March 28, 2008

DaytonCREATE

Filed under: Dayton, Lessons Learned, Marketing — James Crotty @ 3:17 pm

Updated 4-8-08: Well, so much for that donation. Word got out that I’m relocating to Texas come June, so I’m no longer considered a “local” creative type, not that it made much of a difference anyway.

It’s great in Dayton.

DaytonCREATE

Another cool (and authorized) use of my best-selling Dayton skyline photograph.I like and support what DaytonCreate is doing. They have one heck of a challenge, but at least this is a grassroots effort coming from outside the tired and old way of doing business. So much of what we’ve seen in the past has come from the same ‘ol power/social circles that have dominated other efforts at marketing and growing the Dayton region.New blood + creative thinking + new ideas = change. That’s the only hope for Dayton.

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Well, I Hope You Have a Nice Day Too !

Filed under: Dayton, Inspiration, Life Philosophy — James Crotty @ 11:44 am

I need to write this one out while it is still fresh in my mind.Not less than an hour ago I went to the UPS Store in the Washington Square Shopping Center at the corner of Far Hills and Whipp Road, just a stone’s throw away from my studio. As I was walking to the door from my car when an elderly woman had just stepped out the store. She was dressed in designer clothing with more gold around her neck and on her ears than that stored at Ft. Knox. I could tell right away which circle she runs in.

I wasn’t even on the sidewalk yet before she glared at me and growled “I’M NOT HOLDING THE DOOR FOR YOU !”

“Well, you have a nice day too mam.”

Inside the store I told the clerk behind the counter about my encounter. “Oh, she was just in here cussing up a storm.”

That’s nice. It’s great in Dayton !

Anytime you venture out on the roads of the south suburbs of Dayton on a weekday, starting at about 10:00 am and going to 4:00 pm, you will see just how old the local demographics have become. It is during that time period when they make their Dorothy Lane Market/doctor visits/hair appointments/prescription pick-up runs, culminating with their evening meal from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at the MCL Cafeteria on David and Far Hills.

We need another series of extremely cold winters and blizzards so this group of crotchety old people start migrating to Florida again. This particular group of Ohioans (and what is it with them and gold and silver Buicks, especially in Centerville!) is well past the peak of their spending years, yet have more wealth stored away than they know what to do with. What always surprises me is how eccentric, cold and stingy they become the older they get, always stepping over dollars to pick-up pennies. Granted there are notable exceptions, one being my 84-year-old uncle who litterally runs circles around his contemporaries.

I contrast today’s experience with what I was exposed to yesterday while on an all-day photo shoot assignment for the University of Dayton, covering the speakers and participants at the annual R.I.S.E symposium on economics and finance held at the U.D. Arena (I got some great shots of the NASDAQ closing of the market ceremony). The last speaker of the day was Christopher Gardner, the investment broker who’s life story was the basis of the recent movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” starring Will Smith. Even before he spoke I had the opportunity to photograph Mr. Gardner interacting with students and posing for group shots. Here was a man who basically started out from not just the ground floor, but at one time was homeless, carrying everything he owned, as well as a 14-month old son, from shelter to shelter, all the while holding on to his dream of making it on Wall Street. Mr. Gardner was friendly to EVERYONE he came in contact with - from me, the photographer, to the wait staff in the Boesch Lounge to his interviewers to each and every student who came up to shake his hand.

As a freelance photographer who covers a variety events, I carefully observe group behavior, personalities and event dynamics. I’ve had both positive and negative experiences photographing all kinds of people. I can safely conclude that Christopher Gardner is one of those personalities that doesn’t need decorating with all kinds of gold jewelry or expensive clothes or an inflated ego. The gold he wears comes from deep inside. Although about 30 years junior to the old lady at the UPS Store, I think there’s an important lesson Mr. Gardner could teach the crotchety old bat. The problem is that she’s probably well past her capacity to learn and change.

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March 26, 2008

All That Remains

Filed under: Creative Vision, Photography — James Crotty @ 12:05 pm

Alone

Quiet

Sad

Empty

Gone

Hopeful

Home and backyard in Ohio after sunset on Easter Night by Photographer Jim Crotty Window in child’s bedroom of empty house by Photographer Jim Crotty

Play set and swings in backyard after sunset photograph by Jim Crotty Evening at window to bedroom in empty home by Jim Crotty

Fire pit in backyard of Ohio home at night by Photographer Jim Crotty Bedroom and mural in empty home by Photographer Jim Crotty

Alone in empty house by Photographer Jim Crotty

What could have been.

What could have been.

Time to move on.

