Canter over the mountain endurance ride with portraits and fun water crossings labor day weekend

Patty and I had a great weekend in Mannington, West Virginia. The manager for the ride, Samantha Lewis, did a fabulous job running the ride with every rider expressing their appreciation for how everything went. I would encourage people who were there to post comments about the ride at the bottom of this blog post. I will make sure that Samantha sees them and it will serve to promote the ride for next year as well.

It was a one day ride, so were able to drive on Saturday and arrive in early afternoon. After Patty vetted-in and we set up the tent and paddock I stopped in to talk with Samantha and she took me to a couple places that she thought would be great places to shoot from. As it turned out, I was able to use each place that she showed me. When we got back to camp, the light was getting good and I decided to offer some mini portrait sessions to those who were interested. They were able to announce this over the loudspeaker and I worked my way through the camp seeing who might be interested. I had several takers.

Carla Siebert Plezewski was delighted with the opportunity to do some portraits. I believe that she is considering making a wall sized canvas of one of these.

This portrait is Colleen Greene and her horse. She left before seeing her portraits when the ride ended, but she checked the proofing galleries online and immediately placed an order. She used one of the images as her new profile image on facebook and then emailed me about all the comments she was getting about it. Thanks, Colleen, I love hearing about stuff like that. We did some portraits with her with her husband and dog as well.

I met Mustafa Tehrani, master farrier and was able to take some portraits of him and his trusty mount.

The 50 mile riders came through before the fog burned off, but I thought it made for some very interesting images. As soon as the sun burned off the fog, then light was from behind and too bright, so I moved to one of the stream crossings. I spent the rest of the morning sitting on the bank and catching all the riders as they passed by. Some were fun and others were scenic.

To see more of the trail and the portrait photos from this great event go to: http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Endurance-Competitive-Trail/Canter-Over-the-Mountain/13665356_e3R58#997745374_FvkQT

If you would like to schedule a fall portrait in the greater Dayton area, please call soon as available time slots are filling quickly. Thanks, Peter 937-478-6222

My friend Janne’ Peterson of Jannephotographics implements WordPress with total Pizzaz

Janne’ web site and blog is a wordpress theme implementation with total pizzaz. You should go take a look

http://www.jannephotographics.com/

I want to improve my web site to give it more pizzaz as well so I would like you to make a comment on what things you would like to see me do to improve my web site, perhaps after taking a a look at Jenne’s. Jeanne’ is an artist boutique studio which is rather different than me, but it is right for many clients.

Just tell me what you think. You would not know that Jenne’s site is a WordPress installation at all except that I told you so.

Last night I spend some time explaining to Janne’ the importance of adding “content” to her posts. Each post has to have a paragraph or two at minimum to provide content for Google to search. Without the words to look at Janne’ could have just stayed with a flash site and never been seen on the internet, but with added content on each post she will see ever increasing traffic to her web site. Any you can see from these beautiful portraits that there is very good reason for seniors in the Cincinnati area to make sure they visit this web site.

I explained that she can go back and start adding content like “creative senior portraits and pictures” and “bare baby toes pictures” and anything that people might use to find the photographer best for them. She can mention the schools and localities that her subject come from, their hobbies and how much the enjoyed their portrait session. For me I mention things like, outdoor location photography, horse portraits, relaxed enduring portraits, family portraits, senior portraits with horse, and so on.

I would appreciate YOUR help in making my web site better. I would like to provide the fellow that Janne’ worked with a list of changes and wants for my site. After looking at Janne’s site, please post some comments here. What would YOU change? Thank you in advance for any ideas that you send me.

Photographing the times of our lives, families, friends, birthdays, gatherings…and more

On Saturday my wife and I went to Marshallville, Ohio to visit with her brother Mike and Sister-in-law Kathy. It was Kathy’s birthday and at the same time the Marshallville “history days” or some such celibration. Patty’s dad was there, her sister Pam, and Kathy’s parents were there too. There was a hot-rod show and I caught the last tractor pull of the afternoon. It was a good day.

The portraits below started with my asking to take a portrait of Mike and Kathy, then we decided to take a portrait of the girls, then the brothers and sisters, then the family. Then Kathy asked if I would take few pictures of her mom and dad too. Kathy’s mom and dad are very old and her mom is starting to have memory issues.

