Kristen’s senior portrait session Animoto Video

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I just remembered that this embedded video will not show up when this goes over to facebook. Here is the LINK to the YouTube video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA2__fOMahQ

This post will appear on my web site: http://www.photosbypdemott.com It will also appear on my facebook personal page and my facebook fan page along with a post on twitter. I am a portrait photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area specializing in on-location portraits of seniors, families and children. I also have a specialty in equine (horse) photography and will come to your farm or stable for your session. If you like my style I encourage you to follow me in any or all the above mentioned areas. If you are a photographer, I enjoy networking with other photographers both professional and amateur.

Trails End Equestrian Center Barn Door Mini Sessions at DLSC show

These are  a couple young ladies that I hope will become the subjects of some of my senior portrait sessions with horses. These are from mini barn door sessions that I took while at the horse show at the Trails End Equestrian Center which is a couple miles down the road from my home.

It’s fun to get professional portraits of kids with horses. At these shows and stables, kids can enjoy horses in a very controlled environment that is fairly safe. Kid’s, children and horses, with great smiles, you can’t beat that.

Sometimes I shoot the local horse shows in the DLSC (Dayton Local Show Circuit). Here are the participating farms:

http://www.trailsend.biz/dlscorgs.html

and the schedule of shows

http://www.trailsend.biz/dlscshows.html

Participating Farms and Stables Listed here. Come and join the fun.

Dancing Horse Farm – Lebanon – 513-933-0343

Greenstone Stables – Germantown – 937-859-1835

The Riding Center – Xenia – 937-767-9087

Shelby Farm – Centerville – 937-886-9230

Stillwater Pony Club – Beavercreek – 937-426-9443

Trails End Equestrian Center – Dayton -937-835-5062

Wetherbrook Farm – Waynesville – 937-885-6328

Whitehouse Stables – Sidney – 937-492-3831

This post will appear on my web site: http://www.photosbypdemott.com It will also appear on my facebook personal page and my facebook fan page along with a post ontwitter. I am a portrait photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area specializing in on-location portraits of seniors, families and children. I also have a specialty in equine (horse) photography and will come to your farm or stable for your session. If you like my style I encourage you to follow me in any or all the above mentioned areas. If you are a photographer, I enjoy networking with other photographers both professional and amateur.

Inspiration for the spring and summer horse show season in the Dayton area

How about we change gears and just get excited for the spring and summer riding season here in the Dayton area. I went through some horse show pictures from a dressage show at Weatherbrook Farm in Waynesville. This leopard spotted horse caught my attention. These were from 2008 in July.

I’ll bet you cannot wait.

This post will appear on my web site: http://www.photosbypdemott.com It will also appear on my facebook personal page and my facebook fan page along with a post ontwitter. I am a portrait photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area specializing in on-location portraits of seniors, families and children. I also have a specialty in equine (horse) photography and will come to your farm or stable for your session. If you like my style I encourage you to follow me in any or all the above mentioned areas. If you are a photographer, I enjoy networking with other photographers both professional and amateur.

The meaning of 1/1000th of one second and capturing a moment in time

Ears up and alert:

As I was listening to some other photographers being interviewed in podcast interview, I was considering a common thing that happens with my equine portrait (horse portrait) clients. During an equine portrait session at a farm or boarding stable I usually have an extra person with me that is in charge of getting the attention of the horse. Now I have to explain to the person in the portrait that they need to pay attention to me and my instructions and not worry about how the horse looks as that is my responsibility.

Ears are the RADAR animals use to protect themselves

Horses like other animals have ears that can be turned every which way like radar to find out what is happening around them. It is something that God gave them to help them to more effectively deal with predators and dangers. When you are around horses, you will see their ears twitching this way or that continuously. The movements are very quick and effortless.

