The Importance of Retreat (and the story of how this channel began) 

I'm extremely glad you found your voice. I watch some channels for entertainment, I watch you for content.

I found your channel because of that video of the landscape photography. A major aspect of your videos I like the most over everything else is that there's fluidity in your speech, you don't cut clips and put them together like nothing happens, I hate when there's a notable jump inbetween lines, I don't know if you get what I'm saying but I really do appreciate that style of editing. What you do is say a line, cut, zoom in and talk again, cut widen to normal and speak again, cut zoom in and so on so forth

PLEASE PLEASE continue your retreat adventure!!! This is a gift to our humanity! thank you and I hope to join you on your retreat journey in the near future!!

Letting the thoughts finish - oh yes!! As someone who works with people, having a moment when your voice is limited for whatever reason, becomes a place of adapting to find the forum where you can bring what sits within. Thanks for sharing the insights. I also hope you get to pick up that retreat idea again soon . . . . .

When I'm watching multiple RU-vid videos in one sitting I always save yours for last...they are calming, informative, insightful, and they usually leave me with a plan or goal for myself. Thank you Sean for that. And the retreat is a great idea and plan.

Taking your advice, Sean, and leaving on a first retreat soon. Thanks for this and so many other videos.

I really needed this video today, thank you! Funnily enough your Snowdonia video was actually the first video of yours I watched after Thomas Heaton recommended your content a few years back :) I always go back to it every now and then to rewatch it just to recharge and be inspired (also Be You and Introvert). Thanks Sean, your films have made such a positive difference in my life! Keep up the truly amazing and authentic content! Thank you. A fan from Cape Town

Hi Sean, I love your videos and look forward to new uploads. As always, you are inspiring and I appreciate your honesty and transparency. You have a gift and your voice makes a huge difference. Glad you continued with you channel 💕☺️

I always find value in your videos and they always seem to be so timely. I think your retreat idea is great and though I would love to join it's not in my cards, but I will be taking your advice and creating a retreat if my own. Jason

This is what I needed. I have a few days off before I have to do something that will upset me and I was just going to catch up with the "to do list" but now I'll find some time for myself first. Thank you Sean.

Wauw, inspiring video's, all of them. Autentic work, with great depth in your videos. Would love to come to one of your retreats.

Sean, though things turned out to be different than what you planned ('Man proposes...God disposes,' a religious mind would say and accept the 'what' without any truck with the 'why' whatsoever. However, a spiritual mind connects with the 'why' churning the 'what' behind the scenes and knows that while you ask God for what you want, God blesses you with what you need.), your influence to do and leave something positive in the world as your legacy has increased ten-fold. There you would have changed some in a congregation of a few hundred may be. Here, you are changing the world of thousands and millions. Stay blessed!

Excellent video and very timely for me. I know, like you, I need to distance myself from all the noise.

Thank you Sean. Recently found your channel from James Popsys recommendation! Binge watching your content Great inspirational content. Many thanks and eager to watch your growth

I remember the vlog in Snowden well Sean. I had subscribed to your channel and was enjoying your videos when the Wales one came up and what an interesting and inspiring video it was especially as you say you weren’t a landscape photographer. As you know I am still trying to figure out what it is that I want from my own photography, mind you it’s still early days yet (50 odd years) but it doesn’t matter too much. I am enjoying the journey so frigging much and when I have time away from the craft I feel I come back to it with new ideas and a fresher approach to what I want. Any of this making any sense. Lol Thank you my friend. Tony Potters Bar England

Oh that retreat!

That's really inspiring, thank you!

Having a "retreat" somewhat lines up with what I had experienced last month. For ten days last month, I photographed/worked the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (plus 40 hour work week), and it was hell. I was exhausted, and that had adversely affected my photography. I just couldn't "see" images as the festival drew to a close. Fortunately I had a few winners on the earlier days. Anyway, I couldn't look at those photographs for three weeks after the Fiesta. While I didn't have the opportunity for a retreat, taking a three week break from my own photographic work was good enough. I was able to pull the photos up on Lightroom, look at them with renewed creative spirit, and proudly publish the images onto my blog. Nowadays, I am thinking about retreating next month just from my daily life; just as I had done last year - twice. Stress has been building up again as I try to evaluate what I had accomplished this year. My favorite places to retreat to have been either the Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park, or White Sands Nat'l Monument. Looking across the desolations brings peace to me. And now writing about this makes me want to go even sooner now! Thanks for making this video, Mr. Tucker.

Hey there brother, just want to say thank you for the videos you make. Lately I have been feeling a bit lost and your videos have really helped me find a focus and a hope I’ve been needing. Like yourself, I use to be a pastor but I moved out of state. Hope you are doing good Sean! Btw, you dont really mention it here but are you still in the faith or did you kinda lose that when you were stripped of your position? Not to judge, just out of curiosity.

