Calm Photos

. . . or out in your lobby, or in your home. It doesn’t matter. Just hang me.

No, not me physically. For one thing you’d have to drill some serious holes in a stud behind the wall, and use some serious hardware, just to hold all my ever-increasing weight. Also, I don’t do too well in office corporate-type office environments. As I like to say about my experiences in the corporate world, I’m like Chinese food. At first I look real good, but if I sit around too long I go real bad, very quickly.

What I’m referring to is the opportunity for you take a hang an original and breath-taking print representing my artistic vision and photographic discoveries. In each and every nature, landscape, cityscape and wildlife photograph that I discover, capture and create there is a bit of my artistic soul and spirit that has been invested in the fine art prints that result.

There’s also a bit of “love of subject” as well as technical skill invested, particularly with the photographs that make-up my newest online storefront at ImageKind.com - Hand-Colored Photos.

With these photographs you can see how I’ve carefully converted the original, color image to back and white and then digitally bring forth color in the areas of the image that I want to emphasize. These photographs are a great selection of artwork for rooms, whether office or at home, where a particular color is emphasized.

Prints ordered through my ImageKind Hand-Colored Storefront are available in sizes ranging from 8″x10″ all the way to 40″x60″ and without any degradation in image clarity and print quality due to the fact I custom format the digital file that each print is crafted from, ensuring optimal output as custom Giclees prints. What I also like about ImageKind are the choices provided for paper, which includes Enhanced Matte, Somerset Velvet, Photo Rag and Fine Art Pearl. I recommend Enhanced Matte.

And the choices don’t stop there. You can also choose from what I’ve found to be the best online selection in custom mats (you can select and adjust width) and frames that range from black, to mahogany, to light wood and many more. As these choice are made you can preview exactly how the finished product will look and what the final price will be, right online. I’ve posted an example below using my favorite combination of a black wood frame with a white mat.

Best of all you can purchase safely and securely online with ImageKind’s refund policy/satisfaction guarantee and professional care in packing and shipping. No crowds to fight at the mall. No traffic to get caught in. Just beautiful, original artwork that everyone will love. So don’t wait. Buy now for Christmas and hang me, here, there and everywhere.

Once again I’m re-evaluating my selection of printing vendors regarding online print sales of my fine art nature and landscape photographs. My current storefront with Printroom.com is pretty good, but I’ve been more impressed with the quality of printing, selections in papers, frames and matting and user friendly interface provided over at ImageKind.com.

Fine art prints purchased at my ImageKind storefront come with a refund policy - satisfaction guarantee, safe online shopping guarantee and careful attention and care in the packaging of prints, both framed and unframed. These are also Giclees prints crafted from the largest possible TIFF file, carefully edited by me, from the original raw digital capture. This results in the best, museum-quality print versus those that are produced from compressed JPEG’s. I can personally attest to this fact because I’ve conducted my own print-and-compare quality testing process from these same file sizes and formats here in my studio using an Epson 7600 wide format printer.

Giclees prints from ImageKind have a longevity of over 125 years when framed under UV-protective glass. Also, you will be impressed with the variety of framing options offered through ImageKind. Their selection of frames, mats and coating options is perhaps the best you can find with an online art store and of course you can preview exactly how each print will look with your choice in paper, mat and frame.

I’ve started to populate my ImageKind storefront gallery, titled “High Dynamic Vision,” with some of my most recent nature, landscape and cityscape photographs captured this past September and October in locations such as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Hocking Hills of Ohio. I will be adding more selections to this storefront over the next several days. I also maintain another storefront/gallery of old favorites on ImageKind titled “Serenity Images.” The best seller there has been my famous Dayton skyline.

Last night I dreamed - blessed illusion -

that I had a beehive here

in my heart

and that

the golden bees were making

white combs and sweet honey

from my old failures.

- From Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly

The screen grab image above will take you to a flickr slide show of a  few of my favorite photographs. These are the images that carry a special meaning for me due to the fact that I can instantly place myself back in the particular light, location and frame of mind when I first released the shutter at the moment I captured each image.

