When I started my daily walks last year after eyesurgery I gave myself one assignment: take pictures during these walks in order to prevent looking only 2 meters in front of my own feet. People tend to look down while they walk and taking pictures forces you to walk straight up, look around or up and thus take notice of your surroundings. And it doesn’t matter what kind of camera you use, a smartphone, compactcamera or SLR-camera, simply take pictures. I participated a few times in a 7 day photochallenge and as the organising professional photographer said: a well composed photo taken with a smartphone can have more impact than a technically perfect photo made with an advanced supercamera. Since I am a hobby photographer and not a technically skilled one I took either my compactcamera (a Nikon Coolpix) or my iPhone 6 (meanwhile replaced by an iPhone 8plus) with me.
Taking pictures during my walks was the best decision I (almost) ever made. They contributed to the development of my addiction to walking, and made me appreciate my living environment so much more than before, making me want to explore more of it, and each time challenging me to walk further than the time before.
Take a walk! 