Hi Bryan,
Perhaps I can help with the "not seeing images" thing.
First of all, _everyone_ sees images, except perhaps for folks who were born visually impaired.
The real determining factor is, how fast do you get the info you need from the image? Some people are so adept at getting the info they aren't consciously aware of the fact that they are seeing images. That was my case - and, in fact, we are the lucky ones because that means we _already_ have a very strong connection to the other-than-conscious mind! Our OTC mind is so efficient at getting the info, we are never even are aware we're using it! Isn't that great?
So, what can you do to slow down the images? I have a bag of tricks, some of which aren't appropriate (this is a family board, after all ).
Right before you start these, try getting into the Flow State, just like for PhotoReading, and asking your OTC mind something like, "I wonder how easily my other-than-conscious mind can present these images for conscious inspection." Or something like that. Just a statement of purpose, posed as an open-ended question.
Let's work at this in 3 stages...any one of which might get results without the others:
1. Take a piece of white paper and with a very black magic marker, draw a big white dot. Hang that up on the wall, step back a couple of paces and then stare it for few moments. Then, either close your eyes or turn away from it (yes, you _can_ visualize with your eyes open, and in fact that is a better method for some folks) and imagine that dark, black spot on that bright white paper. If you don't get it right away, repeat it a couple of times, then move on.
2. Take your black dot and imagine that it is a ball (eyes open or closed). Imagine it in 3 dimensions, with light shining off of it. Then, imagine holding it in your hand...cup your hand and feel the weight as it rests there...lightly throw it up a couple of times and feel it smacking your palm...does it make a hollow sound or solid? Bring it up to your nose and smell the ball...does it smell like rubber? Wood?
3. Imagine a movie of some sort. Something easy like driving your car, riding your bike, jogging in the morning, etc. Let the movie play in real time and make it last a minute or two...make it realistic and slowly change the scenery...make the trees pink and the road bright blue...etc.
The theory behind all of this is:
-- We want to train your OTC mind to slow down the images so that you can look at them in more detail.
-- Adding senses other than sight helps "anchor" the image in your mind.
-- Adding motion inherently slows the images down, because they have to run for a while for you to get all the info.
-- By adding creative elements, you OTC mind can't use any shortcuts to get you the info.
Post here how much success you have. If you work through these a couple of times, I think you'll really notice a difference.
Mike