Charissa & Erik’s day started at the The Davenport Hotel where the girls got ready. Then the party moved to Trezzi Farm for the wedding & reception. The day was calm & full of sweet moments shared between friends & family celebrating the wedding of two amazing people.

You might remember that I took some engagement photos of Nikki & Clayton during our last visit to Hawaii. You might also remember that we missed the light on the beach by about a half hour & we ended up playing a round of mini-golf. I figured it would be a good idea to brave the wind and looming storms & give it another go. I’m so glad we did!

More wedding & engagement photos coming up soon, but first I have a more personal post. Over the past few weeks I’ve been playing around with some film cameras. It’s been fun seeing what they can (& can’t) do. It brings back a little of what I used to enjoy about shooting film before digital was even around—ok, it was around, but not very good. I still miss the darkroom, but I do have a great local lab so I can let that go—for now. Fortunately I have a few willing models at my disposal & enough of a back yard that I can change things up a bit.

The black & white photos were shot on a Hasselblad 501cm camera with C-41 b&w film (mmmmm square). Processing & scanning was done at R&R Custom Color. The color photos were shot with my Diana F+ toy camera with a Polaroid back on Fuji Instax film. Those were processed in camera & scanned by me. The only post processing on all of these photos were curves adjustments in LR & sizing for the web. There’s also a reason why you’re not seeing any regular 35mm film photos. It’s because they suck. Well, maybe not suck, but they don’t add anything different or better than my digital super-camera. My files from my Nikon D3 are far superior (& less expensive) to regular 35mm film.

I don’t know if I’m quite ready to introduce these in to my wedding workflow, but I definitely see myself shooting more of both cameras in the future.

In keeping with the theme of change, regular visitors might recognize a change to the looks of the blog. No more black. A new logo. A wider blog. Teal! While all the previous posts will use the same style of image viewer, the new posts will have all the photos in a line (no more clicking to view big photos!)

It’s all a part of the changes I’m making to my visual identity. In addition to the new blog look, I have new business cards, new deliverables, new brochures—more like booklets, a new bridal booth, & stickers! I’m trying to make my visuals represent what I do a little more clearly.

In addition to the new blog & other stuff, I’m working on a completely redesigned portfolio website. That’s next up to change, probably next week (after the wedding expo).

So please, if you see something not working properly, please let me know.

I have a new blog post coming next week that will feature my new identity completely, but if you want a sneak peak, come check out our booth at the Spokane Bridal Festival this weekend!

This was all designed by…me! I’m my own worst client, for sure. But I do still enjoy design even though photography has completely taken over. In fact, I’m interested in taking on some interesting design projects. If you think I might be able to help, shoot me an email!

When 2010 started, I never dreamed I’d be making this announcement. But over the last year, it’s a decision that I wrestled with to the point that it couldn’t wait any longer. Seems like in the spirit of renewal of a new year, it’s especially fitting.

Here goes…

Starting today, I won’t be going in to work anymore just because it’s 9 in the morning! I’ll be able to focus 100% on living out my passion of being the best photographer I can. It’s something that has become increasingly necessary as I’ve become more & more busy with photography. It’s been a gradual process as my job allowed me to move to part time a few months ago. The thought was that as the winter slows down, I’d pick up more hours. The thing is, it never slowed down. In 2010 I had the outrageous goal of shooting 20 weddings. I just shot my 30th on New Year’s Eve! 2011 is already guaranteed to be even busier than that!

I still love the company I’ve worked for for the past 6 years so I’m going to continue to work as a contractor for them to help with projects as needed. My boss, Ken, is hand’s down the best boss I’ve ever worked for. Ever. It’s mind boggling how supportive he’s been & how he’s afforded me all the time I needed to take care of my photography clients. I’m also incredibly grateful to my friend Jeff & his wife Britt who introduced me to this company and talked Gina and me in to leaving ‘home’ and  moving east of the mountains. It’s safe to say that Jeff’s taught me more about graphic design than all of my school combined. To everyone else I’ve worked with, thank you. I’m glad I’ll still be able to keep in touch by working with you as needed.

So how does this change things?

Clients: One of the biggest catalysts for this change is the desire to provide the absolute best customer service to my clients. So many times I’ve just run out of hours while trying to get things done. I’ve felt like I’ve just barely been staying afloat. Most of the time that’s meant I’ve made sacrifices to myself or my family so I could deliver to my clients. Though I haven’t had any complaints, I feel like I could do a better job of being more proactive on that end. I’m petrified of not giving a premier experience to any of my clients. I don’t know if that will ever change though. I’m 90% sure I’ll always feel like I could do more. This is what I’m most excited about.

