Healing Your Mind and Body Through Nature Photography

IntroductionThe Hobby of Nature photography as an alternative to synthetic medicine can help those who suffer from anxiety and depression, experience the peaceful beauty of creation. Specifically, nature photography can help separate mankind from common modern day thoughts, helping to focus and meditate on the peaceful harmony that exists in flowers, wildlife, waterfalls, mountains, trees and the sky. Although it is nice to just visit a park or other recreational area, nature photography forces an individual to narrow his or her thoughts on a specific subject while blocking all else out.Documented EvidenceStudies suggest that “contact with nature seems to be good for health” (American Journal of Public Health [AJPH], 2003) and that “there is evidence that nature views speed recovery among postoperative patients.” According to Frumkin (2003), some of the benefits which have been documented state that children with ADD improve their attention, troubled city girls self-discipline improves, there is a lower death rate in elderly, and children in general have stronger emotional stability from mid-childhood to teenage years. These studies prove what God’s word has revealed to man for thousands of years “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (King James Bible [KJV], 1611), King Solomon wrote several scriptures regarding the affect a merry heart can have on health.Nature Photography subjects and methodsFlowersVarious subjects exist in nature photography and some may bring more stress relief than others. Flowers for example, have a natural aesthetically pleasing look and can bring to memory wonderfully peaceful scriptures from the Bible.Jesus taught at the Sermon on the Mount (30 A.D.) Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30)Thoughts of provision for our needs, even when we are incapable of helping ourselves seem impossible, where there is little or no faith. However, through considering the flowers, their beauty, and their care from the Heavenly Father it is possible to understand and realize that mankind is made in his image and that he will take better care of man than even the most beautiful rose, through faith.WaterfallsWhen listening to the sounds of rushing water, and watching the magnificent display of power and unyielding strength as it cascades over a precipice; many will experience a peaceful and tranquil feeling. Waterfalls are very beautiful and help to drown out the noise of talking, telephones, music and television. Long exposure waterfall photography (5-30 seconds) adds a surreal effect to the scenic beauty of a waterfall. The results from this type of nature photography are rewarding, very artistic and are highly prized among nature photographers. This advanced nature photography technique requires practice with various settings, and will generate a sense of fun and playing that brings back childhood feelings of happiness and joy.Birds and WildlifeIf still subjects and static photography seem uninteresting, then focus can be shifted to wildlife nature photography. Birding for instance, is a very popular area of nature photography that can utilize a new technique called Digiscoping. This technique typically uses an inexpensive point and shoot camera, combined with a tripod mounted spotting or telescope. Amazing results have been produced with this popular area of wildlife nature photography. Whenever pleasing results are produced after experimenting and testing techniques, confidence and encouragement tend to dispel anxiety and fear.Viewfinders opposed to LCD preview screens, reduce external distractions by limiting the area of view that can be seen. Many details cannot be clearly viewed or perceived through an LCD screen although they do work well in situations when it is not possible to use the viewfinder. Whether paying attention to the macro details of a flower petal; or adjusting focus and aperture to capture the clarity of the surround landscape in a waterfall scene, nature photography requires one to clear all other thoughts from their mind.Reasonable excuses, why not?Yes, there are a lot of reasons that one may not want to consider nature photography; however, there are just as many answers as to why not? It does not hurt to try a remedy to worries, anxiety and depression, but the effects from not trying will certainly not be any better.I do not live near nature – Even in the most populated metropolitan areas, there are parks and recreation areas where one can begin to experience nature. The possibility to interact with nature is all around, even as close as in the backyards and neighborhoods or the busiest towns and cities.
I am allergic to flowers – Most floral photography is accomplished with a telephoto lens or a lens that is zoomed to a telephoto range in order to allow macro photography settings. This would keep a distance from high exposures of pollen. In addition, it is easy to find a particle mask to cover your mouth and nose when in areas you may be exposed.
It is too expensive – Many point and shoot cameras can easily reach resolutions of 8 to 12 mega pixels and can cost as less as $75. It is certainly feasible for anyone to become involved in nature photography.ConclusionNatural remedies to health problems have existed for thousands of years, just as long as time itself. Often our society tries to find the answer in deeply founded research and technology, when the answers are already plain and obvious. This natural form of meditation helps to bring a peace within and a rewarded feeling of capturing these moments; allowing reflection at a later time to spark fond memories when times of trouble and worry rise again. Very few hobbies exist that are so rewarding, and actually bring man and woman back into the perspective that was originally intended in The Garden of Eden.