Patty’s dad had fought through cancer last year (he was at death’s door) at the same time in the same hospital her mom was critically ill.

I’m telling you all this just to encourage you to pull out your camera and volunteer to take some portraits when you are with your family and friends. Tomorrow the entire situation could be completely different. And it is not always the oldest person who we loose. These portraits took a few minutes, not like the hour or so I normally spend with my photography clients, but they too will last a lifetime and have great meaning for those who choose to keep them.

Don’t forget to have the portraits printed out. Computers change. Hard drives crash. Technology changes quickly and computer media becomes corrupted or out of date as well.

PORTRAIT TIPS: Use a wider f stop to make the background more blurry (f 2.8, f4, f5.6). Shoot with a longer lens (at least 85mm) for more pleasing portraits of people. Shoot in open shade, not in the bright sun. The light will be much more even and pictures will be much nicer without having people squint and without having dark shadows in their eye sockets. Try to have your subjects brighter than the background (keep the background in the shade too).  Last of all I always say, ” Now touch each other, it will make people think you like each other!” This always brings some natural smiles AND the portraits seem so much more intimate when the subject are touching.

Here are just a couple of the portraits I offered to make for a few minutes during the day we spent with Kathy and Mike to celebrate her birthday. This is Mike & Kathy.

This is Patty’s family. Left is her older sister Pam, then dad, then Patty and her brother Mike on the far right.

I took some candids of other things from the day, but I also put my camera in the trunk of my car (nearby) to socialize with everyone.

The power of a self hosted wordpress website/blog for photographers

This post is for my photographer friends.

This is also a follow up to a prior article on the same topic. In less than one year, I’ve gone from 300-500 visits per MONTH to about 300 visits per day to my self hosted wordpress website and blog (very important: this does not work like this if you go get a wordpress.com blog where “wordpress.com” is part of your URL).

As you can see, my URL does not say wordpress.com in it anywhere (www.photosbypdemott.com). That is because I have the entire wordpress program installed on my host and my website landing page is my URL, but this entire web site is a wordpress blog with blog posts and pages. It may not be as slick as some of the flash sites that are promoted in photography magazines, but those sites will never generate this level of activity unless they are heavily promoted. With wordpress each time that I post to my blog it creates more key words that appear in organic searches on Google and other search engines. Since it is a blog, Google also considers it timely information and crawls through the content quickly. When I post something, the next hour or day I have people who have visited my web site about that topic using organic searches (placing words in their google search box and clicking search). 70% of the traffic to this site is from organic searches as opposed to from links that I have placed on various free classified web listings for example.

By using a plugin called WordPress Stats I can see what words and phrases are used to arrive at my web site. When I see traffic that I want, I try to use those words in my next post. For example, as a photographer I want people interested in senior portrait sessions to visit my web site, but I have found that organic searches are many times “senior pictures” rather than “senior portraits”. Using this plugin gives me the tools to focus on the words that will give me the desired traffic to my site. I also mention cities and towns, schools and names of people to increase localized and desired traffic to my site.

Now, I am not that technical a guy. Of course when it comes to photogrpahy, I’m technical. I have a Canon 1D Mark II with a 70-200 IS USM f2.8 lens (and others) for photography. But, with regard to web sites I don’t know HTML or other languages. I don’t even know how to download wordpress and install in on my host. I let others that are very able in those areas do what they know how to do to get me started.

Larry at larry@e-3design.com is my host and web guy whenever I need some help. Larry can host, install, and design a wordpress website/blog for you or can get you started with an install and hosting if you can do the rest. If you want to start with a self hosted wordpress installation, Larry can get-r-done (but, please do not call him and waste his time. If you want him to do it for you, send him a note and tell him you are ready. He will go over his prices and you can do it or not, but don’t call him and use his valuable time with a bunch of questions so you can do it on your own. If you want to learn all that stuff unless you want to pay him, it is not fair to make Larry your teacher. There are also online tutorials about this stuff where you can learn, but personally I want to be a photographer rather than a web site designer).

Next time I will post a list of plugins that send my posts to Facebook and Twitter and provide all sorts of extra benefits.

If you found this interesting, please post a comment. I want to know if I am providing you with information that you find interesting and useful. You can send me a note at peter@photosbypdemott.com as well.

