

Copies of suitable-resolution photos without my watermarks are generally subject to a fee, but this is a free resource for certain types of organization provided they are non-commercial and non-Governmental - specifically:

• Nature conservation, including local or regional naturalists' trusts;
• Protecting our environment;
• Promotion of walking / hiking (such as the Ramblers' Association and the South West Coast Path Association);
• Advancement of true self realization;
• Certain charities covering other fields, assessed on an individual basis (please note that I am not making a blanket waiver for charities generally).

It is a general condition of any such 'free' use of a photo that it carries a credit in every instance of publication, which includes the title or/and the address of this site in addition to my own name. However, I am open to possibly negotiating a slightly different arrangement if required in some specific case.

I would thus be getting a little advertising as a return for my giving free use of the particular photos.