Allie and Lizzy annual portraits for Christmas cards

Each year I get an email from Allie and Lizzy’s mom. When can we do a session over at the Trails End Equestrian Center? So we came up with a time and a date and I was able to take pictures of Lizzy with her horse. Allie could not make it, so we set a time for them to stop by my house and do Allie’s portraits.

PPA certified judging at PPSO print competition

It was exciting to hear three certified judges assign various images scores to prints presented on a large color corrected monitor. A score of 80 or above is a merit print.

As I said in my last post, I had entered 7 images into the competition. Last night two of those seven prints were judged to be merit prints. There were approximately 50 entries along with 5-6 album entries. Out the fifty or so prints it seemed like there were about 15 or so that achieved merit status. I did not keep tabs on the exact numbers of anything. Each print was scored then one or more of the judges would comment on what they liked and didn’t like about the print. If the judges scores were more than a few points different, then either the low scoring judge would challenge the higher scoring judge or the higher scoring judge would challenge the low scoring judge. They would discuss their differences and then re-score the print. Sometimes minds would be changed and other times the scores would stay the same.

Here is one of my entries that achieved merit status. It is framed in black in a horizontal format to fill the monitor screen during the judging. Suggestions to improve the score on this image (perhaps to a higher merit status)  included completely removing the picnic table and cloning out every small stray hair on the subject. The title of the image was, “The eyes are the windows to the soul.”

I found that sitting through the judging of 50+ images was very instructive and challenging as I knew it would be. This is one of the many ways that PPSO (Professional Photographers of SW Ohio) encourages its members to become better photographers each day. If you are a photographer in SW Ohio (from Troy to Dayton, from Dayton to Cincinnati and throughout the region) I would encourage you to consider joining this group or a similar group in your area. The web site is currently being rebuilt (sorry for the mess) http://www.ppso.org You can also email me with questions if you like.

Last, if you are a photographer and you have entered your work into judged competition, was it a learning experience for you? Were you able to watch the judging? Please comment below (or click on the “leave comment” link near the title.

Beautiful fall portraits with horse at Trails End Equestrian Center in Dayton Ohio by Peter DeMott

Here in the Dayton area fall colors are in full swing. Valerie had first tried to get several people to go together on a barn party portrait session, but nobody else signed up after several weeks so we scheduled our portrait session with her and her horse for 5pm on Sunday evening. The light was lovely and the portraits turned out wonderfully.

Valerie’s horse was lovely and well mannered and proved to be a wonderful model and of course Valerie’s relationship with her horse was evident in each portrait.

The fall colors of the leave changing provided a lovely backdrop for several of the portraits.

For some of the portraits we used a nice pine tree as the background. The sun was setting over Valerie’s back and provided a nice hair light for the image. My wife Patty helped by holding a 52 inch silver reflector to bring some nice light to the subjects on the shady side. This also helps me to darken the background some to bring even more attention to the subjects. Patty also was doing this and that to get the horse’s attention (ears nicely perked forward) for lovely portraits.

There is always an opportunity to take horse and owner portraits. After just two weeks with cold nights the horses in this area are getting “fuzzy”, but doing a session in cold or snow can be great fun and will create interesting and fun memories to cherish for a lifetime.

To find out more about having your portrait made with your horse explore my web site. Under PORTRAITS you will find other examples of horse and owner portraits. I have examples of senior portraits (some call them senior pics), horses with their owners at endurance rides, and action images from various local horse shows in the area. We can build a session according you your wishes. Part of your session can be under saddle doing dressage or jumping. Another part of your session can be portraits like these. Part of every session is a discussion with me about what you hope to have at the end of the portrait session.

I showed Valerie a couple of canvas prints from other sessions that I have done. I will be making one of these into a canvas as well. I want my clients to have a lasting work of art that they can proudly display in their homes and at work and for many years to come. These would make lovely Christmas cards as well.

Here is Valerie’s gallery. Take a look and imagine your own session.

http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Portraits/Valerie-Norvell-at-Trails-End/14222836_nbS4g#1050708822_9yJtW

A local farm call session is $95. For people outside of the Dayton area the session fee is $150 and depending on how far away the farm or stable is, there may be additional travel charges (to cover time and gas). Please email me any time: peter@photosbypdemott.com or give me a call at 937-478-6222

Last of all I encourage everyone to comment of Valerie’s portraits. At the bottom of this post is a comment section.

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.