Calm Photos

A Visual Celebration of Spring 2008 in Ohio by Jim Crotty

April evening along the trail to Old Man’s Cave, Hocking Hills, Ohio

Photo Competition-Shoot The Hills Home Page

Attention all Ohio photographer enthusiasts ! This coming weekend - April 18-20 - is the time to be in Hocking Hills for the 8th Annual Shoot the Hills Photography Competition. With all the rain and recent mild weather I can almost guarantee perfect shooting conditions - from flowing waterfalls to new spring green on the hemlocks and beech trees to blooming patches of Virginia Bluebells to all kinds of Ohio wildlife - April is what I consider to be the second best month for nature photography in Ohio’s Hocking Hills (October being #1).

I will be serving on the panel of judges for this year’s event. Photographers compete in several nature subject categories in both adult and youth divisions as well as film and digital. New for this year is a print competition. Participants have a 24-hour period of time to photograph in Hocking Hills, followed by a submission deadline on Saturday and an awards ceremony on Sunday. When I served as a judge in 2006 there were close to 150 participants. This year the number of photographers will probably be double that, many of whom now come from other areas outside of Ohio. Recently NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association) sent out an email alert to all members announcing the 2008 Shoot the Hills Competition. The secret is out regarding my favorite location in Ohio for nature and landscape photography.

Best of all the proceeds collected through the modest entry fee goes directly back to supporting, preserving and protecting Hocking Hills State Park.

It is a true thrill for me to see the visual treasures that all of the participants come back with after being set loose in the gorges, hollows and valleys of Ohio’s “Little Smokies.”

Even if you are not a photographer this is a great event to visit and view the amazing photographic talent that is on display, as well as support other local artists and craftsman, many of whom will have tables displaying their works at the Hocking Hills State Park Lodge building - the center of activity for Shoot the Hills.

I hope to see you there !

Over the last year I’ve had the rewarding experience of working with Dayton-area poet Stephen Emerick on creating prints and books that effectively merge my visual discoveries of the nature and landscape of Ohio’s Hocking Hills with his words of quiet reflection and soulful interpretation.

One of the many personal rewards I receive from pursuing my avocation in fine art nature photography is experiencing each viewer’s unique reaction to my photographs and hearing from them how a particular image moved them in a certain way, elicited a thought or feeling or revived a long dormant memory. My photographs have served me well in reaching out and connecting with other creative and artistic souls, and in ways where words fail me.

But for some words are paintbrushes (or cameras). This is more than true for the poetry of Stephen Emerick. When those words are partnered with photographs that visually reinforce the poetic message being shared, then something even greater than each of the elements results, especially when both images and words originate from two similar artistic impressions of a “sacred place” known as Hocking Hills.

Poems from the Inn at Cedar Falls Welcome represents our first book. It can be purchased online at Blurb or in the gift shop at the Inn at Cedar Falls. Due to the success of that project we’ve created a series of what I like to call Poem Prints - fine art photographic images that combine two nature photographs with a poem. These can be purchased in print sizes starting at 8″x10″ at http://jimcrotty.imagekind.com/PoemPrints.

Though the winter winds, snow and ice are sill upon us here in Ohio, one can’t help but notice the promise of spring with the gradual changes in the light and the small flashes of color. Just last week I was stunned to see a small flock of Eastern Bluebirds fly past me while I was photographing an icy landscape of the prairie at Sugarcreek MetroPark. And then another Bluebird just this past weekend as my daughter Chloe and I were departing Hocking Hills. I’m hopeful for an early spring. Most of all I am hopeful for life renewed and positive changes. Sometimes the Eagle has to drop southward, with talons at the ready, in order to climb to “higher ground.”

Enjoy the following nature, wildlife and landscape photographs of winter waning in Ohio, captured at Sugarcreek and Hills and Dales MetroParks, Calvary Cemetery and as always, Hocking Hills.