Patty's Voyage

2006-08-27T02:41:00.000-05:00

New Website:

greenteaobsession.com

THANKS to everyone who ever visited any of my blogs and especially those who took the time to comment!!!

2006-07-20T01:19:00.000-05:00

GoodbyeThis may be my last post here. I am in the process of finding a new site to display my photos on, which may take a while...& I could really benefit from some time away from putting sooo much effort into posting at the moment. When I can, I'll still reply to comments & visit everyone, though. You can also email me at: greenteaobsession@yahoo.com I'd love to hear from ya'll either way!

In the image above, we were standing in a long line outside of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History waiting to pass through security. We had been walking around at the Folklife Festival nearby when we were ordered to evacuate to one of the nearest buildings for protection against a major oncoming storm. While in line, this lady's skirt quickly caught my attention. Hence, I asked to photograph her & her son. She had previously made a peace sign with her hands for the photo, which her son immediately copied, but which ended up as a wave of some sort. :)

2006-07-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

ChimesGood morning! Wishing everyone a peaceful day.

2006-07-18T23:31:00.000-05:00

Bring Us Love AgainI am very sad, angry, shocked & disturbed from reading what Rauf has informed us is happening.

2006-07-17T23:40:00.000-05:00

Break The StillnessMy dad introduced me to the show, Numb3rs, which I found to be an awesome show. Of course, I've only seen the 1st episode, but still. :)

2006-07-16T23:40:00.000-05:00

WeddingI photographed these lovely people at the District of Columbia War Memorial which we stopped at after having visited the Lincoln Memorial. Click here to see a satellite image(scroll down the page...it's number 6 on the map). They had just had a wedding & were preparing to leave. These are the bride's daughters with her mother.

2006-07-15T05:58:00.000-05:00

Reaching Forever

2006-07-14T05:25:00.000-05:00

In each of these 5 images there is a different fountain. The fountain in the above photo(way in the background) is mostly hidden behind this guard at Arlington National Cemetery(in Arlington, Virginia) after the Changing of the Guard. Although a fountain is what ties all these images together, I don't believe the fountain has any important significance here(as far as impact). The guard, on the other hand, commands all of our attention & respect in this image.
The fountain at the National World War II Memorial.
The Bartholdi Fountain in Bartholdi Park. When either walking casually on a sunny day or hurrying huddled under an umbrella in the rain trying to escape some crazy taxi cab drivers past this area(yes, I did both, but that's another story), one cannot imagine how wonderful it actually is. This place appears quite small & only holding various shades of green, when in fact it is spacious & full of beautiful colors & sights.
The United States Capitol & its fountain(the top of it at least). I'll post closer photos of this fountain in the future.A bird flying off the top of the fountain in the small but totally gorgeous Mary Livingston Ripley Garden(after a few horrid hours of searching for the exact name, because stupid me didn't just take a photo of the entrance sign). And sorry for any errors...it's 5:25a.m., don't be expecting too much perfection on my part.

2006-07-13T04:00:00.000-05:00

Elan

A young boy I photographed, with permission, at one of the outdoor(but enclosed) areas of the United States Botanic Garden. Photograph as I may, I could not get him to keep a smile long enough for me to capture it. :)

2006-07-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

Washington D.C.

I've been trying to post exactly 12 photos for some time, but blogger still won't allow me to, so I've chosen 3 for now. It's quite hard to chose 12, let alone 3 out of the 5,200 photos I took on vacation. I've also been having some computer troubles, which seem to be fixed for the moment. For our vacation, we flew to Washington D.C. & stayed for almost 2 weeks. Even though we weren't able to go see the National Archives Building(due to flooding) or able to take our trip(which we cancelled) to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to watch Civil War reenactments(because my brother was very ill on the 10th-11th days), we did have an overall amazing time, were able to visit many places and experience a whole lot!

In the above 2 photos you can see the Washington Monument. The first photo was taken with its reflection in a pool of water at the World War II Memorial. The second photo was taken with the 4th of July fireworks behind it at a completely different location. In the last photo, a local college guy was dressed as Uncle Sam for the parade on July the 4th. Before I took this photo of him, my dad had taken a photo of us together. :)

2006-07-09T23:50:00.000-05:00

DeliciousFor Rauf, who so sweetly asked me to post this. :) Above is the original image which won the photo contest. As far as I can remember, I don't believe I've posted this photo before. Below is a scan of the image in the newspaper & you can see how the photographer turned the photo at a different angle, which I actually like better. I had simply titled this image, Delicious, but my mom, who couldn't remember & didn't want me to know she had entered the 5 photos, titled it, Cool & Refreshing. & yes, I blurred out my last name & the name of the newspaper.

2006-06-27T01:28:00.000-05:00

Born To Be WildFrom Sunday to Monday(about 24 hours) I was constantly doing some task to prepare for leaving on vacation. So, on Monday morning, as I was still awake, I unfolded our daily newspaper & saw that I'd won the photo contest! I don't think I was excited as I should be(probably from exhaustion & disbelief). Perhaps it'll sink in later or over time. On one hand, it's a very small accomplishment, compared to all the other opportunities that are out there. On the other hand, it's a huge deal for me...entering a photo contest for the 1st time ever, winning, having one of my photos & my name on the front page of a newspaper thousands of people receive & winning on the day before we leave for vacation.

Anyway...I wanted to trick my mom, so when she was looking for the newspaper, I threw it on our pool table, saying, "Look at this idiot who won this week's contest!" :D

I just want to say, thank you, to all those who wished me luck in winning & I'm sorry for not commenting at all or very little on many peoples' sites in the past few months.

This is my last post until I get back from vacation in 2 weeks.

