Calm Photos

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.

As part of my continued commitment to the long term success of Picture Ohio, LLC, I am pleased to introduce my new online storefront for the presentation and sales of fine art photographic prints of my favorite subject areas - nature, landscape, wildlife, historical, events, cityscapes, florals and aviation.

Since starting Picture Ohio, LLC in April 2003 (four year anniversary coming up) I have managed my own storefront, with shopping carts, on ohiophoto.org, printing, fulfilling and shipping the orders from my studio/gallery in Dayton. I have had limited success with this approach, primarily due to the time and expense involved.

A big advantage of being involved in a professional association such as the Professional Photographer of America, and attending the Imaging USA conference in San Antonio, was the opportunity to meet with a variety of vendors that serve the professional photography industry. One such vendor I had the pleasure to get to know was Printroom.com, a professional photography lab and e-commerce business partner based in Santa Clara, California.

But prior to using their services for a possible new storefront it was important for me to put them through my own quality control process.

I was blown-away with the results. The prints from Printroom.com are fantastic, as well as their customer service.

So now I would like to present the new and improved Picture Ohio Print Storefront. Here you can find 115 of what I consider to be the best sellers and personal favorites from my growing library of nature, landscape, wildlife, cityscape, event and flight photographic images. And this is just the start as I will be constantly adding new material as I continue to venture forth to new venues and scenic areas.

The best part about this Printroom.com storefront is that now I can offer a far greater variety print sizes, paper and related photographic products. Prints are available in sizes ranging from 5″x7″ to 24″x36,” printed on a choice of papers that includes Fujicolor Professional pro lustre, matte or glossy as well as Kodak Metallic and Ilford Black and White. Photo gift products with my images include a variety of greeting cards, note cards, calendars, photo puzzles, coasters, buttons and even t-shirts.

I’ve seen samples of all, which look incredible, but I have to say my favorite are the prints on the Kodak Metallic paper. They not only pop, they snap ! Order your favorite Jim Crotty photograph today.

This is one of my all-time favorite black and white photographs, taken while I was living and working in Utah. This image was captured in August 1999 near Cedar City. I was working as an account representative for a company that provided employee assistance programs. Part of my job was traveling to client companies to conduct on-site training programs that came with their EAP’s. Needless to say I took advantage of the opportunity to practice my passion for nature and landscape photography, and with Southern Utah, it is hard to resist.

This fence was part of an old cattle ranch. I discovered it just outside of Cedar City, where I was doing a training program at a local dynamite/explosives factory. That would explain why it was out in the middle of nowhere. But it’s these little hidden gems, combined with a classic western sky, that make for some wonderful and original images.
This image was shot using a Canon Elan IIe EOS 35mm film camera with a Vivitar 24mm lens. I shot it on Kodak T-Max black and white film, and if memory serves me correctly, I was also using a red filter.

On the other side of Cedar City (a great little college town by the way) is Cedar Breaks National Monument, an incredibly picturesque high altitude canyon that is much like Bryce National Park but without the crowds.

One of the many things I miss about Utah are those expansive, expressive western skies. There’s a unique light in the high deserts and canyonlands of the four corners region, and it’s easy to understand why this area is so much loved by artists representing many mediums.

“I agree with Paula’s observation regarding the cross-over of more personal or journalistic work supporting growth in the commercial market.

Although I’m not nearly as well accomplished and talented as Paula, I too use much of my commercial and assignment work to support my nature and landscape photography and I have found that many of my commercial clients take notice when I have something published or I win an award. I think the days of being labled or classified within one particular area of photography are a thing of the past, mostly due to the reality of fiscal survival in a rapidly changing economy.

My challenge is that this newer way of practicing and marketing (facilitated so much with advantages available through the internet) the profession of photography is much less understood in a small market like Dayton, Ohio, but then again, one of the many benefits of the web is that a photographer is no longer beholden to a particular geographic market, local ad agency and artsy cliques, business groups, etc.

Some probably see that as a threat to the way they do business. For me it has been a tremendous advantage and a great opportunity.”

Above was my response to a recent post on the online message board for the corporate photography group of ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers). A extremely well talented and noteworthy photographer, Paula Lerner, had commented that many of her accomplishments in photo journalism are noted by her various corporate clients.

About a year ago I heard that a local “associate” and contemporary of my father had made the comment “the market here in Dayton for your son’s nature photographs has to be pretty small - I can’t see how he can make any money with that.” What’s ironic is that this same individual is considered to be THE top power player in the local business community (aka Old Man Potter). My guess is that he was probably making the comment either due to the fact that his awareness of professional photography is based on a business concept long extinct and/or because he knows very well that I don’t care about, nor do I play up to, local “power” networks (there’s others who share my last name who have been much more successful at developing those talents).

The fact is that very few people here in Dayton actually understand what it is I’m trying to do with my business, Picture Ohio, LLC. Here’s a clue: I’m a little bit more than just a “nature photographer.”

This attitude has much to do with the limited thinking that is endemic amongst the uptight-and-white-medium-sized-town-midwestern types, who thrive in an environment that’s basically an extension of their glory days of high school.

It’s a shame because this way of thinking has much to do with why Dayton keeps struggling to grow economically and change socially. Other market areas that are the same size, and even in some cases smaller, have adapted and moved-on.

Professional photography is just one example of how quickly things change, not only due to developing technology, but also in how independent professionals market themselves and their work. Learn, adapt and grow. It’s a process that never stops. The problem arises when the individual - or in some cases an entire community - stops.

. . . also known as black and white photography. The ‘Hills’ in November can be lacking in color, but are still vibrant in texture, motion and light. The following images were captured with a Canon 5D in the monochrome picture setting. I followed-up with some slight adjustments in the curves and levels within Photoshop CS2.