Carol Chapman | Carol Chapman

Your Photographs Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Wonderful

Sometimes, a photograph is improved through parts of it being out of focus.

For example, take a look at the Edgar Cayce 2009 Calendar again. For the month of May, you’ll see one of the cutest photographs in this calendar. I love it. The image shows a lightning bug (firefly) peaking over the edge of a magnolia flower petal.

The lightning bug and the leaf on which it sits are both beautifully in focus. However, all the petals behind the bug are out of focus. If they were in focus, the crisp lines and detail in the petal surfaces would detract from the lightning bug.

I love this picture. Paradoxically, it is made better by being less than perfect.

Here’s the inspirational quote from Edgar Cayce that goes with that month:

“For he that would be the greatest is the servant of the meekest, the lowliest of His children. Then the Knowledge of God constrain thee in that that the DOING, the being of a channel, is thy opportunity for the SHOWING of thy appreciation, of that love, for His blessings to thee.” Edgar Cayce Reading 262-98

Carol Chapman —

Dynamic Photography for Inspirational Quotes

To create the photographs in the Edgar Cayce 2009 Calendar, I needed to use many photography techniques because I wanted to, as beautifully as possible, illustrate the inspirational quotes from America’s great psychic Edgar Cayce.

When I went to photography school, we were taught to “bracket the exposure,” meaning that we should vary the light intensity of the photograph from darker to lighter.

Carol Chapman —

Bracketing the exposure is relatively easy with a film camera. You only have to change the exposure or the f-stop. With digital photography, it requires fooling the automatic exposure meter.

To do that, just center the screen of your digital camera on a dark area of the scene you are photographing to make a light photograph. For a dark photograph, center the screen of your digital camera on a light part of the scene you are photographing.

For example, to create the dynamic intense colors in the sunrise photograph used to illustrate the month of January in the 2009 Edgar Cayce Calendar, I centered the camera viewing screen on the rising sun. This made the photograph darker. Many other photographs I took that morning looked lighter because I centered the camera viewing screen on the dark trees.

Here’s the lovely inspirational quotation from Edgar Cayce that goes with that lovely photograph:

“For you may breathe it [nature] into thine own soul, as you would a sunset or a morning sun rising. And see that sometimes – it’s as pretty as the sunset!” Edgar Cayce Reading 3374-1*

Photography Advice: Take a Slew of Photographs

Slew: A large amount of something (Webster’s Dictionary)

When I studied photography and filmmaking at Ryerson in Toronto, Canada, my professors always reminded us that “film is cheap.” Of course, today, most of us use a digital camera rather than film. With a digital camera, after you buy the media card, you can take endless numbers of photographs.

I drove around Mount Reiner National Park. As I drove, I kept looking for a place where the mountain had a looming feel to it. When I came to the place, I knew it was right.

Carol Chapman —

After finding the right place to take the photograph of Mount Reiner that became the February photograph in the Edgar Cayce Divine in Nature 2008 Calendar, I took a slew of photographs.

Some of the reasons I regularly take a slew:

The image is often changing, in the case of the Mount Reiner photograph described above, the mist over the mountain constantly changed dramatically altering the photograph
Especially in nature photography, I often don’t notice something magnificent like a hawk flying overhead (Please see the December photograph in the Edgar Cayce 2009 Calendar. If I take many photographs and examine them carefully afterward, I may discover something wonderful.
It’s good to vary the image changing the angle, from the right, from the left, higher, lower, zoomed in, wide angle, etc.
When I went to photography school, we were taught to “bracket the exposure,” meaning that we should vary the light intensity of the photograph from darker to lighter.

How I Really Take My Photographs

To tell you the truth, when I’m taking my photographs, I’m not the analytical type. It’s only after I look at the images I’ve photographed that I can analyze them.

On the other hand, at the time of taking the photographs, it’s all about feeling for me – whether it feels right.

Actually, the way I really take my photographs, feels more of an intuitive experience. Sometimes, it almost feels like I’m receiving spiritual guidance or having a psychic experience.

Carol Chapman —

For example, when I took the photograph for the month of February in the 2008 Edgar Cayce Divine in Nature Calendar, I did not analyze the type of photograph I wanted by saying, “I need something in the foreground so the mountain does not look so flat.”

Au contraire, I had a feeling of what I wanted. I knew that in many photographs of mountains the mountains looked tiny and flat. It mystified me that a mountain can be huge but in many photographs it looks and feels tiny. Because of this, I knew what I did not want. However, I did not know how or where I was going to get what I wanted – a photograph of Mount Reiner that conveyed a powerful intense feeling.

Therefore, I drove around Mount Reiner National Park. As I drove, I kept looking for a place where the mountain had a looming feel to it. When I came to the place, I knew it was right. I felt it. That’s why it feels like a psychic or spiritual experience to me. The knowingness defies logic.

