Matt Schmidt is not exactly a stranger to SSCC. Known for his work in abstracts and his affiliation with Joe Miller, Matt was invited to sit in on our February abstracts competition. In his professional life, Matt is a computer specialist, and he brings that expertise into his photographic life as well.
As an amateur photographer, Matt covers a wide variety of subjects. In colder months, he often shoots indoors, mostly macro and still life, while in the warm season he shoots landscapes, action, and motor sports. Over the last several years, he’s been developing his skills with more artistic photographic interpretations, incorporating panning, multiple exposures, and montages into his portfolio. He’s also produced Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets to simplify what he calls “the tedious tasks” of post-processing.
Even though Matt works in a technical field, he’s taken quite an interest in art, studying the masters in both painting and photography. Now, he’s begun to apply those interpretations and compositional and lighting techniques to his photography.
Matt frequently judges and gives presentations for the Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs and its affiliates. His work as the NVACC webmaster means managing all the electronic entries and preparing images for the jurying process. His generosity with his time and enthusiasm is Matt’s way of “giving back” to a community that, as he describes it, “has helped him without reservation.” Matt’s also a member of his local camera club, the Northern Virginia Photographic Society, and has held a board position in NVPS for the last six years. He is currently one of its webmasters and has been the digital competition coordinator, PSA rep, co-VP for competitions, and the coordinator of workshops, education, and training. To hone his perceptions and abilities as a competition judge, Matt has attended the PSA Image Analysis course and gone through the extensive training in judging given by the Joseph Miller Center for the Photographic Arts.
You can see Matt’s own work at his web site: http://loreleistudios.com