Hi Sean Have you given any thought to podcasting. I’ve found them great to listen to over a long journey and you insightful thoughts would be a great fit. Jer

Your an interesting chap.

I’d love to go but the irony is...I’m to busy with work and family commitments(pressures)

Hi Sean, where in Toscany is this beautiful house?

Honestly speaking...due to my Job and life with responsibilities...watching your videos with headphones on is one kind of retreat for me.

Always excited when I see that you have a new upload. Love the honesty and transparency in your videos.

I would go to your church every Sunday

For us introverts, retreats and alone time are even more important.

One of the most brilliant minds in photography ... and life.

"Showing me the lies I tell about my self and get me to dig a bit deeper".... these videos of yours are such a brease of fresh air and honesty. Thank you.

Great video Sean, it’s been wonderful following along on your journey. The retreat in Italy sounds amazing and something I’d love to come along to. Such a fab idea.

Hey Sean! Gosh, I cannot express how bizarre your timing in uploading this is. This video just scream out the reason why I've recently resigned from the studio I worked under here in the Philippines. I'm a junior in the concept of Photography and I've yet find my style and it's one of the reason why I left. Though, the crew I worked with is great, I was never given a chance to... bloom, so to say, while I was with them. I felt repressed while I work with them, but I honestly cannot blame them. The studio is still small in both place and crew after all and the industry had been demanding that it couldn't provide me a proper time to find my own practice to focus on. So, I left in hope for a retreat. I've yet find the direction I wanna explore -I'm unable because my lack of camera or lens -but I find your channel a start to learn more about the industry. I look forward for your advise about photography and I'm really thankful that you share these types of video and I will continue to look forward for your uploads! Love from the Philippines.

If you truly have the heart of a minister, you'll minister through whatever you do. I enjoy your sharing.

Watching this video was like going on a retreat myself. Being true to yourself, finding your own voice, encouraging others, being vulnerable.

thanks for this. been struggling for years now on how to find my voice. lost passion on doing things that i used to love. this video is very inspiring and very comforting. thanks again. new subscriber here.

nobody: Symeon: I'll climb on this post and stay there for the rest of my life.

Can't quite express without oversharing how much I needed this video. Best of luck with your venture. I'm sure one of your retreats would do me wonders.

Thanks for such an important and inspirering video. I can follow your message all the way. In fact, I'm the photographer ... who became a priest :-)

Thanks Sean for another insightful video!!! =) I can't agree enough as we are not machines but humans beings after all and we all need balance in every aspects in our lives. Please don't get offended but even though you not preaching the gospel anymore or a believer. I truely believe God is still using your talent and gift to reach out to people like me. I've always had a interest in taking photos and eventually you get tired of using your phone. Purely it's just convenient but ever since I came across your RU-vid channel and I've pretty much watched every episode and the more I watch the more I want to pursue this passion / hobby. I recently saved enough money to purchase my 1st DSLR camera, a bday gift to myself. To tell you truth, I love every moment of it and thanks to your channel and the help with of my friends with the same passion for photography. I'm learning to master my camera. Thank you...

Wow!...love watching your videos...very inspirational....I think your journey is helping me to give myself permission to be me....if that makes sense?...👍🌈

Excellent video. This concept rings true with me. I hope to make an opportunity to join you on one of your retreats. Tuscany is on my travel photography “to shoot” list but we’ll see how things line up. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽. Great idea.

Thank you for sharing. I find your videos very informative and engaging. I've recently had a similar idea. I'm still very new on my photography journey, still getting comfortable with artistic expression, finding my 'style' etc... Thank you for sharing your journey, I really enjoy your work

It's so sad that your church couldn't deal with your honesty. I believe that God isn't scared of our doubts. He welcomes all of us and already knows what is in our minds. I hope you still have your faith.

I came to your channel originally for the photography, but find myself watching more of the philosophical videos...great content, really enjoy listening!

I’m amazed that the church didn’t like you sharing doubt. Along the way I read something that allowed me to feel confident in my faith for the first time ever.. and that was: “The key to faith is doubt” ... It’s a concept to me that now seems obvious, but I remember it blew my mind, and since then I feel confident in my own faith & doubt and how they work together.

Great video and help Sean, I am new to your channel and really enjoying it... Love you simplicity and honesty in your words. I am trying hard with my landscape photography and really love it... Of course I have a lot to learn though.

I am a big fan and find your videos very inspiring, but this one really explains where you source all of the depth and vulnerability in your work. Thanks so much for sharing and preaching in a way that makes most sense to you and is a gift for people like me!

This the first of you videos that I've seen. And now I've subscribed. I believe in the power of taking time to refocus a settle your mind. Great stuff here

Two french writers for your intro... great video for sure.

