Kipona Artsfest – September 4 – 6 – Harrisburg PA

I will be at the at the Kipona ArtFest at Riverfront Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this weekend. I will have several new flower photos with me this weekend. You can see my most recent flower photographs on my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

I’m offering two special offers this weekend at Kipona Artsfest. Save $ 10 on any purchase of $ 50 or more. Spend $ 100 or more and receive a free Wildflower calendar ($ 19.95 value)

Show hours are Saturday September 4 10 AM – 7  PM, Sunday September 5 12 PM – 7 PM,  and Monday September 6 10 AM – 5 PM. My booth number is 44 this weekend.

Directions to Riverfront Park and additional information is available on the show website.

I hope to see you in Harrisburg this weekend.

New Photo: Fiesta del Sol Mexican Sunflower

Fiesta del Sol Mexican Sunflower (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Fiesta del Sol Mexican Sunflower – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

What can I say about this flower – other that WOW! what a great bright orange flower. Not only does this flower have wonderful orange petals, it has wonderful details in the yellow center. I’m always on the lookout for additional flowers to add to my collection of asters that I offer as square canvases. I think the Fiesta del Sol Mexican Sunflower would make a great indoor garden with photos such as Golden Marguerite Daisy, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Coneflower, Zowie Zinnia, and Arizona Sun Blanket Flower.

This photograph is available as either an 12X10″ or 20X20″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Fiesta del Sol Mexican Sunflower from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Introducing A Daily Moment of Beauty

I just wanted to  let you know about a new email publication I’ll be launching on September 1. It’s called A Daily Moment of Beauty.

Very simply – it’s going to consist of an email that arrives in your inbox each morning with one of my photographs in it. It might be a flower, a sunrise, a river or some other moment in nature. Some of the times when I’m feeling the most relaxed and the most at peace are when I’m out photographing in nature – be it in a garden or in a National Park. I’m hoping to allow you to experience these same wonderful feelings when you start your day with a Moment of Beauty.

Wouldn’t you love to start your day with a photograph that helps relax and inspire you?

If you would – then please consider sign up for my Daily Moment of Beauty emails – and starting in September you’ll receive a nature photograph from me every morning.  A Daily Moment of Beauty is my gift to you – there will never be a charge for subscribed to this email publication.

Links – August 27, 2010

Pink Tulip Trio (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some links I found this week – hope you find them interesting.

Photography and Art Links

LensRentals.com has FWIGTEW and Other First Wedding Acronyms

Plagiarism Today has Does Posting Your Work Online Give Others the Right to Copy?

Property Intangible has A House’s Right of Publicity

SFGate has Ansel Adams Trust Sues Over Garage Sale Negatives

Black Star Rising has Job Postings Reveal That for Pro Photographers  The Squeeze is On, and Don’t Buy In To The Model Release Myth

Paul Burwell has Selling Wildlife Photography: Cute Sells

Hand Made in PA has 11 Tips for Going to A Craft Show

Digital Photography School has 10 Tips for the Aspiring Street Photographer

Gardening, Plants & Flowers Links

Invasive Notes has Invasive Species: Wavyleaf Basketgrass

Mysinchew has Outrage as Priceless Russian Seed Bank Faces Destruction

BBCNews has The Decline of the English Elm Tree

National Parks Traveler has GSMNP Looking for Volunteers to Id Ash Trees

National Park & Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has Civil War Battlefields to Share $1 Million for Land Acquisition, Traveler Readers Invited to Test Drive Prototype Website for Birding in the National Park System, NPCA Point Out Threats to Grand Canyon National Park in New Report, National Geographic’s Trails Illustrated Division Ships New Maps On Great Smoky, Voyageurs National Parks, and You Can’t Always, or Fairly, Blame Technology for Visitor Woes in National Parks

NYTimes has Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble

NJ.Com has Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Lines The South Jersey Landscape with Vibrant Color

Wildlife Links

Treehugger has Photographer Discovers Mysterious Bearded Antelope

Miami Herald has Officials Try To Solve Major Deer Decline

CSMonitor has Michigan Hails Judge’s Move in Asian Carp Fight Against Chicago

WCSH6 has Hawk Watch Season Begins at Acadia NP

The News-Press has Panther Refuge May Get Bigger

National Parks Traveler has Great Smoky Mountains National Park Ready to Remove Experimental Tag from Elk Herd

Billings Gazette has Fed Appeal Grizzly Bear Relisting

Environmental Issues Links

NYTimes has Gulf Oil Plume Is not Breaking Down Fast, Study Says and Disaster at the Top of the World

Audubon Magazine has Oil is Going, But Isn’t Gone

New Photo: American Dogwood

American Dogwood (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – American Dogwood – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Dogwoods are one of my favorite spring flowers. This past spring, I photographed several different types of dogwoods in hopes of finally having a photograph of white dogwood blossoms to share with you. With this pair of blossoms, I was able to take the photograph I’ve been wanting to create – the simple white blossoms, the green and yellow centers against a dark background of the woods. I hope you enjoy this photograph of the dogwood blossoms as much as I do.

