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Winners! Check Out Who Won Weeks 8 and 9 of the Your Patch of Michigan Photo Contest

One pic shows a slice of Detroit history; the other shows off our state's natural beauty. Both are winners in the 2012 Your Patch of Michigan Photo Contest.

Attn. readers: We have two weeks of Your Patch of Michigan 2012 winners to announce. 

First up, our winner: Congrats to Lisa Seal for her picture of the historic Corktown neighborhood in Detroit. Our judges loved the slice of history with the old Victorian storefronts and the homage to Tigers' heroes in the background. The judges also loved that it shows one of Detroit's new hotspots, Slow's Bar-BQ, and the bright colors on the re-energized block of Michigan Avenue.

Lisa says of the pic: "The picture was taken during the Corktown 5K run on March 13th. My husband was running, while we were waiting for him to come in we spent time taking pictures of the area.  It was such a cold grey day the colors of the buildings on Michigan Ave just popped!"

And then we have Week 9's winner: Holly Awwad shared a darling photo of her two girls fishing on a family camping trip. One judge called the photo "too cute for words." Simply put, many Michiganders grow up with memories like this on our wonderful lakes, and this photo beautifully captures that feeling.

From Holly: "The photo was taken at the Metamora-Hadley Recreation in Metamora, MI area on July 14, 2012. We were taking our very first camping trip as a family and decided to go fishing over by one of their docks. We also had a lot of other family with us as well. Their Uncle Jeff rented a row boat to take the girls out fishing in, and they couldn't wait a few minutes for us to go out so they boarded to boat early and started fishing while it was sitting ashore. It was the perfect photo opportunity before they put on their life jackets and launched out.  My youngest ended up catching the most fish that day and she was a very proud little girl!"

How do you enter? Check your Michigan Patch each week this summer for a chance to win. You can .

After Labor Day, we'll pick a grand prize winner from all of the weekly winners.

The grand prize winner will receive a certificate for a two-night stay at Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island (to be used before Oct. 31, 2013, and blackout dates and other restrictions may apply). The approximate retail value of the Grand Prize is $600.

