Dahlia Festival – Wollam Gardens – September 22-23

 

I am starting to do art & craft festivals again! While I’ve enjoyed the time off from shows, I’ve missed having the opportunity to talk with people about my photography – and helping them choose the perfect photos to bring the peace and beauty of nature into their homes and offices.

My first show in the Washington, DC area in eighteen months will be the Dahlia Festival at Wollam Gardens in Jeffersonton, Virginia. I will have lots of photos with me that I’ve never shown in the DC area before including Lotus Blossom IV, Sunflower Center, Sunflowers All in a Row, Yellowstone Gerbera Daisy and Salvia and Blanketflowers.

In addition to my photographs on canvas, my 2013 Peaceful Beauty Calendar and my book Wildflower Meditations: A Gift for the Spirit will be available.

Show hours are Saturday September 22 10 AM – 5 PM and Sunday September 23 10 AM – 5 PM.

My booth number is 3213 this weekend.

Directions to Wollam Gardens are available on their website.

I hope to see you at the Dahlia Festival this weekend.

 

Only 2 Days Left for Early Bird Prices on my 2013 Peaceful Beauty Calendar

Just a quick reminder – this Wednesday, September 12 is the last day to take advantage of the Early Bird Pricing on my 2013 Peaceful Beauty Calendar.

You can save $ 3.00 off the regular price for each calendar you order. Until September 12, the price for a single calendar is
$ 16.95 (regular price will be $ 19.95).

There is a discount if you buy five or more calendars – $ 14.95 each before September 12 ($ 17.95 regular price).

And don’t forget – there is always Free Shipping on orders over $ 50.00 shipped to U.S. addresses.

The calendars make great gifts for your favorite gardener or nature enthusiast. So how about buying 5 – 1 for you – and 4 for those hard to shop for people on your holiday gift list.

I didn’t want you to miss the opportunity to order my 2013 Peace Beauty Calendar at the Early Bird Pricing.

Fed Up with Copyright Infringement

As a photographer who posts her work on the web – I’ve always known my photos were being used without my permission on various websites. Until recently – I had no clue how prevalent the problem was.

Using Google’s Reverse Image Search engine – I’ve identified well over 500 unauthorized uses of my photos on websites around the world – and that’s just looking at photos posted to my blog in a 6 month period. Google is turning up many more uses than TinEye ever has – even for the same photos. Google’s Reverse Image search is awesome – all you need to do is go to images.google.com and click on the camera icon – and enter the URL of one of your photos.

Hit Enter – and Google will show you all the sites it has identified with that image on it. Here’s part of page showing where one of my bleeding heart photos can be found on the web. When you click on the photo – google takes you right to the page with the image.

In the past – I would file DMCA complaints when I found an infringement. But I only caught the people who gave me a photo credit or put a link to my website. I never caught the ones who just used my photos – now I can find them.

I’ve found both watermarked and unwatermarked images being used. I’m seeing my watermarks being removed -and other people’s watermarks applied to them. One of my favorites was the person who wrote “note her website on the photo” underneath my watermarked photo on her site.

And what I found really surprised me. I wasn’t surprised to find my photos on many personal blogs, as facebook and twitter avatars, on pinterest, etc. I was amazed to see how many businesses and non-profit organizations are using my photos without permission – from real estate companies, travel agents, florists, nurseries, botanical gardens, museums, etc

And then there were the ones I never expected – used as the cover photo for an ebook from a respected publisher, on the cover of a biology book for middle schoolers, on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website,  and copies of my Ceylon Daffodil photo available as a custom painted oil painting that can be ordered wholesale from China!!!!

And of course – the question is – now that I’ve found all these infringements – what am I going to do about them! The answer is – it depends . . .

In cases where I can identify the owner of US based websites where my image is being used – I’ll be sending them a Cease & Desist Letter with a demand for payment. PhotoAttorney Carolyn Wright has customizable forms and letters on her website for photographers – including a Cease & Desist Letter for just such circumstances.

