While searching for today’s photos I felt an immediate smile break out as my eye quickly caught the photo below. I saw a grinning face winking. I decided to go for the humor, hoping you see it also.

Finding play and humor is part of what I am currently working on as I narrow down my coaching practice to supporting working Moms who are looking for creating deeper connections and communication with their young children (ages 4 to 5 to 10). At the same time they will be having expanded fun and joy during their togetherness times, with less or no guilt around the spaces when they cannot be with one another. One way of doing this is opening to the people, objects and scenes each party sees in different ways.

In addition I have also been meeting virtually with some other people doing exciting programs. See comments below on new programs. Also, should you be a Mom who might have an interest in learning about what I am developing, please email me, sheila [at] sheilafinkelstein.com, with subject: “Tell Me More about upcoming Moms’ Programs.”

Today’s Photos -

The top two photographs are of a hubcap, on a car or van, in the parking lot of Green Cay Wetlands. The top is an untouched photograph with the bluish cast coming from early evening light.

For me the top one is more the attention getter with a little more of the unknown in feeling and my focus stays more on the upper two eyes. I included the second, with a slight adjustment using Photoshop Elements to remove the bluishe cast, to show you how color can make a difference.

In the middle photo, we already “know” more quickly the subject of the photo in part from the information given us by the colors. There also are more bright spots scattering our attention throughout the photo. I’ve included the bottom photo, simply to show what had the hubcap be my final picture of the day. On that particular late afternoon in Green Cay, I found myself photographing light and shadows and moved onto nuts and bolts. The iron bars anchoring the boardwalk gate were among the items that caught my eye.

If you are one who “personifies” photo images along with me, you might see the faces here, or simply view the bars as “guards”, or “soldiers,” or something totally different.

RE Art and Composition:
Holding the three photographs together in one presentation are the blues in all of them, the beiges in the bottom and the middle, and the similarity of curved lines in the wood grain on our right and in the hubcaps above.

Today’s Photo Story -
Once again the images in the photographs above lend themselves., at least for me, to the possibility of fun stories. I invite you to have play and make up some of your own.

Again, if you have children, or know any, I invite you to share these photos with them and listen to their observations and stories. And, certainly don’t neglect the “children” within the adults in your world. Please invite them to have fun with you also.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
Given today’s photos are a move away from the usual straight Nature photos, I’m wondering if there is a difference in your response.

Are you sitting with unfulfilled expectations? If so, what are they? How do you handle things when they are not what you expected?

Can you identify any patterns of behavior in your life when you are disappointed? Conversely, if you were excited and enthusiastic how does your behavior differ?

Was there a difference for you in the two top photographs when the colors shifted? If so, I invite you to be aware of times that colors may be having an impact on your perception. What other things can you shift to give your new perspectives?

Note: I put completing this issue aside overnight and find it interesting that the top two continue to bring out a quick, spontaneous smile to my face. Then I move down to the third photo and the feeling of sternness and rigidity put a halt to that.

As always have fun with these queries and looking/seeing. Also, please post your responses in the COMMENTS section below.

I discovered her through Twitter earlier this week. As a result I have access to a quick uplift in my spirit whenever needed. I simply go to one of her web pages and listen to “I Saw Butterflies Kissing”. I start smiling immediately and feel myself starting to dance in my chair.  I invite you, too, to check out BUTTERFLIES While there be sure to follow some of her other links. They lead to some interactive pages and teachings to use with young children.

How about you? Any similar reactions on your end?

Further Respite -

“There is a lot of scientific study out there that says if we can’t be in nature, just looking at pictures of nature can have a soothing calming effect… For anyone who is undergoing any kind of stress/anxiety situations, this would just be a real gift.” Ellen Britt, http://marketingqi.com/

I’m taking a quick break from family time to wish you a Joyful, Healthy, Peaceful Prosperous New Year.

The Night Crown Heron seems to be pondering? Reflecting? Have you taken the time to reflect and acknowledge your accomplishments in 2010?

