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. 
Chicken Chase Pioneer Endurance Ride – Recap and photos 2010
Each year the Chicken Chase Endurance ride is our rite of spring. Patty starts getting excited and tries to ride her horse on the weekends in anticipation of the first Endurance ride of the spring. Trailer gets packed up and ready, etc, etc, etc.
The weather during the ride was great. Many trees were in blossom and the grass in the pastures where we camped was lush and green.
On the first day of the ride, Friday, I was taking pictures of the riders coming into the first vet check. To find a good spot, I climbed a very steep hill for about half a mile and I was able to take pictures of about the first half of the riders when it started raining. I waited it out for a bit and thought it was over, but then there was a bit of a downpour. At that point I covered my camera with my down vest and headed back down the hill.
A link to my pictures from the ride is at the end of this post. Daniel is another photographer that was there, but he was not able to shoot at all on the biggest day which was Saturday. Friday’s ride was tuff with steep hills and longer miles (30 miles and 55 miles) This year the turn out was low however and even on Saturday there were only about 30 25 mile riders and 30 50 mile riders. Normally this ride is well over 100 riders. Hopefully some of these pictures will inspire some of you to come to this well managed ride next year.
One thing that I notice at endurance rides is that in most cases as the people ride by me, they are smiling big. Sometimes they have a look of concern or concentration on their faces because they are trying to anticipate and figure out how their horse is going to respond to me firing off my camera as they ride by. But other than that, everyone is smiling and talking about how beautiful the trails are.
This last trail picture is of my wife Patty on her horse Cocoa. In most cases the horses are at a fast trot or sometimes a canter as they pass by me on the trail. These still pictures do not show you just how fast these folks are booking as they pass by.
In the evenings before the sun went down, I walked around the camp and took various portraits. The ideal light just before sunset provided that soft quality that made for great portrait taking.
It rained some that night, but had stopped by morning and the day was very pretty. Thank goodness it did not rain hard all night long because our tent had about ten drips. Make a note, along with rain gear for my camera, I need to get tent seam sealer and retreat the seams on the rain fly of the ten. I was able to take pictures of almost every rider on Saturday, however it was too nice out. You see when the sun gets bright in the sky it becomes more difficult to find places with even light in the forest. Light becomes patchy with horses running in and out of shadowy and bright areas as they come down the trail.
At the dinner and awards on Saturday evening one rider came to me and asked if I could take some portraits of her dog. Her dog would be going into surgery next week for the removal of some cancer, but he is an oder dog and the cancer would soon have its way with the dog. I said sure and we were able to do some portraits. At first she said, I think just the dog, then I suggested that we do some with her in the portraits too.
LINKS to more pictures from the Chicken Chase Pioneer Endurance ride.
If you participated in this endurance ride, if you know someone who did, please send them here to look at the pictures. Also at the top of the proof page, there is a coupon code listed for 30% off for all orders placed within 30 days of the event. If you have any questions and you would like to talk with me about them, please feel free to give me a call at 937-478-6222
I also have some images posted on facebook. If you go to my business page, you should be able to “tag” pictures with who they are and the pictures will be posted to that person’s wall.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=164475&id=152303558213
Pictures from the camp area by Daniel are available at his web site here: http://www.picturesdanieltook.com/Endurance-Horse-Rides
To learn more about endurance riding as a sport go to the American Endurance Ride Conference web site here http://www.aerc.org and explore.
I also took some video clips at this ride that you can watch here (Just short little video clips to give you a taste of what endurance riding is about):
Last of all, I posted an album of some of my favorite images on my facebook business page. If you go here you are welcome to tag any photos of people you know so that these pictures will go to their wall (just please leave my information on the photos) and I welcome you to become a fan of Peter DeMott Photography if you like.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=164475&id=152303558213
Chicken Chase Endurance Ride in Clark State Forest in Indiana
Beautiful Trails, Great People
Every year in the spring one of the first Endurance rides that Patty goes to is the Chicken Chase Pioneer I,II,III ride. The ride is near Henryville, Indiana and is managed by Amy Whelan. The host for the event is Bill Wilson whose farm is used for the vet checks, for camping and for everything else that goes on. Almost always there are trees in bloom and the trails are wonderful.
April 16, 17, and 18th 2010 Chicken Chase Endurance Ride
This year my wife and daughter plan to participate in all three days of the event. As a rider you can choose whatever you want to participate in, one day, two days, or all three days, this is assuming that your horse is sound and able to complete each day. Endurance is a true team sport in that it is up to the horse and the rider to pace themselves such that when the horse arrives at several vet checks along the way it can pass the various tests to proceed. If the horse is out of shape and worked too hard the vet can “pull” the horse and the ride miles will not count. If something happens on trail and the horse becomes lame, he is pulled from the event.
Endurance riding is a great time
Here are some photographs from the Top of the Rock endurance ride at the same venue from last year. I want you to notice that all these riders look like they are having a blast. That is one thing about endurance riding and other trail events. Everyone seems to have a grand time participating in this sport. For more information about endurance riding go tohttp://aerc.org and explore the site. To see a listing of the competitions throughout the country and the world click on “competition” then “schedule” on the site.