Lifestyle senior portraits in Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville, Beavercreek….and more

One thing about the internet is that you cannot tell exactly where your visitor traffic is coming from. I can see that people are interested in new ideas for their senior portrait sessions, but I cannot tell if those are students from California or New York. I can just hope that if those students are looking for senior portraits with their horse or how about a young lady who wants her senior portraits with her dad’s hotrod or senior portraits on the farm or with their best friend, then the students in my area are also interested in those things and are also visiting this web site.

So if you want a relaxed on-location senior portrait session and you live in Oakwood, Kettering, Centerville, Beavercreek, Washington Township, Springboro, Middletown, Fairborn, Miamisburg, Germantown, Huber Heights, Troy, Tipp City, or any of the many other towns and burgs surrounding the greater Dayton area, then I am hoping that you are stopping by my web site to see a different sort of senior portrait session.

My photography has an enduring quality and not too trendy. Trendy is fun, but it may not be you and trends tend to pass on by. If I can capture something special about you and your way of being and the things or people that are important to you, that can last a lifetime. I like my portraits to look nice hanging in the family homestead for many years not just while the trend is hot. I like my clients to invest in canvas wall portraits and professional quality photo books or various framed prints from their sessions.

That’s not to say that I would not be up for some urban/graffiti or other interesting stuff, but I want it to be about you, not because it is a trend. So give me a call and tell me about your ideas and lets work something out. Peter DeMott Photography at (937) 478-6222 in SW Ohio.

That little profile pic that shows up when you comment on blogs – Gravatar How to

How to get an avatar or profile pic to show up when you comment on other people’s blogs

Darned if it didn’t take me some serious searching to figure out how to get the little avatar or profile picture of me to show up in that little box when I make a comment on someone’s blog. One thing you learn in Facebook is that the blank face is not welcome. The first rule on Facebook is to show people who you are. There are probably 300 Peter DeMotts out there and there is one in New York who is no longer for this world who has hundreds of articles and links about his anti war protests in New York. When I make a comment somewhere or if someone sees me on Facebook, I want them to know that I am the Peter DeMott that is still alive and living in Germantown, Ohio and who is a portrait and equine photographer. I want them to know that I love photography and do on location senior portraits all around the greater Dayton, Ohio area. I also want them to know that I am not the anti war protester from New York.

So, I wanted to figure out how to load up that little box with MY PICTURE. I searched WordPress several times. Then I searched the word avatar and looked around. Of course I had to sift through many blogs and web news items about the block buster movie Avatar.

Finally I saw a post by a business blog about the GRAVATAR web site. Gravatar stands for Globally Recognized Avatars. To my surprise, they did not list the web site URL or any instructions about it. It was just a short news item.

Here is what I found when I got there:

Gravatar.com and WordPress.com share the same user database. It’s possible that you registered a WordPress.com account (either for a blog or for an Akismet API key,) which automatically now gives you a Gravatar.com account. If you use your WordPress.com password to log in you should experience no problems using Gravatar. If you cannot remember that password you may use the forgotten password link on the login page to reset your password.

Akismet is a great plugin that eliminates 99.999% of spam comment posts on your blog. If you don’t have that you will be sorting through junk comment posts by the hundreds every day. I had already loaded up Akismet and had gotten an API key, but I never had heard anything about Gravatars. So, once I found this site and logged in, I was able to quickly uploaded a profile pic or avatar and now, where ever I post a comment instead of the blank face avatar, it shows me (not the fellow from New York) and I have a camera in my hands. It was easy once I got my password and logged on. It took a couple of hours for the Gravatar to load up throughout the internet, but when I came back from doing some work outside… I saw some of my comments with my gravatar showing.

You would think that there would be places that explains this stuff, but  there really isn’t. It’s stuff that you pick up little pieces at a time. The one business site that talked about it provided no links or instructions at all. It just explained that you could do it…..How? please. Anyway, if you are wondering where and how, hopefully this post will find you so you too can load up a Globally Recognized Avatar so you will no longer be that blank face thing staring out from your comments.

Here is the GRAVATAR web site: http://en.gravatar.com/

This is me: at http://www.photosbypdemott.com living in Germantown, Ohio

This is NOT me: at http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/21-5 no longer living in New York, but who has very many news stories posted throughout the internet about his anit war activities, arrest and trial, incarceration, and recent death (2009).

