Peter DeMott Photography » Senior Portrait

Melissa’s senior portraits from her mom’s perspective

Peter — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:52:22 +0000

I was pleasantly surprised by a lovely testimonial this evening on one of galleries of a senior portrait session.

Here is Melissa gallery from our session together (Melissa, her mom, my assistant and me) at Cox Arboretum near the Dayton Mall. Melissa’s Gallery Click here

Melissa is a lovely young lady and was delightful to photograph. She has been posting about her plans for the future on her Facebook wall. College will be here in no time at all for sure.

Peter DeMott • Peter DeMott Photography • Greater Dayton area • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Megan’s senior portraits created a dilemma for her and her mom Lori

Peter — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:13:17 +0000

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

Melissa had great fun at her senior portrait session in Dayton

Peter — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:08:42 +0000

I had done her older sisters senior portraits and Pegge called to say it was time for the younger daughter to have her senior pics made as well. My wife Patty and Melissa’s mom helped with the session carrying clothing and holding reflectors as we walked through the park looking for the ideal spots for Melissa’s portraits.

It was great fun and Melissa took instructions very well. She said after the session that it was great fun. As I was shooting, from time to time, I would give Pegge and my wife a sneak peek or two on the back of the camera. “Oh my gosh!” was usually the words that I heard as we progressed.

Melissa is a senior at Archbiship Alter High School. Her mom says she is a free spirit girl. She wants to go to a college of nursing and eventually become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. She has applied at the Air Force ROTC and hope to get a scholarship for school. Her dream right now is to retire early and be a nurse in a 3rd world country. She is excited about getting married to the right person, but she wants to have some time in her career and save money so that when she does have children, she will be able to stay at home and raise them before going back to work.

Melissa would love to go to college in Colorado.

Melissa has been a very active high school student and before. She competed in gymnastics for 7 years. She runs track and has run cross-country as well. Have you seen Melissa climb before…she loves climbing walls, and she climbs lots of trees for fun. She also devours books and just loves to read, but she does not like smelly old books. She likes to buy new books to read.

She has been on 3 Mission Trips and loves being a part of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church Youth Group. She is a leader too, being selected to be a leader on the Kairos religious retreat for her peers.

Melissa has worked at Miamisburg Parks and Recreation since she was 14 and has been a life guard for the past three years at the Sycamore Trails Aquatic Center. She also teaches swimming lessons and life guards at West Carrollton YMCA as well.

At one point, Pegge said she wanted a picture of her with her daughter similar to the one I had taken with her older daughter.

Fall portraits with color for seniors and families and children

Peter — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:14:06 +0000

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

This weekend (8/27-28, 2011) I am am at the Abi-Kahn Competitive Trail ride near Caesar’s Creek Park in Ohio

Peter — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:15:39 +0000

Flamingos are the theme of the Abi-Kahn Competitive trail ride at Caesar’s Creek Park in Southwestern Ohio. I am shooting on trail for the event, buy when everyone is finished riding I am taking mini portrait sessions for those who want portraits with their horse/s.

One of the girls that I photographed with her horse said, “Do you do senior portraits?”. My answer was, “Yes, I do on-location senior portraits in the Southwestern Ohio area, where do you live?” As it turns out she lives right near me in the Centerville area and she would love to have senior portraits with her horse. I gave her my business card and hope to hear from her soon.

More pictures from this event can be seen and purchased here: Abi-Kahn Competitive Trail Ride

Peter DeMott Photography in Southwest Ohio near Dayton • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Morgan’s senior portraits and mom’s friesian horse portraits combined into one session

Peter — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:05:36 +0000

I had a lovely portrait session with Morgan last week. Her mom had been discussing having portraits taken of her Friesian horse and was hoping to convince Morgan to do senior portraits too. As it turned out we had time to do both. It was great fun and I think Morgan was pleasantly surprised that she had so much fun.

Morgan goes to Beavercreek High School and enjoys horseback riding, softball and volleyball. Her plans take her to Wright State University next fall.

Capturing natural expressions is very rewarding to me because it means that my subject has become comfortable with me taking their pictures. Morgan had several changes of clothing so after taking several portraits we would send her off to change into one of her other outfits. We were able to do some pictures before bring the horse out, some with the horse and some after we finished with the horse as well.