With the spontaneity and freedom of youth, my grandson and granddaughter, along with their cousins from Indiana, are dancing and singing, celebrating the rising sun. I use it here to acknowledge the past year and welcome the upcoming one.

For me, in addition to the light, the photo also exudes warmth. So, I offer it to you now, wishing you light and warmth, wherever you are, during this season.

And, should it be a challenging time for you, I invite you to pause, close your eyes and do some deep breathing.

2 -I wanted to give you the opportunity for early registration into
the now-referred-to-as the “Through and From the Lens Point and Shoot Photocourses” -

Please check the link out.  I would love to be connecting with you on a more direct level, furthering what we see in Picture to Ponder.

I feel blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for being there. May you have a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010.

You may be wondering, “Why onion photos again?” I had intended to go back to birds, or other nature photos, for this issue, and then these photographs kept popping out whenever I opened my photo files. A few weeks ago, for the last session of the June Through and From the Lens course, I purchased a new red onion. While at the supermarket the red garlic caught my eye, along with the white garlic which I needed for cooking; so I bought all three.

After photographing them separately and together from many angles and holding them in my hands, I became so attached to the “personalities” and “feel” of the three above that I bought new ones with which to work during the teleclass.

I’m following my instincts in continuing sharing them here, recognizing that there is something “calling” to me with these particular vegetables and hope they will thus resonate in some way with you. One thing I know for sure, is I’m delighted with how long they last in the original state, with no change or deterioration, from the time I purchase them.

For those who missed it, earlier this month I wrote on Onion #4, which you can see on the BLOG – Looking at the Old Newly

TODAY’S PHOTOS -
I am not what it is in the top photo of the garlic bulb in my hand that “grabs” me each time I look at it. The image is seemingly making a strong statement.

As you can see I grouped the three together, on my white kitchen counter, and then on the underside of a black styrofoam tray to get the contrast. I was only going to include one of these two photos here since they are so similar. Then when I looked again, I saw the feel was different, beyond the lighting contrasts.

In the third photograph the onion seems to be looking at the red garlic very protectively, as the latter nestles up to it. And, I’m wondering, in addition to the focus being slightly closer, if the fact that the white garlic’s position is altered, ever so slightly, is what makes the difference. Perhaps it’s that the latter is extra bright here and the other “needs” protection (in the imaginary sense).

I’ve included the fourth photo of the red garlic alone, slightly altered in color by Photoshop Elements, because now it looks like a piece of art. In addition to the colors, I love the rhythm and swirl in the whole shape.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES -
By altering positions, “points of view”, in the onion and garlic bulbs above, we get a different feeling or communication.

Relating this now to you and going to one of my favorite Self-Reflecting Queries, I invite you to look into your own life. Are there places where you are facing challenges, places where a slight alteration of perspective might give you a whole new take on the matter? If a particular challenge surfaces for you, I invite you to “hold” it in your hand, if not literally, then figuratively. See if and how you can become friends with it. What opens up for you now?

Furthering my own Self-Reflections – For me, right now, I am looking at what it is in the red onion and, now, the added garlic that has me so intrigued and moved.

I’m realizing there is a passion in here for the “stories” I see in them. Last night, I wrote in Facebook, that I am open to finding a collaborator (a children’s writer, educator or idea person) who would enjoy co-creating with me products that would make an empowering difference in how children (and adults) see their worlds. This is a new opening and stepping out for me.

Lastly, if you have gotten this far in viewing and reading, and you have any strong emotional reaction one way or another to my featuring onions and garlic, I invite you to look at what’s coming up for you in terms of your own life in relation to your response.

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

ATTENTION – WRITERS, or WANNA-BE WRITERS – If you are interested in doing more exploration in writing for yourself, my friend and mentor Julie Jordan Scott is Introducing the Summer Writing Intensive Creativity Camp (at Home or wherever you happen to be) See SUMMER WRITING CAMP for details.

MORE OF MY WRITING – If you appreciate my writing, you might find interesting what I’ve been posting on my WRITING FOR HEALING blog.

