Martha Brettschneider - Writer & Photographer

23/05/2026

Sure it rained, but who cares when you are set up in a castle at the National Botanic and Sculpture Garden in Chantilly, VA, surrounded by nature and other creatives?

Sunday’s forecast looks great for our festival hours! Come say hi and explore the magical private gardens, Hobbit Hill, Kyoto Gardens, and other mind-blowing creations.

Shout out to my new friend Miriam Cutelis the artist who brought “my” tree painting to the world (see the final frame). And thank you for not being daunted by the weather forecast today. We all had a blast! Can’t wait for Day 2 tomorrow!

Tickets at https://nationalbotanicgarden.org/art-in-nature-festival-26

21/05/2026

With El Niño and La Niña doing their unpredictable tango this season, we've been riding some wild weather patterns here in northern Virginia. As someone who has been facilitating nature-based retreats for years, I know how much weather plays with people's heads when it comes to committing to outdoor experiences.

The good news: today's 10-day forecast shows a picture-perfect outlook for May 29 in Vienna, where the hands-on practice day of our three-part Sage Photography experience at Meadowlark Botanic Gardens is happening. As of this writing, next Friday is looking sunny with a high of 81 degrees.

Here's how the three sessions break down:

Session 1 – Introductory Zoom: Tuesday, May 26, 7:00–8:00 pm ET
Session 2 – In-person retreat day: Friday, May 29 at Meadowlark Botanic Gardens, Vienna, VA
Session 3 – Integration session: Tuesday, June 2, 7:00–8:30 pm ET (in-person in Vienna, VA or join us via Zoom)
Weather only touches one of those three sessions — and that one is looking beautiful.

If you've been drawn to the idea of a day to step away from your day-to-day stressors and open your curiosity to creative exploration and deeper self-awareness, Melissa and I would love to have you with us.

Earlier this week, we spent an afternoon at Meadowlark scouting the grounds — finding the quiet corners and hidden pockets of beauty that will anchor each part of our retreat day. Simply surrendering to Meadowlark's magical embrace while doing that work left us both nourished and beaming with gratitude that we get to do this for a living.

Forecasts can shift, of course. But intentions require action while the window is open. We still have a couple of discounted tickets available, and we'd love for you to claim one before the moment passes.
Link in comments.

19/05/2026

The most meaningful reviews aren't about the photography. They're about how participants felt leaving.

Restored. Awake. Inspired.

The Sage Photography Retreat is more than a workshop. It's an invitation to develop the art of seeing — a practice that extends far beyond the camera and into the way you move through your life.

We all carry habitual ways of looking that quietly limit what we notice, what we create, and how we connect with the world around us. Positive Intelligence skills help us intercept those patterns — opening the mind to fresh perspective, deeper awareness, and the kind of presence that makes meaningful images possible.

In the company of like-minded journeyers, you'll slow down, sharpen your eye, and discover how the simple act of paying attention unlocks new layers of meaning in the everyday.

This is a three-part experience designed for depth and integration. A pre-retreat Zoom session on May 26 sets the foundation. The daylong immersion at Meadowlark Botanic Gardens on May 29 brings it to life. Catered lunch by True Foods Kitchen will nourish the journey. A post-retreat integration session on June 2 helps you carry what you've discovered back into your everyday life.

What you take home isn't just better images. It's a more awake, more creative, more connected version of yourself. All skill levels and types of cameras are welcome, including smartphones.

We still have a couple of open spots. The experience begins next week. If you've been wondering whether this is for you, consider this your sign. Link to learn more and register is in the comments.

18/05/2026

My heart is full!

Thank you to the UUCF-Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax for opening your space and walls to my work. This community gets it — the stillness, the looking, the listening inward. It meant everything.

Yesterday I invited people to stand in front of each piece with full focus and simply notice what happened in their bodies. To use the photographs as meditation anchors. And they did. Beautifully.

Presence is the thread connecting everything under Damselwings — the photography, the mindfulness offerings, the coaching. This is what it's all for.

The Sage Photography Experience at Meadowlark Gardens is next week. A few openings remain — link is in the comments below if you feel called.

The work will be on display at UUCF in the sanctuary and music room for the next month so if you missed the reception, you still have time to visit and sit with the pieces yourself. If you'd like to meet me there to take you through it, just message me.

You can also explore the full collection and bring a piece home at damselwingsphotography.com. Free shipping for the duration of the show.

Special thanks to Shona D’Cruz, Blue Hyacinth Mosaics for recommending my work and coming to the show, as well as Janet Sifers for her logistics support from start to finish.

18/05/2026

My heart is full. ❤️

Thank you to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax for opening your space and walls to my work. This community gets it — the stillness, the looking, the listening inward. It meant everything.

Yesterday I invited people to stand in front of each piece with full focus and simply notice what happened in their bodies. To use the photographs as meditation anchors. And they did. Beautifully.

Presence is the thread connecting everything under Damselwings — the photography, the mindfulness offerings, the coaching. This is what it’s all for. 🕊️

The Sage Photography Experience at Meadowlark Gardens is next week. A few openings remain — link in bio if you feel called. 🌿

The work will be on display in the UUCF sanctuary and music room for the next month so if you missed the reception, you still have time to visit and sit with the pieces yourself.

You can also explore the full collection and bring a piece home at damselwingsphotography.com. Free shipping for the duration of the show.

