by Sheila Finkelstein on July 29, 2011
If you read the last Picture to Ponder post, you’ll most like recall my fascination with the unfolding of two interlocked, wood-like, seed pods that got totally flat after soaking in water.
One of the photos showed the pods starting to curl up. I put them back in water until my grandsons came, so together we could watch changes that might come.
The bottom line end result is that the two pods, with one ultimately placed on top of the other, became intertwined and totally circled back onto themselves into one unit.
The whole process took less than a half a day. I’ve posted the photographs below and seven others on a Pods Circling page for you to see the changes. If you are a writer, there are some interesting images on the latter page that I think would be great for journaling or creative story writing.
Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos –
 
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by Sheila Finkelstein on July 22, 2011
My older son and two grandsons are visiting this week, so today’s Picture to Ponder is late and will mainly be the photographs and story documenting discovering and transformation. The Queries are brief and might be profound for some of you.
Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos –
 
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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 –
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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 –
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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 –
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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
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