Client Seeming disappointment

Now as I am taking the portraits involving horses and humans, the person in the portrait hears the shutter firing, then they look up at their horse and they see the horse with their ears in various places, but seldom do they see ears pricked forward and looking interested.  Every fraction of a second that horse moves its ears this way and that as it explores its environment and surroundings. It takes a moment or two (lets say two full seconds) for the human subject to look up at the horse. So the impression they have is that I am capturing portraits of their horse when he looks like a mule (not to insult mules), he looks disinterested or distracted.

Trying to help someone get a better portrait / timing is everything – or at least it is VERY important

I have also noticed this when I’m around a mom or a dad with a camera or a grandma with a camera it’s in my nature to try to help them get good portraits of their daughter or son or gand-kid with their horse. In one case, I even stood behind the person with a camera explaining that I would help them with “ears up” so they could get a better portrait. Every time when the ears were pricked forward, I would say,”now!” and in every case about 3 full seconds later they would depress the shutter button (or in some cases if they had a point and shoot, there was a shutter delay of several seconds). By then the horse’s ears had gone several different ways, but were no longer pricked forward and at attention. From a professional point of view, these would be failed portraits or perhaps what we might call it just a “snapshot”, not a portrait.

It’s the same with other animals. Each kind of animal or breed has a list of things that have to look just so for the image to be outstanding.

The meaning of 1/1000th of one second

Now for the meaning of 1/1000th of one second. When my subject opens their web page at the proofs page from their equine photo session it is not uncommon for me to get an email something like this, “Wow, how did you do that? These are great….oh my gosh.” You recall from above every time I clicked the shutter they would look up at their horse and they saw their horse with its ears back or cockeyed (looking mulish, not to insult mules), but what they did not realize was that I had captured 1/1000th of one second and that was 50 1/1000ths of a second ago. EVERYTHING had changed by the time they turned their eyes up toward their horse.

Choosing One 1/1000th of one second from 7 million 200 thousand others

There are ONE THOUSAND 1/1000ths of a second IN EACH SECOND and I picked  JUST ONE to create an enduring moment that could be cherished by the horse owner for years to come. Think of it just a little more. In a two hour farm call session there are 120 minutes. Each minutes has 60 seconds in it for a total of 7,200 seconds and each second has one thousand 1/1000ths of a second shutter click opportunities for a whopping total of 7 million 200 thousand shutter click opportunities in a two hour session. Not that we need to go there, but my camera has a 1/5000th of one second shutter speed option…Whew!

After about an hour with Kristen, she was exhausted from pulling her horse’s head up out of the green grass an exceptionally green early fall. Every time she looked up her horse was distracted and each ear was going a different direction. Her dad who watched from afar was skeptical that there would be much of anything to look at from the session. Both Kristen and her mom said, “Oh well, we tried (or something of that nature).” I said, “I think you are both going to be pleasantly surprised.”

As you look through her senior portrait session with her horse, consider all the moments that are not recorded. As photographers we have many, many choices as to the exact moment we choose to record. And this is just one aspect of what is important for good animal and animal with human portraits.

To see Kristen’s session with her and her horse and her puppy just click on this link.

As an equine photographer and senior portrait photographer her in SW Ohio (Greater Dayton area including Miamisburg, Springboro, Centerville, Kettering, Oakwood, Beavercreek, Xenia, Fairborn, Troy, Tipp City, Englewoood and Vandalia) I really enjoy combining the two. Other senior portrait photographers, even if they are willing to come to your location, seldom know much about horses. Nothing can ruin a senior portrait with a beautiful young lady more than a beautiful horse that looks like a mule (again, no insult intended for mules).

Also, for those in Tennessee visit my friend JULIE POOLE’s web site. She photographs horses, but along with humans she is well known for portraits of dogs and cats and their humans. Look at how alert they look and consider how many different moments she has to choose from when taking these portraits.

This post is on my web site: http:www.photosbypdemott.com . It will also be on my facebook fan page and on my personal facebook page. It will be linked on my twitter account. You are welcome to follow or friend me in any or all of these locations.