Exploring senior portraits around the country – What does senior portrait mean in your part of the country?

I’ve been using Google Alerts to find posts about “senior portraits”. As I follow the links that show up, it has been interesting to see what senior portrait means to different people and to different parts of the country.

Here in my part of the country a senior portrait is a portrait session for senior high school students that says something about them and that they can share with their friends and family in celebration of their graduation from high school. The seniors use their wallet sized prints to send out with their invitations to graduation parties for their friends and relatives. Parents also love to have images that they can put on display in their homes so that people who visit can see their son or daughter who may now be in college or in the military.

I followed one link for senior portraits in Texas and it was talking about “cap and gown portraits” of every senior in Texas. I don’t see very many cap and gown portraits in this part of the country, but perhaps it is important in Texas. I don’t know…. if you are from Texas, please tell me what you think senior portraits are.

A photographer that I follow in Canada, while doing a seminar in the states ran across some senior portraits that photographer were talking about. After several discussions about the senior portraits they were doing in the USA, he began to introduce the same concept in his community. Now senior portraits a so much more than a yearbook portrait or a cap and gown portrait in his community because he was inspired and took the concept where it had never been seen.

If you Google senior portraits images you will see thumbnails mostly of high school senior portraits, some relaxed and natural, others rather extreme, and still others that are studio head and shoulder portraits. But, then you will also see senior (as in older adults) images of another kind. These are the stock images of elderly individuals relating to one another for advertising retirement communities and such.

I see that people from all over the country visit my web site looking for creative senior portraits and pictures. I enjoy working with students in outdoor lifestyle sessions. I’ve enjoyed working with students that have a horse or dog that is important to them. I’ve also enjoyed just helping students just relax and be themselves in relaxed outdoor settings to capture natural, fun expressions that are who they are.

So, this post is a QUESTION? for you to answer with a comment. If you are a parent of a senior high school student and are considering what kind of portraits you want, tell me what you are looking for in a comment to this blog post. Even if you are not in the market for senior high school portraits, what would you want if you could be a teen ager again? What kind of senior portraits would you like to have. If you are a photographer, what kind of senior portraits do you enjoy creating sessions for for your clients?

Join this discussion, make a comment.

AERC & UMECRA are all about understanding your horse and enjoying the outdoors

Recently I have had several requests for photographs from endurance rides to promote the sport. Photographing endurance rides is pretty fun when the weather is not super hot and humid. What makes it fun is seeing riders enjoying their competitive partners out of beautiful trails in the national forests and state forests of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (that’s where I do most of my endurance ride photography).

This year I have photographed far fewer endurance rides. Our youngest son is preparing to go to Xavier University as a freshman and our older son is preparing to spend fall semester (Miami University of Ohio) studying in Africa. Usually, I consider photographing rides that my wife Patty chooses to participate in during the spring, summer and fall. However with everything that has been going on, we have missed several that she had hoped to ride. Even so, I wanted to tell you about endurance riding if you are not familiar with it.

On this web site, if you go to PROOFING GALLERIES then click on Trail Events / Endurance & Competitive Trail it will take you to various galleries of endurance and competitive trail rides that I have photographed over the past several years. What you will see is people having a great time out in nature and with their trusted competitive partner (their horse of course). Now if you are out west the experience of endurance riding is completely different because the terrain is completely different. Each region of the country has something different to offer. In Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky we have many rides in national and state forests and many times that means that as a photographer I am looking for clearings and scenic spots to captures images of the riders as they pass by. Sometimes it is close to impossible to shoot at 6am and 7am when many of the rides have their starts so I work with the ride manager to figure out places where I can get to where there will be enough light and all the riders will be passing by. As soon as I have most of the riders photographed I move on to another spot further along the trail to get another chance at each rider. As a photographer there are new challenges with every ride.

This ride started in heavy fog and mist. The early morning sun quickly burned away the fog and the rest of the photographs of this ride turned out great.

This year at Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington Kentucky, The World Equestian Games (WEG) will include endurance ride competition.

http://www.kyhorsepark.com/events-competition-info/2010-world-equestrian-games/

There will be endurance riders from all over the globe participating in the challenge of horse and rider of endurance riding.

