Expose Your World Book

I received my Expose Your World 2008 Competition award today in the mail. I was, unfortunately, unable to travel to Australia for the awards ceremonies... that would have been a fantastic trip. Still, it was a real honor to be chosen as a finalist in both the Single Shot - Place category, and the Photo Essay - Environmental Story Category. My Meander image was also chosen as one of the cover photographs (bottom right corner).

The image at the top of this post shows the cover of the book. The second image shows the full-page photo essay spread - these are images of Glacier National Park in Montana. And the image below shows the single shot finalists page with my image of Horseshoe Bend in Arizona - Meander - at the bottom.

I also won an 8GB compact flash card, which will come in very handy. It's been a good year for me. I feel really lucky to be able to put so much time and effort into something I love so much. Photography has been a fantastically rewarding career choice for me!
-Varina

2008 Expose Your World Competition

I'm pleased to announce that one of my photo essays and and the above photo of Horseshoe Bend in Colorado were chosen as finalists in the 2008 Expose Your World Competition. My Following the Light article was chosen as a finalist for the Environmental Photo Essay section, and Meander was chosen in the Single Shot category. It's always fun to enter one of these competitions - though I don't have as much time for it as I'd like. :) Do any of you enter competitions?

In other news - I've signed on as moderator for the new Anonymous Gallery on NaturePhotographers.net. The new gallery was suggested by a member of the site a few weeks ago, and the idea was popular. I offered my services as moderator... I think the site is fantastic, and I'm glad to be able to give something back. I've received many excellent critiques of my work there. The anonymous gallery lets you post photos without revealing your name. I love the concept, and will be posting there regularly. The question is - can you guess which shots are mine? :)

I've been processing some photographs from my trip, and I should have some ready to post before long. Give me a couple more days!

Winners

I entered two of my images in the Cleveland Photographic Society pictorial competition on Friday. Meander (top) took second place in the Color category, and Rapture on the Lonely Shore (below) took first in the Black and White category. It was a good night for me. There were some other beautiful photographs, too. It was great to see all our friends. We spent a good part of today rebuilding our photography set. We'll do some test shooting tomorrow.

We got in a short workout this morning and did our long run this evening. Then sushi for dinner (yum!) and it's time for a movie.

Would you like to vote?

Did I say one last post? Well - one MORE last post before we go, then. :)

Today, I entered an online photographic competition that relies on votes and ratings from the public as well as a panel of judges. If you’d like to vote for my images, you can take a look at the link below:

www.artistwanted.org/VarinaPatel

Please don’t feel that you have to vote – I don’t want to impose. But if you feel so inclined, I could win as much as $2008… which would be a nice supplement to my “paycheck.” :) You’ll see four images in my online gallery – plus a link to my website.

If you have time – I hope you’ll take a minute to look at my work. Thanks for your time – whether you vote for my photographs or not. I really appreciate it!