Sometimes it takes just a little simple advice to overcome fear. I'm trying to embrace the manual aspect of my Nikon, but for some reason, the digital Nikon intimidates in a way that my film camera never did. There are just so many bells and whistles, and I am often afraid I'll mess up the camera! Fortunately, the amazingly kind and talented Karen Walrond had this piece of advice when I saw her this summer: "Just take pictures of fruit." Just put some fruit on the table and start playing with the settings, she told me. It will be okay,... Continue reading

Thanks to my good friend, frequent partner in crime and fabulous photographer Amie, aka MammaLoves, I came up with this shot while we were riding in a New York City pedicab this summer. It was a fun thing to do, though once we had hopped on and agreed to pay, we realized that perhaps we'd taken our lives into our own hands by riding in one little pedicab in a sea of crazy taxis! Fortunately, we survived and with Amie's advice, I came up with this image that really captured the off-kilter sense we had of seeing Broadway from this... Continue reading

This image makes me happy and sad. Happy because it shows PunditGirl and her friend having a fun time. Sad because this was taken just weeks before her friend got on a plane to fly half way across the world to live for a few years with her family. Happy because it is a carefree moment of childhood. Sad because I see the emerging teens who will soon be leaving their hormone-free childhoods behind. They're still little girls and I cherish each and every moment I get to see that in them, because I know there will come a day,... Continue reading

I have fallen in love with an iPhone app (yes, it's all your fault Mocha Momma!). While my iPhone is handy, I'm not addicted to it and I'm skeptical of various applications and whether I really need them. But when I read that Kelly was a fan of the application called Hipstamatic -- a photography app that makes pictures look like they were taken 20 years ago with your childhood instamatic camera -- I fell in love. Shots that I would delete with my digital SLR magically turn into quirky things I love to look at! And no, I was... Continue reading

I found some amazing Gerbera daisies at the farmer's market the other week and couldn't stop marveling at the color. Then, when I got closer -- REALLY close -- I realized just how many different shades there were in what at first appeared just to be pretty pink flowers. Image by Joanne Bamberger aka PunditMom. Continue reading

One of my favorite plants, nightshade brings back some pleasant summer memories from several years ago. I finally planted some at our house. By Karianna Continue reading

Close-up of a portion of the beautiful Patricia Vader sculpture "Wheely Whirly Peacock." By Karianna Continue reading

At Muir Woods in Marin County, California by Karianna Continue reading

This is the closest we get to "snow" in my parts. Or, perhaps these look more like jacks? I used a Lensbaby for this. By Karianna Continue reading

It's hard to capture the scale and overwhelming achievement that is The Great Wall of China in any photographs, no matter how stunning they are. But I loved this detail as we huffed and puffed our way up one of the sections of the The Great Wall -- padlocks with red ribbons that lined the way. The significance? Couples can purchase these and leave them as symbols of their never-ending love at this monument to dedication, hard-work, greatness and even disappointment. It turns out that The Great Wall of China is a lot like love in many ways. Image by... Continue reading

There's not this much snow left in the back yard anymore, but it still hasn't completely disappeared. Maybe another day or two should do it. Image by PunditMom/Joanne Bamberger Continue reading

How could I have forgotten this one? I was saving it for a Valentine's Day post and totally forgot about it when we were dealing with the snowpocalypse (parts 1, 2 and 3!) I was playing with my Lensbaby while we were in Southern California in December and found this perfect image of love -- heart-shaped and prickly! Image by Joanne/PunditMom Copyright 2009, all rights reserved Continue reading