Me: I can’t wait to do more. I’ve had a mega list of things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t had time to. I think Gina has a similar list for me, though I think hers is a little less photo-centric. No more excuses! I can’t wait to get started. Among the list of things to do is spend some time working on personal photographic projects (experiment!), teach photography (I love teaching almost as much as photography—stay tuned for more announcements!), & be more active in the local wedding/photography community. This is an open call to any locals who want to go get lunch, let’s do it. I have a couple set up this week. I’m ready for more! There are other things I’m looking forward to like being able to take on a few graphic design projects for friends & being open to those when the need arises. I’m FINALLY going to get to go running regularly again. I’m not to concerned about getting back to marathon shape, but I’m looking forward to being more active. Last but not least and probably least, is sleep. Hopefully I’ll start to average closer to 5 hours per night.

Family: Family. Family. Family. They’ve been 100% supportive. Gina’s NEVER mentioned one time that she wished for me to stay home or not be working. She’s never even asked me to help out with things like yard work (still have to figure out how to get out of that one) in lieu of editing photos I can’t wait to be around more often. I’ll probably still prefer to edit photos & build albums into the wee hours of the morning, but I can’t wait to exercise the freedom that being a business owner affords.

Well, this is a long post. If you made it this far, your name’s probably Gina or mom.

Lastly. Thank you. Thank you Gina. Thank you R, K, & G! Thank you clients. Thank you other photographers including SWPBers (this list itself is a mile long). Thank you fans—which still feels weird to say. If you’ve even once commented on a blog post, facebook post, photo or sent me an email, or asked a question, thank you. Sincerely, I appreciate it, like you’ll probably never know. I hope to someday meet & thank you if I haven’t yet. I probably need a separate post on this because I can probably go on forever.

In addition to all of  that, I also have a dozen ideas to grow Matt Shumate Photography that I’m psyched to try! Time to get to work!

So stay tuned for more exciting news.…

**For the best viewing experience, open up the first photo & use the left & right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the photos.**

Next up is the wedding of Alyson & Dylan at the The Jacklin Center in Post Falls, ID. I had a great time spending the day with Alyson & Dylan & capturing it with my lens. I’ve said it before, there are no two people more meant for each other than Aly & Dylan. It’s fun to be around them & be able to see those little moments that occur so frequently between them. I was fully expecting that, but in addition, being able to experience that with their close friends & family was extra special.

If you didn’t already know, Aly’s a bit of a wedding blogger herself. If you’re looking for inspiration or ideas, head over to her blog Keen To Be Seen where she shares what she’s learned & experienced as she was planning her wedding. There were a number of little details that made the day “theirs” including the beautiful floral arrangements & bouquets by Fleurtations Floral. In fact, the Jacklin employees said they’d never seen such a beautiful set up for a wedding. Congratulations Aly & Dylan!

Thanks again to Eric Strate who came along with me to shoot this wedding!

**For the best viewing experience, open up the first photo & use the left & right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the photos.**

Here’s Erica & Nathan’s wedding that I shot recently. After the ceremony we headed over to the Spokane Train Station for some portraits before arriving at the reception hall. We had a blast throughout the day as Erica & Nathan were surrounded by their families to celebrate with them. Congrats guys & thanks for letting me tag along on your most special day!

A bit of radness: over the past few months, Matt Shumate Photography has been featured all over wedding blogs on the web. I’m honored to be featured, as are my brides. I’d love it if you’d click on the links & leave some love over on the various websites that are willing to feature the weddings & portrait sessions of my clients.

The Wedding Chicks Post

The Original Post on my website

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The GSS Post

The Original Post on my website

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The Apple Brides Post

The Original Post on my website

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The Spokane Bride Blog Post

The Original Post on my website

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The Apple Brides Blog Post

The Original Post on my website

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The Spokane Bride Blog Blog Post

The Original Post on my website

If you’ve been paying attention you’ll notice that I haven’t had any blog posts in the last couple of weeks. Don’t worry—photos are coming. They’re piling up while I took care of some website business.

I’ve been needing to update the photos on my portfolio site & I figured it would be a good time for an entire redesign of the website since there were some changes I wanted to make anyway.

The major change is that with the new photo viewer the photos are much bigger. I was frustrated before that important details were getting lost in the smaller photos. Now they’re 50% larger. To match this, the overall website is is larger as well. Plus there’s new functionality with the photo viewer that allows the viewer to click on a photo & be taken to the blog post that contains that photo.

