Peter DeMott Photography » Family Portraits

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

Peter — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:00:01 +0000

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 Technology changes quickly and computer media becomes corrupted or out of date as well.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.

Environmental Family Portraits at Christmas

Peter — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:56:16 +0000

Patty and I and our family had a lovely time with Pam and Andy and their family Christmas day. In the morning we opened presents at home with our kids here in the Dayton area, then we drove to the Cleveland area first to visit my wife’s parents who are currently both in the hospital. After our visit, we went to Pam and Andy’s (Pam is my wife Patty’s older sister) for a beautiful visit and dinner. But, before dinner they had asked if I would bring my camera and take some family portraits for them.

I think the hint of Christmas is a wonderful way to be in the mood for Christmas year round. Since the portraits were taken in their own home, they will also have a more special meaning. I also took some in their formal family room without Christmas decorations showing.

I showed them a stretched canvas print that I had made for one of my senior high school student portraits so they could see what it might look like as a canvas print. It can make portraits like these into wonderful works of art. I also like to show samples so that people can understand size a little better. The canvas print that I showed them was 16×24 which is a nice starter size for framed display on a wall. It is very common for people to think that an 8×10 or 11×14 is a large wall portrait, but those are considered more for desk and bookcase display and usually look very small once held up to a wall. I even lend various sized print samples to people to allow them to hold them up where they intend of making their display so that they can see how various sizes appear. It is not something that you can do from memory. It’s kind of like bringing paint samples back from the store to hold up against various pieces of furniture to make sure they compliment what you already have.

This is Pam and Andy.

This is their lovely family.

The other images from the session can be seen here: Pam & Andy Family Portraits

What do you do if someone “hates” to have their portrait taken

Peter — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:36:05 +0000

As a photographer here in Ohio doing senior portraits, equine portraits of horse owners with their horses, and children and family portraits I have found a couple of things helpful in making people more relaxed in front of the camera.

1) Most of my work is location photography so I am at a park or home or stable chosen by the person I am photographing. Whenever I feel that someone is becoming uncomfortable we change up what we are doing. In a park, we walk to another location. At a stable we do some walking shots with the horse and owner. Moving around is a great way to help people feel less confined and stiff.

2) As I am shooting, I look at the back of the camera and comment about how great the person looks, and that I am getting some great stuff. These are honest comments based on the fact that I have captured some great images with relaxed smiles. Sometimes it’s good to ask them for “no smiles for now” and that takes the pressure off them trying to be so perfect, then a little joking and on comes that perfect relaxed smile.

3) Working on location I shoot with a long lens. I have a 70-200mm F2.8 lens that is my work horse. Because I am not in a confined space of a studio I can shoot from a very comfortable distance of 15 – 25 feet away.

4) Rather than move people around much, many times I demonstrate the approximate pose that I want them to take. Then I say can you do that for me? If it seems awkward I suggest that they strike a pose that feels comfortable to them, then I can fix little things with some simple instructions.

5) Sometimes a little activity can take a persons mind off having their picture taken. At the PPSO picnic we asked this young lady to sit on the swing and just relax and do whatever she wanted. As I was shooting, I was commenting on the back of my camera. The combination of the distraction of the swing and the frequent comments about how lovely the pictures were turning out created an atmosphere where she could be herself, have fun, and provide us with great portraits.

6) I like to shoot portraits at my slow motor drive speed and fire off several shots in a row when expressions are changing naturally. Later I can pick out the images that, to me most accurately depict the persons natural expressions.

HELP PORTRAIT Dayton was fun and a great learning experience for all involved

Peter — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:19:17 +0000

December 19th was the date for HELP PORTRAIT Dayton. As this was the first time for Dayton and the rest of the country, we had no idea of how many people might show up. Would we be completely overwhelmed? Would there be people waiting out the doors or would we be very slow. As it turned out, we were very slow until after 12 noon. So after three backdrops and light set-ups were in place, and tested we sat about for a while wondering what to do.

