Play and Discovery

Discovering Transformation – Sound and Art in Dried Onion Remains – Picture to Ponder – v5-Issue 33

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 10, 2009

INTRODUCTION –
As I was about to finally discard the dried up remains of red onion green sprouts featured here in July, I became captivated with the papery thin texture, the flexibility and the sounds of the pieces. I dearly wanted to convey these to you and could not determine how.

The following day I realized I might be able to capture some of the experience on video. I thus set up a series of videos. In the last one I start peeling a red onion I’ve been holding, also since July, for Onion Photo Story Number five. Once again, there are analogies to our lives.

Next I posted a couple of photos and one of the videos on my last blog  post – Parchment Sounds of Onion Greens Inspire Video. The first photo in the blog posting is the group of dried greens, a few of which became the art for this issue of Picture to Ponder.

To make it more convenient for you, and me, I later put all the videos from the “shoot” earlier this week on one ONION – GARLIC VIDEO page. One of the videos shows dried, cut garlic pieces slipping out of their “cells.”

Lastly, speaking of videos – In a totally different conversation, I had fun this same week videoing me opening a package of products I received from my Nature Art Gift shop You can see me excitely showing the products I had purchased – two tile boxes I love, plus tiles and note cards.

I also distinguish between my photo/drawing art and straight photography, showing examples of each. Even if you don’t watch the whole Nature Art Gifts video, I invite you to use the slider to see each of the products.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
As I was doing the videos of the onion remnants I also took many still photographs. The top two featured photos today are of some of the remnant dried up green sprouts. In the middle photo, the black “dust” is remnants of mold that had formed inside some of the stems.

The latter are the “facts” AND I have selected these photos today for their artistic appeal. Although not planned, or arranged as such, these two photographs exude the beauty and simplicity of calligraphic drawings. Each can stand alone on its own merit.

I invite you to spend a moment or two with each and breathe in their simplicity.

The bottom photo is the underside of several layers of the cut, dried top of the onion. Again, I’m sharing it here for its aesthetic value, as well as its totally different feeling from the first two.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
For those looking for self-reflecting queries, today’s photographs and stories cover a broad range of topics.

I could pull queries out from reflections on saving old things… clutter?… transformations from one stage to another… life… death… discovery… how we each, individually, explore the latter, fulfill on it.

And, for today, I am leaving the self-reflecting queries to you. If any of the categories mentioned above spark something in you, I invite you to reflect on what’s coming up. If you’ve had a “gut” response to any of the photos, or the videos, I then invite you to reflect on what you were experiencing.

Lastly, there is ALWAYS being in the moment and simply experiencing whatever is there.

Thank you for being in my life and allowing me to share these explorations with you.

As always, remember to have fun with this.

{ 0 comments }

Video inspired by Discovery of Parchment Sounds of Dried Onion Greens

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 7, 2009

About to finally discard the red onion greens photographed and written about here, “Looking at the Old Newly” as Inspired by a Red Onion (on July 2nd), I became attuned to the papery, parchment feel and sound. I dearly wanted to share it with you and I knew a simple photograph could not convey the experience. It then occurred to me that I could see what a video would do.

Of course, once I started with my Flip Mino video recorder, I finally began the process of discovery with Red Onion #5. The latter has been patiently waiting since June for attention, beyond the first photograph.
 

In the above video, you’ll note also that a drying garlic bulb, cut in July, is also ready to be discarded. Here, too, I am fascinated by the sounds, as well as the rock hard garlic cloves that now easily slip out of their cells.

I conclude the video with the start of peeling Red Onion #5. I’ve uploaded five separate videos of Day 1 of this new “story.” You can see all the uploads of my videos by going to InspirationalSheila. If this doesn’t show you a full list, click on SEE ALL underneath the bottom icon on the right. 
 
If you wish to view them all, no one longer than two minutes, start with Red Onion #5 – First peeling and Cut. 
 