For sites I can’t identify the owners that are hosted in the US – I’ll be filing DMCA complaints with their hosting companies.

I haven’t figured out yet what if anything I can do about photos on sites hosted in other countries.

And as for which infringement I’m going after first – I’m not sure yet – but I suspect that the tea-party backed candidate for U.S. Congress who supports repealing the 1964 Civil Rights Act who has one of my photos on his website – is pretty high on the list . . .

August 28 – Summer Lawn Party Literary Reading

I’ll be doing a reading from and discussing my book Wildflower Meditations: A Gift for the Spirit  at 10 AM at  Tuesday morning’s meeting of the 2012 Summer Lawn Literary Reading Series. Organized by Dr. Rose Carlin, the series takes place on Tuesday mornings in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The reading site is a short walk from Olde Towne Gaitersburg and a short walk from Lake Forest Mall, on the 61 Ride-On bus route from Shady Grove Metro Station.  Admission is free, and the public is invited.  Call 240-426-7074 to RSVP and get the street address.  This is on private property and privately funded.

I will have copies of my book and my 2013 calendar available for sale, and will be happy to sign them for people.

Hope to see you on Tuesday

 

Beautiful Irises – My New Video

Irises are some of my favorite spring flowers. From the dwarf irises that herald the coming of Spring in early March to the bearded irises that bloom into early summer – I love them all. I’m absolutely fascinated by the colors, shapes and textures I see in the irises.

I’ve created a new video with some of my favorite iris photos. As you’ll see in the video, the irises come in all sorts of wonderful colors. And given all these wonderful colors – I wasn’t surprised to learn that the name iris is derived from the Greek word for rainbow.

The photographs in my video are accompanied by the wonderful harp music of Pamela Bruner. The sound track is Mozart’s Sonata, K. 545 from Pamela’s Classical Reverie CD, available at PamelaBrunerMusic.com

I do have several iris photographs available on my website including my newest iris photograph – Beautiful Vision Iris – a wonderful pink, peach and purple bearded iris.

Enjoy my iris photos and have a wonderful summer.

What’s really been bothering me lately . . .

Are you frustrated that you can’t get the pictures you want, even though you have a good camera?

Do you see the beauty in nature but can’t bring it home in your photos?

Are you thinking that you need to upgrade your gear, or that you just don’t have the eye?

Watch this video – it may give you some very important information!

Please join me for the my Capturing Nature’s Peaceful Beauty Workshop on September 7-9 and allow me to show you that YOU CAN take better photographs with the camera gear you already have.