The other big change is the photo categories are a little different. The weddings remain the same, but now the other categories are based on whether the photos are of one person or several. I’m still not sold on this being the best solution, but it works for now.

There are other little changes to the site. Things like the white field now mimics the black background with the filigree design. There’s also a subtle shadow under the white field & photos.

Since I did the programming (I’m definitely no developer) in addition to the design, I could use some help with the quality assurance aspect. Please take a look & let me know if anything’s broken with the site on your end. Thanks!

Now to get all those photos edited & up on the web…

What a great weekend! It exceeded, not only my expectations, but my dreams as well. The booth was beautiful (more on that coming later) and ended up looking better than the design I had in my head.

Thank you to all of the future brides that I talked to over the last 2 days. Hopefully you’ll take a look around and see that we’re a good fit, if not I hope you find exactly what you’re looking for somewhere else—you deserve exactly what you want on your wedding day. If you look at my work on my websites and aren’t sure or have any questions, please send me an email on the contact page or give me a call—the sooner, the better as the dates are starting to fill up.

A very big thanks to Jamie & Regy, Justin & Nicole, & Naomi & Sean for entrusting me with your special day. I can’t wait to capture your moments.

Another thank you goes to the many vendors I got to meet at the bridal expo—especially to those I was only virtual friends with before finally meeting in person. I look forward to working with all of you.

From the Shumate family.

As you hopefully noticed there’s been a bit of a change to the website’s design. Until now, I lived with a blog design that was fine on its own but looked completely different from my other websites. As a designer I have always recognized that as a problem, but I finally took a little time to make the necessary changes. I’m so excited that I now have continuity between the splash page (which I also redesigned recently), the portfolio site, and this blog

I’m still tweaking some things, but please take a look around and let me know if you see anything that looks amiss please let me know. Thanks!

Click here to read part 1 where I discuss why I take pictures with my iPhone.

I get a lot of questions from people about my iPhone photos. Specifically, how do I get a certain effect or what apps did I use.

Here are the apps that I use to create my art and I’ll go through each of them and explain how i use them and what they do.

Pre Step 1: Camera (free)

I use the built-in camera app to take all of the original shots. Most of the photo apps allow you to capture the image with their app, but because I use so many apps and I’m not really sure which ones I’ll use on a particular image, I use the original camera app. I also trust it a bit more because it’s developed by Apple and they’d be in the best position to utilize wach of the camera’s features.

Step 1: Photogene ($2.99)

This is the MVP app. It’s basically a stripped down photoshop on your iPhone. Nearly every iPhone photo I post sees this app. This is my go to app for exposure adjustments, rotation/alignment fixing, cropping, contrast, saturation/desaturation, color temp adjustments, and simple borders. It also  has a vignetting feature that I’ll use on some images but there’s another app that does a better job on images with a lot of white in it. This app also offers sharpening but I rarely use it because it will introduce noise in to the image.

This app’s job is to get the photo as close to perfect as it can, so I can take it to another app for adding effects. The exception here is the border. I like to have that be the last step if I decide to use one so any vignetting or blurring won’t creep into the border.

Step 2: iRetouch ($.99)

I rarely use this app. It has numerous features, but when I do use it, it’s for the clone tool. It’s similar to Photoshop’s clone tool except that it’s tough to be precise while using your finger on the tiny screen. It does come in handy for those rare times when there’s a power line ruining an otherwise great photo.

Step 3: TiltShift ($1.99)

This is the sexiest of all the apps. It’s job is add selective focus to images. This app had some problems when it was first released, but updates have turned it into a monster. The blur comes by way of gradient, either linear or radial, the size of which is completely adjustable. The amount of blur as well as the type (gaussian or lens—the answer is always lens) are adjustable. It also offers blooming for specular highlights but it’s not terribly realistic so I just turn it off. The only thing I’d add to this app is the ability to adjust the gradient’s strength or the rate at which the mask turns from solid to transparent. Other than that, it’s perfect.

It’s so perfect that I have to restrain myself from using it on every image. Like all effects, it works best in moderation.

Step 4: Cool FX (Currently on sale for $.99)

Cool FX is an app developed by Tiffen. They are a market leader in camera filters as well as photoshop plugins. Naturally their iPhone app is very nicely done. This app offers a number of adjustable color and Black & white filters as well as the ability to add textures & grain to a photo. Once in a while I’ll use the color filters but mostly I use the vignetting which is a little hidden in the app. To use it you need to first select the basic color filter then adjust the brightness and amount down to zero. Then touch the little vignette button on the bottom middle of the screen. From there you can adjust the amount & softness of the vignette. It’s a very natural vignette, especially when compared to the vignettes I’ve found in other apps.