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Largest Homeowners Insurance Companies

Strong insurance companies are based on many factors, not because they are the largest, they cannot be affected with the disaster as well. The factors is that the insurer’s are level of capitalization, the adequacy of its loss reserves, trend in its profitability and concentration of its business geographically and along business line.Knowing that seeking to find home insurance rates on a state to state basis, then there are few issues you need or must understand since homeowners insurance have different factors to choose from. If you have money and can afford the best coverage with high rates, then that is better. What is important is you can find the right company where you feel relax, at ease and have peace of mind.There are many companies in the market regardless of the type, number of companies they have in the market with overwhelming coverage they can offer to their customers but remember that each company comes with set of advantages and disadvantages. The largest insurance companies can spread their cost of claims out which allow them to offer coverage at a lower price compare to smaller insurance companies which offer fewer policies.Here are list of some largest insurance companies:
Berkshire Hathaway – another largest companies that carries lots of popular insurance brands such as United State Liability Insurance Group, Geico, National Indemnity Company and these companies provides coverage life and property insurance and a series of specialized insurance such as homeowner insurance.
Allstate – one of the largest companies in United States and offer wide variety of insurance policies such as home, mobile home, auto, life and retirement insurance, etc.
Travelers PC Group – another largest insurance company in United State also offers wide variety of insurance such as vehicle, business coverage ranging from small business to large business corporation, workers compensation, home insurance and etc.
The Hartford Group – one of the largest companies as well in USA which offers wide variety of insurance like the other insurance companies.
Liberty Mutual- this is considered as one of the largest company and has smaller spectrum of insurance offerings such as home, life, auto, condo, renter insurance, etc
Generally speaking, homeowners insurance covers the loss of belongings in case of theft, fire and other casualties and must repair or replace property that is damaged, destroyed and stolen where in your insurance will pay for all or part of the cost. As well it protects you against liability lawsuits if in case you were sued by someone who is injured inside your property or whose property is damaged.You must remember that the amount of insurance you purchase should be based on the cost of rebuilding, not really the actual price of your home that is why most insurance companies recommend their customer to insure their home for 100% of the cost of rebuilding it so that their customers will have peace of mind.So often you will hear that shopping is always the best way where you can find the right insurance company for your home, to compare rates, coverage and benefits which insurance company will offer.

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Automotive Advertising Agencies Don’t Know What They Don’t Know But Social Media Has The Answers

Automotive advertising agencies are being asked to deliver more for less by a consolidating auto industry in response to reduced sales volume, profit margins and automotive advertising budgets. The solution, as is often the case, lies in the leveraged use of technology applied to a constant in the auto industry — change. Another constant that can be found in the auto industry is human nature. These two constants, change and human nature, power the explosive growth of the use of social media by automotive advertising agencies. Unfortunately, the change is happening at warp speed on the Internet Super Highway and agencies don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to new technologies and applications being developed to monetize social media.Attempts to provide a presence for automobile dealers on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter fall short for the same reasons that these online communities of friends are so successful with consumers. People hate car dealers and they often turn to advice from like minded consumers on social networking sites to get away from them. Automotive advertising agencies that impose on these personal conversations with self serving sales messages are often ostracized and even virally attacked as an intruder. The potential damage to the online reputation of their auto dealer clients represents a risk to reward formula that has forced many agencies to abandon social media as a viable channel to deliver a retail sales or service message.Fortunately, the same social media that teaches consumers how to buy a vehicle can provide automobile dealers with the information and the tools that they need to sell them one. Social networking portals developed by advertising professionals, automotive vendors and auto dealers allow their members to share best practices with the common philosophy that a rising tide floats all boats. Each online community boasts its own personality and rules of the road to keep members in their lane. The temptation to sell to each other is controlled by the same social pressures that exist on consumer facing social networks for those that forget why they are there — to listen and learn so they can presume to teach their auto dealers how they can sell cars and service to their online friends.In addition to sharing best practices, many automotive advertising agencies use social media to discover new technologies and vendor applications that have not yet been discovered by the mainstream auto industry. Recent discoveries that I can contribute to my searches on social media include an automated video production platform that produces scalable interactive videos from pictures using human voice to narrate them that are placed on the auto dealer’s website and pushed through a dedicated API with YouTube onto the world wide web. An equally revolutionary discovery was a consumer centric inventory marketing platforms that offers auto dealers free listings and free leads with the ability to purchase real time market analytics and social networking profiles that empower the salesperson to answer the customer’s questions even before they ask them. Each of these vendor applications were introduced to the market through automotive advertising social networking communities that enabled them to listen and learn from their members about how they can improve their products and services before they introduced them to the general market. My access to these automotive advertising solutions was only possible as a result of the time I invested on social media looking for them so that I could stay one step ahead of the competition.Online blog talk radio stations hosted on automotive advertising networking portals provide a another social media forum for finding and reviewing new automotive advertising solutions. Regularly scheduled blog talk radio shows with live interviews of the developers of bleeding edge automotive advertising applications allow their online audience to ask vendors questions in an open forum. These open exchanges of ideas in a problem solution format help the vendors as much as the automotive advertising decision makers that follow the shows. A new mobile sales presentation platform with an integrated training component was recently discussed on a blog talk radio show to solicit feedback from the audience. Their insights were used to modify the platform before the vendor began their beta test it in the real world saving thousands of wasted dollars and man hours that would normally be required to mature their application.The opportunity for automotive advertising agencies and auto dealers to listen, learn and contribute to social networking communities allows them to discover what they don’t know while allowing them the opportunity to share what they do know. Auto dealers are people too/ The same efficiencies and extended resources that attract consumers to social media to research their next vehicle purchase is sourced by automotive advertising agencies who need to stay one step ahead of the competition in a consolidating auto industry that demands more for less. Automotive advertising agencies don’t know what they don’t know but they can definitely find out on auto industry focused social media. After all, what are friends for!

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