You can view all of our weekly champs so far in

Mark August 1, 2012 at 09:38 pm
Man there sure are a lot of trolls that comment on these photo contests. Bunch of creeps. I know you people are just making these comments to stir up people's blood but did you think that gee someone is taking a photo of these girls so they really aren't left unattended? Metamora is a hidden gem, love that place.
Holly Awwad August 1, 2012 at 09:40 pm
Stephanie - my kids aren't babies. They are 8 and 5. They CAN swim - thank you for that. And there were 7 other ADULTS all around them. It's a close shot with only them in the frame. That doesn't mean they were by themselves. I've gotten them this far in life and they are very happy and healthy children. And once again - THE BOAT WAS ON THE GROUND - not yet in the water.
Holly Awwad August 1, 2012 at 09:41 pm
I do respect people's opinions. I just don't appreciate you people accusing me of things that aren't true when you have no idea what you are talking about. You don't have to like the photo but you have no right to make up your own story about my parenting and what was going on when you weren't there.
Holly Awwad August 1, 2012 at 09:47 pm
Thank you Mark. Yes - there were 6 other Adults all around - 7 inluding me. We love Metamora. It's a great place.
Mark August 1, 2012 at 09:56 pm
Holly seriously if you respond to every person on here they are going to just love it and freak you out. The "respect other people's opinion" line is typical of someone trying to mess with you. The wild accusations are absurd. Hey Claire Pfeiffer Ramsey how about a little moderating here??? These people are asinine.
Holly Awwad August 1, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Good advice Mark. I'm out:)
R Jeppostol August 1, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Both photos are really nice. in the week 9 photo, you can clearly see that the boat is ashore. Moreover, as Mark pointed out, since somebody is taking a photograph, assistance/supervision can't be more than 20 feet away. Geez, you negative commenters are all being jerks, in some cases it seems even deliberately to provoke a fight.
Yolanda, I'm especially disappointed in your remarks. Insinuating that someone ought to call Child Protective Services? Did you even read the portion of the article pertaining to the photo which states the boat is still on shore? perhaps you should worry more about taking care of your macbook pro and iPhone before preaching responsibility to people who already know what they are doing.
laura young August 1, 2012 at 11:21 pm
What a beautiful picture of your girls, Metamora is a Michigan treasure :)
P.S. keep making happy memories with them so they don't grow to be bitter adults ;) The Detroit pic is very nice too. Very colorful! Good luck to both of you!
EBC August 2, 2012 at 12:54 am
The photo is sweet & beautiful.
Matt Guarnieri August 2, 2012 at 12:55 am
Wow!! And people say I'm mean. ..... It's a great picture and a great memory for your children. Ignore the negative comments.
a bog like this is a great place to fish, even without bate you would get a nibble.
Heather Murphy August 2, 2012 at 12:59 am
It is amazing what people will say when they can hide behind a computer screen. Rude and assinine comments they would never make in person. Congratulations, Holly on a beautiful picture! No need to explain any further as these idiots obviously cannot read and are just here to be rude and inappropriate!
Heather Murphy August 2, 2012 at 01:01 am
Furthermore, this is the first time I've commented on a photo and I notice the "pending approval" label in the right hand corner? What does that say about the approval process considering what kind of comments are posted above???
John McKay (Editor) August 2, 2012 at 01:02 am
I wasn't a judge, but I actually really liked this photo and, as the photo description stated, the boat was clearly docked on shore (look at the ground in the photo). It reminds me of when I was a kid, sitting in the rowboat with a fishing pole waiting to hit the inland lakes Up North. Very peaceful photo. Great work!
I do urge everyone to refrain from personal attacks. Appreciation of photography is definitely subjective, but making it personal is another matter. The idea of this contest is to showcase your favorite "Patch" of Michigan. For this particular photographer, this photo represented one of their favorite places, which we're sure they love for their own reasons. :)
Jen Anesi August 2, 2012 at 01:08 am
I'm not going to be as nice as you, John.
Yolanda, A.W. and Stephanie – STOP. Now. Your trolling comments are negative, accusatory, contributing absolutely NOTHING of value to the conversation, and they are clearly violating our Terms of Use (troy.patch.com/terms), which I highly suggest you read over ASAP. This is your one and only warning to be respectful of other posters or you WILL be banned from Patch. Thank you.
Brooke Tajer (Editor) August 2, 2012 at 01:14 am
Hi Heather, each Patch site can change the settings to either approve comments when posted, or go through an approval process prior to the comment appearing. Because this article is cross-posted to all sites some of the users might be able to post without approval. Thanks!
Jen Anesi August 2, 2012 at 01:15 am
We recently edited the moderation settings in this story so comments now need approval before they are posted (which was not the case before and the reason these awful comments got through). Normally we don't have to moderate comments in Patch of Michigan stories, but I guess we do now. Thank you for your contribution, Heather! :)
Jen Anesi August 2, 2012 at 01:15 am
Ha, Brooke beat me by 8 seconds! Nice!
Melanie Perry August 2, 2012 at 01:27 am
It's incredibly sad that an innocent picture of two young girls fishing can be attacked so harshly. I think it's beautiful and kudos to you for sticking up to the ignorant people who feel as if they should comment before reading any of the captions or previous comments.
Joni Hubred-Golden (Editor) August 2, 2012 at 01:36 am
I was one of the judges this week, and it is very difficult to choose. I have been amazed at the quality and variety of photos we've received, so kudos to all of you amateur photographers! One of the things I like about this contest is that we have different judges each week, so that winners are not always chosen from the same point of view.
And I like the quick version of our Terms of Use: “Keep it clean,” “Don’t try to trick people,” and “Treat others as you’d like to be treated."
Robert Cucheran August 2, 2012 at 01:36 am
Great photos. I love the fact that not every lake or pond in Michigan is a beautifully clear lake. This is reminiscent of where my dad and I use to fish here in SE Michigan. Those are Michigan menories
John McKay (Editor) August 2, 2012 at 01:46 am
it reminds me of the lake channel by my parents' house, which is prone to the occasional natural patch of algae but is uber-peaceful and has oodles of natural wetland beauty, or the inland lakes up in Ludington. Those also have the best fishing spots.
People just need to chill out and tone it down. This contest is supposed to be fun and celebratory of Michigan's treasures, not negative and accusatory.
Sharon August 2, 2012 at 01:53 am
Good work, Holly. Don't worry, those people are fake and they're just flaming for fun--too bad it's fun for no one else.
Great adorable photo!
Joe August 2, 2012 at 01:56 am
What a beautiful photo Holly.From the comments it sounds to me like someone submitted an inferior photo and lost.
Bryce August 2, 2012 at 01:57 am
Holly:
Excellent image! For a landscape or "scenic" picture you did many things spot on. Namely, a point of interest in the foreground and a defined background. The reflection of the trees in the pond/lake work nicely to fill the middle ground. You use of the rule of thirds for the foreground subjects, the boat frames them nicely and the leading lines and angles in the background work well too. As a bonus your subjects were wearing bright colors to make them pop out from the scene. So, don't take the negative comments to heart. It's just sour grapes!
Marty Rosalik August 2, 2012 at 02:03 am
Jen, can I.P. addresses of violators be blocked? Maybe a little "time out" is in order.
Holly Awwad August 2, 2012 at 02:18 am
Thanks so much to those of you who took the time to post positive and supportive comments. It is very much appreciated!!!
Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey (Editor) August 2, 2012 at 02:35 am
Yikes, I step away for a minute and the trolls come out. Sorry folks. We're going to require comments be reviewed before anyone can post on this and future photo contest stories. We'll try to keep the trolls at bay. Mark, consider it moderated.
gjh August 2, 2012 at 02:38 am
Those little girls are having some fun together and making some good memories - that's a pretty recreation area with a small lake for swimming and fishing, you can camp, ride bikes, hike the trails etc. Nice photo.
carol jeffers August 2, 2012 at 05:13 am
Those little girls are so sweet.And the picture is so beautiful wish I was there fishing.
So glad you won!!
Robin Missant August 2, 2012 at 11:12 am
What a beautiful picture, it just says summer in Michigan.....just beautiful!!!

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