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.

Start-Up Business Owners -
If you are a start-up business, or know of one, I also have a website, listing and describing other helpful businesses I know, use and recommend. See SOURCES FOR BUSINESS SUPPORT.

In last week’s Picture to Ponder, I featured a scarecrow on a balcony in Sedona, AZ. Back home in Boynton Beach, FL, on a neighborhood walk, one evening, I saw this scarecrow happily placed in the middle of 3 palms. I couldn’t resist coming back with my camera, the next time we had sun. Check the Picture to Ponder link, or scroll down here to the previous post to see the Western scarecrow. Enjoy!

Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos
a scarecrow on the balcony of a home in an elite residential neighborhood in Sedona, AZ, plus cloud reflections in an upper story window in the same home

The Story
No big story today. I was once again searching through my Arizona photos for possibly one last photo from the trip to share with you.

The above scarecrow brought a smile to my face, and still does every time I look at the photo, so I thought I’d bring him to you, simply in FUN! Also, although I’ve never decorated for holidays, there are many of you in the States whom I’m sure have decorated for Halloween. I, thus, thought the somewhat seasonal image would be enjoyable.

And, putting all that aside, I love the aesthetics of the photo, the play of the natural materials, the wood of the railings, the lines, shapes and textures. Although I know in reality it couldn’t be so, when looking at the photo the walls “feel” like suede to me, another intriguing aspect of the photo for me.

I’ve included the second photo for those who might think something is missing from Picture to Ponder, if there is not a Nature photo in the issue. I figure the “clouds” qualify. Again, I like the lines and contrast though much simpler than those in the balcony photo.

Today’s Self-Reflecting Queries
It seems, as I complete writing the last section, that today’s queries move in the direction of fun and also on our taking actions consistent with what we think others expect of us.

Pretty funny, the latter statement; I say I think you expect Nature pictures. I really have no idea what you look for here, other than photographs you think are “good” and to which you relate in some way. Obviously I am laying my judgments on you. I love nature so I think Picture to Ponder “should be” about that.

Today, I invite you to look into your life to see:

1. Are there places in your life right now where you are moving “full steam ahead” to satisfy what you think or “know” someone wants AND you’ve never checked with them?

If you see something here, I invite you to pause, reflect on what it is you are doing, who it is you are attempting to satisfy, and then have a conversation with the other person or persons. Be open to what they might be wanting and check out any interpretations you are adding.

2. Do you pay attention to your smiles? Know what it is that’s FUN for you? If the answers are “yes”, I invite you to have more of them. If “no’, I invite to pause for a moment when you feel a smile coming on, observe it and then take a simple action.

As always, have fun with these queries and this week look for something in your environment that brings a smile to your face!

Reminder - Through and From the Lens is being offered in-person for the first time in South Florida on Saturday, October 25th. “Connections” are one of the bonuses of the course. See Saturday Playshop It will be resumed as a teleclass series starting in November.

To be on the list for more details for these classes, fill in your name and time preference on the form on the blog.

A lady in the top photo with a very wide collar and a “blowfish” in the lower photo.  Neither was posed as such. The top photo was a random arrangement of art peels and the lower “simply” a half orange.  I was mainly interested in playing with the contrasts of the ceramic dish as background.

Have fun seeing whatever you do/will in the photographs.

Phases of a Cantaloupe Being Readied for Consumption

Time is running out for the day. I committed to one or more fruit photos per day this week and the cantaloupe, sitting in my photo folder called out. This particular cantaloupe is long gone. Earlier today the images were inspiring poetic thoughts. Not jotted down, they are gone. Maybe later.

The place mat on which the subject poses was made in India – 80% of it is from the banana plant. A cousin of mine who lives in India gifted me with this set. She knows I love my banana “tree” – which is actually an herb. In India, she shared with me, EVERY part of the banana plant is used in some way!

Transitioning from the Vegetable theme to Fruit with mixture of grapes, broccoli, mushrooms and scallions to

berries in a ceramic bowl.