Sean you are not only a great photographer but also an amazing speaker! I love your videos!

Sean mate i love the way you speak and your overall approach! I hope we meet someday. Cheers and please do keep up the excellent work!

It was because of that video, that helped me back into my journey of photography (after a 2 yr break). I was starting all over again. This time I've been focusing on enjoying the journey, shooting for myself instead of others and not to only focus on getting to the end goal. My work has changed and improved in ways I didn't expect. So, thank you for helping with that.

Another resourceful video..thank you Mr. Story Teller 😊

Perhaps people don't turn to photography just to get a picture. Perhaps they turn to photography for something more. I like your idea of retreat.

What they said. My own feelings and thoughts would not fit in this comment box.

Thank you Sean! Your videos are so inspiring and thought provoking!

I really appreciate how vulnerable you are in your videos and how honest you are with your viewers and yourself. And we really need more creators like that. You’re very inspiring and your storytelling is amazing. Really glad to have stumbled upon your channel a few years ago. Hopefully I can attend one of your retreats in the near future. Cheers!

Your videos are like mini retreats for me. Thank you

Great video. This is a big help for someone like me who is just starting out in the world of creatives. Though I already have a sketch in my mind how I'd like my future contents to be, a retreat might give me a better and clearer understanding how to create those visionary contents into things that can be seen by the physical eyes.

A wonderful video, Sean. Just what I needed today.

Outstanding video! One of your best! Thanks

I’m watching this video two years since it was posted, and I can only imagine what a wonderful retreat it was for those in attendance. It grieves me that the Church was not able to celebrate your gifts of authenticity. I can wholeheartedly relate to your experience as a priest. After 30 years of active parish ministry, some of it very toxic, I decided to retire. Photography became a contemplative refuge for me during my years as a parish priest. Now, I’ve become intentional about pursuing and sharing a spirituality unencumbered by institutional expectations. Thank you!🙏🏽

When I was living in Vietnam I'd go on retreat to a Buddhist monastery in Pak Chong District, Thailand three or four times a year and it was an amazing reset on life. A week of vegan meals, mornings in meditation, afternoon naps, a hour or so of "work meditation" then the rest if the day to photograph rural Thailand with my X100T. Between 9pm and until 15 minutes in to breakfast no one spoke. I spent those days wearing simple brown Buddhist lay-person clothes like most others. It was very peaceful and those resets made me a better photographer, better writer and a better person. At about $20 USD per night and flights less than $200 USD [from Vietnam] it was also an amazing bargain. Invest in yourself and take a retreat. Since we're in age of social distancing a nice retreat could be a week of camping by yourself.

This is a great addition to your channel / business! It's authentically you.

Looks like an incredible opportunity Sean, and the first may be the most special. I used to produce similar retreats a ranch near the Redwood Forrest near the Northern California border with where anyone looking for insights into life and their challenges (often Including mental health and spiritual professionals also looking for insights) could come a share a few days, and the outcomes were always profoundly enriching and beneficial to all. I do miss the sort of exchange you are offering and much wish I could attend.

I would love to connect with you and just talk for hours... What a beautiful being you are🦋 I am sending you love

Sean (or maybe anyone else who has experience), would you say there is a limit to how long retreat should take? Weeks, months? Would you say it's bad to have a too long retreat? Btw, as always much needed inspiring video, thank you.

I’m very glad to see you mention that landscape video. That video is how I originally found your channel, while searching for landscape photography tutorials. I was hooked after that. Since then I have learned a small amount about photography from you, but a whole lot about life and myself, and I mean that in the best way possible. Thanks, Sean.

Well, you didn't stop talking to people. Only face to face maybe, because here we are listening to you sharing your doubts, your hopes, and trying to get us to become a better person. I found your channel because of photography, but soon I found out it is so much more that. Thank you for your insights, counseling. Love the channel.

I'm off to Hanoi for a week in January. I'm a twin so have never gone anywhere without my bother but this time I am going on my own. I'm really looking forward to spending time on my own with my camera. Best of luck with the retreat. A great idea and the logical step in your journey.

Sean. Really enjoy your videos. May I state that you're the Anthony Boudain of Photography. Keep up the authentic self and great videos!

Amazing! Thanks for sharing! Love it!

In the good path.. Introspect, introspect, introspect...

Hi Sean, I don't remember how I found your channel, but now look forward to it and enjoy your subjects, or topics very much. I find that listening to some of your chats brings me a kind of peace as well as provoking thought; this was one of those times. While I cannot attend your retreat I do have here in Colorado many places to go and get away even for a few hours and it makes a difference. I always bring a camera with me in case I decide to see if I can create something in all this beauty God has provided. Thank you very much Sean, you are to me a very kind,thoughtful and talented man. God bless you and I will look forward to your next video. Joe

Loved this! I wish I could speak so fluently and naturally

Not been on a retreat as well I have migraines so spend a lot of time alone and inside my own head. During this time sometimes I can listen to music and watch great you tube videos like this one. Due to my sight loss my photography is my kind of therapy and I know without it I would be in a worse place mentally

Your words and message is profoundly real and relivant. This video hits a very sensitive spot inside me. Thank you for being you and allowing your voice to reach the ears and souls that need to hear. Blessings to you from Albuquerque NM.

