Lisa Leigh, Age 56
I’m so excited about my new project, the Diversity in Yoga (DIY) Photo Database! Every time someone sends me a photo, I smile. Since I announced the project in my post New Project: Diversity in Yoga Photo Database, I’ve made a lot of progress in putting the database together. Although the site isn’t up yet (I will make a LOUD announcement when it is), I thought it would be fun today to share some of the photos I’ve received so far. My hope is that it will inspire you to donate some photos of your own and/or pass my request on to other people. See the end of this post for information about the types of photos I’m looking for and how to submit them to me.
I’m looking for quality photos by amateurs and professionals alike for which the photographer gives explicit permission that the photo can be used and reproduced freely by anyone. The photos can’t have captions but they can have watermarks on them, as long as the watermark doesn’t include the copyright sign (you are giving up the copyright).For content, I’m looking for high-quality photos of people of color, people with a variety of body types, people with disabilities, and obviously older people doing any kind of yoga pose (or meditating) with or without props. If you (or your subject) don’t fit into any of those categories, you can donate a photo of someone doing some kind of accessible yoga pose. All photographs should meet the following criteria:1. Be a digital photograph (or scan) in a reasonably high resolution and in focus.
2. Have a reasonably attractive physical surrounding (either outside or inside). Urban environments are as good as nature shots.
3. No messy rooms, even if we sometimes do yoga in messy rooms. So put away the plastic water bottles, extra yoga props, etc. before taking the shot. These distract from the subject of the photo. (Mobility aids of any kind, of course, are fine, as our pets or children.)
4. If the photo is a single person doing a yoga pose, the alignment must be one that I consider to be healthy.
5. Have the person or people doing yoga be the main subject of the photo rather than the background (so no tiny people in front of large mountains, etc.). And no body parts can be cropped off, unless in an artistic fashion.
6. Be well lit and aesthetically pleasingIf you have already sent me a photo of yourself that I’ve used on Facebook or on the blog, you can resend the same photo to me to include in the database but you need to explicitly “donate” it to this project in your email as described next. To donate a photo, send it to me via email at nina at wanderingmind dot com with one of the two following permissions to include it in the DIY photo database. Please copy the exact statement from this post. Thanks!"I, your name here, affirm that I own the rights to this photo and that I will permanently give up those rights to allow this photo to be shared and used freely by the public. I also affirm that I have received permission from the subject(s) of this photo to do so.""I, your name here, affirm that I have received the agreement of the creator of this photo, their name here, that he or she willingly gives up the rights to the photo permanently to allow it to be shared and used freely by the public. I also affirm that we have received permission from the subject(s) of this photo to do so." Thanks so much for your help! Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and Twitter ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Boundor your local bookstore.
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