Taking Photographs More of an Intuitive Experience

In a previous blogpost I talked about analyzing your photographs.

Look at your photographs of mountains. Do you have trees, branches, flowers, a totem pole, a flying bird, a couple arm-in-arm surveying the scene . . . something in the foreground . . . to create depth and make the photograph interesting?

Photography: Analyze Your Photographs — Carol Chapman

However, by saying the above, I don’t want you to think that I take my photographs in an analytical way. Actually, the way I really take my photographs, feels more of an intuitive experience. Sometimes, it almost feels like I’m receiving spiritual guidance or having a psychic experience.

Have You Suffered Consequences When You Did NOT Follow Spiritual Guidance?

Yesterday I told a story of one young woman’s experience in which she did not listen to her inner spiritual guidance and regretted it.

She often thinks back to her meditation when she received the “No” and wishes she had paid heed to it.

Carol Chapman —

Have you had a similar experience when you received a message of psychic or spiritual direction and did NOT follow it?

An Example of the Psychic Working in Everyday Life

I’ve been talking about the “Yes or No” meditation, that the unconscious mind, from which comes intuition and the psychic, often appears to know better than the conscious mind.

However, if you give it some time, you will likely discover something your conscious mind had no way of knowing but which your unconscious mind somehow, without any physical way of research, knew. Then, you will likely regret that you went ahead based on only your conscious decision.

Carol Chapman —

Here’s an example from a friend’s life. She had been looking for 10 years for the right home to buy. However, her husband kept saying “no” to every lovely place she and the realtor found. Finally she found a place that her husband also liked. They did all the things a person should do to make sure the house they are considering will be good, such as getting an inspection done and meeting the neighbors to assure themselves they would get along. However, when she went to the house and meditated with a friend, the both of them received the same answer, “No.” Because she’d been trying to move to another house for 10 years, she went ahead with the sale in spite of her intuitive information. Also, everything seemed so fine with the house. Afterwards, she and her husband discovered that their next door neighbor was not all that he showed himself to be. Now, their lives have periodic encounters with misery in the person of their neighbor. She often thinks back to her meditation when she received the “No” and wishes she had paid heed to it.

Your Unconscious Mind Knows Best

Often, when your intuition or unconscious mind says “No” and your conscious mind says “Yes” you’ll find that your unconscious mind knows best!

Whenever you have a decision to make, whenever you feel stumped about the next step to take, first consciously make your choice, then, use the Yes or Not Meditation and see if your answers coincide.

Carol Chapman —

The reason your unconscious mind said “No” may not become evident at first. In fact, based on the facts in hand and your conscious assessment of the situation, there is every reason to believe you will receive a successful outcome if you pursue your conscious decision.

However, if you give it some time, you will likely discover something your conscious mind had no way of knowing but which your unconscious mind somehow, without any physical way of research, knew. Then, you will likely regret that you went ahead based on only your conscious decision.

Apply Edgar Cayce’s Yes No Meditation in Many Areas of Your Life

Although I specifically talked about using a variation of Edgar Cayce’s Yes or No Meditation when going through photographs to choose which ones to use, this is an intuitive system that can be used in many areas of your life.

You might want to try it for your own psychic development. See if you hear, feel, see or in some way receive an inner response when you have a decision to make.

Carol Chapman —

Whenever you have a decision to make, whenever you feel stumped about the next step to take, first consciously make your choice, then, use the Yes or Not Meditation and see if your answers coincide.

If not, you’d better delay going ahead or find some more information to understand the discrepancy. I have found that usually the decision made by my un- or subconscious mind turns out to be right.

Edgar Cayce’s "Yes or No" Meditation

In a previous post, I said that I often use my intuition to choose which photographs to select for a given project such as the Edgar Cayce Calendar.

Ask yourself, “Yes or No.” You might even hear “yes” or “no.”

Carol Chapman —

The “Yes or No” method of selection photographs is a version of a meditation I learned from the psychic readings of Edgar Cayce. Here’s the quote from Edgar Cayce Reading 5019-2:

“As the body recognizes, there is the body-mind, the body-consciousness, there is also the inner consciousness or the soul mind. Ask the question in self in the physical mind so it may be answered yes or no, and in mediation get the answer. Then closing self to physical consciousness, through the meditation, ask the same question. If these agree, go ahead. If these disagree, analyze own self and see the problem that lies in the way.”

(5019-2)

I find this meditation, in various forms, very helpful in my life. I believe it connects me with my psychic or soul abilities.

You might want to try it for your own psychic development. See if you hear, feel, see or in some way receive an inner response when you have a decision to make.

Look at your photographs of mountains. Do you have trees, branches, flowers, a totem pole, a flying bird, a couple arm-in-arm surveying the scene . . . something in the foreground . . . to create depth and make the photograph interesting?