Author Archives: Matthew G. Schmidt

By Matthew Schmidt “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, then starting on the first one.” — often attributed to Mark Twain in error Working my book like all my life.  I tend to grab something that …read moreContinue reading “SoFoBoMo 2016 – The Artist Statement”

By Matthew Schmidt “What was that you were saying, asked Fred?  I’ve got so much on my mind I can’t seem to get anything finished.” “If you’re feeling overwhelmed, why don’t you go take some pictures?  You know it relaxes you replied his girlfriend Kathy.” Today I am starting my SoFoBoMo 2016 project, …read moreContinue reading “My SoFoBoMo 2016 Project Begins”

By Matthew Schmidt “I can’t do that, exclaimed Valerie!  I don’t know enough about publishing to write a book.” That is the initial reaction of so many of the people I’ve spoken with about SoFoBoMo. The Solo Photo Book Month is a project that pits you against yourself.  Pick any contiguous thirty-one days …read moreContinue reading “SoFoBoMo 2016 Starting Soon”

By Matthew Schmidt “I missed Julie’s soccer game?  I thought they were playing here next weekend!” How many times has that happened to you?  You had plenty of time to schedule the meeting, but you just plain forgot.  A couple of months ago I missed the Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty exhibit at the …read moreContinue reading “6th Annual Abstract Photography Exhibit Open”

By Matthew Schmidt I’ve run into a number of photographers entering the Joseph Miller 5th Annual Abstract Photography Exhibit who are taking advantage of what I keep referring to as a Rounding filter. Although I am not especially fond of the effect, with the right source image it can produce a very appealing …read moreContinue reading “Rounding Action”

By Matthew Schmidt I was reading some blogs about photography this past week and ran across this article with a unique and effective tool for identifying editing flaws, particularly in smooth texture areas. The technique was not complicated, so I wrote an action to create the layers.  I included this technique in a …read moreContinue reading “New Actions as Editing Tools”

By Matthew Schmidt For all of you who never knew the wonders of a B&W darkroom, here is a video about the darkroom equivalents of some common Photoshop tools. This week is Photoshop’s 25th anniversary and Lynda.com has produced a free video demonstrating some wet darkroom techniques that are commonly used in Photoshop’s …read moreContinue reading “Darkroom Equivalents”

As photographers we leave behind a legacy of photographs which many times simply end up in an attic somewhere and are eventually thrown in the trash.  Some of those photographs are cherished by our children, but often those are snapshots of family members that don’t really stand up to the critical eye of a museumContinue reading “Grayce Wheeler – A Retrospective on the Life of a Photographer”