Gratitude UUCF LocalArt FairfaxVA DamselwingsPhotography FineArtPhotography Mindfulness SagePhotographyExperience MeadowlarkGardens

15/05/2026

Melissa Maillett Photography and I had so much fun making this video at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, where our next Sage Photography Experience 3-part series is centered.
We begin on Tuesday, May 26 with a preparatory Zoom session, then have a full experiential day at Meadowlark on Friday, May 29 (lunch catered by True Foods Kitchen), finishing up with an in-person (or hybrid) integration session at my home.

We still have a few openings left and would love to have you join us. The link to full details and registration is in the comments.

11/05/2026

A note and an invitation.

My solo show, A Field of Quiet Attention: Nature as Teacher, Photography as Practice, is now hanging at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax. The pieces I chose for this show trace my own mindfulness journey — from the macro florals that first taught me to slow down, to the lotuses that carry the metaphor closest to my heart, to the trees that became my trusted advisors during the lockdown years and remain so in today's tumultuous landscape.

I would love for you to join me at the artist's reception:
Sunday, May 17, at 11 AM
UUCF — Music & Arts Room and Sanctuary
2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, VA

Every piece in the show is also available in additional sizes at damselwingsphotography.com, and a portion of all sales — whether at the show or online — benefits UUCF.

Thank you for walking alongside this work. It means more than I can say to share these images with people who understand the practice behind them.

UUCF-Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax

10/05/2026

It’s Mother’s Day morning. With each passing year, I become more aware of how complex and sometimes fraught this holiday is. I am now in the minority of my friends whose mothers are still with us. I have friends who have lost children. I have friends whose journeys didn’t include biological children.

What unites us today? We all have a mother to thank for being here. Our mothers were the first to hold us, to love us, to have hopes and dreams for us. As they gazed into our newborn faces, our mothers’ deepest wish was for their child to become a happy, healthy, and vibrant adult.

So today, instead of sending out an autopilot “Happy Mother’s Day,” I ask you, “What would your mother say to you in this chapter of your life?”

Take a few minutes to settle into stillness, maybe with a few longer deeper breaths, then drop in the question “What can I do for myself today to honor my mother’s wishes for me?”

Listen carefully. Maybe even write the answer down for encouragement.

Then turn towards the gift of this May day (gorgeous here in Northern Virginia!) and do something for yourself that sparks joy to celebrate your mother. For me, it’s brunch with my 92-year-old mom, then an overdue visit with my garden.

With gratitude and wishes for your continued flourishing,

Martha

PS – If one of the things your mother might wish for you is a little more presence, my 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge begins tomorrow. Later this month, the Sage Photography Experience at Meadowlark Botanic Gardens is another invitation to slow down and connect with life through a creative lens. I'll drop the links in the comments.

09/05/2026

Second annual Longest Table event in Vienna, VA! So grateful for the organizers and the rest of their team. Table 23 rocked!

05/05/2026

A few weeks ago, my friend of nearly four decades called and said, "When I was meditating, this idea bubbled up to ask if you'd come to Berlin with me."

My first thoughts were the usual ones: Impossible. Too busy. People need me at home. Too much to spend on just myself.

I call those my dusty old cassette tapes — stories that may have been true at one point, but aren't true right now. So I gave myself a couple of days to really look at each one. I checked in with my body during my morning meditation (light, tingly, curious). I dropped the question into the quiet of the shower. And finally I asked my Wiser Elder Self — the healthy, end-of-life version of me looking back — "Should I go?"

"Hell yes." Immediate. Unequivocal.

So I went. And it was wonderful. (More on the trip itself in the coming weeks!)

I'm sharing this today because it's such a clear example of what a daily stillness practice makes possible: the space to notice the thoughts that keep us living small — and the courage to step past them into something more expansive.

If you'd like that kind of space in your own life, I'd love to have you join our circle.

🌿 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge 📅 Begins Monday, May 11, 2026 ⏰ 7:00–7:30 am ET ✨ All skill levels welcome

Register here 👉 https://support.damselwings.com/public/form/view/66a81d51caff86003a56d17a

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05/05/2026

A few weeks ago, my friend of nearly four decades called and said, "When I was meditating, this idea bubbled up to ask if you'd come to Berlin with me."

My first thoughts were the usual ones: Impossible. Too busy. People need me at home. Too much to spend on just myself.

I call those my dusty old cassette tapes — stories that may have been true at one point, but aren't true right now. So I gave myself a couple of days to really look at each one. I checked in with my body during my morning meditation (light, tingly, curious). I dropped the question into the quiet of the shower. And finally I asked my Wiser Elder Self — the healthy, end-of-life version of me looking back — "Should I go?"

"Hell yes." Immediate. Unequivocal.

So I went. And it was wonderful. (More on the trip itself in the coming weeks!)

I'm sharing this today because it's such a clear example of what a daily stillness practice makes possible: the space to notice the thoughts that keep us living small — and the courage to step past them into something more expansive.

If you'd like that kind of space in your own life, I'd love to have you join our circle.

🌿 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge 📅 Begins Monday, May 11, 2026 ⏰ 7:00–7:30 am ET ✨ All skill levels welcome

Register here 👉 https://support.damselwings.com/public/form/view/66a81d51caff86003a56d17a