Calm Photos

Yes, there is such a thing as press that’s less than positive. Sometimes it’s completely non-intentional and the negative effects aren’t realized until a few years down the road. Shortly after I started my photography business in 2003, the Dayton Daily News ran a full-page story about my work with nature and landscape photography. It was a good article. I can’t complain about that. The problem is that it ran at a time (early stage of going into business) when I held the mistaken belief that I could actually make a living solely based on the fine art market for nature, landscape and wildlife photography. The lasting negative effect of both that initial belief and particular article is that I’ve been permanently pigeon holed as just a “nature photographer” here in my local market, and I accept full responsibility.

I received a quick and expensive education to the contrary once the payables far outstretched the receivables. Even today people in Dayton keep mentioning “the article” and how much they are a “great fan of my nature and landscape photographs.” Daytonians love my work so much that they email or call me quite frequently asking me to donate a print to some silent auction or donate services or donate licensing rights. Donate, donate, donate. “It’s a great way to get your name out there.”

If I hear that phrase one more time I’m going to go out of my mind. Uh, I’m pretty sure that here in Dayton my name is out there. Perhaps that’s part of the problem ??

Here’s one the few certain things I’ve learned now that I’ve been in business as a photographer in the Dayton area going on five years now. The only thing that results from donations are more requests for donations, plus a whole host of hobbyists fishing for free info (that’s why I added paid workshops and lessons to my list of services).

Anyhoo, the truth is that my bread and butter is my commercial and assignment photography services, particularly in covering events, architectural projects, business portraits, products, processes, and a recent pick-up in activity for family portraiture.

Posted below is a new flyer I put together highlighting some of the recent architectural projects that I photographed. If I had to decide which area of commercial photography that I enjoy the most, I would have to say architecture followed closely by editorial and event work.

And yes, I will always hold-on to my first love of nature and landscape photography. However, I like to consider myself as a “renaissance man” in the field of photography. I can’t stand being pigeon holed - whether it applies to my professional or my personal life. What is it about this area of the Midwest that people feel so comfortable being permanently stuck in ruts - ruts of the same old way of doing business, day in and day out, and of applying convenient labels to one another.

Change, expand, adapt, learn, move forward. When things get too comfortable, then I know it’s time to light a fire under my @%# and get moving. In the words of Martha Stewart, “it’s a good thing.” Yesterday an old friend - originally from Dayton but who has also lived elsewhere (and that means out of Ohio) - commented that there’s just this “negative energy” to the area. I think it comes from so many of my fellow Daytonians falling into their comfortable zones and well, becoming permanent residents in the bland land of security and predictability. That’s not living. That’s just simply waiting.

One of the many advantages of Aperture over Photoshop - as far as pro photography is concerned - is the way the program organizes image files with minimum effort and time on the part of the user. Original raw files are securely stored away while the photographer harmlessly plays away with automatically copied versions.

In addition to the various project folders I’ve added to Aperture, the program also organizes images by date, automatically creating folders listed according to the year the photographs were shot, in the last week, in the last month and by photographer rating. The user interface of Aperture was specifically designed for professional photographers who manage thousands of shots.

In many ways the program is smarter than the photographer, because after all, most photographers fall within that realm of scattered brain, artsy-fartsy types who start to get pretty squirrelly if they’re not out shooting and instead are spending all their time behind the computer, present company included.

In those ancient days of storing away 35mm transparencies in plastic sleeves there was the possibility that some images that should have been selected as stand-outs are inadvertently filed away, forgotten and neglected. With digital image file management, and especially with programs such as Aperture, the photographer continually has opportunities to go back through and review old images, sometimes with eyes and awareness slightly altered over the months and years as creative vision becomes more well defined, or maybe perhaps when it starts going in a completely different direction.

This is the case with the following two images. Going back through my 2006 files I re-discovered one of the many shots I took of a Saturday night rodeo on a summer evening near Waynesville, Ohio. When I first did my initial edits I focused on the typical “rider and bull” action shots - the ones with the bull and rider in mid-air, dust swirling about and the look of determination in the rider’s face. I had plenty to choose from. But while reviewing the thumbnails in Aperture this one jumped-up at me. It caught my attention where it hadn’t before. Maybe it’s because I’ve been looking at a lot of candid portraits and street images lately, but then again, there had to be something about the scene that first caught my eye when I took the shot. It’s what I call a good “story teller.”

Crowd shots can be good at that, especially at sporting events where there’s lots of color and character - the attitude of the riders, stance of the rodeo clown, the looks on the faces of the kids, the low light of late day. The image tells the message of rural Ohio in summer.

Below is another “hidden gem” recently discovered. Why I first passed this one over I don’t know. It was one of many I took while hiking and photographing Dark Hollow Falls in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park in early April 2007. Most of my photographs of the area include the waterfall, but looking just across the stream I was moved to capture the still bare tree branches against the darkening sky with a cloud of mountain mist moving down slope. The lichen-covered rocks and fallen trees communicate that sense of wilderness in the landscape without distracting from the overall composition of the frame. What initially caught my eye - and the element that I wanted to emphasize - was the texture and feeling of the mist just above the ground and creating so much depth amongst the trees.

Tis a good one the more I look at it. What I love about what I do is my ability to instantly go back to the particular place and moment when each of my photographs was taken, and remember what I was feeling at the time and the thoughts that were directing my vision. I have close to 10,000 images in my stock library, and I can confidently say that I can go back and revisit each and every “shot-scene” and tell the story behind the photograph. That’s almost scary, but that’s the difference between the average shooter and someone who truly gets into and is passionate about his or her avocation.