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Civil War Battlefield Photographs by Jim Crotty

Filed under: Civil War Photographs, Fine Art Photographs, Prints — James Crotty @ 11:45 am

A new gallery of fine art photographs has been added to my storefront at ImageKind.com. Titled “Hallowed Ground” this gallery of photographic images represents my work at capturing the haunted light of consecrated land where so many fought and fell in a conflict that perhaps had more to do with our identity as a country than any other event throughout American history. The first images added to this gallery include April in Gettysburg and May in Appomattax. More will be added as I continue to prepare and upload select digital files, including autumn in Gettysburg and spring at Antietam, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Brandy Station and New Market. Through the ImageKind storefront visitors have the option of purchasing the highest quality prints possible of all these photographs, with a wide selection of sizes, papers, mats and frames. ImageKind also recently added the option of purchasing greeting cards.

Spring Sunrise over battlefield at Gettysburg by photographer Jim Crotty Monument with mascot dog at Gettysburg with town in background photograph by Jim Crotty

Details on monument to Union Calvary at Gettysburg photograph by Jim Crotty Sunset from Little Round Top at Gettysburg Battlefield by Photographer Jim Crotty

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March 25, 2008

Check it out: Japanese Translated version of CalmPhotos.com

Filed under: Marketing, Small Business — James Crotty @ 1:56 pm

Translated version of http://calmphotos.com/ - Japanese

オハイオ州の美しい自然や風景の写真

 

(Beautiful photography and photographs of nature and landscapes)

 

 

I Recently noticed a new URL popping-up in the referring web sites listed in my Awstats - the tool I use to track web visitors viewing both calmphotos.com and www.jimcrotty.com. The URL was the beta version of a new Google tool called Google Translate. Granted it is still in beta and doesn’t perform perfect translations, but it is a huge step forward in allowing web site owners and web browsers to cross international lines and overcome language barriers. Because this tool specifically addresses text within the HTML, images and photographs are dropped from the translated version of sites.

 

You can also type in a phrase, sentence and paragraph and have the tool automatically translate it to any one of an impressive list of language choices.

 

Google is the best.

 

 

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March 24, 2008

Not On The Swing !

Filed under: Photography Tips, Sports Photography, Story Behind the Picture — James Crotty @ 10:53 am

I cringe every time I see Tiger Woods through a fit on the golf course. There’s just something about the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice that is about as demeaning as possibly can be.

I don’t play or watch golf, but these moments seem to always make the 60-second weekend highlight coverage on CNN. This morning’s spot was a classic Tiger-throws-a-fit moment, and one which every amateur photographer out there can take a lesson from.

Camera shutters can be amazingly loud, particularly those found on consumer brand digital 35mm and SLR’s. Some of the fixed lensed cameras even go so far as offering a choice of funny sounds your camera can make when you snap the picture. That can be cute and funny when taking snapshots of the kids at home or on vacation, but when you’re in the gallery standing close to a pro golfer about to tee off, it’s best to put your camera away. It’s not worth the wrath of Tiger or whoever else is playing for tens of thousands of $$$$s.

Just seeing that spot on this morning’s news made me feel bad for the person who made that error in judgment. It’s one thing to see hundreds of amateurs shamelessly and unknowingly shoot away with their on-camera flashes when up in the nose-bleed sections of a football stadiums (those on-camera flashes are only good to about five feet in front of the photographer), but I feel for the individual who’s camera makes a pro golfer flub his or her shot.

I haven’t had much experience photographing pro golf tournaments, but I do know that the PGA is pretty stringent about the pro sports photographers who cover these sporting events, such as credentials, where to shoot, how to shoot and when to shoot.

In August of 2005 I had the opportunity to photograph the Senior PGA tournament held at NCR Country Club in Dayton. I wasn’t even going to do the shoot because I couldn’t get any type of response from the local PGA people regarding a press pass for the tournament. But a local gallery owner was insistent that I get out there and get some shots because “those prints will sell like crazy.” The best I could do was a practice round. One technique that I employed was using a 500mm lens with a Kirk KingCobra ballhead on a monopod, far enough down the fairway where my shutter could not be heard. This is the same basic set-up I use when photographing birds and wildlife. With this size of lens I was able to effectively capture detail, compress my depth of field and stay clear of the crowd. Most importantly it kept me from disturbing pro golfers.

Guess how many prints I sold ? Nada. Zero. All I got from that shoot was a local guy asking for a free print of his kid volunteering as one of the sign-holders on the course. It’s great in Dayton !

But a lesson was learned, experience added. Know thy subject. Know thy photo gear. Respect thy subject. Don’t bring the subject’s wrath down upon thee. And if I can pass this lesson on, then I guess the shoot was worth the time. At least I didn’t make one of the pro golfers flub a shot.

Photograph of Greg Norman at 2005 Senior PGA in Dayton Ohio by Photographer Jim Crotty

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March 21, 2008

Quiet by the River

Filed under: Creative Vision, Dayton, Ohio Photographs — James Crotty @ 2:35 pm

Moon rise at dusk. Late March along the Great Miami River, Dayton, Ohio.

Moon rising over NCR Building in Dayton Ohio photograph by Jim Crotty

Sunset in Carillon Park Dayton Ohio photography by Jim Crotty

Sunset sky over Great Miami River near Dayton Ohio photography by Jim Crotty

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