Hiya! Welcome to Erica’s Adventures with Calming Captures.
Discover beautiful photography and feel tranquil. Learn about travel and photography tips, my mental health journey, be healed by nature, and become inspired to take your own travel adventures. Subscribe to get the newsletter every Friday!
📸 Who is Erica?
It’s me. The owner and founder of Calming Captures. I’m a travel photographer capturing the beauty of the United States natural landscapes and historic beauty. My goal is to encourage people to get outside and enjoy the healing effects of nature.
Originally a city suburban girl, I grew up in the butt of the theme park capitol of Orlando, Florida. Thankfully, I lived in a cute little suburban town called St. Cloud, Florida that still had some of the old Florida vibes when I was growing up. I was your typical barefoot Floridian kid who loved looking at gators in the pond, picking oranges, and playing outside until the street lights came on. Once the internet came into my life I easily lost touch with nature like many others. My nature obsession has always been in me but it wasn’t until after college and when I experienced depressing life circumstances that I really understood and found the healing benefits of nature. It’s now a passion I want to share with others.
🌄 How does nature landscapes help your mental health?
The book "Chatter" discusses that viewing landscape photography releases stress hormones, and words of affirmation help you feel more present. The use of affirmations can help change your mindset, and while absorbing the natural beauty, you learn to appreciate the simple things and the beauty of life surrounding you. There are many studies that report being in nature lowers cortisol levels, lowers blood pressure, and creates an overall feeling of peace. There is many benefits with forrest bathing, grounding, nature retreats, so it makes sense that looking at nature helps too! While I was working as a video producer(an extremely stressful job), I printed out my Utah Milky Way landscapes and bought a coaster that said, "Be the good." When I felt stressed from a task, I took a minute to read the affirmation, recite it, and observe my photography. Suddenly, a wave of cortisol was released from my body, and I could finish my tasks without having a mental breakdown.
🌌 How Calming Captures was created:
I set a goal to travel to Utah and capture the Milky Way at an International Dark Sky park. Once I was in Utah, I realized how much stress and anxiety I lost while seeing various beautiful and unique landscapes. After that, I was hooked and wanted to focus on traveling and photography more in my life. Cue Calming Captures is where I can share my landscape photography and the beauty in the world! Every time someone views my photography they feel a sense of calm. I want others to feel what I feel at the moment when capturing natural landscapes. Calm, Peace, beauty, awe, and overall feeling stress-free.
📸 Check out my Photography!
💻 Products that inspire and encourage you!
My goal for these products is to help you be more productive, relieve stress, anxiety, and be your next step towards your mental health journey.
Meet the founder, photographer, and travel enthusiast, Erica! Learn more about her perspective and journey to mental health with her love for nature.
