Photograpy Course – Seeing

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

Spatterdock leaves - pink heartThe Marcel Proust quote above is one of my favorites. Referencing discovery and new eyes, it expresses the foundation of what Treasure Your Life Now is all about.

The fulfillment of it becomes truly alive for me when you, too, experience the essence of the voyage of discovery.

Today’s Spatterdock plant photos represent a recent awakening I had. For the past seven plus years I have been sporadically photographing the Spatterdock plant, leaves, roots and flowers. The leaves were always green.

golden-lit spatterdock splendor

To my recollection the very first time I realized that the leaves are heart-shaped was when I saw some Spatterdock leaves that were pink (below and in the thumbnail photo above).

pink Spatterdock heart-shaped leaves

In the upper photo the heart-shape is quite obvious, especially since I’m looking for it now. Only at the time, in March 2006, I was so caught up in experiencing the golden end-of-the-day light that the shape totally eluded me, at least as I reflect on it now.

It was the pink, a color we associate with hearts, that had that image now stand out, having me see the Spatterdock leaves with new eyes.

For fun, I’ll share a couple of other Spatterdock photos featured in much earlier issues of Picture to Ponder.

Spatterdock with face under root

In the photo right above, my attention is immediately drawn to the little face I see under the Spatterdock root. Looking to our right, she has a pointy nose. When I about her before I called her Little Red Riding Hood. Now I’m thinking she’s wearing a chef’s hat or different kind of bonnet. What do you see?

In the upcoming Through and From The Lens course, starting this Wednesday, October 3, we will have fun looking for, among many other things, faces and other images. They will be surfacing as you start using your unique and expanded “new eyes.”

The last Spatterdock photo, for today, is for those among you who prefer more traditional scenes:

turtle on a Spatterdock root

a turtle sunning on a Spatterdock root

Today’s Photos –
as, stated above, are of the Spatterdock plant. All but the ones that include pink leaves were taken in Wakodahatchee Wetlands. The latter were in Green Cay Wetlands.

Self-Reflecting Queries and Relationship Tips 
Today, I invite you to look into your life to see where you might be viewing people and situations with already pre-conceived, expectations, from what you “know.”

Are there any situations that seem “sticky” to which you might bring “new eyes?”

In referencing it to a Relationship Tip, I invite you to open up a discussion with the person, or persons, in the sticky situation. Share what it is you are seeing, with no attachment to the outcome or that the other person(s) see it your way.

Then ask, and be open to, what they see.

You might also start looking for faces and other imagery in your physical environment, playing the same game with another person. What makes it easy, enjoyable AND eye-opening is that there are no right or wrong answers. It’s risk-free!

As always, have fun, and please post what comes up for you in the Comments section below.

Last Chance for learning to Take Great Photos without being a Camera Wiz, understanding all of the settings –

If you are one of the subscribers who has from time-to-time thought about enrolling in the Through and From The Lens, four-week Telecourse, NOW IS IT for registration. This is the LAST TIME I will be offering the course.

Following are a few of the reasons, participants who have enrolled in the upcoming course:

•  tired of not using her camera because she was befuddled with all of the settings, now having a new camera and declaring, “It’s time!”

• desire to take more creative photos on an upcoming scheduled cruise than she took in her last.

• wish to learn more of how I see both “inside and out.”

Judith Tramayne of agoodread.com, one of the past participants, recently wrote:

“You made me so aware of what I was missing. Looking through a lens tends to make one focus. I loved how you taught me to appreciate my camera as a means to increase my creativity.”

She concluded, “I didn’t even like a camera before I took your class.” Now she is photographing regularly and used picture she took in the course as a reference for one of the painting illustrations in a new book.

For details, bonuses, registration information and to see testimonials and photographs from some other past participants go to Telecourse

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cropped photo of a wild iris - mother child in a surreyAre you regularly using your digital camera and/or your camera phone as one of your means of communication with yourself and your loved one(s)?