After about an hour, we just started to play. First we took a group shot with someone’s fisheye lens:

This is everyone that was there at the time including helpers, photographers, make-up and friends.

I took some more portraits for fun trying out the light set-up and thinking about what I would need to set up the same sort of portrait lighting set up in my country barn studio in the future. We had a white seamless paper background and two black backgrounds. At about noon people started coming in for portrait sessions. First one family, then a couple more and then several more. We all had great fun creating and GIVING the portraits away with no payment expected whatsoever. One father grabbed Jordan Begley as he was about the leave, “Hey, I want to thank you folks for doing this, this is our first family portrait….we’ve never had one and this means a lot.” Jordan came over and shared his conversation with me saying that the oldest boy in the family was 9 and he was so surprised and touched by the conversation.

Well as it turned out we had about, I think 50+ people representing 6-8 different families and since we were by no means swamped, we were able to come up with variations and sub-group portraits of each family. But, the originator of this event suggested that we not publish actual families from the event to respect their privacy.

The following images are portraits of photographers and friends helping at the event before actual families started showing up. The beginnings of some good friendships were started and everyone helped everyone else try out various lighting set-ups and learn more about photography together. Some of us were outside of our comfort zones and it was a great experience for all. THANKS everyone who helped and for all the sharing of knowledge at the event.

HELP PORTRAIT initiated by Nashville-based photographer Jeremy Cowart

Peter — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:33:05 +0000

I was reading my recent issue of Professional Photographer magazine and on the last page they have a new thing called “good works” where they tell about photographers that are giving back to those in need. The reason that I am posting this here is to pass along the idea to my many photographer friends who may read this blog. I was able to look up Dayton and there are about 4-5 people discussing ideas for Dayton already. I joined that group and I will see if I can participate in what they are planning. If not, my wife Patty suggested that she could find some people pretty easily through her connections as a teacher.

Here is the concept quoted from the first paragraph of the last page of Professional Photography Magazine Nov. 2009:

“Help Portrait has a simple premise–just connect. On December 12, photographers will grab their cameras, photograph people who cannot afford a portrait session, print the images, and deliver the prints to the subjects free of charge. That’s it. Pick a population. Take pictures. Give away the images.”

Here are a couple of links to the Help Portraits web site and some example videos that I found inspiring. This is not about making an event to promote any one photographer and it is not limited to professional photographers. Anyone who enjoys photography can participate in the project. In fact in the one video they show make-up artists and others helping in the project. Watch the videos and consider if you would like to participate.

http://help-portrait.com/#/about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3BFwgf1f2I&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9tu1XrBn3A

It’s easy to join the NING website to begin to connect with others in your area that are interested in this project. I was able to search for Dayton and found this discussion group already going.

http://community.help-portrait.com/group/daytonoh

Update: The group for Dayton is also now a GROUP on Facebook. If you want to help in any way visit the group page here:

Help-Portrait Dayton on Facebook

Jen and Ken Damon’s Family Portrait Session at their home in Miamisburg

Peter — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:55:27 +0000

We were all set to meet at the Cox Arboretum for their family portrait session when we realized that there was a garlic festival going on so it would have been a major hassle to get into the park. My wife suggested that we consider doing the session at their home in Miamisburg. Last spring they had beautiful new paver walk and patio along with landscaping done at their home.

When I arrived I checked things out and set up some chairs by their front porch. As you can see it worked out wonderfully and Jen said later that she felt even better that it was at their home. It gives it a very personal feel. This is a one-of-a-kind piece of art that they will cherish for years to come. Ken Damon is the pastor of a Baptist church in Oakwood. Jennifer is a 5th grade teacher at Mark Twain School in Miamisburg, Ohio.

The other thing I found is that the love in this very close family just shines through. Posing was easy and relaxed and everyone had a nice time, even Kyle and Joel who very seldom have their pictures taken. Still hoping to arrange for Kyle’s senior portraits. He wants to wear the crown from being elected the king of the homecoming court at Miamisburg High School. Sure we can do that for part of the session.