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Cooperstown Photographer Creates Executive Clock from a Baseball and Bat |
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There are many baseball collectible products available and now a photographer has created an artistic baseball sculpture using the bat and baseball that also keeps time. |
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Cooperstown, NY-February 2010- Many know Alan Lincourt as the baseball photographer in Cooperstown, NY, the home to the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been photographing visitors to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for over 25 years, first, through his Major League Baseball Properties retail portrait studio, Pro Image Photo, and more recently, as a photographer at Doubleday Field and Cooperstown area tournament camps. Lincourt has taken more than a million baseball game action photos so far and is working on his second million. From his years of interaction with baseball fans and players, Lincourt developed a product which conveys the essence of the game. “I saw what the visitors to Cooperstown had to choose from regarding baseball keepsakes, “ he relates, “and most of them were just trinkets. Out of respect for the game I wanted to create a baseball product of value that captured the elegance of the sport.” Expressing his love of the game of baseball, Lincourt decided to create his baseball clocks that capture the essence of the sport by combining the tip of a real bat supporting a regulation baseball with a beautiful timepiece inset into the authentic baseball. It took Lincourt over two years to develop his products after considering all kinds of materials from brass to glass. He knew he wanted to make a clock using a baseball from the beginning but how to display the baseball was the difficult part. When he finally decided to use the baseball bat and started cutting it up, the designs just fell together. It was important to Lincourt that the baseball would rest securely on the base but allow the owner to pickup the ball. “This way they could pick up the baseball and rub it like a pitcher in the bottom of the ninth situation or take it to the ballpark or card show to be autographed,” Lincourt says. His designs were so unique he received three government patents for his products. After completion of his first executive clock, the Cooperstown Original Timepiece, it was displayed in a local art museum. Lincourt now manufactures the “Cooperstown Timepiece” baseball clocks in limited quantities and he carefully assembles and packages the clocks himself. When a customer purchased one of his “Original” baseball clocks as a gift for Yankee’s owner George Steinbrenner, he liked it so much that within a short time Mr. Steinbrenner ordered 50 clocks to give out as gifts. Just this past Christmas season Cincinnati Reds COO, Phillip Castellini, requested 6 of the Cooperstown “Original” timepieces. After receiving his order, Mr. Castellini immediately ordered an additional 39 timepieces for gifts. These baseball greats instantly recognized the way that this unique sculpture captures the spirit of baseball. Alan further relates, “I received a call from a customer who resides in Washington, D.C. who just wanted to comment on how much he loves the way the clock’s bat end base looks like it is coming up out of his marble desk. He has a marble desk!” Lincourt’s customers who have received or given his clock as gifts are very enthusiastic about baseball and just love his product. He likes to think that he has hit a triple, “something rare and exciting in baseball,” he says. Lincourt’s baseball clocks have been purchased mostly for gifts by executives and corporations for key employees and customers. Now with the availability of laser engraving and decaling, the clocks can be personalized which make them perfect for everyone including for corporate gifts and the specialty advertising market. Alan Lincourt is a native of Cooperstown, NY, the “home of baseball” and a business owner there for 25 years. Lincourt owned Pro Image Photo which was the only baseball portrait studio in the U.S. that was approved and licensed by Major League Baseball Properties. “There we created not only a special photographic keepsake but also a fun and memorable family experience of their visit to Cooperstown,” Lincourt brags. Lincourt sold that portrait business ten years ago but still encounters past customers all summer long. While working that business Lincourt, in 1994, created one of the first all digital photo studios in the industry. Lincourt’s early acceptance of digital photography allowed him to be one of the first sports action photography specialist in the Northeast. Lincourt has taken more than a million baseball game action photos. Lincourt’s love of photography has taken him above, on and below ground capturing award winning photos. He is an accomplished photographer in many other sports including soccer, hockey, football, field hockey, lacrosse, automobile ice racing, kayaking, and others. Lincourt has a shooting philosophy that embraces “shoot first, ask question later” and is dissimilar to most photographers he knows in the business. Lincourt’s creative thinking got him pondering the baseball product market which resulted in his patented baseball clock designs. Lincourt’s hands on approach carried over from his photography career, is involved in all aspects of manufacturing of his baseball clocks including final assembly and packaging. To learn more about Alan Lincourt, see the contact information below. During 2010 Alan plans to separate his baseball clock and photography into two separate web sites in order to make surfing his sites more user friendly. Until then, you can view his photography and his products at the Cooperstown Time Company web site. |
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Contact Information: Alan E. Lincourt, Owner Cooperstown Time Company Pro Image Photo aka Cooperstown Action Photo P.O. Box 511, Cooperstown, NY 13326 Tel: 607 547 6031 E-mail: cooperstowntime@verizon.net Web Site: www.cooperstowntime.com |