Calm Photos

Golden Eagle and Red River Gorge by Jim Crotty

Originally uploaded by jimcrotty.com.

Sometimes I like to try-out third party imaging services as well as new techniques in Photoshop. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a company in the Netherlands called easyclipping.com. They offered to clip one of my digital images, free of charge, to see if I liked their work. Basically I uploaded one of my high resolution JPEG’s and they separated the subject from the background, returning to me a PSD file, ready to be placed on a different background of my choosing.

The image I sent them was one of my favorite Golden Eagle images. Here he has some rat blood on his beak after enjoying a mid-morning snack. I tried several landscape images, all of which I applied a Gaussian Blur so as to give more of sense of distance between the digitally-placed subject and the backkground. The three that I thought worked best were background images from Red River Gorge, Kentucky (above), Glacier National Park and of course, Rose Lake in Hocking Hills, Ohio. Let me know what you think.

Red Maple by Jim Crotty

Originally uploaded by jimcrotty.com.

Autumn in Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio - a nature photographer’s dream come true. But hurry, because I predict that the color is going to be about one to two weeks early this year. I also predict that the color will be exceptional, mainly due to all the rain we’ve had this past summer.

And speaking of rain, here’s little tip - cloudy, cool and rainy days are the best for photographing fall foliage. The reason - saturation of colors without blown-out hot spots and black shadows. The key is to use a tripod and a cable release for proper exposure in low light situations. If you’re afraid to get your camera wet, here’s another tip. The free shower caps you find in hotel rooms make excellent camera covers when shooting in the rain.

For my outdoor and nature work I almost always use my Canon 1D Mark II. It has a smaller sensor than my 5D but more than makes up for that shortcoming with professional-grade seals, making the camera practically watertight.

James Patrick Crotty

I’m thrilled to announce that I have now been officially accepted and listed in the Adobe Photographers Directory. I was able be screened and apply for a listing through my membership in NANPA - North American Nature Photography Association. As of yesterday there were only ten other NANPA members who had been accepted for listing in the Adobe directory.

This is quite an honor considering the fact that Adobe IS the premier software company for professional photographers, graphic designers, web designers, etc. Heard of a little program called Photoshop? That’s Adobe.

I am also happy to announce my new membership and portfolio listing in the Professional Photographers of America.

jimcrotty.com’s Appamattox Through a Lensbaby slideshow on Flickr

At last night’s presentation to the Tripod Camera Club of Dayton, I finished-up with a quick review of my camera equipment. I was reminded of a little lens that tends to take a back seat to all my Canon “L” glass.

A wonderful little gadget for photographers is the Lensbaby lens. These little gems are very easy to use and relatively inexpensive. They allow the photographer to select which area of the frame to bring into focus while creating a “graduated blur” effect on the other parts of the image. I see them used more and more for wedding photography.

A couple years ago I had the opportunity to visit Appamattox Court House in Virginia. Having left my 28-70mm f2.8 Canon L lens back home, I challenged myself by simply using my $97.00 Lensbaby lens. What I liked about using this lens in this setting is that it provides that unique sense and feel of a “time gone by” or an almost haunted-type of light.

Light of the Lowcountry by Jim Crotty

Originally uploaded by jimcrotty.com.

“One man with courage makes a majority.”

- Andrew Jackson

No, I probably will never “hit it big” with my photography, but at least I’m doing something with the talent given me. I also have a few accomplishments that no amount of money can buy, nor can be taken away.

One is the title of United States Marine.

As the recruiting slogan goes, “earned, never given.”

There was a time when I almost had my pride and respect as a Marine stripped away by a few people who had nothing but resentment, jealousy and greed.

Almost.

They got their grins and giggles and tons of money, but they didn’t get me, and most of all, they didn’t destroy the Marine within.

Just about an hour ago I watched two Mormon Missionaries pedaling up Far Hills Avenue in Centerville. I feel for them. It takes a lot of guts and fortitude for these 18 year-olds to go out on these two year missions almost completely on their own, facing just about everything society can throw at them. There was a time when I was a bit hard and critical on the LDS, back when I was an outsider living in Salt Lake City. As I get older I’ve come to appreciate their resiliency and courage, not to mention the fact that I now know what true blacklisting is since I’ve returned to Dayton.

Like those Missionaries there are thousands of other young 18 and 19 year-olds who every year break the bonds of security and the comforts of home and place themselves on airplanes, headed into that great equalizer called basic training.

It’s a humbling experience, to say the least. Everything is stripped away, quite literally, and they are each built back up to something new, something stronger, something more confident. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and recruits are shipped back home. That was my worst fear. Somehow I made it through.

It takes guts to take a chance, step out into a challenge and see if you have what it takes. It’s definitely not the easy way through life, but nothing truly worthwhile (and valuable) ever is easy, familiar, secure or comfortable.

I think it is time to challenge myself, again.

Seth’s Blog: It’s difficult to “hard work” your way to success

Seth Godin’s blog entry on Apple is something everyone should read. Seth makes an excellent point by simply illustrating all the predictions made about Apple Computers back during the 90’s. Now look at them. Just goes to show, there’s a big difference between working hard and working smart.

One of my photographs from Hocking Hills, which was also published in the 2006 NANPA book “Impressions,” is today’s lead-in image on the NANPA website:

North American Nature Photography Association - NANPA

Also, in celebration of autumn in Hocking Hills I’ve posted some new images to the the Calm Photos page on this blog.