About
Patricia Temples, Photographer
I grew up in a small town in the southern part of Virginia. I went to the University of Richmond for college, and then to the Charlottesville area for graduate school at the University of Virginia. I continued to live in Charlottesville for the next fifteen years while working in public schools in Albemarle County. My husband and I moved to Chesterfield County for sixteen years, where I retired from public education in 2003. We quickly moved back to the mountains in Greene County, just north of Charlottesville.
The first few years after retirement I dabbled in a variety of volunteer activities and had a lot of fun, met a lot of people and learned a lot of new things. Then, about fifteen years ago, I started getting serious about photography. All my life I have taken pictures, snapshots of places where I traveled and of people I knew and loved. I made a change to photography as a medium of expression of the beauty of our world. I regret all the years of travel and adventures before I began to see the world as a photographer views it. I have images in my head that cannot be reproduced in print.
I am a member of the Charlottesville Camera Club, and The Art Guild of Greene. I have won recognition for my images in the Virginia Wildlife Magazine Photo Contest (2011–2015), the Ivy Creek Foundation’s Photo Contest, and The Shenandoah National Park’s 75th Anniversary Photo Contest. I have had winning images in photo contests sponsored by the Piedmont Environmental Council. My images have been in publications and on websites for nature concerns, such as the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Shenandoah National Park Trust. I have been an ongoing participant in juried art exhibitions at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, and in the Bath Arts Association annual show in Hot Springs, VA.
In 2009–2021 I was a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist, which is an organization of volunteers for various nature and environmental projects. Images of nature excite me, and when I can watch a skipper, or a June bug, or a caterpillar through a macro lens I am ecstatic. Living so close to the beautiful Shenandoah National Park and the Shenandoah Valley means that I always have opportunities for nature photography.
One of my projects, Voices of the Land, was commissioned by the Blue Ridge Foothills Conservancy. It is a documentary of a dairy farm in Greene County, Virginia, which includes a thirteen-photo exhibit and a 24-minute DVD with still photographs and the Voices of the Lamb brothers who own the dairy. My background as a school social worker gave me the interest and skills to interview the brothers about how they got into dairy farming, what the day-to-day challenges are, and what they love about the life they lead. It is an honest depiction of a difficult lifestyle which is gradually vanishing in our society. Larger, more mechanized farms are replacing the family owned businesses, and few young people today have the means, the experience, or the interest in dairy farming. One of the images from that project, Transporting the Milk, has won several awards in exhibits such as the Bath County Art Show in Hot Springs, VA, and the 2015 Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Juried Art Show in Harrisonburg.
My most fulfilling photography experience was the use of my images as large murals in new additions to the William Monroe High and Middle Schools in Greene County. As a career educator, it is very special to me to have my images in schools in the county where I now make my home.
I love going out with my camera and good friends to see what’s waiting for us. My Motto in life is Make it An Adventure. There is always something interesting, fun and enlightening to do.
I am delighted that you want to view my photos, but please do not use any of them without my permission. If you are interested in purchasing an image, please let me know. I will gladly share. Thank you.
Patricia Temples Photography 
Hi Pat, I want to thank you for viewing my posts and for now wanting to follow along on my life’s little journey. Like you, I am also a retired educator. I love the Blue Ridge Mountains, having spent a great deal of time in both North Carolina and Tennessee but have always wanted to visit Charlottesville. I’m enjoying your images and I look forward to exploring your blog further—again, thank you—grace and peace–Julie
Julie, I was very interested to see your blog and the information about your career. I am a member of an artists’ group here in Virginia, and one of my good friends is a retired art teacher, former head of her Fine Arts Department in Virginia Beach, and about your age. She and I and another artist have collaborated on several art pieces, which I have mentioned in my blog. Take a look at the Collaboration blogs I wrote sometime. My friend Leslie doesn’t blog, but I have sent her yours to take a look. I’ve forgotten where you live. Anyway, hello and thanks for your comments. I look forward to seeing more from you.
Tell your friend that I was her counterpart in Carrollton, GA–being the Instructional Coordinator for Fine Arts and Department Chair for our school for many years. Despite my “retiring” — I felt as if I still had things to “teach” or share—hence the blog. I had always wanted to write, never really knowing what subject I should write about…this way I can write about all sorts of things 🙂