Dan Cleary was voted best photographer in the region by Dayton Magazine readers for 2024.
With years of experience and a genuine passion for photography, Dan Cleary at Cleary Creative Photography captures the essence of your most meaningful moments. Dan brings creativity and a personalized touch to every session, from family portraits that reflect deep connections to high school senior photos that showcase individuality to professional headshots that exude confidence. As a Certified Professional Photographer and a Master of Fine Arts graduate from the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art, Dan combines technical skill with artistic vision. Recognized as a Proud Dayton Original by the Dayton City Commission, he embodies the city's spirit of innovation and creativity. Trust Cleary Creative Photography to tell your unique story through images you'll cherish for a lifetime.
Latest Blog Posts
2022 Photography, Wright Brothers and Cyber Monday
Thanksgiving is over, and the Christmas season is upon us and, like many of us, I also have two family Thanksgiving Dinners to attend on different days. I am very thankful for another great year at Cleary Creative Photography. I’ve met many new clients and heard from many existing clients I have worked with in years past. For those who don’t know, I published my book Wright Brothers: Then and Now and have sold copies all over the country. I am doing more artwork that people and companies have hanging in their homes and offices. I did one public art project for the Burkhardt branch of the Montgomery County public libraries. I’ve worked with numerous companies creating photographs of their employees—my usual number of high school seniors, babies, and family portraits. I even received a phone call at 4 pm on a Sunday from an organization asking if I could take photographs at their once-a-year black-tie event because their scheduled photographer had an emergency. I was onsite by 4:45, ready and creating photographs.
10% Off and Free Shipping For A Week!
I started working on my photography project about the Wright Brothers six years ago. Among all their many talents, they did their photography and had a darkroom at their house. This series involves me taking historical photographs by and of the Wright Brothers and then going back to those same locations to create another photograph that I can layer with the historic photo. I’ve done many public talks about the series, and the first talk was at the Oakwood library, someone asked when the book would come out. That was three years ago, and about a year ago, I finished and published the book Wright Brothers: Then and now. The book and prints from the series are available from my website: ClearyFineArtPhoto.com. If you have someone on your Christmas list interested in aviation and American history, this would be perfect for them. You can buy the book from Amazon, but copies purchased directly from my website are signed and can be personalized. On Saturday, December 3rd, I will be in Indianapolis at the 2022 Holiday Author Fair at the Indiana Historical Society, signing copies of my book. Click here for more information, Indianahistory.org. I am offering a 10% coupon with free shipping for everything on my website this week. Just enter 10% in the coupon section on the shopping cart.
My wife Maria retired from teaching last year, so we decided to add outdoor art fairs to Cleary Creative Photography. Art fairs are juried; not everyone is asked to show their art work at each city. We went to the Cincinnati Summer art show, Talbot Street art fair in Indianapolis, Ann Arbor, Kettering Art On The Commons, Dayton Art Institute Octoberfest, and Ohio Mart in Akron. I also have images from local small towns in Ohio, like Tipp City, Troy, Piqua, Springboro, and Kettering. You can order prints from all these places directly from my website under the landscape photography section. Remember, I am offering a 10% coupon with free shipping for everything on my website this week. Just enter 10% in the coupon section on the shopping cart.
Late Fall Outdoor Family Portraits
You might think it’s too late in the year to create an outdoor family portrait. The leaves are down. It’s getting colder outside. But it’s not too late for your family to get together for a family portrait. The holidays are a time when all the family gets together. There is no better time to have a portrait created by me, Dan Cleary. I have worked with families for many years and at various times of the year. Yes, everyone is in short sleeves in the summer, and it’s 80 degrees. But I can create a great family portrait right now. I have a coat and gloves. I don’t mind being outside this time of the year. Plus, I can go to your house and do a family portrait in your living room. We can even come to my portrait studio.
You can see more examples of family portraits I have created at ClearyCreativePhoto.com/family-portrait-photographer. For people interested in learning more about their digital cameras and taking better pictures themselves, go to ClearyPhotoWorkshops.com. I create photographic art for individuals and companies. I’ve also published a book Wright Brothers: Then and Now. You can see more of my artwork at ClearyFineArtPhoto.com.
Outdoor Fall Studio
As a professional photographer in Dayton, Ohio, I get asked to do many things in many locations. This week in Dayton is the peak of the fall color season. I was scheduled to create business headshots for a company of about 25 people, plus a group photograph to be used on the company website. We had talked and had planned to do the headshots at an onsite portrait studio that I was going to bring and do the group photograph outdoors. When I arrived, the client asked if we could do both the group photographs and headshots outdoors. I said yes, and instead of setting up a studio indoors, I set up an outdoor studio. One of the main issues working outdoors is trying to coordinate my lighting with the sun that kept going in and out of the clouds. Not to mention that on Tuesday and Wednesday, the temperature was in the 40s. Ultimately, I photographed all the employees and the group outdoors, just like the client wanted. Luckily, it only rained and sleeted once for just a few minutes.
Dan Cleary is a professional photographer in Dayton, Ohio. You can see examples of his pictures taken for other businesses at ClearyCreativePhotography.com/BusinessPhotography. Dan is also a fine art photographer and creates photographs that many companies and individuals display in their homes. You can see a portfolio of his work at ClearyFineArtPhoto.com. Dan is also the author of the book Wright Brothers: Then and Now. You can see samples of the photographs from this series at ClearyFineArtPhoto.com/Wright-Brothers-Photographs. You can see the book at ClearyFineArtPhoto.com/WrightBrothersBook.
Dan also teaches a class The Seven Steps To Better Photography. You can read more about the class at ClearyPhotoWorkshops.com
Burkhardt Library Art For Wright Brothers Display
The Dayton Montgomery County libraries are finishing a multi-year reconstruction of all their buildings. The latest building to be completed is the Burkhardt Branch in east Dayton. This building is close to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and in the building, they have a children’s display of the Wright B Flyer. I was asked to create a piece of wall art to go behind the flyer. The library people knew I had made a series of photographs using historic Wright Brothers photos and asked me to create something showing the Wright Brothers flying at Huffman Prairie. I then showed an Air Force C-17 Globemaster, stationed at the base, passing through the air. And, at the top of the image, they wanted a rocket taking off into space.
I had the historical Wright Brothers photograph and created a new image at Huffman Prairie at the bottom. I layered these two images together. The C-17 aircraft stationed at Wright Patt flight path takes them directly over Huffman Prairie. Because Wright Patt wouldn’t tell me exactly when the planes would take off, I had to try and figure out when was t good time to be there to capture the next picture. Luckily, the cloud formation worked well with the bottom image, working together seamlessly.
I researched the NASAs website and found a clear photograph of a rocket taking off in March 2022. I emailed NASA and asked if I had permission to use this picture in my project. They said yes, I could use the photograph of the rocket taking off. I had the stars picture in my system and placed the rocket taking off on top of the stars to finish the whole image. The library was pleased with the result and was ready for the public opening on August 10th.