After we finished with the horse, we found this area back behind the barn. There was a red shed with ivy growing up it. It gave a rustic feel and the light was very soft and pleasing.

With the weather starting to cool off, evening sessions are very comfortable. The frustrating part is that it starts getting dark sooner now. I have session times available at 6pm most evenings including Saturdays and Sundays. Please call me to schedule your session in a location of your choosing. If you don’t know where you want to have your portrait session I can help you make a selection that is right for you.

Peter DeMott • 937-478-6222 • Peter DeMott Photography in the greater Dayton area • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Senior portraits in Wyoming a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio

Peter — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:00:43 +0000

Senior Portrait session in Wyoming Ohio

Paul DeMott is a senior student in the Wyoming suburb of Cincinnati Ohio. He is also my nephew. Paul D DeMott is my brother and called and asked if I could come down and take some senior portraits this past weekend. Paul (Jr) invited his good friend Scot to participate in the session.

At Wyoming high school in Cincinnati the boys graduate in white tuxedos and the girls in white dresses.

Big storms were rolling through when it was time for me to leave to go down to Cinncinnati for the session, but the storms seemed to be blowing through quickly lately so I told my brother I was going to come on down anyway. In the summer I can shoot till almost 9pm if the clouds move on through.

Looking for a break in the storms

Paul (Jr.) and his good friend Scot would only have their tuxedos from now to shortly after the graduation so if we were going to get some senior pics in tuxedo, we had to work around the bad weather. Paul’s mom was very worried about the boys going out in the rain in their tuxedos, but we headed on out for the portraits hoping it would clear by the time we reached the park.

As we arrived it started raining again and we had to stop under a park tent for a while until it stopped. The sun started poking out of the clouds and as you can see from some of these guy poses, some turned out quite strong. Paul (Jr.) explained to me that he was not to hot about the senior portrait photographers around town who over process the images so that the look of the skin is too smooth and unnatural. I explained to him that I felt the same way about too smooth skin. I use skin smoothing programs very sparingly and of course I remove blemishes in post processing of the portraits, but I leave enough so that the skin still looks real and natural.

We ran out of light and since they only had the tuxedos for that evening and the next day, I may come back to do some casual portraits as well at a later date.

Paul runs his own lawn care business and intends to go in the entrepreneur track of the University of Cincinnati.

If you would like senior portraits taken please visit my CONTACT/SHARE menu option above and tell me what you would like. If you don’t have ideas for where you would like your portraits taken, that is okay too. We can go with urban, metro park, home. After talking with you for a short amount of time, we should be able to come up with something.

Peter DeMott Photography • Dayton Ohio • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Lindsay Steiger senior at Bellbrook High School – great outdoor portrait session

Peter — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:52:13 +0000

Lindsay was concerned about getting some casual outdoor senior portraits that captured her. What we discovered when we were doing the session was that Lindsay had an fun, outgoing, and energetic personality that I was able to capture in beautiful senior portraits.

Lindsay’s mom Norma was there to watch and carry Lindsay’s clothing changes. When Lindsay was off changing clothes we found that Lindsay will be going to Wright State University and plans to study biology. Her mom is a nurse and we wondered out load if their close relationship might mean that Lindsay would be headed in the same direction for her career choice.

What ever Lindsay ends up doing with her life, it was a delight to be able to record this important times stamp in her life. She will be graduating shortly and we were able to schedule the session fairly quickly so that she would be able to place her orders and use express shipping to get them back quickly.

Best wishes to Lindsay as you goes forward with her life. She will definitely be going places.

If you would like to see other photographs from this session go the bottom of this post and click on the link to her gallery. Just for fun, if 15 of lindsay’s friends will post a comment on this page (Not facebook where this will link, but here on this post on my web site), I will give her a bonus credit to use for additional purchases. So go ahead, say something nice, tell he that she is going places or that you appreciate her in your life. Once you have made your comment, it will be approved and show up at the bottom so that she can see them.

Here are more portraits from her session. I hope you enjoyed these examples.

http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Portraits/Lindsay-Steiger

Spring is here and flowers and trees are blossoming. It’s a great time to schedule your senior portraits for 2012 seniors and for others who are in a hurry to get senior pictures that really capture your natural smile and personality.

