Riding Fever
It’s been a while since I have posted anything here.
Winter has been exceptionally long this year with snow arriving well into April. For my many horsey friends (people who own and love their horses), riding fever is starting to kick in. One such friend is my lovely wife, Patty. “Help me bring in the horses, Peter” , “Can you hook up the trailer?”, “I think I will go to Twin Creek or Hueston Woods.” It’s one of the nicest days so far this April here in Dayton, Ohio with temps breaking in to the 60′s for the first time this season.
Are you suffering from Riding Fever?
The signs are an overwhelming urge to ride your horse. Sometimes it manifests itself in cleaning your horse tack or even want to shovel horse manure. It culminates with you tacking up your horse and getting on his back for a ride.
Is it time for equine portraits yet?
This is also when I start getting requests for equine portrait sessions. But, here is the problem that I usually run into. Right now the horses have their winter coats on. For the next three or four weeks you can brush and brush and brush and still winter fur will be in piles all over your barn. It is also gray and dull outside. We are a full three weeks delayed this spring in having trees and shrubs coming forth with foliage. The grass is starting to green up today, but would have normally been ready for the first mowing in the first week of April.
It is time for equine portraits when everything is right. 1) horse is shedded out. 2) leaves are on the trees and bushes. 3) grass is green and mowed.
The other problem that I encounter is that these folks with Riding Fever, then forget they wanted portraits until it gets to dam hot to ride. By then (July and August) the grass has turned brown. All I am saying is that there are ideal times to take equine portraits outdoors (a horse would not fit well in my studio where I can control the backdrops and lighting). It’s when the horse has shedded out, the grass is still green and lush, and there are leaves on the trees an shrubs. As the days get longer it also becomes easier to schedule your session when you are off work and the light is ideal (Early evening and just before the sun goes down). Call me soon or call me later to schedule your equine portrait session.
Teachers love snow days too when they can ride their horse in the snow
The infamous “SNOW DAY!”
My wife Patty is a teacher and like her students she just loves a snow day. It’s relished because it is completely unplanned and spontaneous. Another teach who is a Facebook Friend has created a list of things that her young children do when they are hoping for a Snow Day. They have to wear their pajamas inside out for one. And this week she had them run in their front yard and yell “SNOWWWW DAYYYYY!” as loud as they could as the snow was falling from the sky. Patty said that she tells the kids to put ice cubes in the toilet.
It’s all in fun, but what do you get to do on a SNOW DAY?
In Patty’s case she recruited her husband and photographer to take some pictures of the beauty all around us (that would be me!). Tell me what you think of what God did here in SW Ohio and how I was able to capture it in images.
Review of 2012 photo sessions starting with horse and rider portrait of Patty and April
With my studio not yet open and my camera off at Canon Service for a once over and focus tune up, I have been posting a few pictures from each session on my Facebook page. But I have neglected my website.
Ana’s lovely senior portrait session with horse and pug
Ana had her senior portraits taken right at her home where her parents own a boarding stable and, of course, where she keeps her own horse as well. She also has a funny little pug which she wanted some portraits with.
I’m just going to share a few images from the session for your enjoyment.
Natalie with Leo senior portrait session with horse and rider near Hamilton Ohio
Natalie & Leo
Natalie clearly has a lovely relationship with her horse Leo. This senior portrait session with horse near Hamilton, Ohio was just a delight to shoot. Natalie is a lovely young lady and her horse Leo is quite handsome as well. From the portraits you can see that they spend many hours together.
The session started at 5 p.m. which is ideal because the sun is not directly overhead and the light is warm. I am scheduling most of my senior sessions around this time in the fall. In the summer it’s more like 7:30 p.m. , but now it gets dark between 7:30-8:00 p.m.
Telling the Story
There is a lovely woods surrounding the stable where Natalie boards her horse. We were able to go exploring and find lots of beautiful backgrounds for her portraits, but I also like to capture “candid moments” throughout the session that tell the story of their relationship.
As we discussed some other portraits that Natalie wanted to try she showed me the soy bean field on the other side of the fence. The sky was beautiful and the bean field was almost ready to harvest. It was dry and yellow. With the sun beginning to set I decided to try some back lighting. When I do senior portraits, as much as possible, I want to have something unique for each person. The soy bean field and the front porch of the stable owners home were perfect for some great unique portraits.
Getting a Sneak Peek on Facebook
I usually put a few images on Facebook as a sneak peek of the images that I am working on. It is just too exciting working on the images, not to share a least a couple. In this case Natalie and her mom have about 70 portraits to choose from. But, just for fun, here are some comments about this last image on Facebook. Natalie is a beautiful girl inside and out and was a delight to photograph.
You can see more sneak peeks from other senior portrait sessions on my Facebook page. Peter DeMott Photography
If you would like to schedule an on-location senior portrait session, please feel free to just call me at 937-478-6222. I can tell you how things work. We can discuss any ideas you have for location and we can schedule a time that works for you. You can go to my contact page to send me an email if you would prefer to contact me that way: Contact Peter DeMott
Lizzie’s senior portrait session with her horse named Signature on My Heart
This is a senior portrait session that I will remember for a long time
This was a senior portrait session that inspired me. Lizzie’s mom had called me to discuss doing her senior portrait session at The Riding Center in Yellow Springs Ohio. I explained how things would work and about my pricing and such and we set a time a couple of weeks ago.