Are you filled with pride and taking pictures you love, then sharing them on cards, online albums, blog posts, email and/or on your walls?

Or, are you one who sometimes doesn’t even think to use your camera – digital or phone – for communication and taking special pictures? [click to continue…]

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Announcing the re-launching of the Through and From The Lens telecourse: Using Your Camera to See in New and Expanded Ways. Please check out the information after today’s queries and tips.

It’s been a very busy two weeks. More than likely it’s been the same for you. Found in one of last year’s issues of Picture to Ponder, today’s photos are about relaxing. Taking the latter path, I am merely revising and republishing the content. I came across the issue prior to a “Questions on Getting Unstuck” Complimentary Session (see below) with one of our long-time subscribers. When I get a request I usually check to see if the person is a subscriber and if he/she has written any comments in the past

The latter woman, in fact, had. The Lisianthus flowers below are among those she had noted. When I went to the issue, I immediately stopped to “bathe” myself in the simplicity and beauty of the flowers.

I noted that then I had invited you, as I do now, to take some time to simply breathe in the beauty of the images below.

lavender lysianthus buds

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As I surfed through folders, it was the top photograph that jumped out, declaring it wished to be today’s featured Picture to Ponder photograph.

I assumed that it might be in recognition of the water some of us are receiving abundantly in the form of rain, while others in areas of drought are in such need.

Then, I looked back at last week’s issue of Picture to Ponder images and see that they, too, were taken looking through something; the first a glass; the second through a section of an acrylic sculpture. So I’m thinking today’s theme has to do with filters.

I’m curious, myself, to see what will develop as I write the Self-Reflecting Queries, almost always a mystery to me until the writing starts.

Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos –

orange and lemons in water for drink [click to continue…]

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If you are one of the followers who relates to Self-Reflecting Queries, as well as the photographs, I thought you’d appreciate the following statement, “Empowerment in using a camera has altered how I see myself,” as shared by Marifran Korb.She was referencing her experience resulting from participating in the Through and From The Len telecourse. The next session starts on Tuesday night, March 15th. See TFTL.

Before going further, without adding words to interfere with your responses, I invite you to pause at each of Today’s Photos. Then consider the emotion, or response, that comes up for you with each one individually.

pink and white lysiantha in a glass vase [click to continue…]

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Breakthroughing Through Limiting Beliefs

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

Yellow flower photo by Irina Wardas taken while participating in Through and From The Lens telecourse [click to continue…]

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window distortions and reflections 1

Today’s post of Picture to Ponder has been delayed because of my “need” to revise the Through and From The Lens telecourse information/registration page. My focus has been on my “stuckness” in its having the “just right” (or “perfect”) words and images so that visitors get a full experience of the value the program will add to their lives.

Participants in the last course expressed delight at finding they now have a new tool for simultaneous relaxation and re-energizing. Their enthusiasm increased as they began seeing things in new ways. Both newbies to their cameras, and those customarily using them, are excited with the new possibilities that develop for sharing and displaying their photos, including using them in blog posts and other public places. [click to continue…]

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This week a few Facebook fans and I have been having fun on my new Fan Page. I started the page posting a mystery photo almost daily, giving the answer the next day. For the past several days, I’ve been posting individual views of one series of photos taken in early afternoon four years ago. The “answers” have yet to be given. These photos still inspire and excite me when I periodically review them and I have been thoroughly enjoying them this week. It’s been fun selecting which to use to maintain the “mystery” while at the same time starting to give some visual hints. Some of the “guesses” amaze and delight me, bringing a smile to my face. I invite you to come look and enjoy them also, even participate in the guessing.

The other part of the game for me has become reaching at least 100 fans by 6 PM Eastern Time today. As I write, only 4 more are needed to meet that number. If you’d like to be one of them simply go to the Through and From The Lens Fan Page and click on “Like” at the end of the line of links under the name.

Today’s Featured Photos

Reflections in window in Coral Gables, Miami

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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

iphoto of sunlit palm leaves at Green Cay wetlands

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,
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