Senior Portraits in Snow, Horse and Rider Portraits in Snow & Family and Kids in Snow

Gray and dreary outdoors here in the Dayton area. I cannot wait for Spring and the blossoms and new green foliage.

Right now in the Dayton area, there is not much snow. However the first weeks of February can be unpredictable and we could have what West Virginia is digging out of any time in the next several weeks (first three weeks of February, that is). As it is now, we have nothing but gray and it does not make for beautiful outdoor portraits.

BUT, if the snow flies again consider professional on-location outdoor portraits

If we do get a big dose of snow in the coming weeks, I just want you to know that I am available to take Senior Portraits in Snow. I’ve recently posted some snow portraits with horses along with some tips on how to get great snow pictures and portraits. Lots of white snow is NOT a time when you can just trust you camera to make the right decisions. If you want to take your own pictures in the snow, review my previous posts to get some good ideas, but it you want professional on-location snow portraits of your high school senior or your children (special family time portraits of mom and dad with the kids), don’t hesitate to give me a call when the weather man starts talking heavy snow. If you have a wooly horse that you want portraits with in the snow, I can do those too. If it works out, you will have extra special portraits, completely unique and fun to share. Call me at 937-478-6222 (Peter DeMott). IF the snow comes and IF someone takes me up on this offer, I will share some extra special and completely unique family portraits, senior portraits, or horse and rider portraits here on my blog.

If you missed my earlier posts with tips on getting good snow pictures and portraits with your digital camera, here they are:

http://www.photosbypdemott.com/2010/01/snow-snow-snow-taking-better-pictures-in-snow/

http://www.photosbypdemott.com/2010/01/taking-better-winter-snow-portraits-follow-up/

This post is on my web site and blog here: http://www.photosbypdemott.com . It will also appear on my personal facebook page where you are welcome to friend me: Peter DeMott . It will be on my Twitter account: pdemottphoto . And last it will show up on my facebook fan page: Peter DeMott Photography . You are welcome to share these posts and links with your friends in snowy areas, become a fan or friend or follow my web site by subscribing on the top right of my home page. Thanks, Peter DeMott

Taking better winter & snow portraits (follow up)

A couple days ago as the big snow was about to arrive here in the Dayton area, I posted about how to take better snow pictures.

Snow is white and bright and it will trick your camera into thinking that it needs to cut down the amount of light coming into the camera. You see cameras are calibrated to average the scene at 18% gray. When you are shooting in snow and most of the scene is white, your camera is programed to make the scene 18% gray. So your camera without a little help from you will severely underexpose your snow pictures. Your white snow will become gray murky snow because not only is it under exposed severely, but because it is underexposed there will be an increase in digital noise (that looks like little specks of various colors sprinkled about the picture).

What needs to happen to make good snow pictures? Most modern digital cameras have a control called “exposure compensation”. If it is in your menu, it will be a marker that can be moved to 1+, 2+, 3+ to add more light or 1-, 2-, 3- to reduce the exposure. With snow, you want to increase the exposure by 1+ or 1.5+ or 2+. This is counterintuitive (it is not what you expect without much thought). But, you don’t want gray snow right? So do it. Now take a picture with lots of snow in it and take a look at the histogram on the back of your camera. The white portion of the scene will show mostly on the right. If the histogram graph shows mostly in the middle, your snow will be gray. If most of the data is to the left your picture will be very underexposed, almost black.

The snow came and I noticed a bunch of dark snow pictures on Facebook and other places. I am sure there are many folks out there, frustrated that their portraits and snow pictures did not turn out very good.

