by Sheila Finkelstein on July 6, 2011
Pictures to Ponder: Inspired Journaling – Flowers Book 1 is now available on iBooks for download on iPads and iPhones. I got notification of this from Lulu Books just after I made the commitment to create and publish another book on Kindle by July 30th. Amazing synchronicity!
The book consists of flower photos from early issues of Picture to Ponder, plus Self-Reflecting Queries, with spaces to journal on each, if you so wish. The photos are larger than you see them in the ezine and online, giving you more of an opportunity for a fuller experience with each. For more details and links for the iBooks and/or the PDF on Lulu, see BOOK.
Now on to
Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos –
[click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on July 1, 2011
Coming up on a holiday weekend here in the United States, today’s Picture to Ponder photos and videos are meant to offer you relaxation, as well as joy in experiencing Nature. Have a meaningful weekend, whatever you are up to.
Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos and Videos –
[click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on May 19, 2011
Once again, “shifting perspectives” is the theme that came up from the photographs wanting to be shared today. They photographs were taken while walking in a local nursery. Explanations and comments are directly under each photograph.
Today’s Photos (from my iPhone) -
Curled bark from palm tree. Deciding that the green from the plant in front of it did not make for good composition, [click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on April 27, 2011
On her wonderful Art Dog Blog, my friend Rebecca Collins shared a photo of a towel in which she saw a dog (click link to see). After describing her experience, she wrote:
“This post is for my photographer pal Sheila who sees faces in everything she shoots in nature. She enjoys finding all types of faces in wood grain and various textures in her photos. I sort of hope this is just an isolated event and I do not start seeing floppy eared canines in inanimate objects around me.”
So, last week when I saw the Fungus face below, I immediately thought of Becca. Back at her, I’m featuring it in today’s Picture to Ponder, inviting you to spend some time with the stories you might see in, or emotions you might feel from,
Today’s Photos -
[click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on April 11, 2011
Long-time Picture to Ponder subscriber, Alison James, responded to last week’s issue with such a “right-on” observation, sharing her own experience, that I asked if I might feature her expressions in this issue.
Photo by Alison James, Guest Writer/Photographer
She wrote: “I ride my bike every morning thru the same piece of Forest preserve/prairie. I try to make it a peaceful time, focusing on what my senses bring me – smell, sight, sound, feel – and not get wrapped up in thinking about work / home / future / past etc. [click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on March 23, 2011
Today’s issue of Picture to Ponder is striving for simplicity, thus one photo. I am in the process of redesigning my business and evaluating where I’ve been spending my time.
I started adding two additional photographs in this issue. Then I looked again at this photo. In its quiet, there is a lot of depth and movement. So I invite you to simply “be” with it for a moment or two or more.
If you enjoy writing, I invite you to use it for a writing prompt and share your writing on the blog.
Today’s Photo -
The upper portion of a very large Philodendron leaf
in the American Orchid Society Greenhouse
Self-Reflecting Queries -
I generally spend three to four hours per issue of Picture to Ponder, in picture selection, idea formulation and writing. So needless to say each of the components are a part of my “queries” process. [click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on March 17, 2011
Wild irises became the focus for my camera and me this past week. I woke last Friday remembering that this must be wild iris time at Wakodahatchee Wetlands. They bloom from the last week or two in February through mid-March.
Last year I totally missed them, even though I must have walked right past them several times. I thus set the time to go Wakodahatchee walking at the end of the day with the specific intention of looking for the irises. (See below today’s Queries for links to prior year posts and photos.)
Today’s Photos -
Below is the original photo from which the “bird” in a mailing earlier this week was taken. I’m including others with which I’ve also had fun this week.
The “bird” coming in for a landing and more wild irises [click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on March 3, 2011
Today’s issue of Picture to Ponder is a breakthrough and a first for me and this ezine. For six years, my policy has been to only feature my photography and, on occasion, black and white photographs done years ago by my beloved Sam. The one exception, that I can recall, was sharing a photo by a young boy, son of a friend and subscriber, as part of a fuller story for the day.
Today, I am moved to share a few photographs by Irina Wardas who was a participant in the last Through and From The Lens telecourse. Not only am I captivated by the photographs she produced, I am humbled by her summary of what she got out of four weeks in the course. She went from never having photos that she wanted to share and not knowing her new camera to now publishing her own work on her site and on Facebook
I share Irina here with you today for both the beauty of her photographs and for the lesson of which I was reminded. We can listen to our own limiting thoughts, or we can stand in the power of what’s revealed to us by others in their reflections of us! Today’s Self-Reflecting Queries address this
[click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on January 28, 2011
Updates On What’s New – If you are one who enjoys “Mystery Photos”, I have set up the Through and From The Lens Facebook Fan Page, which I believe is viewable whether you are a member of Facebook or not. If you have been subscribing to Picture to Ponder for a while, you may remember some of them. I invite you to check out the TFTL Fan Page and to also click on the “Like” link at the end of the line of links under the page name. Clicking on “Like” will not result in your getting any email. The only way to see the page is to bookmark the URL and go directly it.
Also, since this will be the only mailing until next week, I invite you to check out the two programs in which I’ve just enrolled – under the Queries.
Today’s Featured Photos -
The first view I saw in this series. To see the “Bark-in Dog” and change perspective three times [click to continue…]
by Sheila Finkelstein on January 24, 2011
Last week, when speaking of the, then, upcoming Through and From The Lens course, I shared some statements by Marifran Korb, Relationship Coach, on the beauty she now sees in her world as a result of participating in the TFTL course.
In a second conversation she had some very interesting things to say about how the camera has become a means for her to “take charge” of her life. At one point, she stated:
“I use the camera for being more at peace with myself and my world. When I use the camera I feel like I’m in charge and sometimes in life you’re not. With the camera you’re choosing what you’re looking for or you are in charge of what you see. . .and how you see it.
For your convenience I have put both audio interviews on a new page with a link to transcripts of what she said in each of those seven-minute interviews. See Marifran’s Words.
Today’s Photo and Story -
Late afternoon sunlit palm leaves in Green Cay Wetlands.
My camera(s) and I went out for a walk with the intent of breaking through the sluggishness I was feeling. Almost the first thing I saw, at the beginning of my walk, were these “spot-lit” leaves, reminding me that there is always some brightness that exists somewhere. I, of course, started taking pictures,
and [click to continue…]