I did quite a variety of commercial and assignment photo shoots this past year. Everything from food, medical facilities, dental office, home interiors, waterproofing product application, small families, big groups and events.The following images are my personal favorites from those and other commercial photography shoots. I thought it would be important to emphasize this body of work given all the nature and landscape work I’ve been posting recently.

Is Jim Crotty a nature photographer ? Is Jim Crotty a portrait photographer ? Does Jim Crotty do commercial work ?

Yes, yes and yes - for God’s and cash flow sake, yes (just no weddings, please). I’m hearing more and more that here in Dayton I’m regarded as strictly a nature photographer. That could be part of the problem why I struggle do to business in this town. Sometimes I’m in a fight against my own success. But I still believe there’s another, more negative reason why this is the case. In fact, I actually know it to be true. More on that later. For now here are my personal favorites from my commercial assignments for 2007.

      

One of the most popular attractions in Hocking Hills, Ohio is Rock House - a cave formation on the side of a cliff that includes many rooms and window openings that remind visitors of a house, hence the name. Many people who visit this “open cave” come in from the bright, outside light having to wait a while for their eyes to adjust. Because of this I think there are many unique geological features that tend to go unnoticed, namely the striking color variations in the sandstone that have resulted from millions of years of shaping and sculpting by wind, rain and temperature change. I’ve always wanted to capture these colors and textures on film, and I’ve tried with limited success by use of long time exposures with Fuji Velvia. But even here I found that I was blowing-out the highlights that appear through the various “windows” and “doors” of Rock House.

I  returned to Rock House last week, while in Hocking with my daughters Emma and Chloe, with a new digital technique in mind - High Dynamic Range Photography, which I’ve discovered to be ideal when working in very low light conditions, rich color and wide ranges in tonal variation, whether man-made (old buildings and barns are perfect subjects) or crafted with the patient and perfected hand of mother nature.

I was pleased with the results, much more so than those obtained previously with just simple, single-frame long exposures.

On another note regarding HDR photography, I’ve noticed this weird, unexplained aversion to this technique expressed by many other pro photographers, mostly coming from the various online photo communities such as fredmiranda.com and photo.net.

I don’t get it. My basic belief is that if you are a photographic artist and you discover a technique that enhances the visual message that you wish to communicate based upon your creative vision and your interpretation of the subject, whether it be landscapes, portraits, street, etc., then go for it. For some reason the field of photography is full of this geeky-artsy-fartsy mindset that if something comes too easy, and you don’t suffer enough to obtain group approval, well then “your just cheating and you aren’t one of us.”  Oh well.

And I will make this prediction regarding HDR photography, the local artsy community here in Dayton and the arts coverage in the Dayton Daily News:  watch for an article in the DDN about some local photographer and this “new, exciting technique of HDR photography” presenting his or her work at some local venue or such, and I guarantee the photographer featured will not be Jim Crotty.

“Melissa-N-Butch 4-Ever”

Everyone has to leave their mark, and the Beech Trees along Rose Lake provide a convenient canvas.

How much you want to bet that “4-Ever” was probably shorter than a year, at best ?

Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 28-70mm f2.8 L lens, Kirk ballhead and Bogen tripod. Merged three raw exposures shot at 50 ISO.

I try to stick to photography with this blog. Really, I do. But sometimes things occur that literally beg for public comment, and so I can’t resist.

On today’s page of “Hot News” on Apple’s web site the following were the first four entries, each dated October 12, 2007:

Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize
Praising “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change,” the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reports Walter Gibbs and Sarah Lyall (New York Times). [Oct 12, 2007]

Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize for Climate Work
Citing Al Gore as “ ‘probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted’ ” to combat global warming, the Nobel committee awarded the former Vice President the Nobel Peace Prize alongwith the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As reported by Alan Zarembo and Maggie Farley (Los Angeles Times), the committee noted how Gore’s ” ’strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change.’ “ [Oct 12, 2007]

Al Gore wins the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
“Former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to raise awareness about global warming,” CNN reported this morning. Gore, who won an Oscar for “Inconvenient Truth,” also sits on the Board of Directors for Apple, Inc. [Oct 12, 2007]

Al Gore “honored” as recipient of Nobel Peace Prize
The BBC News indicates that Al Gore feels “honored” at being awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, seeing it as a “chance ‘to elevate global consciousness’ about the threat posed by climate change.” The BBC reports that “the former vice-president has emerged as a leading climate campaigner. His 2006 documentary film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ was an unlikely box-office hit and won two Oscars.” [Oct 12, 2007]

Keep in mind that Apple’s Hot News section on their site almost always pertains to stories involving Apple products, as it should, so it’s a little bit more than obvious of Apple’s corporate support of a political figure and environmental cause.

Granted I will say I do think that some of the facts and observations in support of global warming are indisputable, the most convincing being a recent story published by the National Wildlife Federation regarding the dramatic changes recorded involving migratory birds and woodland areas in the northeastern United States, and I do love Apple products, all the way from my MacBook to my Mac Pro to my iPod to my iPhone. But for Apple to go all ga-ga for Al Gore is overkill.

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The remains of days gone by, found along the streets of Dayton and amongst the tree-covered hills of Woodland Cemetery.