The thread that you will find starting to develop is that as we clean whatever “gook” we think is in our lives there is a fresh and shiny interior. Let’s keep this in mind at all times.
 
If you are not familiar with it, you can get the RED ONION STORY #1 as a PDF download describing the peeling away process of both an onion and ourselves. 

{ 1 comment }

Perspective Shifts from Behind Bars in Wakodahatchee Wetlands- Picture to Ponder – V5-issue 27

by Sheila Finkelstein on July 31, 2009

I was going through thousands of my photos taken over the past few years, choosing a wide range to present to a client for selection to be used as part of an upcoming DVD, when the first photo above caught my attention. I found myself pausing for a moment or so.

I was attracted to the colors, textures and design and even more by the “mystery.” “What is it?” I wondered.

Before I took the time to patiently puzzle it through, I moved on to other photos in the folder for the answer. When I saw the rooster, shown in the lower photo, I realized that the top image was that of feathers of the bird photographed between the railing slats on the boardwalk at Wakodahatchee Wetlands.

A few years ago, after a bout of challenging weather, this rooster had wandered from his normal farm environment into the Wetlands.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
A close-up view of the visible portion of a rooster through a railing and the rooster himself, full body.

I found many photos of the rooster selected the second one to feature here because I like the erect head and proud posture. Then once it was set up, I noticed the HEART shape in the whole! That certainly was a delightful and pleasing surprise! I hope you find it so also.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Once again we see, as in the last issue, that altering positions, “points of view”, in this case moving from “behind bars”, we get a different feeling or communication.

In this case, I moved from the unknown to the known and was excited with my discovery. Then, interestingly, once I knew what the fluffy colors were I started thinking “feather duster” and this put a different “spin” on that whole soft and appealing imagery that first attracted me. The new association put some “negativity” into what had been a joyful experience.

Reinforcing this reversal of my initial excitement was the concern that the rooster might seem not “fitting” to be a subject at this time for Picture to Ponder. It might not be appealing to you.

And, then I saw the heart, got a “warm, fuzzy feeling” and I thought, “Who would reject a heart?”

I’ve actually gone into a little more length on the “story” here because I wanted to point out what we all do to ourselves.

Now, I invite you to look at situations in your life where you may have extensive and changing stories that may be pulling you in different directions.

Are there any where you can simply choose the most powerful and empowering one? Or, might there be a situation where the most fruitful action would be to simply let all the stories and interpretations go and move on? Remember you are the one who gets to choose.

Perhaps you’ll find an Energy Shift might be called for. If so, see the information below on my friend Adela Rubio’s programs.

As always, put fun into this. Where will you find faces and smiles today?

ATTENTION for those of you who might be interested in ENERGY SHIFTING –

My friend Adela Rubio has introduced a Program that has already sold out twice. The course is limited to 11 participants in each series. The next one is starting in September.

Adela asks:
“Are you ready to Master Your Highly Sensitive Nature?

Do you consider yourself to be ‘highly sensitive?’
Does it feel like a burden or a blessing?

What if your hypersensitivity were actually your super power, a gift that provides access to deep connection and intuitive knowledge, a tool that could empower you and your clients?

The Energy Shifts program is designed to:

*increase body connection and awareness
*expand your bandwidth of intuitive sensing
*shift your perspective from problem to potential
*increase your available energy and energy mastery
*activate your connective, expanded nature

If you’re interested in experiencing any of the above, check out ENERGY SHIFT for September before it, too, gets sold out and while Adela is still offering a rate with a $30 savings.

FOR ANY WANNA-BE BLOGGERS –
I don’t know if the following fits for you, and I thought I would pass it on in the event that you are one who has been wanting to set up your own blog, but have gotten frustrated with the technical stuff. My friend Traci Knoppe has put together a very easy to understand and use 4-week ecourse, with simple step-by-step procedures. You can learn more at BEGINNER TO BLOGGER.

