What difference does using a professional lab, correct exposure, and accurate color make?
I just received a nice text message from a client.
“I received my order and it was great. I got multiple prints of Travis and one of both children together (younger sister came along for senior portrait session).
Liked so much might order a couple more 8x10s of Travis. The quality of the prints and the color is wonderful. Very pleased with them. Thank you capturing my children in such a beautiful way.”
Here is their gallery: Travis Senior Portraits
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
Investing in my photography business with training in Senior Portrait photography
Jen Hellinga all day workshop sponsored by PPSO
I just finished up an all day workshop learning more about running an effective and popular portrait studio. Our workshop leader was Jen Hellinga (pronounced Hell-ing-gay with emphasis on last syllable). She also has the business JensFabulousStuff.com which sells templates and textures and many other tools for portrait photographers to use with Photoshop. This is the third PPSO all day workshop that I have participated in since joining PPSO as a professional photographer. Hands on training, in my estimation is 10-20 times more effective than the same time spend reading books or exploring online sources for information.
Jen has a very successful studio and does children, families, senior portraits and more. She shared with us about how she got started in photography and about going through several studio disasters before landing where she is now. She has a business partner that does the business side of the studio while she stays in the creative and photography side of the business. They both agree that if they wonder into the other person’s area or tried to run the business alone, they both would struggle, but together they do great.
It was really fun trying out some new posing and seeing Jen interact with the seniors as she might on one of her own senior sessions. We also spent some time indoors using studio lighting and discussing posing there as well. One of the models was a senior that I had photographed earlier. The other two were two of three triplets who had been photographed earlier for their senior session by another one of our photographers, Toni Forgue. I have to say everyone did great and they were all great fun to photograph.
Here are some of the portraits that I took during the workshop.
Senior picture ideas are many times about posing the person so they look great, rather than having dated props that will make the senior portrait seem dated within a year or two.
Senior picture boy posing is about strength and making the kid relax and enjoy the session.
For girl senior pictures, creating an “S” curve in the image is a great want to add motion and interest to the image.
Messing up a girl’s hair can add some pizzaz to the image for sure.
In this senior picture reflections and lines on the ground add interest. Again the “S” curve gives this image motion and emotion.
Spending more money on your training, and your equipment, and computers can mean much better images for your clients, but they also have to know that your prices have to generate a profit. Today, many people are satisfied with “it’s good enough” images of the people they love, but we have to show them portraits that are far better than “it’s good enough” so that they will be willing to invest in photographs that capture cherished moments for a lifetime.
Royal K Horse Show bill for open show September 9th 2012
I will be the official show photographer for the Royal K Horse Show on September the 9th at Tacky Horse Saddlery & Stables on 185 N. Alpha Bellbrook Rd. in Beavercreek.
To see the show bill click on the show bill link below and a pdf will open that you can download or print out.
If you want a portrait after the show or at lunch time, please tell me and we can do that. Show photos will be available in my Galleries and Proofs page a couple of days after the show. I am also available for senior portrait sessions and farm calls for horse and rider portraits. Here are a few pictures from last year’s event.
If you would like to schedule a farm call or senior portrait session with your horse, please use the contact page or give me a call at 937-478-6222. I’d be glad to discuss your thoughts about a photography session at your barn or stable.
Google Map to Royal K Horse Show
Noel’s senior portrait session with beautiful white dress
Noel seems so comfortable in her own skin. At her school in Wyoming Cincinnati all the girls graduate in white dresses so they wanted to have some of her senior portraits taken with the white dress.
I have to say, that Noel was just lovely. In this first portrait, I just think that she looks like a model, so elegant and yet comfortable being photographed. Once those braces are off, Noel is going to break the hearts of a lot of young men as she goes off to college in the fall.
After the family makes some selections, I will be having the braces removed from her teeth. Noel explained that her braces were supposed to be off by June 1st, but that when she went for her last orthodontics appointment they explained that they would have to stay for another 6 weeks.
If you would like to schedule a photography session for your senior student please look around my web site: Senior Portrait Pricing
You can contact me by phone or the contact page: Contact Peter DeMott Photography: Contact Peter DeMott Photography
Creative family poses, creative senior portraits, creative equine portraits
Great examples of portrait photography posing and ideas
I’ve been having fun on Pinterest over the past month or so gathering examples of creative family poses, creative senior portrait poses and even creative equine portraits. On Pinterest when you re-pin something it always takes you back to the original pin and usually it shows you the originator of the actual image. If I pin something directly from another photographers web site, I always add the name of the photographer in the comments section under the photo. I think this is only professional courtesy as I do not want anyone to think that some of the images were taken by me.
At the same time, I have many of my own images represented on my pin boards. Images that are my own always have “© Peter DeMott, www.photosbypdemott” right on the image in a non-obtrusive way. If you are a photographer and you rely only on the meta data on your image your images could be doing a little more work for you. Place a logo and web address on your images when ever you place them on the internet period. It is only wise.
Creative family portrait poses:
http://pinterest.com/pdemott/family-portraits/
Creative senior portrait and senior pic poses:
http://pinterest.com/pdemott/senior-portrait-photography/
and
http://pinterest.com/pdemott/portraits-by-other-photographers/
Here are some lovely equine and horse and rider poses for photographic portraits:
http://pinterest.com/pdemott/equine-portraits/
I hope that you will visit my Pinterest boards frequently as I add new portraits almost daily. Almost all of my boards are about portrait photography and better posing and learning about photography as well. Please leave a comment here if you enjoyed your visit to my pin site. Much appreciated.
Also, if you are in the area of the photographers that I have pinned as examples, please schedule a portrait session with them to take advantage of their talent to create lasting mementos of your family, your children, and your equine companions and pets. Have fun on Pinterest.
If you would like to see all the images that have been pinned to other people’s pin sites from my web site:
http://pinterest.com/source/photosbypdemott.com/
Peter DeMott Photography • Dayton area and SW Ohio • Portrait and equine photography • 937-478-6222 • Contact Peter DeMott
Photography of Gymkhana Series at Faustman Ranch near Fairborn
I had a great time meeting lots of folks at the Gymkhana Series at Faustman Ranch on May 19th. Here are a couple of the portraits that I took while I was there: (these are in the numbers around 3600 to 3700 image numbers under the pictures in the gallery, not the numbers above the images)
Do you love your horse?
Do you love the challenge of competing with your horse?
Gallery of photos from Faustman Ranch Gymkhana event May 19th:
http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Horse-Shows/Faustman-Ranch-Gymkhana-May
Friendly folks and a great time can be had with your horse at Faustman Ranch
Ray Faustman welcomed me as did many riders who said there had not been a photographer at the events there in the past. Ray announced me several times as I would show him some of the images I was getting. I also handed out lots of postcards and business cards to participants as well as parents and at least one other barn owner that I had never visited. Hopefully after I cull out many images, there will be some great ones that everyone will enjoy from the event today (May 19th, 2012).
Now is a great time for horse and rider portraits at your farm or stable
Right now, while the weather is not too hot and when everything is green is a great time for farm call photo sessions with you and your horse. Seniors who want their horse to look as good as they do for their senior portrait session should consider hiring a photographer who has a specialty in equine photography. Fee free to call me with questions, ideas, or to schedule your photography session. Peter DeMott Photography 937-478-6222
Would LOVE to have you Like my photography business page. I post lots of horse stuff and would love to have you
I also hope that you will LIKE my page on Facebook and friend me so we can keep in touch: http://www.facebook.com/PeterDeMottPhotography