Following My Intuition

“I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful- an endless prospect of magic and wonder.” ~ Ansel Adams Sunrise at Clingman’s Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
As I’ve been getting ready to head west, I’ve mentioned my upcoming trip to several people. And they all seem to have one question – how do I find enough information about the places I’m planning on visiting to feel like I know what to expect?Part of the answer is – lots of research. And the rest – is being willing to be flexible and see what happens.	Avalanche Creek, Glacier National Park
West Thumb Lake, Yellowstone National Park	I’ve figured out some great ways to find the information I need for my trips.For any trip – the first place I check are the websites for any National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and National Seashores in the area I’m visiting. This usually gives me the basic information I need. Most of the National Park websites have information about local wildflowers and native plants under the Nature & Science tab in the left hand column.
My next stop is usually Amazon.com. I’ve found all sorts of books about wildflowers and where to find them by searching for “wildflower” and the name of a state or national park. The books not only help me identify the flowers I photograph, but they also often suggest trails or scenic drives where I can find wildflowers.I’ll also usually get a general guide to a park since that will give me an overview of the park and what I can hope to find. I also have the National Geographic Guides to National Parks and State Parks. These two books are invaluable for helping me identify other locations to visit on a trip.	Wild Horse, Roosevelt National Park
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park	And then I start asking questions! Some of my photographer friends are amazing sources of information about places to photograph. I can usually get recommendations on where to stay, where to eat and what are some lesser visited places to photograph from my friends. I’ll also ask for suggestions on Twitter and Facebook – I’ve got hundreds of connections on each. So pretty much anywhere I’m planning on visiting, someone either lives nearby or has visited recently. My online friends are a wonderful resource.
Pretty much my first stop at any National Park or Wildlife Refuge is the Visitor Center. The Park Rangers always have the most up-to-date information on what’s happening in the park – including letting me know which trails are likely to have the wildflowers I’m looking for.And then from there – I just follow my intuition. Often times I’ll just head out from the hotel in a general direction – and stop where I feel like stopping. If I see a splash of color in a field – I’ll circle back to see what’s in bloom. That’s how I found the Few-Flowered Shooting Stars at Grand Teton National Park last summer.Sometimes I’ll have plans to head to a specific trail – and along the way – a little voice says no – try that trail instead. Or how about heading up this road even though it’s in the opposite direction of where I was planning on going. And without fail, every time I’ve listened to my intuition – I’ve found something wonderful to photograph.	Few-Flowered Shooting Stars, Grand Teton National Park
Everglades National Park	Have there been times when you’ve followed your intuition and found something wonderful to photograph? Did you head up an unexpected trail? Or decide you just had to go out and photograph, even if you were tired? If you have, I’d love to hear about it.

Only 2 Days Left for my Summer Celebration

Just a quick reminder – my Summer Celebration ends this Saturday night (June 30) at midnight.

This is your chance to create your own set of three of my flower photographs and purchase them for a special price.

Choose any 3 10″x10″ photographs for just $ 99

Save 40% off

the regular price of $ 165.

Or

Choose any 3 12X15 or 12 X 18″ photographs for just $ 199

Save 55% off

the regular price of $ 441.

And if you want some help choosing the best photos for your space – just email me and we can work together to create your perfect set.

Be sure to act now since my Summer Celebration ends this Saturday, June 30..

As always, my photographs come with my Unconditional Happiness Guarantee.

Celebrate Summer with Beautiful Flower Pictures

Are you looking to add some of my photographs to your indoor garden?

Would you like to brighten up your office with some beautiful flowers?

If yes, then my

Summer Celebration

may be what you’ve been waiting for . . .

Between now and the end of June, you can create your own set of three of my flower photographs and purchase them for a special price.

Choose any 3 10″x10″ photographs for just $ 99

Save 40% off

the regular price of $ 165.

Or

Choose any 3 12X15 or 12 X 18″ photographs for just $ 199

Save 55% off

the regular price of $ 441.

And if you want some help choosing the best photos for your space –  just email me and we can work together to create your perfect set.

Be sure to order soon – since this offer ends on June 30, 2012.

As always, my photographs come with my Unconditional Happiness Guarantee.

Capturing Nature’s Peaceful Beauty – Bring a Friend for Free

I still have a few spaces left in my Capturing Nature’s Peaceful Beauty workshop on June 1 – 3. I would love for you to join me for the weekend.

In fact – it is so important to me that you enjoy your photography experiences that I want you to be able to share the workshop with a friend. If you register now  - you can bring a friend to the workshop for free! That way you’ll have someone to practice with after the workshop.

The workshop features 3 photo shoots at parks or botanical gardens in the Washington DC area and classroom sessions at my home in Bethesda.

At the Workshop you will . . .

• Discover new ways to see nature
• Learn to create the photographs you’ve always wanted to create
• Capture the beauty you see in your photographs
• Have a one-on-one discussion with Patty about your photography

After the workshop . . .

• You will be better able to capture what you see in nature in your photographs
• You will see the beauty of nature in a whole new way
• You will be more confident using your camera to create the photographs you want to create

If this sounds like the photography workshop you’ve been looking – be sure to register with your friend before the workshop fills up.

Hope to see you in June at my Capturing Nature’s Peaceful Beauty workshop