{ 3 comments }

Seeing What’s In Front of You – Headlight Reflections – Picture to Ponder – Vol 5 – Issue 25

by Sheila Finkelstein on July 16, 2009

Last week, in the Through and From the Lens course, one of the participants commented that I was fortunate to live in an area where there is so much beauty and, therefore, I can take great photographs.

I agree that I am blessed to live where I do with access to so much restorative beauty. On the other hand, my contention is that we can find beauty anywhere, in anything. It’s simply a matter of opening our eyes and, sometimes, our minds and hearts. The day after the call, in my supermarket parking lot, I suddenly was caught by reflections in my car headlamps and hood. I started taking photos and ended up blogging on it with photos other than those above. See “Beauty is Every Where, in All Places.”

An affirmation of this belief came in an email last year. I was moved and honored, to receive the following from subscriber Ewa Nartowska who lives in Poland:

“Actually as I said your photos inspired me to take these photographs focusing on details and avoiding ugly buildings, fences etc. I live in a beautiful medieval city but the district my flat is situated is not so beautiful, so I decided to cut out the beauty of urban ugliness. Instead of envying you that you live in that beautiful place in Florida 🙂 I decided to transform the reality I see into something beautiful.” {I bolded the last part.}

You can see some of Ewa’s exquisite photography on FlickR and in her Picasa Albums.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
As indicated above, today’s Picture to Ponder featured photographs are reflections from different views in the headlamps of my silver-colored car. Some of the pinks are coming from an artist’s neck pouch which I was wearing.

I’m really not all that sure what else was being reflected. It’s simply sufficient for me to enjoy the shapes and patterns.

If you are enjoying the reflections photographs from last week and this, I have posted a few pages of more Philadelphia reflections, and different shadows and reflections series on my FlickR account.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Ironically, I so take my car and what’s around me for granted, that unless I’m consciously looking I don’t see things. Thus, when I studied today’s middle photo, I wasn’t even sure from what part of the car the orange section was. Imagine my embarrassment when I went to my garage to check and saw the orange was the color of the lenses of the outer sections of the headlights on the front of my car!

I blushingly admit this here because I venture to say there are many things in your visual world to which you, too, are oblivious. I therefore invite you to look around you and find at least two things that are in front of you most of the time that you could not describe if someone asked you to, because you rarely, if ever, pay attention to it/them.

What did you discover? Is there anything about what popped out for you that informs you about anything else in your life?

Lastly, are there people or situations in your life whom or which are receiving the same inattention from you, where if you “looked” you might find something that could make an empowering difference?

If you wish, I invite you to photograph what you saw, draw it, write about the experience, or simply let it go.

As always, have fun with this.

FOR ANY WANNA-BE BLOGGERS –
I don’t know if the following fits for you, and I thought I would pass it on in the event that you are one who has been wanting to set up your own blog, but have gotten frustrated with the technical stuff. My friend Traci Knoppe has put together a very easy to understand and use 4-week ecourse, with simple step-by-step procedures. You can learn more at BEGINNER TO BLOGGER.

{ 1 comment }

Beauty is Everywhere, in All Places – Reflections in a Car

by Sheila Finkelstein on July 10, 2009

Those of you who follow my work know that it is my mission and passion in life to inspire everyone to see the beauty in the ordinary and experience it as extraordinary.

Reflections in hood of silver Toyota Rav4

Reflections in Car Head Lamp

Reflections in car

On a recent call during one of my Through and From the Lens telecourse sessions, one of the participants, in querying my photography and how I see, stated, “It does help that you live where you do, surrounded by so much beauty.” My response was that for me it’s simply paying attention to whatever catches my eye, not questioning it. Rather I take the camera and start photographing whatever has me pause and then explore it, with the camera, from numerous angles.

For this session she had photographed her hand and taken only one photograph. She stated that it was the shadows that had interested her. My recommendation was that once she saw what it was that appealed to her, it was an opportunity to position her hands and fingers in different ways, experimenting with the shadows and/or the lines and shapes created by her changing positions.