Lizzie is a soft-spoken young lady, but was very sure of herself and very comfortable in her own skin. As we walked around selecting areas to photograph her with her lovely mare Sydney her mother explained to my wife Patty and me that Lizzie had earned and save for several years to buy her own horse. Wow, this young lady knows the value of a dollar and she was determined to get a horse. And you can see in her eyes as she looked at her horse that they have a great companionship relationship.
In a recent email with Lizzie, I had forgotten her horse’s name, she told me her name is Sydney, but that her registered name is Signature on My Heart. Well as I photographed Lizzie, I could see that Sydney is a signature on her heart.
On the quiet road that passes by The Riding Center I had Lizzie walk toward me with her horse.
Since this was a senior portrait session we took some portraits with some different outfits and without the horse.
Since Lizzie was so comfortable, it was easy for Patty and I to come up with poses for her to try. We had an absolutely wonderful time and we were honored to be her senior portrait photographer.
Thanks Lizzie.
If you would like learn about senior portrait sessions with Peter DeMott Photography please visit this page: Senior portrait session pricing
I have to tell you about some out-takes from the session. It was a real challenge to get Sydney’s ears perked forward. Whenever I see senior portraits by photographers who don’t know anything about horses, they typically have their ears every which way and the eyes of the horses look bored and uninterested. It’s difficult to see the connection when the horse seems to not care. Anyway, Sydney was a real challenge, but Lizzie never got impatient with Sydney. We all had a laugh now and then throughout the session and it challenged my trigger finger as well. I would fire of a couple of shots and then Lizzie would look up and see the ears looking like this:
As it turned out to Lizzie’s surprise, there were many great images with their companionship showing and with her horse alert and ears up.
Creative ideas for senior portraits, family portraits, and equine portraits and much more
Pinterest has become a great tool for giving my clients ideas and inspiration
Most of my Pinterest boards are about photography and it has been fun to show people what I consider to be the best and most creative senior portrait photography from my work and from around the nation.
Each day, I receive notification of people who have repined my images to their boards for their inspiration. When I see this notification I go and take a look at what they have pinned and re-pin images here and there that fit my style and which inspire me in various categories.
In my photography I look for natural smiles and expressions as well as timelessness
What do I mean by timelessness? What I mean is that I want my portraits and pictures to be classic and timeless rather than trendy and temporary. Trends come and go and pictures that are just following the latest trends will soon be out of vogue and those pictures will be removed from the walls of homes as they become more out of date. I want my senior portraits to capture the beauty of the individual and in some cases their interests, but without looking unnatural or forces. I hope that you will take the time to explore my web site a little bit before moving over to my Pinterest boards to take a look around there.
Here are the topics of my Pinterest boards:
Senior Portrait Photography (this one has all portraits which have been created by me)
Family Portraits (I have some of my images here, but this is also inspiration from other photographers with creative family poses, sibling portraits, new-born portraits, and maternity photography)
Equine Portraits (Many images on this board are my own, but again I’ve added many inspiring portraits and photographs of horse and their owners)
Endurance Ride photography (These are all my images and show you the kinds of photography I do when I cover Endurance rides as a photographer)
Portraits by other photographers (None of these are my own work, but are images that inspire me and challenge me with interesting posing, lighting, backgrounds, and lighting)
Senior Picture ideas (This is almost all from other photographers to give seniors inspiration about what their session could be like. With these I select portraits that I see as outstanding and which match my understanding of classic portraits. I don’t post images that I think are trendy in the sense that they may be here today, but gone tomorrow. I look for timeless images in all my work so I want to show my clients inspiration that will lead them to think about their session in that way)
Interesting Photography (These are just images that I have found that I look at and say WOW! These are usually not portraits and so they do not fit into my other portrait boards)
Decorating with photography (Here I pin examples of home decorating with photography. Photography can be such a beautiful and personal way to decorate your home when done right. Sadly many people never explore this. Some consider an 8×10 a large image and never get to see how wonderful and personal a home decorated with wall sized images can be. I hope to inspire my clients to consider decorating with timeless images of their family, their children and the important relationships in their lives)
Ideas for Portrait Studio (As I finish up my Country Barn Studio, I have been pinning ideas that I want to try to incorporate into my client’s portrait experience in my home studio. This is inspiration for me as I work on this project. I am looking forward to being able to do senior portraits, family portraits, maternity portraits, business portraits for linked-In and Facebook, and more throughout the year without having to worry about rain, snow, HOT WEATHER, or cold weather.)
Business portraits (These are all examples of casual business portraits that I have done. So often people do not realize how much better an impression – and first impressions are important – a great profile image on Facebook or Linked-In or on your business web site can be. More than once I have confronted business friends with the need to upgrade their Linked-In profile image to make a better and more lasting impression on those who they connect with. Does your profile image say,”I’m outgoing and friendly and fun to work with?” If it does not, you need to schedule an appointment for a casual business profile portrait session.)
