A wanderer and wonderer. Teacher, artist, father, lover of light. Jim Crotty grew up in Kettering, Ohio, near Dayton, where the woods and creek behind his childhood home served as a gateway to his exploration of nature and landscape photography. With an old Pentax Spotmatic F and a black-and-white darkroom in the basement, Jim was blessed with a way to connect with nature and share his love of those connections with others.

Following high school in Kettering, Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Management from the University of Dayton while serving as a U.S. Marine Corps Reservist. Jim also holds a Master of Professional Communication from Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Now living in Placitas, New Mexico, Crotty works as a Senior Instructional Consultant and as a Communication Instructor at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque. He is a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Professional Studies in Instructional Design Leadership program at Franklin University.