Horse and rider portrait gallery
Some of these are senior portrait sessions with students that own a horse. Others are portraits of horses with their owners at local boarding stables. It’s always interesting to try to find the best place to set up the portraits. Each stable has its own flavor and areas that will work well.
One of these girls is looking toward a career in horse management. She is also trying out modeling as well. Several pictures from her session became the building blocks for addition modeling work.
Schedule or Discuss your Horse and Rider Portrait Session
If you would like to discuss scheduling a portrait session with your horse, please send me a note or give me a call. For senior portrait sessions we can do some with your horse and some without so that you have a nice variety of meaningful portraits. For Megan, she wanted some portraits in her prom dress and I thought it would be really fun to have some of those with her horse. I think they turned out lovely and she selected one to make into a framed canvas print for her home. She picked others from the session for wallets and gift prints and of course I included some Facebook images with her purchase which her friends on Facebook went nuts over.
At liberty and Under Saddle
Although I am not showing any here, I do photography of horses at liberty and under saddle as well. Go up to the menu of this website and explore some of the other areas to get a good idea of what your horse and rider session can be. And since I have horses and I know horse photography, not only will you look good, but your horse will too. There are senior portrait photographers that will come out to your boarding stable for part of your sessions, but sometime they look at your horse more like a prop, similar to a basketball, a football, or a musical instrument. They don’t understand that if a horse is photographed with the wrong angle or the wrong lens it just won’t be pleasing to the horse owner’s eye. If you horse’s ears are back like he is angry or he looks bored and uninterested (ears every which way and eyes half-shut), it doesn’t matter how good you look, the portrait becomes average and a disappointment to you, the horse owner. I guess I look at your horse as your companion or your friend rather than as a prop and I think that makes a difference in the end result.
Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222 • Located in Germantown, OHIO • Serving SW Ohio, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Eastern Indiana and NW Kentucky.
Megan’s senior portraits created a dilemma for her and her mom Lori
After having several conversations with Megan’s mom, Lori, Megan and Lori were finally able to placed their order for her senior portraits taken this fall. Their order is arriving within the next couple of days and they are very excited to see everything and get their canvas image framed and hung.
Megan chose several different images for wallets to give friends.
Here is the image they chose to make into a canvas print. It was fun to have a Megan in her prom dress with her beautiful horse.
It was fun talking with Megan’s mom about the portraits because she and Megan were having such a difficult time narrowing down their order. I said, of course, that they can order everything if the wanted. But, they didn’t take my advice and order lots of prints of every portrait. That was their dilemma, how to narrow their order.
Here is a link to her gallery. Megan’s Senior Portrait Gallery
Seems like spring will be here soon. If you have a horse and it is time for your senior portraits, remember that many photographers don’t know much about photographing horses. Since I do senior portraits and I am an equine photographer here in the Dayton, Ohio area, I can give you the best of both worlds.
Peter DeMott • Peter DeMott Photography • Located in Germantown, Ohio near Dayton • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com
AERC Endurance ride photography as Christmas Presents for riders
I’ve been noticing a lot of activity on my web site and my photo galleries with the purchase of trail event images in 5×7 and 8×10 sizes. My guess is that because this is occurring in early December it is because people are buying prints of friends and riding buddies as gifts for Christmas.
My galleries allow for purchase of any sized prints including various types of surfaces. Lustre is the most popular because it does not show finger prints much. Realize that a prints up to 8×10 are strictly for a desk or bookcase display. A small wall print could be an 11×14 or 16×20, but getting these framed brings up the cost quite a bit. If you want to give something really special to someone consider getting a CANVAS on board. These look like paintings and have a very rich feel to them.
If you are willing to spend more for a wall portrait or photograph, take some paper and tape it to the wall and keep adding paper (making it larger) until it looks about the right size for that spot on the wall. You will find that, for example, an 8×10 looks exceedingly tiny when taped up to wall. Then measure the paper. You will likely find that the paper is 16×20 or 24×30 or some larger number that you would never have thought to consider.
Small prints can be lots of fun too. How many people want to tell their co-workers about the sport they participate in. Getting a good trail image that shows some speed or a water crossing can be fun to have at work to share.
To find the trail events that I have photographed go to the menu item at the top of the page that says GALLERIES/PROOFING.
Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade on 12/3/11, Photos of every carriage in the parade
I had a great time taking pictures at this year’s Lebanon Christmas Festival and Horse Drawn Carriage Parade during the day 12/3/11. I was able to capture several images of every single carriage that came by.
For those who participated, I have a gallery where you can purchase images if you would like. Anything from wallets to 30×40 canvas prints are available. You can also purchase shirts, mouse pads, and other merchandise. For the next two weeks until 12/17/11 you can use the coupon code: “parade” to get 20% anything you order.
This is the link to all the photographs of all the carriages in the daytime parade.
Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival 12/3/11 Picture Gallery
Here are a few images to give you an idea of what you will see.
Here is a link to my Facebook gallery: Facebook Gallery Preview
If you missed the link above, the rest of the photos are here:
Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival 12/3/11 Picture Gallery
Time for Christmas cards for the Knoll family
Portraits of the girls for their Christmas cards
Christmas cards are the excuse so that mom can make this happen. Once each year for the last three years, Karen Knoll has asked me to photograph her two daughters. Lizzy rides at Trails End Equestrian Center and we usually take the pictures at this facility so that Lizzy can get some photographs with their horse.