This morning we woke up and saw that there was hoarfrost all over the trees. It was very cold and yet the air had some humidity in it. The humidity frosted onto the branches of the trees as if it had snowed. It’s very pretty. My wife Patty said, “lets go take some pictures of the hoarfrost and the horses. The following portraits are the result of using the exposure compensation adjustment (on my camera there is quick access to the exposure compensation). I tried 2+, but that was a tad too much. When I looked at the image on the back on my camera my over exposure blinkers were showing. I moved it down to 1.5+ and in some cases 1+ and the images turned out great.

Additonal portraits from this morning’s session can be found here: SNOW PORTRAITS

This post will appear on my facebook and my facebook business page. It is also on my web site here. You are welcome to follow my by friending me on facebook, becoming a fan or signing up for email delivery from the front page of my web site.

Kentucky Diehard Endurance Ride at The Nature Preserve at Shaker Village

The weather was near perfect for the Kentucky Diehard Endurance Ride at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill & The Nature Preserve at Shaker Village just south of Lexington Kentucky. I stayed overnight in an old Shaker Village meeting house before the ride on Saturday November 21, 2009. My room was on the third floor up a very narrow staircase with a latch door and simple decor (except the bathroom which was modern). The room light was a lamp in the form of a candle stick and a dim electric candle light bulb.

This building was about 300 yards from the stable at Shaker Village where most of the riders had their trailers parked. Stalls and running water was available.

The well kept trails were beautiful with rolling hills and taking the riders right past the buildings of the main part of Shaker Village then out into the countryside through meadows and rolling hills. Many areas had beautiful stone fences along the trails. The brochure says there are 3000 acres of original Shaker countryside.

There were lots and lots of smiles throughout this well organized endurance ride. This is a don’t miss ride for 2010.

The gallery is here: Kentucky Diehards Endurance

Learn more about endurance riding: AERC

The gallery is here: Kentucky Diehards Endurance

Session books can be special keepsakes for seniors and others

I spent the evening preparing a book to be sent off for printing. It has a hard cover with a portrait wrapped onto the front cover. Inside there can be 20-40 pages of pictures from the session.

My first sample book is of my client Jennifer Truett and her horse Lydia that she lost earlier this year. On Facebook she had posted about her prize show horse and companion and that she may have to put her down due to a severe founder from getting sick. She would know within the next two weeks if the horse could survive or not. I had gotten to know Jennifer while taken pictures at a couple of horse shows at the Dancing Horse Farm which her and her husband, Lenny, own and operate in Lebanon.

I called by phone her the next day and said that I wanted to come out that weekend to do a portrait session (No charge for this one as I wanting to give her the session). Weeks earlier we had done a session under saddle and conformation with some other horses. We were supposed to do portraits of Lydia at that same time only she was at the equine hospital at the time and very ill. It was the aftermath of that illness that caused the severe founder. So I called her and we selected a time and I explained that we could do the session in their soft grass. It would be portraits of Jen with Lydia and anything else she wanted to do.

When I arrived Jennifer told me how difficult this might be as she was not sure she could keep her composure. Jen had to wipe away tears several times during the session and Patty (my wife assisting) and I also got choked up. At one point Jennifer, she told me later, said that she had almost called to cancel the session because she was so upset, but we proceeded and had a very lovely session not knowing if the news in the following weeks would be good or bad. Lydia’s last day was only a week away as it turned out.

Jennifer, Lenny and Lydia photo session (click here)

I sent a link to the proofs within a day or so. Many tears later.  This was still before Jennifer found out there was no hope and Lydia had to be put down.

Jennifer made a long post on facebook about that last day explaining that it was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her entire life. Jennifer made it a very special day for Lydia with a bath, flowers braided into Lydia’s mane and other special moments photographing the entire process. They had many special moments together before walking  to where Lydia would be put down at the remoted farm graveyard down a tree lined path.

This is the cover and back cover. On each page within the book I placed a word to try describe her horse and her relationship with her horse. Beauty, Affection, Memories, Honor, Grace, Laughter, Passion, Pride, Partnership, Whimsy and others.

Jen brought her horse out very carefully and slowly. She was so sweet with Lydia and it was very touching to watch and photograph.