Posing ideas for better portraits (Many new photographers know little about posing. Sometimes how you pose someone can mean a lot about how they feel about the completed image. You’ve heard people say, “Don’t make me look fat” or ” I never like my photograph taken”. Well these are people who have not been posed in a comfortable way that also hides some of their personal flaws or frustrations about how they look. I don’t have much in this board yet, but want to find more)
Learn about photography (In this board are pins about the business or portrait photography. Topics include posing, lighting, backgrounds, as well as discussions about the business aspects of running a photography business. There are pins about general photography as well.)
Cute Stuff (This is just cute things like puppies and baby animals. When I see something that is just too darn cute, I pin it into this board)
Friends and Group Portraits (This is just examples of more than one person and creative posing which is compositionally pleasing and refreshing to the viewer. This could be best friend senior portraits or families and other groups of people. Being creative in posing two or more people can be challenging and fun. Just lining people up in rows is pretty boring, so take a look at these for some inspiration.)
Hair, Makeup, and Accessories (What do I wear? How should my make-up look? What color clothing should we bring for a family group? What kind of clothing should a senior wear? You’ll be able to see some great ideas of how to coordinate with others, how to get that fun look with accessories and clothing that communicate about you. Look through this board for inspiration.
Well, I hope you had some fun looking around. If there are other boards that you think I should start gathering, please make a comment below using the comment box. Also, please SHARE my post with your Facebook friends or other social networking using the convenient buttons at the bottom of this page. You can subscribe to my posts by using the subscribe box on the top right of my home page. And, of course, I would love you to join the conversation on my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/PeterDeMottPhotography
DLSC Dressage Show at Wetherbrooke Farm on July 14th, 2012
I have about 800 pictures to look at from the DLSC Dressage Show at Wetherbrooke Farm on July 14th, 2012. There was some rain and then by the end of the day it was pretty hot, but I was able to photograph everyone and I also did some mini portrait sessions. Everything is sprinkled throughout the day, so be sure to look at all the pictures.
The link to the pictures is just below these pictures from the day.
Find the show pictures in the link list on the Proofs and Galleries page here:
Wetherbrooke DLSC Dressage Show Pictures (July 14, 2012)
Scioto run endurance ride at Scioto Trails State Forest in Chillocothe on June 23, 24, 2012
Mollie Smith put on another great ride at Scioto Trails State Forest in Chillicothe, Ohio this year. Each year the ride grows larger with almost unlimited camping space. See video clip showing camping at Scioto Run endurance ride:
In addition, for fun Tom Smith puts on a feast for both horses and riders at the outlying water stop along a winding ridge road.
The weather was a warm, but humidity was reasonable and lots of riders set up canopies at the vet check which was in the middle of camp. There was a breeze that cooled things from time to time and although the humidity in the woods was a higher and there was no breeze there, there was shade.
Mollie had explained to me that it was difficult to find a caterer to bring food out the ride, so she started asking people to bring dishes to share for the awards dinner after the first day. As you can see, everyone ate very well with lots of variety and plenty of chicken (provided by the ride). Thanks, Molly, for a great ride.
Scioto Run photos can be viewed and ordered here: Scioto Run endurance ride photos June 23, 24 2012
I took pictures of all riders both days. Everything is in the order of go.
Greenstone DLSC Dressage show June 16 2012 portraits and tests
One thing that I really appreciate about Dressage shows at Greenstone, it’s all the trees around the main arena providing cool shade for riders, horses and spectators. I would encourage some of the other riding centers to plant a few fast growing maple trees for shad around their outdoor arenas. It’s really nice on a hot sunny day to be able to find cool shade.
Senior portraits and farm call sessions
I spoke to several people about their desire to schedule a farm call session for some portraits of them with their horses. Both farm owners and mom’s on senior students chatted about their needs with me. Several were at Trails End Equestrian Center which is a local session. I live just two miles up the road from Greenstone so really anything in the Dayton area I consider a local shoot (If I have to drive too far the session fee goes up to cover the cost of my time and fuel).
VOTE for me to come back to more shows
I fit these shows into my schedule when I don’t have endurance rides to go to with my wife and I don’t have senior portrait or farm call sessions scheduled, BUT if I spend most of a day shooting and taking portraits at a show, the participants can VOTE for me to come to their next show by placing some photo orders. If I spend most of a day at a show and everyone just wants to look at their portraits online without placing any orders that is pretty much voting that I not come back too soon to that facility. So if you want me back, encourage your friends to buy something and place your order as well.
Portraits and Tests are in order of go
The images and portraits are in the order of the day. As I said, I missed some folks early in the day (before 11am), but there are over 800 pictures to look through and some people have different portraits from several times throughout the day. So if you find yourself, don’t forget to continue through the gallery to see your second test and perhaps the second time that I took some portraits of you.
Greenstone DLSC Dressage Show 6-16-12 Gallery and proofs
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