I just downloaded Cool FX’s cousin, Photo FX ($2.99). The main reason I got this app was for the Infrared black & white. It also has a nice vignette even though it works a little different than Cool FX’s version. It remains to be seen whether this app will be used much.

Step 4: CameraBag ($1.99)

CameraBag is the one stop shopping version of the photo apps. Rather than picking and choosing which filters to apply, it creates a simulated camera or film version in one click. This seems to be a favorite app of the master, Chase Jarvis. It’s quick, easy, and very well done.

The effects it offers are toy camera, magazine style, cinema style, mono, 1974, 1962, infrared, the ever popular polaroid, and the black sheep of the family, the horrid fisheye.

I’d say the styles I use most frequently are the holga, magazine, & cinema. For a while I stopped using this one because, due to the threats of lawsuits, they put the thick border on the sides. The polaroid filter was just changed back to the original style where the white border is thicker at the bottom so I can see myself using it once again.

Final Step: Mobile Photos ($2.99)

I use this app to upload my photos to my Flickr account. It works well and does exactly what I need it to. I’m able to add tags and place it in specific sets. In addition to uploading with this app it does a nice job of allowing me to browse Flickr.

Its own step: Pano ($2.99)

This is the only app that forces you to capture the original image with itself. This app allows you to create panoramas in the iphone. It stitches the photo live by giving you guides when taking the next photo. It works both in landscape and portrait modes.

I haven’t been able to get this one to work with the 3Gs yet. The larger resolution of the new iPhone locks up the camera after creating the panorama. The developer says it’s Apple’s issue and they’re working on a solution together. I sure hope so because this is a really nice app that works well.

Addendum: Other Tips

Macro: Before getting the new iPhone 3Gs which allows me to focus closely, I had to use a photo loupe by holding it up to the iPhone’s lens and taking the picture. It takes some practice but was worth the effort. Now that the new iPhone’s camera has macro capabilities, I don’t really use this too much.

Sizing: I try to keep the photos at a small size even though many apps will increase the photo’s resolution.

Why no zoom app? Since it’s not an optical zoom, all it’s really doing is cropping the photo and I already have apps that will do that for me.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about my methods as well as adding any other tips you find useful. If you have any iPhone apps you find useful that I didn’t mention here, please share. I’m always on the lookout for something new that will better my ability to create great images (especially if it’s an app that allows me to sync up a couple of off camera flashes).

As you may have noticed, the updates to my blog have slowed down a bit with regard to the iPhone challenge photos. I’m still taking the photos every day and uploading them to my Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattshumate/). The problem was that I noticed that a few times my entire front page was being taken up with iPhone challenge entries. While I enjoy the iPhone photos and the challenge it is, I don’t want it to bump my more interesting/important entries so quickly from the front page of the blog.

My solution is that I’ll create a weekly (or close to weekly) post that will include all of the recent iPhone challenge photos together. That gives you the benefit of being able to see them and helps me keep my blog a little more organized. Of course, if you’d like to still see them without waiting, feel free to head over to Flickr. So without further adieu, here’s the photos.

As usual, Click to enlarge.

Along with the photography taking up a ton of my time, something else has also been taking my time. I needed a website to which I would be able to guide new potential clients. Since I’m a designer I had a specific idea of what my site should look like and finding a template and plugging my images in didn’t really appeal to me. I took it as a challenge to learn to build my own website. In the past I’ve done simple sliced up websites, but those were impossible to update without redoing the whole site. So they’d get neglected and stale.

One of the reasons I needed this website was all of these new clients I was meeting knew nothing about me. It’s a lot of trust to put in someone who is photographing you without knowing anything about their work. After a week or so of solid researching, learning, designing, and building I now have photo.mattshumate.com up and running.

As with anything new, it’s not perfect yet. Since publishing, I’ve already found a few little things I need to tweak. I still need to add the VIP area which will allow clients to log in with their password and review their proofs. It’s close but not there yet. I also still need to update the look of this page and build my design website.

I have however updated the look of the splash page to match the look of the photography site a little closer.

**Special bonus points to anyone who can decipher the background pattern (It’s not that hard).**

Well then. Now what?

Please let me know what you think.

Should you be honest? Brutally.

