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"The biggest thing is the pictures … the kids aren't
going to get another NFL photographer to take their picture unless
they're in the NFL," enthused Lou Gruppo, president of the
Hockendauqua Youth Association and coach of 85 lb. Football.
Gruppo described Stars In Action as very easy to work with, and
very professional, offering "a high quality and standard
at a reasonable price."
Pleased that children have NFL quality photos available to them,
Gruppo said, "to have it here in their local community is
a wonderful product for the kids."
Gruppo recounted that at last year's Whitehall Bowl of Hockendauqua
vs. Fullerton there was a line to buy pictures all day long.
"I could never get the action shots they do - that's years
of experience," Gruppo said, lauding the good quality of
the Stars In Action picture of his son - who plays 95 lb. Football
- running up through the hole.
"It's the best product."
Boyertown Little League coach Jim Kreitz echoes Gruppo's enthusiasm,
having had Stars In Action at last year's tournament, as he will
this year.
"They're great pictures. The kids love to see themselves
in action, and the parents actually thrive on it more than the
kids," Kreitz said. He also appreciates Pittman's reliability,
noting they were there in last year's rainy weather and the pictures
came out very nicely.
"I was very, very happy with them last year - I liked the
number of pictures and their reliability," Kreitz said.
"I'm excited about this year."
Marina Newhard is President of the Emmaus Youth Wrestling and
Cheering Association (EYWCA) and is very involved with the East
Penn Emmaus Midget Football Association (EPEMFA).
"I'm pro-Pittman!" Newhard was quick to exclaim. With
three children on three different teams, Newhard really appreciated
her photographer "went out of her way to make me happy,"
taking shots of the children together and with their individual
teams.
"They're reasonably priced and offer lots of different options
with individual pictures and packages," Newhard said.
Happy with Pittman's standard youth photography program, Newhard
was happy to engage Stars In Action for wrestling, and plans to
recommend them for the football program.
"Greg came up to the different mats and took action shots,"
said Newhard, who purchased six 11x14's of her son's wrestling
photos. "I got almost all the photos of my son. I like the
quality - you can't tell they were taken on site, you'd think
they were sent out and processed and returned a month later."
Newhard is impressed the photos are printed immediately so parents
can look at the contact sheets, and then pull them up on the computer
and choose.
"The photos are much better than parents can take - they're
a constant sequence of movement," Newhard said. "Wrestling
goes so fast, it's hard to get those pictures as parents."
"The quality is good and they're very friendly," Newhard
said, adding many parents are happy with the program. "It's
a good program for the kids, and the photos are fairly and reasonably
priced."
Newhard related Stars In Action was at the J.V. Wrestling Tournament
at Emmaus High School, the Varsity Wrestling Tournament at Nazareth
High School, and at the end-of-the-year Valley Elementary Wrestling
League's Quad Tournament at Catasauqua High School.
An avid soccer fan and coach of Parkland United Soccer (Under
12), Lloyd Ottinger has four sons who play soccer, and one who
wrestles with Parkland in the Valley Elementary Wrestling League.
Ottinger is also very impressed with Stars In Action, as Crisp
has taken shots for both the soccer and wrestling with which Ottinger
is involved.
"I think they have something to see here," said Ottinger,
conveying he's seen Crisp's work for the past few years, even
before his stint at Pittman began. "Greg's an incredibly
talented photographer."
"Greg has been to a couple of our games this year, and the
parents were excited to view his work," Ottinger offered.
"I'm happy with them, and plan to continue working together."
Crisp said Pittman strives "to retain and obtain new clients,"
and will consider anything that benefits the client when considering
future ideas.
A professional photographer for more than 20 years, Crisp has
found photography "became my life - I'm very involved. It's
definitely not a hobby," he said with a laugh. "This
work is very enjoyable."
"I try to come up with the best shot of the day, and it's
always a challenge. You want to have a kid look good when playing,
or a group shot of kids that is casual as opposed to a stiff-looking
pose," Crisp said. Crisp expressed he's always had "a
knack, a passion, a drive" for photography, though success
didn't come overnight. It's taken, he said, two decades, much
help and a desire to be the best of what he could be. Crisp uses
a high-end digital camera -not typically found in a retail
camera shop - which has a long lens to "give people perspective
they haven't seen before." Sometimes, parents ask for the
unique experience of looking through the lens to see things as
Crisp does.
"This could be a whole turn for the industry in the youth
sports market - people want something fresh and different,"
Crisp observed.
"It's a great product, and we want to continually grow and
make it better," he said, voicing his hope that people will
recognize the value of this today and in the future.
Crisp was quick to give kudos to the staff and senior management
of Pittman for being extremely helpful with Stars In Action.
"It's a group effort - there's a lot behind the scenes to
make it happen," Crisp said.
"We do what it takes to do the job."
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