Over the Labor Day weekend I had the pleasure to photograph the Eaglesons on Parson’s Beach in Kennebunk, Maine.  We had great weather and I’m really happy with the results.  Shown here are David, Alice, sons Will and Andrew and their chocolate lab Leroy.

Please note, these are low resolution images for quick uploading and viewing and all images from my website are available for purchase as high resolution downloads, prints or enlargements, etc.  To view a slideshow of the images, please click on the blue text that says, “View with PicLens.”

I’ve selected just a few favorites from our photo session.  If you would like to view all of them, click here to go to my online ordering system.  Click on “Family Portraits” and then click on “Eagleson Family”.

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This is the saddest post I’ve ever made to my blog.  A friend, Phil Sturges, from Kennebunk, ME recently passed away after a battle with cancer.  I only knew Phil for a short time but one of the special characteristics about Phil was that he would treat new acquaintances like old friends–I instantly felt welcome to his world.  Phil was always a gentlemen and went through life with such class.  Even during his illness, he showed such courage by maintaining a daily online diary through CaringBridge to keep family and friends updated.  Shown here are a few images I took during a perfect day sailing on John Getchell’s the Bon Marche last Labor Day.  Although I’m sad that we’ve all had to lose Phil, I will always remember this day and what a wonderful example Phil set for us all.  As you can see by the photos, Phil was truly in his element.  That smile you see, he had the entire day–he was happy for hours.  Also shown are: the Gingerbread Man a.k.a John Getchell–one of Phil’s closest friends; Jeffrey Martin-Zdunczyk an attorney from Kennebunk and Lisa Hagerman from Cambridge.  And if you look closely to the reflection in Phil’s glasses in the black & white image, you can also see Wendy Martin-Zdunczyk.

To view a slideshow of the images, click on the blue text that says: “View with PicLens”

Please note, these are low resolution images for quick uploading and viewing.  All images from my website are available as high resolution downloads, prints or enlargements, etc. by clicking here.

I was back in Maine for a quick visit over Memorial Day weekend after attending my 20th college reunion in New Haven.  I absolutely love going to the parade in Kennebunkport’s Dock Square complete with the fire trucks, marching band, Boy Scouts and President George H.W. Bush making a speech.  I got four good shots of him and Barbara and these were with my “travel” camera.

To remember my Mom on Mother’s Day I thought I would post my last formal portrait that I did of her.  This was a tough shot to take because she was nervous about having me do it.  So I had her sit in a lawn chair in her back yard.  To get her to smile, I asked her to tell me about her last trip…that got her going and and she began talking with her hands which she so often did.  I shot this with my old Nikon film camera–one of the last photos I did in film before switching over entirely to digital.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Boston, MA
I have to admit that social media is pretty cool.  Recently I received a LinkedIn invitation from Boston artist Seth Minkin.  I knew that I had heard that name before and sure enough, he had been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and I remember seeing that particular episode.  Anyway, after some back-and-forth email, Seth agreed to have me do his portrait at his studio which I plan on using in one of my upcoming exhibits.  Well, Seth’s studio is rather unique – it’s in the middle of a word-of-mouth marketing company  called BzzAgent.

I arrive at the agency and sure enough, Seth’s “studio” is in a big, open area nestled between offices and cubes–so that everyone at the firm walks by him as he paints.  Different, huh?

Also different was how Seth and I were connected.  It turns out he is good friends with my cousins in Hull, MA and had heard about me through my uncle Walter.

Seth’s work is colorful, unique and quite impressive and I photographed him as he was working on a piece for his upcoming show at the Liberty Hotel on Tuesday, May 18th at 6pm.  Check it out.

Stonington, ME

This winter I had the pleasure and fortune to photograph Maine lobsterman Ted Ames who was named a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow.  Ted has agreed to be in my upcoming portrait photography exhibit entitled: “Mainiacs – Portraits of Prominent Mainers”

So, one day Ted received a phone call from the MacArthur foundation informing him that he had been anonymously nominated and had been named a MacArthur fellow.  What does that mean?  It meant that Ted would receive $500,000.00 with no strings attached over a five-year period.  His selection was based on the remarkable research he has conducted on the fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine.

To read about the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow, click here.

Ted used the money to further his research on fishing in the Gulf of Maine by creating the Penobscot East Resource Center.

From the moment I met Ted, it was obvious that he is a man of very high intelligence.  Just his gaze–extremely penetrating–demonstrated his intense level of focus.  And his appearance is completely disarming, as he showed up for our portrait session in his regular work day clothes (which is what I asked him to do): Carhart jacket, Bean boots, denim jeans and red flannel shirt.

