Calm Photos

A Visual Celebration of Spring 2008 in Ohio by Jim Crotty

Woodland Cemetery in Dayton is much more well known, with many local notables buried there, including the Wright Brothers and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. But I often prefer visiting and photographing the older section of nearby Calvary Cemetery, especially during spring.

My apologies to a few of my local competitors, but guess what ?!?  I’m staying in Dayton ! Yeah !

Yup, despite the challenges I’ve faced over the last five years (I started Picture Ohio, llc in April 2003), I have worked hard to build my reputation as a professional photographer here in Ohio. If anything, I think it has become more clear to me recently that I’ve been selling myself short when it comes to my reputation and the quality of my work.

Previously I announced that I was going to relocate to Dallas, Texas. But all those plans have changed.

I will still be moving out of my current retail space at the end of June. At that point I will be relocating my photography business to my home (which I’m currently searching for) somewhere in the Dayton area. From there I will continue to grow and develop my assignment and editorial photography services for publishers and corporate clients, provide on-location portraiture services, sell licensing rights for my stock images and begin marketing and conducting regular scheduled photography workshops, to be held in the field and at different venues throughout Ohio.

Sales of fine art prints of my work with Ohio nature, landscapes, wildlife and cityscapes, as well as other scenic locations throughout the United States, will continue by way of my online storefront, for retail customers, and direct purchase, for commercial art dealers.

Cool. Now I don’t have to change the name of my business to “Picture Texas.”

Housetrends Dayton, OH

Home and architectural photographs that were taken on assignment are once again part of Housetrends Magazine, including the cover and feature article. This is the second issue in a row where one of my images was used for publication on the cover, this one being the May/June 2008 issue of the magazine.

It was more than a full day of event photography, on March 27, 2008, lasting from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The 2008 R.I.S.E. (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) Global Student Investment Forum, held at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. This was an assignment that offered a variety of subjects, including well-known speakers representing the financial investment and business reporting industries as well as attending college students from schools across the country and beyond. The highlights of the day included the first remote closing of the NASDAQ market from a college campus and Christopher Gardner - the man behind the real life rags-to-riches story acted-out by Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happiness.” My hat is off to the event planning and audio-visual staff at the University of Dayton. They did an incredible job, putting Dayton and the R.I.S.E. event in the best light possible. It was also a real pleasure working with the communications staff from NASDAQ. The following are some of my favorite shots from this assignment.

 

  

   

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.

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.