On Searching For Inspiration

by Dotti

Inspiration, like this Monarch butterfly, can be elusive sometimes, can't it? Today I'd like to share with you some of the people and places where I go for inspiration.

The first will come as no surprise - right here at FOL. I find inspiration every time I read one of the posts and see the photos that the other FOL people post here. That's why we chose them for the team - because we knew they would inspire. 

I also get inspiration from other photographers on the internet. I couldn't possibly name them all but here are a few of the people I turn to again and again: Karen Walrond, Kim Klassen, Xanthe Berkeley, Tracey Clark.

Some of the sites are: Vision and Verb, The Coffee Shop Blog, Digital Photo Secrets, Digital Photography School, mcp actions, Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics, to name a few.

There is also a long list of other blogs that I follow, many of which are yours. Yes, I follow a goodly number of your blogs and try to comment when I can. Every morning while I'm on the treadmill, I prop my iPad on the book stand and read the blogs that have come via Bloglovin' in the email overnight. Then later I go through the list again, stopping to comment on as many as I can.

Your comments on our FOL page, your photos on our Flickr page, the IG feeds, all these things inspire me. I feel like my inspiration cup overflows! It is such a joy to be in the company of such wonderful people and photographers, it truly does inspire me. 

But at the end of the day, I realized something. All these resources are good, they're helpful. Learning to see, which we talk about a lot here, is good. But what really counts is what we find in our hearts. That's where the real inspiration comes from.

And now ... as promised ... the BIG REVEAL! We're happy to announce the winner of our poster giveaway: Sherry Galey. Sherry, please email us at focusingonlifegrp@gmail.com and tell us first of all, which poster you'd like, the Barrio or the Desert Flowers as well as the snail mail address where you would like us to send your poster. And thanks to all of you who participated in this fun give away.

Our "Thank You" Giveaway

by Terri

Thistle in the Morning Light

First of all, I want to tell all of you who have been contributing your “morning” photos how much I have been enjoying them! It’s just wonderful to see what morning looks like at your house. Secondly, I have a little video to share with you. I recently saw this and loved it, so I wanted to share it with all of you. Here goes: 

This needs to come with a disclaimer: “Don’t try this at home!”

You’ve probably noticed that there has been a lot of admiration going around lately among all the FOL sisters, and it’s true that we do admire and support each other.  But we want to let you know how much we admire and appreciate you, our readers. We love getting your comments and seeing your photos posted in the Flickr pool and every once in a while we like to let you know how much. So in honor of all of our special readers, we are going to have a giveaway!

The prize is a 12x18 poster of your choice of either of the two posters shown below -- “Colors of the Barrio” which is of the barrio doors in Tucson, AZ or “Desert in Bloom” which is a selection of cactus flowers. These have been created by one of our contributors (exactly who shall remain a mystery!)  Once you have been informed that you are the winner, e-mail your mailing address to me and the poster will be sent to you.  It will be mailed securely in a heavy duty mailing tube so as to arrive safely at your door.

To enter the giveaway:

1.     Please leave one comment on any of our daily posts or post a photo in the Flickr pool each day between now and September 28th. You will receive one entry for every comment or Flickr post.

2.     When you post to Flickr, make sure to mark your photos “FOL giveaway” to receive credit. If you blog about the giveaway on your own blog, you will receive two entries! Make sure to include a link to your blog in your comment here so we can give you credit toward the giveaway.

3.     No collaborator comments or photos will be entered into the drawing.

4.     The winner will be selected by an outside party and will be notified in our October 7, 2013 post, so be sure to check back then to see if you won! Please email me with your shipping address and choice of prize by October 13. The email address will be in the October 7^th post.

That’s all there is to it! Thank you for this opportunity to tell you how much we value your being along on this adventure with us. You are what make it all  worthwhile!