This conversation on my having “exclusivity” on beauty in several of the nature centers near me in Boynton Beach, Florida stayed with me. Then in a parking lot yesterday afternoon, I was drawn to the reflections in the head and rear lamps in my car. Assuming that most of us have access to a parked car, I started photographing reflections in the head lamps, tail lamps, hood and side of my car. Then, should one claim mine are more interesting than others, I went around and photographed sections of a couple of other cars.

The three photographs above are part of the series. You can see more in my FlickR REFLECTIONS SET photostream. Scroll to the end in that set.

I now invite you to go out, or stay in, and take a walk with your camera. Look for something ordinary that you might usually ignore and start photographing. Why not make it reflections for this trip. How many places can you find them? In a mirror, glasses, water in the glass, in a bowl, in a sink, a puddle, a camera lens, and, of course, in car surfaces and head lamps? What else?

The one thing you will not find is the exact coloration and pattern that came from a fabric pouch I had on around my neck that caused the color in some of the photos. Of course, you may add color and patterns to your attire in the event you wind up as part of the reflection. Have fun.

{ 2 comments }

Looking at the Old Newly as Inspired by a Red Onion – Picture to Ponder- v5 -issue 23

by Sheila Finkelstein on July 2, 2009

In July I became enthralled with the beauty of a red onion and the process I went through in photographing and peeling away the layers over a period of approximately two weeks.

Last week I became attracted to another red onion that had been sitting in my refrigerator for so long it had started “growing”. I decided to take a few pictures of it while holding it in my hand, views both inside and outside of the house, and then put it aside on a counter. The green continued to grow and earlier this week I decided to photograph the onion again. Given it was night, I set up the black background board to block the scene behind it in my home and placed it on the under side of one of my Cafe Press pillows which I had placed on the table.

Yesterday I was moved to start cutting, then peel away a few of the layers. I got quite excited with what I was discovering and the result is well over 150 photos. I started including here one of the “peeled” ones from a few “shoots” and decided aesthetically it did not fit with the other two. Those who wish can see that one, and several others, on Red Onion 4 or wait until I decide into what direction I am going to take the next round.

If you have not seen “THE RED ONION STORY: Peeling the Layers of an Onion as Analogous to Peeling Away the Layers of Ourselves,” you can request the PDF  on ONION STORY 1.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
As I indicated above, the top two are of a red onion on a pillow. They are lit by a chandelier above and taken without the flash.

I like stateliness and the mysterious shadows in the top photo. The middle has a rhythmic flow of colors and shapes. Given the greens were a large focus in the center photo, as well as the source of the shadows in the top one, I’m also showing the cut pieces that I spontaneously placed in glass candle holder that was closeby. I love the colors here on top, as well as those showing through the translucent glass.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
When I first started what now has become an exciting project, I was not very inspired. I simply started taking a couple of photographs because the onion had been around for so long. I wanted to acknowledge it in some way and be complete with it.

Then when I got into action, my creative juices took hold. I got excited as the different components and patterns were revealed once I cut the onion in half. The skin had interesting shapes and the interior of the peeled layers had lines embedded, probably roots, in great patterns. You can see a few examples on RED ONION 4.

So, how does this all fit into queries? Following my description of where I was before my I started taking these photos, I invite you to look into your life. Are there one or more projects or activities on which you have been stalling? If so, I invite you to take one small action, perhaps even photograph something relevant to it. Then take one more action. Do not be attached to an outcome. Simply be open to noticing where a spark of enthusiasm emerges. Where will you allow that to now take you?

And, for a second set of different queries – Today’s onion was quite “old” – a few months, at least. In the process of spending time with it, dissecting, being willing to play, many things opened up. Again I invite you to look into your life.