Unlike the photos that I have taken, the World Equestrian Games Endurance competition may have spectators all throughout the 50 miles of trails around and through the Kentucky horse Park. The grounds are beautiful, but present a challenge in that many times the horses can see other riders in wide open fields (very different than the narrow trails through deep forests). In any case it will be great fun to watch for those who have the opportunity to watch.

Here are two web sites where you can learn more about endurance riding and check schedules for rides in your area:

aerc.org is the American Endurance Ride Conference

umecra.com is the Upper Midwest Endurance and Competitive Rides Association

One thing that Patty an I enjoy about endurance riding is that it is really about you and your horse. It’s not about how much money you have, how flashy your clothing is, who your trainer is and how much you spent on your horse. It’s about getting out there, riding your horse regularly for training, and competing with others looking to have a great time on the trail.

Peter DeMott

peter@photosbypdemott.com

http://www.photosbypdemott.com

Senior portraits with horse and dog and even donkey

Friday night I had a great senior portrait session with Ceili (Kay-lee). She wanted some pictures with her horse and some pictures with her dog. As Ceili went to retrieve her horse, we discovered another rather entertaining pasture ornament. It was Cledus the mammoth jack donkey. I had my wife Patty as my assistant for the session. This is a picture of the mammoth jack donkey with my wife Patty. Ceili’s farm is sort of between Middletown Ohio and Oxford Ohio, but for equine portraits (including senior portraits with horses and other equestrian sport photography opportunities, I will travel up to several hours for a session including mid to northern Kentucky, mid to South East Indiana, and mid to South West Ohio)

Since I specialize in photographing horses, I have a little trick in my iphone. I have MP3 files of horses whinnying that I sometimes play to get horses’ ears up or to get their attention. When I played it for the donkey it got his attention, you could see the interest building, several big breaths of air and WOW that donkey can bray. We had to move away and cover our ears it was so loud. He was looking about trying to find where on earth those other horses were and he certainly knew how to make it known where he was.

Ceili was ready with Stormy Jazz and we found a good place where the corn and a barn provided some open shade and a good clean background. Ceili has a great smile.

We took various poses, but at one point I put my camera down to my side and Ceili took a breath and relaxed more. She also reached over and gave her horse a big hug. Fast reflexes and up the camera went and click, click, I got the shot. It seems that in almost every on-location session, there are several spontaneous moments. Keeping your eyes open and being ready for whatever comes your way can lead to some great portraits. Of course you have to know how to set up the poses too. When I do my portrait sessions, I am comfortable with my equipment, my assistant knows what I want from the lighting, so that allows me to focus on my subject (not just camera focus) and be looking for that natural smile and spontaneous moment.

Jean, Ceili’s mom also wanted some relaxed portraits without the horse.

Last we moved to the front yard and took some portraits of Ceili with Nemo. The family has several beautiful german shepherds.

Even though it was very hot, Ceili was able to make a couple changes of clothes and didn’t get too hot. Around here, it has been raining often even with the heat so everything has stayed green. If you want portraits with your horse, please don’t wait and call after everything dries up and turns brown. We may be lucky this summer and have green and pretty all season long. That will also make good for a very colorful fall. Please visit my web site if you want to have your portrait made with your horse at your farm or stable. http://www.photosbypdemott.com . You can also send me an email at peter@photosbypdemott.com or call me at 937-478-6222. For senior (highschool portraits) and for anyone else who loves their horse and wants some great images to remember them by, I come to your farm or stable and will travel some distance if needed (you’ll need to pay a bit more after 25 miles). Hope to hear from you soon.

Equine photographer means senior portraits with horse

This Friday evening at about 7pm (weather permitting) I will be taking portraits of Ceili and her horse to complete her senior portraits package. Earlier I did a session with her best friend with lovely outdoor farm settings.

Lately the heat and humidity have been terrible here in the Dayton area, but gladly we have had consistent rain from time to time so grass and foliage have stays nice and green, ideal for on location and outdoor portraits. Ceile and her mom LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the pictures from the first session.

If you have an interest in an evening session (when things have cooled down some), now is the time to schedule an appointment. For equine (horse) portraits, after evening feeding is a great time when things have cooled down and your horse is content. It also gives you time to clean and prepare and the light is great then as well. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222. Please don’t wait for the grass to burn out and become ugly brown before you call.

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