This photograph is available as either an 12X15″ or 20X26″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order American Dogwood from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

New Photo: Yellow Lady’s Slipper

Yellow Lady’s Slipper (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Yellow Lady’s Slipper – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

I am so happy to be announcing this new photo. I’ve been searching for a Yellow Lady’s Slipper to photograph and hopefully offer for sale for a couple of years now. This past spring, I finally had the opportunity to photograph some yellow lady’s slippers. I photographed this one in a private garden in Gatlinburg. I love the color of the blossom and the shape and texture of the leaves.

This photograph is available as either an 12X18″ or 20X30″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Yellow Lady’s Slipper from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.


New Photo: Black Eyed Susans IV

Black Eyed Susans IV (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Black Eyed Susans IV – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Black Eyed Susans are one of my favorite summer flowers. I love the contrast of the bright yellow of the petals against the soft green of the leaves. I also love them because they are so easy to grow – mine are starting to take over a whole section of my garden. This summer, I’ve had lots of butterflies and birds in my garden, in part because of the Black Eyed Susans. I hope you enjoy this photo of Black Eyed Susans as much as I do.

This photograph is available as either an 12X15″ or 20X26″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Black Eyed Susans IV from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Links – August 20, 2010

Pink Peony (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Lots of links this week since I didn’t get a links post done while I was in Arizona last week

Photography and Art Links

Black Star Rising has The Era of Diminished Expectations in Photography, Why Selling “All Rights” Is Wrong for your Photography Business,

Newsarse has Terrorists Sick of Being Treated Like Photographers

Deadspin has After Photography Ban, Soccer Game Covered by Cartoonist

DPS has Backing Up and Saving Your Images

Old Media, New Tricks has Three Reasons You Should Ask Your Photo Subjects for Permission

Dan Heller has The Obama Photo Copyright Controversy

Copyright Law and Copyright Information has Legal Issues Selling or Using Stock Photos of Landmarks or Buildings

PhotoAttorney has Who Owns The Copyright?

Gardening, Plants & Flowers Links

USParks has Chestnut Blight in the Great Smoky Mountains

National Parks Traveler has PEER Complains about Plant Collecting in National Parks, NPS Says It’s Proposing Regulatory Changes

National Park & Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has Full Senate to Consider Various Park Bills, Appellate Court Says NPS Violated First Amendment by Requiring Permits for Free Speech, Land Deal to Help Save Everglades Moving Forward But Scaled Back, Park Service Says No Predetermined Outcome With Transmission Project at Delaware Water Gap NRA, and Major Safety Improvements Planned for Statue of Liberty National Monument,

Refuge Watch has NPS Suggests Running Power Line Through Cherry Valley NWR,

Environment News Service has Humanitarian Water Stations Allowed in Border Wildlife Refuge

CapeGazette has Prime Hook Residents Support Repairs

Wildlife Links

CSMonitor has Horrible Fungus Driving Bug-Loving Brown Bats to Extinction

National Parks Traveler has Century Baby? Bison Calf Born at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve First Since Mid-1800s, and District Court Upholds Designation of Critical Winter Habitat for Piping Plovers at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

CJOnline has Feds With Migrating Waterfowl Could Read

BBCNews has Rhino Poaching on the Increase in South Africa

Environmental Issues Links

Environmental News Service has Corals Bleached and Dying in Overheated South Asian Waters

CSMonitor has What Happened to Gulf Oil Spill? Rosy Portrait was Hasty Study Says and Soaring Temperatures Spark Mass Coral Death in Indonesia

NYTimes has Cape Cod Waters in Pollution Crisis

Shades of Purple II

Once again I seem to have several purple flowers that don’t really into separate blog posts. So I decided it was time for another Shades of Purple post – where I just post purple flowers. Somehow I seem to end up photographing an awful lot of purple flowers – wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that it is one of my favorite colors.

First up are a bed of Christmas Pearl Grape Hyacinth – muscari armeniacum

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A wonderful hyacinth in multiple shades of purple

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Some purple pansies

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A Ramona Clematis against a concrete wall

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And last but not least – a purple poppy

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Do you have a favorite purple flower? or is there another color of flowers that you prefer?

Flowering Cactuses at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

Just over a week ago I spent a wonderful morning exploring the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. I headed out a day early for the conference I was attending just so I could visit the Desert Botanical Garden. I’d been there a few times before so knew I was in for a treat – I just didn’t know how wonderful a day it would turn out to be.

I was fortunate to meet Jeff Stemshorn, a local photographer, as I entered the gardens. We talked for a few minutes and headed off in separate directions. I mentioned that I was hoping to photograph some cactus in bloom since I’ve never seen any blooming before. Several times over the next few hours, Jeff took time to come find me and show me some of the flowering cactuses he had spotted. So thanks to Jeff, I was able to photograph several wonderful flowering cactuses.

First is a pair of flowering white echinopsis cactus blossoms

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A lovely echinopsis thelonga blossom

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

An unknown variety of flowering cactus

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A mammillaria cactus – Thanks to Gene Almendinger for the correct identification of this one

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And finally a Lady Finger Cactus

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ll be back in Arizona in December and hope to spend more time at the Desert Botanical Garden. I can’t wait to see what I find in bloom at that time of year.