Are there people, projects, object or relationships in your life that seem “old and tired?” If so, I invite you to spend time, look at them, see what you can open up, if anything. Do you have new choices now for being with it or them in new ways? Or is it time to release whatever you were looking at and move on? Either choice is perfect.

As always, have fun with these queries. Be sure to “play” with the first.

Another OPPORTUNITY for a creative and empowering activity –
Download a complimentary copy of Artella’s eBook, Peace by Piece: Collage Your Way to Inner Peace and Harmony! This workbook guides you through several collage projects, each one designed to bring you closer to your true self and your powerful ability for manifesting your dreams and desires. Download your copy at PEACE BY PIECE.

{ 5 comments }

Dried Apple Slice and Turnip – Longevity in Life – Picture to Ponder – Vol 5-Issue 51

by Sheila Finkelstein on June 24, 2009

Exciting News – My book PICTURES TO PONDER: Inspired Journaling is now on sale through Amazon! Open “Customer Images” on the Amazon page to see more.

Humourous Apple Face

Apple face rear

Dried Turnip Pieces

I hope that the top photograph brings the same chuckle, or laugh, to you as it does to me every time I look at it. I’m presenting it here in fun and also for the possible inquiries it generates.

All three of  TODAY’S PHOTOS are the result of explorations I did cutting both an apple and a turnip during the last Expand Your Vision teleclass series. During that time, I actually wrote, on my blog, about the turnip – a “Metaphor for Aging, As Personified By a Turnip.” Curious, I guess, as to how they would “turn out,” I kept these pieces, rather than discard them

The apple slice was lying flat on my kitchen window sill, the turnip pieces in a tiny dish. For the “portrait session”, I placed the face on a little plate stand and reversed it for the second round. It is the same slice presented in two different views.

The texture of the dried apple slice brings back memories of the Apple Dolls that were popular and the one I made during the same time period. If you have never seen an Apple Doll, AppleDolls.org, features them and shows you how to make one.

I was surprised to discover that the turnip pieces turned “rock” hard, reminiscent of the avocado pit cuttings we turned into “beads” years ago when I taught Art in an elementary school.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
The images and experiences in today’s photographs can be viewed as representational of our lives, demonstrating that transformations are multi-dimensional and can be quite long-lasting, often in unexpected ways.

What in your life, in your memory bank, has taken an unexpected turn and left you with something for which you can acknowledge yourself? Perhaps it would forward you to simply make a list of some of the memorable things in your life.

And, to complete the circle on where we started – the humor in the apple face – look around you. What can you find that will put a smile on your face? It may be require something as simple as picking something up, turning it over or “reframing” it… putting it in a different “environment”, in the same way that the apple slice became a “pedestal” piece.

As always, have fun with these queries.

OPPORTUNITIES for creative activities –
For the writers among you, or wanna-be poets, I suggest downloading the complimentary Artella eBook, Writing the Carousel: Going Full Circle in Colorful Poetry Writing! It includes a progression of exercises that will help you uncover the surprising “turns” of phrases that make poetry effective, and then come full circle by using them in bold, colorful ways.

You can download your complimentary copy at: POETRY WRITING.

I also invite you to check many of the other activities and programs available on Artella Land home page.

{ 2 comments }

Gratitude and Celebration – AOS Botanical Gardens – Picture to Ponder – v5 – issue 19

by Sheila Finkelstein on June 5, 2009

Voodoo Lily

Today’s issue of Picture to Ponder is about Celebration and Gratitude. For me, the first photo, above, expresses sensuous wonder, Wonder also being a part of today’s message.

Several months ago the American Orchid Society in Delray Beach announced that due to lack of funds it would be closing the Gardens to the public at the end of May. The AOS gardens and greenhouse have played a significant role in my life in the past six and a half years, as well as in your lives, given so many of the Picture to Ponder photos have been from there.