♥ Patty

2006-06-26T05:05:00.000-05:00

Fade To Black

2006-06-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

Tiger & Bilbo

2006-06-24T00:50:00.000-05:00

X Marks The Spot

This past Tuesday & Thursday were very important days to me, because they delt with my future(in a good way). Nope, I won't exaggerate anymore than that, but I'm very happy with how everything went & to have it behind me(I hope). I've been trying to catch up on blog commenting whenever I have some free time, but I still haven't commented everywhere I wish to. So, I'll be doing that this weekend hopefully. But, most any other free time will be spent preparing to leave in a few days on vacation for about 2 weeks(returning home sometime around the 2nd full week in July). Must do laundry(!!!) & pack of course. Tonight(Friday) I went shopping, which was fun. Anyone have any crazy plans for this summer?

2006-06-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Window Of Destruction

2006-06-22T02:05:00.000-05:00

Thorns

2006-06-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Tear'n Up The Road

Update On The Photo Contest: Last Thursday when my mom came home, she gave me back the CD the photographer rejected. Well, I had thrown it in a drawer in the kitchen & forgot all about it. On Monday I asked my mom whether she thought I should keep entering the contest. She said, "No." And I agreed with her. Little did I know that she had taken that CD, that I forgot about, gone to Walmart & had them printed out(On Monday). :) So, on Tuesday, she came to me asking me to make a CD of some photos to show her friends at work. I didn't believe her of course & told her, "You want me to enter the contest don't you?" And I kept telling her how funny she was for changing her mind & that there was something devious going on here. What I didn't know yet, was that she wanted a CD from me in advance for next week's contest. I just couldn't figure out what the heck was going on, but I knew something sinister was at work. While thoroughly questioning my mom in the kitchen, she blurted out, "I already entered your photos in the contest."

I thought she was joking. Nope. Imagine how shocked I was. It took my small brain a few minutes to figure out she needed to have gotten that CD, which I'd forgotten all about. :) My mom told me she had had a good talk with the Editor, who apologized for having told me CD's were okay. He really thought they were. She gave him 5 prints of mine. The only thing I was upset about was that my mom couldn't remember what I'd titled those 5 photos(except for one), so she retitled them. I am now only upset about one, because I'd titled it "After the Storm" & she just titled it "Reflections." I thought my title was more impacting. Oh well. She's one crazy lady, my mom. She just really wants to see me win. Gotta love such lengthy support. :)

2006-06-20T03:45:00.000-05:00

Starship 2000

2006-06-19T00:13:00.000-05:00

Contemplation

2006-06-18T20:25:00.001-05:00

Growing In Numbers, Growing In Speed...

2006-06-17T19:27:00.000-05:00

Curiosity
For the past 2 weeks I've been entering our newspaper's weekly photo contest. The ad in the newspaper said everyone can have up to 5 entries a week, but they must be printed out. Well, I had gone and personally spoken to the Editor of our newspaper and asked him if it was okay if I could bring my photos in on a CD. He said, "Let me see if [the photographer] is here. He came back & I assumed the person he talked with was the photographer, since he said it was okay that I bring my photos in on a CD. The reason I didn't want to go through the trouble of having my photos printed out was because, when my sister had a photo of hers printed out at Walmart, a good deal of the top of the photo had been cut off. When we had it redone, it was cut off again. We finally decided to have part of the bottom cut off, since the top of the photo was more important to have included. I believe we should get what we're paying for & not be satisfied with anything less.

So, for 2 weeks I turned in my photos on a CD. On the CD's I had written my name, address, phone number & email address. The 3rd week's deadline was this past Thursday. My mom went on Thursday in the afternoon to give my CD to either the Editor or the photographer. The next thing I know, my mom is calling me crying & very upset. This is what happened: She had gone in, CD in hand, to where the photographer was sitting at his desk working on his computer. He had instantly seen the CD she was holding & said, "No, I can't except that. It's not in the proper format." It was then that she realized that my photos for the past 2 weeks hadn't even been considered for the contest.

My mom was the one who had told me about the upcoming photo contest. She was the one who had been SO excited about me entering & encouraged me to enter it. I probably wouldn't have even seen the ad in the paper if it wasn't for her. She got ME excited about doing it. So, needless to say, my mom was devastated when she found this out. She told me that the photographer acted as if he could care less. In my opinion he was rude, arrogant & self-centered. I'm not saying he isn't a great photographer. I've seen his photos & they're very good, but his attitude, character & personality were hardly admirable.

Obviously the Editor hadn't talked with the photographer, but had talked with someone else who didn't know what they were talking about. Still, the photographer could have VERY EASILY have called me or emailed & told me he couldn't accept my photos on a CD, but to please bring them in as prints. He NEVER tryed to contact me, but instead lead me to believe my photos were being considered in the contest. I've lost any respect I might have had for this photographer. My mom still wants me to enter the contest despite the stupid(my words, not my mom's) photographer, which means, I'll be having to deal with having my photos printed out by Walmart, unless we can find some other place to print them.

I told my mom, even if I DID happen to win one of the contests(having my photo & name printed on the front page of our town's newspaper), I don't think I'd feel good about it. If I continue entering the contest in spite of these unfortunate events & do not ever win, I wouldn't be upset about losing, only about the photographer's actions. I've never been a sore loser & can handle losing very well. Losing doesn't mean my photos are bad, in fact, personally, my photos & all the photos I've seen on everyone's sites here are WAY better than the photos which have won the past 2 contests. I would love to know your opinion or whether you think I should continue entering the contest or not. I am undecided.

2006-06-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

Why Does My Heart Feel Sooo.....?

2006-06-13T00:05:00.000-05:00

Rendezvous

2006-06-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

Lean On Me