These are still photographs, but understand that these folks are tooling down these trails either at a fast trot or sometimes at canter. I try to warn them I am there so that their horses don’t get surprised and spook, but as they come on by I have to move off the trail and get out of the way as they rumble by.
Funny thing is, if the rider is totally exhausted and running on empty, there is not someone telling them then need to pull from the event (if someone is experiencing heat exhaustion or something like that, of course that gets noticed and people step in). Most rides have limited distance rides of 25 miles, and 50 mile events, and in some cases 100 mile events are scheduled at a ride.
This year another photographer named Daniel will be shooting on Friday and Sunday and I will be shooting and selling images from Saturday. I plan to shoot for stock photos on Friday and I am going to experiment with video clips as well. I’m excited to post them here on my blog so that people interested in this sport can see more of what it is about. I will also be able to put the clips on my Smugmug proofing site for purchase via download and you can then embed them on your site, share them on facebook and load them on Youtube for your friends and family to see. This should be great fun and an interesting experiment.
Equestrian Trail Event Photography
My goal as the photographer for the ride on Saturday is to try to capture trail photos of every rider in the 25s and 50s as they pass me on trail. Sometimes this is difficult because riders will pass me in bunches of 3 to 5 riders such that some riders are blocked by the lead rider and then zip by. If I can get to two places where both the 25s and the 50s pass by sometimes I can get two shots of most riders giving them more images to purchase. After shooting all morning I have the images processed into 4x6s for sale at the event that evening and when I get home I process the images onto my web site so people can purchase 5x7s, 8x10s and larger prints, shirts, mousepads, and other items.
Come and See What Endurance Sport is All About
You are welcome to come an watch an event if you are not sure if you want to participate and some rides have novice or fun rides for beginners. Riders are more than willing to help you along and show you the ropes if you are a new participant. Don’t be shy, but also it is important that you NOT join up with the very competitive front runners who have very fit horses and lots of experience. If you try to keep up with these folks on a horse with little or no training you will have a bad experience. Many riders like to hold back and start slow so that they can enjoy the event and pace their horse to finish. These would be good people to stay with at your first couple or rides until you know how they run and so that you can get both you and your horse into shape for this type of event.
To Finish is to Win
There is an old slogan that used to be mentioned lots, ” To finish is to win”. Any newbe should have this in their mind on there first several events. Endurance riders know how to have a great time competing. The challenge of knowing your horse, navigating the trails, and enjoying the ride make for great fun for everyone involved.
At the vet checks and back in camp, I do the best I can to make some candid portraits of horse and rider pairs. If you see me at your ride, please ask for portraits like this if you would like one. I’m already there, so I don’t charge extra to take the portraits. I may have you move into better light or to an area with a nicer background, but for a portrait like this it is a very small price to pay.
After a long ride, it’s time for a tender touch and a long nap.
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.
The Difference Between Video and Photographs
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, F Stop Beyond by Host Ron Dawson, and I heard a photographer talking about the difference between video and still images in a way that really caught my attention. The photographer asked, “How many times do you typically watch a movie?” The answer is usually ONCE. If you are really intrigued, you might watch a movie several times, but that would be more unusual than the standard answer of ONCE.
Now, when you look at an intriguing or exciting photograph, how many times might you look at that? 10, 20, 100 times perhaps. If it is a portrait of someone you love you may look at it every day of your life and appreciate it each time you see it. The photographer talked about how photography CREATES AN ENDURING MOMENT. Wow, an enduring moment. What an outstanding way to describe a photographer’s challenge. I’m not just “Capturing an image” or “capturing a moment in time” as many digital photographers describe what they do. As a photographer your goal is to create an enduring moment.
This reminds me of a photograph I took some years back. It was a picture of the finish of the last day of a trek across the state of Michigan on horseback. The riders started at a camp that touched lake Michigan then when they completed a week of 50 mile endurance rides across the state it ended at Lake Huron. The tradition at the finish was to go into the lake with your horse to celebrate the ride. It was great fun to watch as many of the horses had never encountered waves before. One rider’s helper during the week was a grandmother and she was encouraged to join into the fun by coming into the lake with horse and the rider. Two other people helped her to get out into the water (she was very unsteady in the light surf) where the rider was standing with her horse. When they got to the rider for only a moment, they all joined hands and raised there hands in celebration of the accomplishment. I captured that joyous moment in a spectacular photograph.
Several months later, I had an opportunity to watch video recaps of the week including this spectacular moment. Only it was not that spectacular in the streaming moments in video. That spectacular moment was there and gone and there were other moments to view. The power of the moment disappeared in video. It was a small blip and then it was gone. Now I know how to describe what I do with photography.
As a photographer I create ENDURING MOMENTS which can be enjoyed again and again and again by viewers. This is of course not a criticism of motion pictures or video, but it is a significant difference for sure.
Do you have an example of an ENDURING MOMENT; a photograph that can be appreciated over and over and over again?