Because I was leaving for Macon, GA for the celebration of my grandson’s Bar Mitzvah**, I made it my business to stop in before I left, to pay my respects to the plants and express my gratitude for what they have meant in my life. Although my camera was with me, I did no got specifically with the intention to photograph and then I started discovering plants I had never seen before, despite my fairly regular visits. See “Once or Twice is Not Enough,” an article I wrote over six years ago.

Amongst the “first-time” (for me) plants I saw this time were the Rattle Box tree, an Ice Cream Bean plant, Princess Earrings and the Voodoo Plant. Too many to show here, I’ve created a separate Picture to Ponder Web page to share them with you. See Tropical Plants-509 which includes a video of one of the waterfalls.

I did spend time pausing and expressing my gratitude and then discovered, to my delight when I returned home, that on June 2nd the Board of Directors had unanimously voted to keep the Botanical Gardens open to the public.

**For those who may be unfamiliar with it, a Bar Mitzvah is when a 13-year old Jewish boy becomes an adult in the synagogue. My grandson Will led services in Hebrew both Friday night and Saturday. He did an amazing job and had us all very proud, truly an occasion to celebrate.

TODAY’S PHOTOS – continued

Curly Leae

Back-Lit Philodendren leaves

Although I found several of the photographs exciting that I included on the Tropical Plants Page I was moved, in particular, to feature these three for the lyrical flow of movement and peace I felt as I spent time with each.

Actually, the first, Voodoo plant, photo also takes on an unsettling quality for me, with certain imagery and contrasts that pop out for me as I go back to it. (If you query this on the blog, I will elaborate there.)

I do not know what the second plant is. The third is a back-lit philodendron leaf. I took several close-up, large leaf pictures so I could truly feel a part of the natural experience on what I thought might be my last visit at the Gardens for some time.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
I continue to be amazed at so often discovering new images in the “same old places” that I visit so frequently.

Are there visual or other discoveries that you enjoy making in your life in every day places? Do you take time to look newly? To what are you most open? For me it’s color and texture, then I suppose linear movement, as featured today.

Also, do you sense a unexpressed creative core within you that is wanting to burst forth? If so, how does this show up for you? What steps can you take to expand it?

Do you feel constraints? If “yes” or “possibly”, you might consider registering for the upcoming Expand Your Vision, Light Your Soul, Explode Your Creativity Course starting Wednesday afternoon, June 10th.

Within the past two weeks, I experienced joy in family celebrations, including being surrounded by those who came down to Georgia from Philadelphia, in discovering several new plants in the American Orchid Society Gardens and then in their remaining open to the public.

Where have you experienced gratitude and joy in your life during this time? What are you celebrating?

EXCITING PROGRAM for growth and expansion –
Before leaving for Georgia, I registered for the Spiritual Marketing Telesummit, that was held this week, knowing that I would be able to listen to the recordings of the calls. I listened “live” to three of them today.

All three were high energy and, in fact, fit the them of “Energy Shifting.” Geared toward people in business, I started finding more clarity in my soul purpose.

Though the site is scheduled to come down today, calls are over, it may stay up for another week. Later in the year a, perhaps more costly, product package is expected to come out. In the meantime, I strongly recommend your checking Spiritual Marketing to see if you can still register to listen to the MP3s and participate in the Forum.

FINAL REMINDER –
Light Up Your Summer with Photography
You won’t Believe is Yours
Nourish Your Soul
Appreciate, in new ways, the People You Meet
All in the JUNE Expand Your Vision Telecourse

{ 2 comments }

Abstract Photography – Banana Leaf Cells in Picture to Ponder – vol. 5-issue 16

by Sheila Finkelstein on May 13, 2009

Cells of a cut leaf from a banana tree surrounded by other leaves and the tree trunk

TODAY’S PHOTO –
Close-up view of Portion of the Trunk of a Banana Tree, which is actually an herb.

To me, this photograph feels almost like a painting. I love the resultant abstract quality of the image.