Peter DeMott • Dayton and surrounding communities • Senior portraits, families, and children • Equine portraits • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

When to have equine portraits made in Ohio and Northern Kentucky

Peter — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:00:54 +0000

My location is in SW Ohio near Dayton. For equine portraits or senior portraits with horses, I can travel to Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, all of SW Ohio and Eastern Indiana, but the big question that people have sometimes is when would be the best time to schedule something. Unless you show year round and cover and heat your horse during the winter, he will have a thick winter coat on until the weather warms up. Sunny days in the 60s and 70s will bring on the shedding of this thick winter coat and soon your horse will be slick and beautiful and ready for portraits. Not to say that there is anything wrong with having some portraits done in the fall with a thick coat. You can certainly create some memories with a fall portrait session as well, but in the spring here in SW Ohio there is MUD and the leaves and foliage has not come out yet and your horse’s hair will be patchy as some spots start shedding and others take a little longer. So, my answer to the question, “When is the best time for equine portraits?” is mid to late spring depending on your horse.

When you can use the curry comb and there are no longer piles of shedding fur on the ground when you are finished grooming your horse then the horse is ready. When the leaves are on the trees and bushes and the grass is green then you have have a lovely background for your portraits. Don’t wait till June, July and August if you can help it. In this area of the country many times we hit a dry spell that browns the grass and limits some of the background choices. Not that I cannot find something that will work, it’s just that there are so many more choices when the grass is still green and the flowers are still blooming.

If you would like portraits of your horse at your farm or boarding stable, give me a call in the coming weeks to discuss your session and where you are located. We can discuss available dates to consider and other things that will enhance your pictures. Senior portrait sessions can also be planned around your horse, your farm or boarding stable along with other special animals in your life. Hope to hear from you soon.

Peter DeMott • SW Ohio • Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Peter DeMott Photography top rated photographer in Dayton

Peter — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:24:47 +0000

It was a pleasant surprise to find Peter DeMott Photography on a web site called Thumbtack. The heading was Top Rated Photographers in Dayton and as of today it puts my listing as #5. This is just one place that brings together references for various types of businesses.

There are so many places that people can comment on your quality of work and service that it is easy for people to find out more about any business. But, as important as hearing good things is seeing good things. What I mean by that is when you are looking for a photographer it is very important that you connect with the style of work the photographer does.

http://www.thumbtack.com/oh/dayton/photographer/

Enjoying the style and work of a photographer is far more important than price or their rating on one web site or another. I don’t figure that my prices would be considered high for professional quality work, but you sometimes see people making choices purely based on price which I see as a grand mistake. Consider how long you will be enjoying or not enjoying a portrait on the wall of your home, or an coffee table book of portraits from your session.

How much difference does $100 or $200 difference in price make over 10-20 years. Let’s consider that. If you make a choice about a photographer based on a $200 difference in price divided by 20 years at 12 months per year that means you may have chosen a better photographer for about 80¢ per month or you may have chosen a photographer whose work you did not like and will be regretting your choice for 20 years for a difference of 80¢ per month.

Right here on the site you can also click on the menu item “Testimonials” for some ideas about how people feel about my work.

Testimonials can be found here

If you like my work and style, I encourage you to share my web site and also my facebook page with your friends. I frequently post images from sessions on my facebook business page Peter DeMott Photography and it is easy to LIKE the page and share what’s going on with your friends. Horse portraits and horse and rider portraits are also frequent on my site because of my specialty in that area.

If you do a search for Ohio Equine Photographer you will likely see my web site listed number one or two on the page. A friend, Sally Shaffer, and I toggle back and forth between the top two listings (that is something that can change from day to day). She does lovely work as do many other equine photographers listed on page one of the search results. Of course locality can also be important with Sally being in Columbus and with me being here in South West Ohio (near Dayton). It is easier for me to get to farms and stables around Dayton and Cincinnati for example. Also, some of the photographers listed specialize in stock photography, show photography and other areas whereas I enjoy my horse and rider portrait work the most.

Thanks Dayton for rating me as one of Dayton’s top photographers. I appreciate any comments and connections that come my way.

Peter DeMott Photography • Senior portrait photography • Equine photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222