Man, I remember I started to following you when you only got 7 videos on youtube. I'm a product shot/e-commerce/corporate portrait photographer with 20 years of experience, and I always like to research and look for new techniques, and I found you because of your "How to make product shots of big furniture" video. Some years later, here I am enjoying this video. I'm glad you stuck around and kept giving and creating awesome content.

You continue to inspire and motivate people! Thank you, sincerely

Absolutely correct content meaning lot ...

Really enjoy the authenticity of your channel.

Inspirational message. Thanks!

Poetic RU-vidr ...love you Sean.

i'm glad i found your channel, and have been going through every new content, which really helps me stay motivated and on the right path.

Sean, you truly are one of the greats. Not only as a photographer, but as an artist of many talents, someone with a beautiful mind, and great skill in sharing your journey. Thank you for this video, and all the others.

Awesome vlog and very through words

Thank you for putting into words what I’ve been feeling. Hanging threads of so many unfinished thoughts and ideas...so true. I’ll have to schedule my own time away. 🙏

Thanks for the insightful video, Sean. I've been watching your videos since the beginning. To my knowledge, they are the only ones that give us the same feeling one has when genuinely exchanging ideas with a friend. No artifacts. Not trying to match someone else's expectations. With that in mind, I dare to mention here a book, which you might find as compelling and inspiring as I did: "Sculpting in Time", by Andrei Tarkovsky, a Russian movie director who looked at the art of story telling through image in a very particular way: from a very humbling, human and emotional place. If his name is unknown to you today, I have the feeling you will remember it frequently after reading his book. His movies are pure image poetry.

Your are my inspiration as always !!!

You are so inspiring! I'm glad you made this change, then as a pastor, I would had probably never met your voice. You are right that we need to create spaces to reconnect with us and don't let us go weird with the drive of the society and it's pressure. Thank you for sharing always your thoughts with us!

this channel has one of the most positive comment sections on youtube. i love it!

I always look forward to you posting a new video, This was the best one that you have done for a while, Sound advice, The retreat sounds wonderful, Unfortunately I am absolutely terrified of flying :-( so the retreat would be a very stressful one for me, knowing I had to fly home at the end of it, If you ever do a similar event in the uk, i would be there like a shot.. Great video, Always love your openness and honesty. Thanks..

thank you, love your channel, so genuine so true about this insane photography journey and life most of us are all on.

I am so glad that a person like you is able to express his thoughts and philosophy. Thank you for the courage and inspiration you give to the world and me.

I haven’t finished watching the entire video yet, but I can tell you are a real person and not a fake like so many out there are…the thing you said about your ministry work struck me…I can tell you have a heart for it, and you are ministering right now, through your photography and channel…thank you! Have you ever thought about starting your own ministry? I too see so many things wrong with the way church has become an organization instead of what God wants it to be, which is an organism….my current goal is shooting landscapes and my favorite, wildflowers….I would love to see your wildflower photos if you have any….thanks for sharing your experiences and insights….I get inspiration from your channel…

Sean, you've officially became my favorite RU-vidr. I stand behind you %100. I'm looking into doing the retreat in 2020, if tickets are still available when I'm ready to purchase.

Very great video man. Much respect

How messy my journey may be, I'll be honest with myself. Glad to hear such a beautiful video. Keep motivating us and God bless you Sean

Well that was interesting!..I have been thoroughly enjoying your Vlogs for a few months. You certainly have your own style. The thoughtfulness and manner that you present on screen is obviously enjoyed by myself and many others. Now I know where some of that comes from. Great work, thank you for sharing 👍

Daring to stay honest and vulnerable is extremely hard but also essential. Tool have a nice way of saying it here - /watch?v=EgDwkSlCwHw (no troll or bait link, it's really in tone with this video)

Thank you for telling your story, im kinda in the same place as you - im studying philosophy and the most important thing to me is to get in touch with people, to go into the depth and show them who they are by questioning all assumption. The nakedness of the human is weird, it feels much more true, because we usually hide ourselves. When somebody opens you can enjoy everything as one doing. These are healing moments for me, because it transcends the usual feeling of me being cutoff from the universe. And to share this with people is the biggest thing we can achieve, because it needs nothing. Thank you Sean, I'm really grateful for your content! It helps me on a personal level feeling less alone in a society based on feeling cutoff and isolated