To start the portrait session, I told Ted I’d like to photograph him as he conducts a normal work day.  He said in his educated Maine accent, “Well, if you had arrived two hours earlier, you could have photographed me chopping the fire wood.  You know, I do that every day first thing.  But since you’re here now, I was planning on going down to shovel off the Mary Elizabeth.  She’s in dry dock at the boatyard.”  So I said, “Great.  Let’s go.”  And that’s how I came to photograph a genius shoveling snow.

When I asked Ted, “What’s it like being a genius?”  He replied, “Mistakes happen!”  Ted was one of the most interesting and entertaining of my subjects so far this year.  My favorite photo is of him driving us back to the office.

I just got back from marlin fishing with my brother Sean in Cabo San Lucas at the very tip of Baja.  I’m a big fan of Hemingway (accomplished deep sea fisherman) so Sean chartered our own boat as a birthday present.
You want to hear a great fish story?  Well, I had no idea that Cabo is considered one of the best marlin fishing sites in the world.  I mean, people come from all over just to try marlin fishing.  It is a HUGE thing here.  The marina is gigantic–hundreds of boats.  So, at 6:30am there were 130 boats all leaving at the same time—yes, you read it correctly–130 boats.  Well, Sean chose one of the best captains of the whole fleet and here’s why.  Most of the boats will go 10-20 miles out to get to their favorite fishing spot and then start trolling.  And that’s what we started to do.  We left the marina at 6:40am and we’re are going full throttle–I mean FAST.  20 minutes later we are only 6 miles out and the captain, Saul, up on the flying bridge yells down to his first mate, Rafael, MARLIN! MARLIN! MARLIN!  I have no idea how Saul spotted the marlin.  So, Rafael gets the gear ready and Sean says I should take the first one because it’s my birthday present.  Well, he’s hooked by 7:00am and it takes me 45 minutes to reel him in.  And I’m exhausted.  My left hand is scraped and cut up, and my left arm is cramped up.  But I get him to the boat.  And it takes all 4 of us to haul him into the boat.  So, out of 130 boats we’ve got the first marlin of the day in the boat by 7:45am.

And then we learn when we get back to the dock that we were one of only 4 boats (of 130) that caught a marlin, our’s was the first and was the biggest: just under 8 feet and 150 lbs!  There was 75 lbs of marlin steaks–we gave about half to the captain and first mate, gorged on marlin Friday and Saturday and I still have 54 steaks now in my freezer at home.

Oh, and by the way, we had a humpback whale breaching just off the port side of the boat.  HUGE!  The tail looked longer than our boat which was 30ft!  And did I mention the sea lion that climbed on the stern of the boat to check out the marlin on the back?! Check out the video….

What a great trip!

I first met Annie at a college alumni gathering at the Solo Bistro restaurant in Bath, ME.  Later that week I checked out her website,  and was so impressed with her work as a poet, I asked if she would like to participate in my upcoming photography exhibit: “Mainiacs – Portraits of Prominent Mainers.”  She agreed.

So, this Fall I photographed her at her home just outside Portland.  When I do portraits of people in their homes, I ask them which part of the home means the most to them.  Where do they spend most of their time?  This was easy for Annie to answer and there were four separate locations: a nook downstairs with a reading chair and a side table for her tea cup; a bookcase with a wonderful mask (a gift from a former student); her office upstairs and her writing desk which overlooks her back yard.

My favorite story Annie shared with me was about her husband Glen.  I had asked her to describe a special time in her writing.  She described one day when she was in the back yard, Glen came home and he was about to tell her about his day.  He stopped, looked at her face, and said, “You need time alone to write, don’t you?”  “She said yes.”  So, Glen went back inside.  Annie said that one moment she’ll always remember because it meant so much to her to have a husband who recognizes her needs.  What a great story?

Anyway, I truly enjoyed my portrait session with Annie and look forward to hearing about her upcoming work.

To view more photos from this portrait session or for prints, click here.

To receive an invitation to this exhibit, click here and submit your contact information.

Augusta, ME

Maine Governor, John E. Baldacci, has agreed to participate in Liam’s next photography exhibit: “Mainiacs: Portraits of Prominent Maine Leaders and why they love our State.” Baldacci recently sat for a portrait with Liam at the State Capitol. Liam photographed the Governor in the Cabinet Room directly adjacent to the Governor’s office. Photographer Liam Crotty is in the process of shooting photographic portraits of over 30 prominent “Maineacs” for his upcoming exhibit. A skilled photographer and lover of his native Maine, Crotty’s exhibitions include “Finding Norman Rockwell’s Small Town America” and “Faces of the Kennebunks”. To stay updated on Liam’s upcoming exhibits either subsribe to this blog or send an email to: liamcrotty@aya.yale.edu