In yesterday’s Picture to Ponder, I committed to posting at least one photo of fruit per day, for the next week. One of the subscribers wrote and asked if I had any grape photos she could use for the cover of a book she is writing. I do not have any current photos of grapes and I went back in my files to discover these photo/drawings.

Given I had not committed to their being new photo, I thought these would be great to also introduce new people to my work to my photo drawing art in my Cafe Press Gift shop. The top image can be found on ceramic tiles.

Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos
Sections of a dehydrating Gold Delicious Apple that had been in the refrigerator for some time.

Today, as I started clicking through photos in my MacIntosh’s iPhoto program to make a choice for feature photos, these apples caught my eye. It was the humor I saw in the sideways glance and winking eye of the apple half in the lower photo that first grabbed my attention.

In the upper photo, I think it’s the somewhat unexpected structure of the apple that we see that I find so interesting. And, “yes,” for those of you who, along with me, see faces in my photos, I do see the two eyes.

Today’s Self-Reflecting Queries
Today, I invite you to look into your life to see:

1. Are there things you’ve been saying you would do and then haven’t?

2. If “yes,” is there an intention you wish to declare, something that will make it easier for you to follow through?

3. Are there any games you would like to create for yourself to have them happen, especially when you get stuck?

4. Are there “permissions” you need to be giving yourself? – Perhaps, simply allowing yourself to have fun?

My Story of the Day leading to these queries:
Last month, you may recall, I documented the peeling away of the layers of an onion. If you missed it, you can see some photos and start following on the SECOND PAGE of the blog.

When I started out photographing the onion, my original plan had been to do daily postings on the blog of vegetable photos, continuing with fruits the next week. In preparation for the latter, one day I pulled an apple from my refrigerator. I discovered that it had been in there long beyond the time for tasty eating. The apple did, however, make an enjoyable photo subject.

In the meantime, I got so caught up in the Onion Story that I went well beyond the original intention of one week of vegetable photo posting and totally lost interest in continuing on with the fruits.

As usual, after I made my choices I started second guessing them, “Should I even do the apple? Is this the right choice? What about the lighting, color, quality, etc. etc.” And I decided to stick with my first instincts, at the same time uploading onto FlickR several more of the photos which you can see by simply clicking on APPLE- INSIDE VIEWS.

As always, it’s when I start writing that the SRQ themes develop and for today, I saw, that once again they are falling into the Intention – Completion realm, with a little bit of the “trust” factor thrown in. The latter for today is trusting that there are those of you out there for whom something in these apple photos, and subsequent queries, will be making a difference for you.

On the lighter side, it could be as simple as checking your refrigerator for the credible edibles.

In terms of completions and incompletions, I have been looking this week at places in my life where I have incompletions. Mainly they seem to be in those areas where I had set intentions. And, I’m taking little steps this week, stages of completion.

As I’ve stated, in prior issues of Picture to Ponder, when I remind myself of my stated intentions, it becomes easier to complete and there is a lot less brain “chatter”. And, sure enough, a couple of major things have been accomplished already, beyond what I thought was possible, in some long lingering projects I had dropped, as well as in current ones.

To conclude here, insofar as it relates to today’s discussion, I am commiting for the next week to the daily posting of fruit photos completing on the earlier expressed intention of a month ago, staying open to what might occur.

Given, I’m making up the game, I will also give myself the permission to use some photos I took a few weeks ago when I thought that would be my next activity.

Is there anything to which you would like to commit for the next week, something that might not already have been on your list?

As always, do remember to have fun. You can even divert momentarily and have some fun with
FIREFLAG PLAY
In the nature of fun, check out FIREFLAG LEAF, TALKING IN THE WIND, an 18 second video clip I posted on YouTube. I suspect many of you could create some great expressions that could be coming out of his/her “mouth.”

Last of the Sunset in my Boynton Beach, FL Neighborhood – 8/24/08

Photo today for you to simply enjoy, or query, until tomorrow’s issue of Picture to Ponder when I’ll feature more, plus the story and queries.