MEET OUR 2008 JUDGES

Jim Crotty is a full-time, professional photographer who owns and manages the Picture Ohio, LLC studio and gallery in Dayton, Ohio. Jim is originally from Dayton but has also lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has been involved with photography since the mid-1970’s, starting out with a Pentax camera and a black and white darkroom in the basement of his childhood home.

In addition to providing a wide variety of commercial and editorial photography services that include architectural, product, portrait and event imaging, Jim also continues to capture nature, landscape and wildlife images that have garnished local, regional and nation awards and publication. In 2007 one of Jim’s wildlife photographs was chosen for publication in National Wildlife and Nature’s Best magazines as well as shown at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. Installations of his fine art nature prints can be viewed at hospitals and medical centers in Dayton, Columbus, Lima and Portsmouth.

His editorial clients include Great Lakes Publishing, the University of Dayton, Housetrends Magazine, Orange Frazer Press, Gray and Co. Publishers, Ohio State Parks and the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Jim teaches and presents workshops to schools, civic groups and camera clubs throughout Dayton and will be presenting his work with landscapes of Southeastern Ohio to the New York City Chapter of the Sierra Club on April 29th, 2008. Jim shoots almost entirely with digital equipment including Canon EOS camera bodies and Canon L lenses and utilizes Mac based hardware for editing, post-processing and digital file management. Jim currently resides in Kettering, Ohio with his wife Kristie and daughters, Emma and Chloe, but will soon be relocating to Texas in June 2008. Jim considers Hocking Hills to be the “true home of his creative spirit and artistic soul.”

Greg Grupenhof has owned and operated FreeStyle Design, Inc. - a Cincinnati-based Graphic Design/Photography Studio - for the past 15 years.

With a degree in Commercial Art from Central Academy of Commercial Art, and with his wide ranging background in photography, advertising and art direction, Greg's experience enables him to value photography as both a technical and creative undertaking, and he understands the attributes that make a photograph effective and marketable.

Greg’s published images and designs have appeared in magazines, advertising campaigns, calendars, websites and books worldwide.  For more information, visit his website: www.freestyle-design.com

Gary Walker serves as the Education Coordinator for Cord Camera. With more than 30 years experience in commercial photography and lab work. He specializes in location, portrait, and architectural photography. Gary’s work was sought after by clients and photo buyers alike. He is a past member of Professional Photographers of America, the Professional Photographers of Central Ohio.

Erik Snowbeck is currently the Director of Photography for Cinmar, a Cincinnati-based catalog company which produces Frontgate and Grandin Road catalogs.  Erik leads photography teams comprised of freelance photographers, stylists and assistants from all over the country. His teams produce about 6000 advertising-quality images per year, and have helped Frontgate maintain its reputation as the premier product catalog of luxury items for the home.  Prior to joining Cinmar, Erik owned and operated the Cincinnati-based commercial digital photography studio, Digital Imaging Group.

Art Weber has been writing about and shooting photos of nature and outdoor subjects for over 35 years, winning well over 150 prestigious international, national, regional and state-wide professional awards along the way.

Last week he accepted his second Northern Lights Award, a prestigious recognition from the Canadian government for excellence in travel writing.   Weber finished one 30-year career with Metroparks of the Toledo Area as their public information manager and has started another as the founder and director of their National Center for Nature Photography located in Secor Metropark.

In addition to numerous publishing numerous freelance articles and photos in a wide variety of magazines, for nearly ten years he’s written a weekly nature column for The Mirror Newspapers based in Maumee, and is travel writer for the Toledo Free Press. He has exhibited his work in a number of one-man shows including at the Aullwood Audubon Center, Toledo Zoo and Arrowhead Gallery at Heidelberg College, as well as the National Center for Nature Photography. He is a contributor to the exhibit, “Ohio’s Natural Landscapes,” which features work from six of Ohio’s best nature photographers and is on a two-year tour of venues all over Ohio.

In addition, he’s written two nationally recognized books, “Wild Ohio” and “Guide to Ohio State Parks.” He’s also become known for his sports photography and, among his many assignments, he is a team photographer for the Toledo Mud Hens doing, among other projects, action images for their baseball cards.

The National Center for Nature Photography is the only facility in the country totally dedicated to nature photography. The Center, located in Secor Metropark, celebrates the beauty of nature through photographs on display and through a large number of programs, workshops, and travel opportunities. Weber leads most of the programs are trips, which are designed to help participants improve their photographic skills and to learn about nature at the same time.