Critique? Yup. It’s how we learn and get better.

Should you give me suggestions about the website as well as my photography? Absolutely.

Should you tell me what you like about it too? Please do.

Should you ask questions? If you do, I’ll answer.

Most of all, just leave a comment to let me know you’ve seen it—either here or through the contact page of photo.mattshumate.com

Thanks for reading.

-matt.

FOCUS

For the past month or so I’ve been on what seems like a sabbatical from life. I have almost entirely stopped watching TV and movies.

Running? Nope.

Sleep? Ha ha ha ha. I mean, nope. Well, 4 or so hours a night on average.

Computer? Yup.

Camera? Oh, yes.

I’ve always enjoyed photography. At PLU while studying graphic design I took a photography course and fell in love with it—especially the darkroom. I would spend entire days (literally) there getting a print just perfect. While my classmates were using a roll of film or two and ending up with one or two prints I was going through a half-dozen rolls and making dozens of prints. At one point my professor attempted to get me to switch major from design to photography. During the next semesters ended I was sneaking away from other classes (usually art history)and into the darkroom.  I loved the process of developing film and making prints. It was cathartic for me.

Unfortunately the darkroom isn’t really a viable option anymore. I can (mostly) however get a similar feeling on the computer. I love learning new techniques for digitally developing my photos in a way very similar to the darkroom techniques I once used. Additionally, I have a familiarity with software that I’ve developed in design that transfers over quite nicely to digital photography. Plus, digital is way cheaper and faster.

SHUTTER

Since the beginning of February I’ve been taking pictures—lots of them. When I wasn’t taking pictures I was editing or retouching them. When I wasn’t doing doing either of those I was trying to figure out how to take better pictures. Those hours have easily numbered in he hundreds.

I think it’s started to pay off. At least I hope it has. Though it’s just a start I feel like I’m on my way to building a respectable photography portfolio.

There is a very close relationship, I’ve found between design and photography. Line, composition, color, are all pieces of the visual puzzle that I’ve become familiar with and put to work in my designs. These all apply directly to photography allowing me to feel comfortable jumping from one medium to another. There is one major difference, however—light.

At first I didn’t understand my own deficiency. My compositions were interesting enough (i thought). There was a problem though. I was completely dependent on luck for my light. Whether it was sunny or cloudy I was shooting the same way and ending up with inconsistent results. Inside photos? Forget about it. Completely awful. I had no idea why.

I do now.

DEVELOP

I was light-ignorant. I’ve learned so much in the past few months about light. This was my weakness in photography (duh, it’s the main principle that’s different than design). In fact it’s now difficult to look at many of my old images without cringing, in horror that I once thought they were great photos. That’s why I’ve made a point to learn about and understand light and use it to my advantage rather than continue to allow it to be my photographic Achilles heel. While I’m not there yet I can already see a huge improvement and hopefully you can too!

Well, I’m finally back online albeit in a slightly different way.

Open Your Eyes

The online home for my work prior to this new venture was at mattshu.com. The problem is my hosting company disappeared and took my website and domain with it after attempting to double & triple charge me (I did some research and I’m reasonably sure the hosting company was run by a couple of losers from their parents basement in Florida—never use dts-net).

I waited so long to redo my website because of a couple of reasons. First, it was always just lower on my list than something more pressing (paying). Second, I wanted to do it right—and the right way is never an easy solution.

I think I’ve got it figured out now. My online presence will consist of three parts. These 3 distinct pieces will all link from mattshumate.com (coming soon, very soon).

Blog.
You’re here so obviously you know the blog can be found at blog.mattshumate.com. This is where I’ll post updates to my other websites, things that interest me in the world of graphic design and photography, my works in-progress, photo retouching befores & afters, and things of the sort. Who knows, there might even be a few music posts thrown in for good measure.

Design.
design.mattshumate.com will be my online portfolio for my graphic design work. Web design, print design, typography, logo & identity design, calendars, & downloads will be featured here. In general it will be an updated version of mattshu.com (may it RIP) that is focused on finding design solutions to design problems.

Photography
This website will be found at photo.mattshumate.com. Similar to the design website, it will contain my photography portfolio. My guess is this website will change fairly frequently as my portfolio grows. Just expect to see some beautiful and visually interesting photos.

I’m very excited to finally launch the first of the 3 websites (plus the homepage)! The others should come about very shortly. Look forward to future announcements and click on the “subscribe RSS” button at the bottom of the page (then add that page to your favorites) to be notified of any updates to this site.