I sent the computer files showing the insides of the book and this cover to Jennifer to review and so that she could request to perhaps add some additional pages with additional words. Then I will send it to the book company so that can put it together and print it and ship it back to me. I will finalize pricing for this type of book once I see the finished product. This particular book is 13″x 11″ so it will be rather spectacular in my estimation.

(Update) Jennifer loved the pages of the book and we decided that we would be adding some photographs from shows in the book along with the narrative and pictures from Lydia’s last day on this earth. In addition we will be adding many letters of condolence which poured in after Jennifer made the facebook post about Lydia’s last day.

They are available in 7″ x 7″ , 8″ x 10″, 10″ x 8″, 13″x 11″ and 12″ x 12″.

Tell me what you think.

Equestrian Sport Photography and Senior Portraits

Since I shoot quite a few equestrian sporting events including some of the DLSC (Dayton Local Show Circuit) shows, I do get requests for farm call portrait sessions in the Dayton area. Michelle Lay talked to me way back in early May about doing her senior portraits with her horse. She wanted to get the fall colors so we just scheduled for a session in a week or so. It will be great fun. We will perhaps be starting at her home, then we may trailer to Germantown Reserve where there are more colorful trees. I will check things out as the date approaches.

Here is a picture of Michelle with her horse at one of the events that I covered this spring.

I have another senior portrait session scheduled at a grandparent’s home. As a location photographer it is fun and challenging to create portraits that have special meaning for the student. Where might you want your senior portrait taken. Would you select a beautiful outdoor setting or is there a place with special meaning for you?

Cracked Oats Crunch Endurance & Ctr

Endurance ride photography is both challenging and fun. For endurance rides I have to get up early to find places on the trail where the light is good and that say something about the ride. I want the pictures to bring back good memories of the event. The people in endurance and competitive trail riding are great too. This is a sport for people that enjoy riding their horses. There are no big cash prizes to taint the sport, just lots of competitive spirit and interesting interesting people.

This ride was staged at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and included a 50 mile endurance ride, a 25 mile “limited distance” endurance ride, a 25 mile competitive trail ride and a shorter novice ride on Sunday. The trails were wide and well cared for and the meadow gave us plenty of room for camping. The Appaloosa Nationals were piggy back with this ride with 13 participants from as far away as Canada.

Morning brought some heavy fog and mist until the sun came up.

The mist quickly burned off revealing a horse eating photographer in the woods. I try to talk to people as they approach to help the horses know that I am just another human being. This horse found the large lens interesting indeed.

At endurance rides and competitive trail rides there are vets, timers, pulse checkers, and other volunteers to help things work smoothly. Here Bill Cartwright logs the time in and time out for riders who have arrived at the vet check. Great job Bill.

Below is a special request for a portrait session at the ride. I have decided that I will offer no charge sessions at endurance rides. Of course, it is not exactly easy to find a time between everything that is going on during one of these events, but this one fit right in. Best time for these is evening.

The next two images are portraits of the winner of the appoloosa nationals , Cat Carter, with her horse.

Shannon Loomis always buys a hand full of pictures from each ride that I shoot where she is an participant. This is a picture of Shannon with our horse April. There was a minor problem with her horse and she could not ride him on the second day. Patty had brought April along hoping to find the right person to ride her since Patty would be riding Cocoa. Here April notices Cocoa across the meadow. They are good buddies, so Shannon had to keep April from trotting off to be with our other horse. From the looks of it both Shannon and April had a great time.

Here Patty waits for her out time. Is it time yet?, is it time yet?, how about now?, is it time yet….? as she teases Bill, the ride timer. Bills response was a very low tone, No, not yet, no, not yet, 10, 9,8,7,6,5.4.3.2.1… Okay, NOW you can go.

To see all the pictures taken during this weekend click on this link: Cracked Oats Crunch Pictures.

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