Senior portraits are not the only time to get portraits made
Even though we only spend a little time together each year, I feel like I am ever so slightly getting to know these two girls, but that isn’t as important as the fact that Karen has some lovely portraits of her daughters as they grow and mature each year. As they become more comfortable with me taking their pictures (even though it is just once each year), I feel that I am getting more natural expressions. I’m learning what it takes to get them to relax and enjoy themselves while being photographed.
Here are a few photographs from this year’s portrait session at Trails End Equestrian Center:
Lizzy and Allie portraits for 2011
Here is my blog post from last fall 2010.
Peter DeMott Photography • Germantown, Ohio • 937-478-6222
Still her favorite picture – In Dressage Today page 27 of October issue
Hello Peter,
Two seasons ago you took a really nice photo of Skylar Shane at one of Greenstone’s dressage shows. You might remember that I emailed you and asked if it was okay to submit the photo to Dressage Today magazine to be considered for a column where a high-profile trainer/rider critiques riders via their photo. You approved the submission as long as I included your name as the photographer. I never heard anything back from the magazine and since it was sent in over a year ago, I had completely forgotten about it. But, I received my November issue, which features junior riders, and on page 27 the first critique was of Skylar. The credit to Peter DeMott Photography is on the left, near the spine of the magazine. The critique was done by none other than Olympian, Courtney King-Dye.
It was a very nice critique, and the photo is still one of my favorites. Thanks again for allowing me to send it in.
Cindy Coffey
Getting ready for a mini horse photo session
This morning we arrived at IONA mini horse farm in Clayton, Ohio as preparations were under way for the scheduled photo session. I have a couple of video clips just for fun so you can see just how tiny this little horses are.
I will be adding to this post as I process some of the images from the session. Maybe another video clip and some of the best images from the session would be good to share with you.
This mini horse stallion that he was all that. The owner put him in the round pen for a bit to take the edge off half way through the photo session when he was just getting a bit too feisty.
Stallion conformation portrait for promotion and marketing
My favorite equine portraits are when the owner wants to be included in the image for personal display. However, I am also available for more commercial equine photography like stallion promotion. This image was taken to promote this Thoroughbred stallion.
Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Fall portraits with color for seniors and families and children
Gone are the days of 95 degree heat with 90 humidity here in the Dayton area. Suddenly the crops and the trees are showing us that fall is here with small bursts of color. Because of the heavy rains over the last two weeks, the grass is all greened up again too. Good grief, I had to mow my grass twice already even though its cool outside.
Time for fall portraits with horses
If you have a horse and you want fall portraits, act now before they start getting their heavy winter fur. Actually, I’ve seen many great portraits with horses and their human companions when they have their winter coats. Cool evenings make for some more interesting clothing choices like sweaters and scarfs and hats. Perfect weather for something different for senior portraits as well with furry hooded coats, scarfs, and long-sleeved sweaters.
Time for family group portraits
Cool evenings make for some good family group portraits. However, the days are shorter so scheduled times are more limited.
Like the slogan of a major manufacture of athletic shoes
I was just talking to a woman today about having some portraits done. She has seen my work and knows she will love her portraits, but she dreads having her picture taken. My job is going to be to get her to relax and enjoy herself so that I can capture, not the stiff and fearful person, but the wonderful outgoing person that I know her to be. She even was considering canceling her session, but with some gentle prodding, and the “JUST DO IT” attitude she is going forward with the session.
So many families have very few portraits of themselves in relaxing outdoor environments and enjoying each other. Is it time for you to “JUST DO IT!” ? Time moves so fast in families and in no time you kids are going to be going off to college and starting their own families.
Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Let’s do the red prom dress with your horse! Wow Megan, that looks fantastic!
Sunday afternoon senior portrait session near Columbus, Ohio
I had Megan bring a couple of dresses, a casual outfit and a riding outfit to the senior portrait session. As we started the session, she said, let’s do the dresses first so that the horse does not get me messy for the portraits in the dress. But, I suggested that we do the horse with the red prom dress. I’m sure Megan was not thinking that she would be in a dress with her horse, but her eyes lit up and she said, “really?”. I said, “yes, are you okay with that?” and off she went to get dressed and get the horse. You tell me what you think. Did it work out?
Megan is both an equestrian athlete and a soccer player and is very active with both. Megan is a student at Upper Arlington High School in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington. It is where I graduated from in 1975. If you like my portrait style and want a portrait session in the Columbus area, please feel free to contact me using the contact/share menu item above or the email or phone number at the bottom line of this post. I would love to have comments at the end of this post by friends of Megan DeMott (all comments are reviewed before they post). Just click on the comment button and leave you input and comments for all to see.
You can also “LIKE” Peter DeMott Photography on Facebook. I will be posting a link via email to Megan with the rest of the images from this session. With her permission, I will then post that on the Facebook images that I have already posted onto Facebook. By the way, if you are a friend of Megan, you are welcome to download her sneak peek images to your Facebook page (but please do not print them out #1, they are copyrighted #2 they will not look very good because they are screen resolution only. I appreciate your cooperation on this).
Her mom was there and helped me some with holding a reflector. Her grandmother was also along for the ride. They were both excited about the little sneak peaks that I gave them while I was shooting. Megan is lovely and she has a great smile.
Peter DeMott • Peter DeMott Photography • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com