My focus was on the cellular structure of the spot from which a dead leaf was removed. The blue colors are simply a result of the lighting. Interestingly when I went back to check what it was I photographed, I had to look for a minute or two. The cells looked so prominent here, I was surprised to see how tiny that segment was.

For a view a little further back to see it more of the cells in context with the trunk, see TRUNK.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Once again, through the lens of the camera, I zoomed in and focused on a particular structure that intrigued me. This created a whole different identity from what the subject was. Stepping back, once again gave me the full picture.

I invite you to consider a situation in your own life, one on which you are very closely focused. Look at all the elements and then step back.

Where is the juice for you? Which view gives you more information that will empower you? What can you take from each perspective to as you powerfully move forward?

And, some of you might wish to use today’s photograph to wander through, explore and see what comes up for you in your own life.

As, always have fun with this and please do share some of your responses on the blog.

Correction on Last Week’s Issue
I identified last week’s photograph as a rock. One of our dear subscribers wrote, “That is a piece of coral – a piece of bone, not a rock.” Thank you, D.

Expand Your Seeing – Opening up to Your Best Summer Ever
Participants are having so many exciting, rewarding and “eye-opening” experiences with their cameras and the photographs they are taking that I decided to open up another four-week course in June.

Current participants, in addition to discovering new worlds for themselves are, especially enjoy seeing and sharing what other participants are doing also.

It was most gratifying for me to have one participant share at the end of Session 2, that she knew when she signed up she was very busy and she figured if she got two or three things out of the course, it would be worth it. She stated that this had already been achieved for her.

Suzanne Holman (www.FamilyAlz.com. ) wrote: “I am loving revisiting creative photography with you and the group! I was concerned about becoming involved in another class right now …and what I’ve found is that it is a wonderful dimension to add to my life right now with playing and creating.“

{ 2 comments }

Palm Tree Trunk Cells and Changing Perspectives – Picture to Ponder – Vol 5 – Issue 15

by Sheila Finkelstein on April 28, 2009

Palm tree trunk cells

Palm Tree Trunk Cells panoramaTODAY’S PHOTOS –
segment of the trunk of a Palm Tree

I am assuming that some portions of the trunk were removed, thus exposing the cells. I was so caught up in the intrigue of exploring sections of the trunk with my camera that I did not think about the cause and effect of what I was seeing.

Once viewing the photos, on my monitor I fell in love with what I saw/see as the beauty in browns contrasted with the green and a bit of the blue sky, along with the contrast and repetition in the shapes and lines.

To get “more to appreciate,” I started playing with the photograph in Photoshop Elements. Although I did not alter anything in colors or filters I did resize, rotate and flip the photo to create the panoramic image.

As I view the lower photo I notice an unplanned face in the center of the panorama. Actually it’s more like “ET.” The two horizontal prints could be flipped in the opposite direction and a whole new image be created.

THE STORY –
The content of this issue is actually verbatim, with a single question added to the Queries, for Issue 208, published at the end of the first year of Picture to Ponder.

I was going through photo archives in preparation for the Through and from the Lens COURSE and these two cells photos kept coming up for me. Given my practice of follow my instincts when it comes to photo selection here, I decided to also use them as the featured photos for today. After all, most of you were not subscribers then and, if you were, are you likely to remember these two photographs?

On the other hand I find it interesting to see how similar the queries are to what I have been putting forth, even in recent times – three and a half years later. It’s good to take note of the consistencies in our lives and be reminded of our strengths.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Once again our photo is an example of the possibilities in looking at something – an object, thing, person or situation – from more than one point of view.

As I have in past issues of Picture to Ponder, I invite to look around you and find an item in your environment, or a space in which you are passing through, to look at from several different angles. Are you seeing anything newly?

There may also be areas in your life – relationships or other situations – in which you might spur surprising results by viewing them from more than one perspective . Keep in mind, as in the photo combinations above, there may be even more possibilities than the one you choose as your answer.

Play and have fun with this.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →