Calm Photos

tm photography: Oh so pretty!

I’ve seen my share of good wedding photographers in the Dayton area, but Tine Hoffman’s images from a recent wedding just blew me away. In fact, these are some of the best shots of the Schuster Center that I’ve seen yet.

Weddings are one area I stay clear of, because as professional photographer it is just as important to know what you can do well and your capabilities, and where they stop. It also helps to know your tolerance level when dealing with very emotional people

However, I do get calls and emails inquiring if I will shoot weddings. I politely say no and then I always make sure I refer the caller to at least two or three other local photographers who I know are quite talented and capable in photographing weddings. I’m going to hold onto Tine’s URL and contact info.

Jim Crotty Photography Site on ImagePro

Hey, you got to do what you got to do.

A winter’s evening in February.

A summer’s glow at dusk in August.

Both photographs were taken in approximately the same location, out in the prairie grassland that sits above the woodlands of Sugarcreek MetroPark, in Sugarcreek Township, Ohio.

Both of these images help answer a couple of questions that I am frequently asked by other photographers, both serious amateurs and pros alike. One, why do you keep going back to the same places to photograph ? And two, why do you love doing nature photography in a place like Ohio ?

The best work of the visual artist will always come from those places that are closest to his or her home, because it is in those places that all the gradual changes of light, the effects of the sculpting hand of nature and the blessings of each season become ingrained within the spirit and soul of the artist. Year after year of careful observation, and in some ways actually becoming part of the landscape itself, keeps the nature photographer home even after visiting and photographing other locations that are commonly considered more “dramatic, picturesque, scenic.”

I love the distinct seasons of Ohio. In fact I am such an avid student of the changing light throughout the year that I would venture to say that there are more than just four seasons experienced out on the Ohio landscape. There are also those “in-between” times, such as “end-of-summer-early-autumn” and “still-winter-but-almost-spring.”

Late August would definitely fall within the end-of-summer-early-autumn category, and there is no better place for capturing the subtleties of this beautiful “sub-season” than at sunset in the open, tall-grass prairies, a few of which can be found scattered about in my home of Southwest Ohio.

Last night I had the pleasure and honor of attending a special reception recognizing the “healing arts” at the new addition to St. Riga’s Hospital in Lima, Ohio. I can’t stress enough what a thrill it was to see 22 of my prints displayed in such an impressive facility, as well as to serve such an important visiual purpose. Not only that, but all the other art and photography displayed was some of the most impressive nature-based artwork that I have seen in one location. What St. Rita’s has going on with their “healing arts” rivals most local gallery displays that I have seen in Dayton. At times it was hard to believe that I was in an actual hospital, which is exactly the idea.

Sunset and dusk, the prairie at Sugarcreek MetroPark, Sugarcreek Township, Ohio. August 18, 2008.

One of “Three Sisters” oak trees falls

I’m really into “signs” - the small, usually unnoticed occurrences in daily life that signal the fact that there is a far greater force at work than just the inconsequential “hand-of-man.”

Just a few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon in late July, my two young daughters and I went on a nature hike at Sugarcreek. One of the spots both Emma and Chloe wanted to see was the location of the “Three Sisters,” the 500+ year old White Oak Trees that just about everyone who is familiar with the MetroParks of Dayton know so well.

Just this week the middle “sister” fell, beginning the process of returning to the earth her life and nutrients that will be reborn with the growth of new trees. Such is the cycle of life that I explained to my daughters while we stood observing the ‘Sisters’ and I was answering that inevitable and honest question that comes from young and inquisitive minds, Dad, what will happen when one of them dies ?

Even before the start of 2008 I had a strong premonition that this indeed would be a year of change - change that would largely involve pain that is associated with loss. Indeed it has been, not only on a personal level and within society, but even taking place amongst familiar and natural surroundings. But change it will be, to something new.

Below: The Three Sisters on a mist-filled morning in late autumn, 2004

http://jimcrotty.smugmug.com/photos/342637641_ZsZvT-L-1.jpg

Fine Art Nature and Lanscape Prints by Photographer Jim Crotty- powered by SmugMug

Many of the images available for sale as prints within this storefront were taken within the past year, at locations that include the U.P of Michigan, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in Utah, the Antelope Canyons near Page, Arizona and of course, Hocking Hills, Ohio.

But before you say “not more of Hocking Hills” you may want to take a look, because the autumn ‘07 and spring ‘08 images captured there are landscape images in High Dynamic Range. This technique, also known as HDR, is more commonly applied to older building interiors and objects. However, I love using for my favorite landscape locations, especially in very low light. The visual results are pure magic, revealing tones and texture not normally apparent in a single frame image or by the naked eye. With HDR I am not digitally adding visual elements that did not exist in the actual scene. I am merely bringing forth colors, hues and tones that have always been there, yet perhaps unnoticed. Check it out.

What is truly eye-popping is to view these images as 30″ x 40″ (and I can go even larger with special orders) on canvas mounted as a gallery wrap (the print surface “wraps” around an internal frame), giving the print a two-dimensional look that can more than hold its’ own in gaining attention without the weight and expense of the traditional mounting-mat-frame-glass combination.