In these places I found nothing but the beauty and truth that was presented before me.

There are no lies, deceit, manipulation or false pretenses. There is no anger, resentment or malice.

The light, subject and moment simply is, and in that simplicity is the very essence of being.

My latest image catalog, which includes updated nature, landscape, wildlife, cityscape photography, is now available for preview in PDF format.

Well, the first 15 pages anyway, but it will give you a good idea of how extensive and well-organized this image catalog is.

With the arrival of online, on-demand self-publishing services such as Blurb, I’ve now discovered a new and more professional method for presenting my fine art photography to art dealers and buyers. Within the 72-page, hardcover, large format book are over 380 of what I consider to be the best of my nature and landscape photographs, organized and grouped according to subject and file numbers for easy reference when ordering prints or requesting image licensing.

The image below is the cover of the new image catalog. This image also serves as a link to the online, 15-page PDF preview. The entire 72-page book can be ordered directly from Blurb.

Timing can be everything when it comes to nature and landscape photography, especially during spring. Trillium is a beautiful, large wildflower that makes an appearance for only about one to two weeks. When it does, it covers entire hillsides, usually in very wooded areas. I know of one large patch in Germantown MetroPark. Recently I discovered another along the Little Miami River Scenic Bikeway, between Fort Ancient and Morrow, Ohio.

This past Sunday morning, during my first 50-mile ride of the season, I stopped and photographed this display just as the sun was coming up, over and behind the Trillium. I’d like to photographed this same spot in early evening when the sunlight is opposite the hill, but the blooms will probably be gone by the time I make it down there again.

I’m quickly discovering all there is to photograph along the Little Miami River. This valley is so scenic and full of character - from the little towns along the river, Clifton Gorge, John Bryan, Yellow Springs, the canoe liveries, the Fort Ancient Indian Mounds and the Civil War camp at Miamiville - there is so much here and quite easily accessible, especially by bike.

And not to mention the variety of wildlife that can be found along this protected waterway. While photographing those Trillium I was listening to a chorus that included a Barred Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Blue Jay, Cardinal, Robin and Wren - all at the same time within a relatively small area.

I also captured some new shots of one of my favorite barns, which sits just across the street from the rest stop in Morrow. I’ve previously photographed this structure about five years ago, when we were living in Loveland and I would ride the trail north. On Sunday I noticed something a little different about the barn. At first I thought the Pepsi machine was painted on the side of the barn, but upon closer inspection I discovered that it was actually part of the barn. That’s the sort of thing that catches my attention and cause me to give thanks to the creative soul that lies within all of us.

“Worry is nothing less than the misuse of your imagination.”   - Ed Foreman

Blurb | Fine Art Nature and Landscape Photography : A unique artistic vision. : Books : Jim Crotty : Arts & Photography : Civil War : Jim Crotty : black and white : Gettysburg : Ohio : art : cityscape : flowers : images : landscape : nature : photographs : photography : prints : seasons : waterfalls

I finally finished it. A comprehensive catalog of my favorite and best-selling images. This is a large format coffee table style book with 72 pages that include over 850 images, each cataloged with an item number and description and grouped according to subject, including autumn landscape, waterfalls, flowers, winter landscape, avian, aviation, wildlife, Civil War battlefields and more.

Although intended primarily for art dealers and buyers (of whom a few select will be receiving complimentary copies), this book is available for retail purchase at blurb.com, for the wonderfully cheap price of $84.95 and would be a great addition to a customer waiting area, corporate lobby or home library. Also, please note that you can preview the first 14 pages in PDF format via the web page link listed in this entry.

To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring, I’ve introduced a 15% off special for all print orders $25.00 or more.

What’s even better is that I just finished uploading LOTS of new and exciting images to my print storefront, at
Jim Crotty Printroom Photography Storefront

From there you can order prints ranging in a variety of sizes, posters, wall calendars and more products featuring the very best in nature, landscape, wildlife and cityscape photography by Jim Crotty, such as these -