GeoffSchmid's photostream

www.geoffreyschmidphotography.com

If you don't know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a fine art landscape nature photographer based in Seattle. I might be new to social media, but I'm not new to photography. I've been shooting nature seriously since about 1996 and running a profitable business since 2006 (less so since the economy tanked, I admit. I have a certain reluctance to expand into the common recourse to this phenomena which includes running workshops, selling instructional videos, e-books ... and I would flat quit photography if I had to do weddings!).

I like to use flickr to test initial reaction to new images. I value your feedback in deciding what becomes a part of my body of work, and also what gets tossed into the "round file". A side benefit of the process is that you'll see images of mine here that I won't post anywhere else.

The big print is the product I shoot for above all. I'm somewhat of a control freak and enjoy every step of the process, right down to cutting my own mats and framing my prints, which I produce in my office on wide format professional Epson printers, paying attention to traditional conservation, museum-quality standards. The mainstay of my biz, and my true pleasure, is to provide gallery-quality framed prints of my work for sale in gift shops, local businesses, at art shows, and on my website, www.geoffreyschmidphotography.com, and I sell images for stock/publication, mostly through smaller select agencies and Getty. I take pride in the fact that all of my work exhibits the kind of attention to technique and detail that, while perhaps not evident in web display, results in exceptionally crisp, vivid and clean prints at sizes of 20x30" and larger, and causes me a lot of pain hauling heavy gear into the backcountry. I'm proud to say that customers all over the world display my prints in their homes, offices, and galleries, and I've been published in newspapers, magazines, and brochures internationally as well.

I am an avid hiker, backpacker and climber that ventures into nature mostly for the solitude and therapeutic experience. A sherpa friend of mine once told me "if you have success in the mountains you will be successful in the valley", and I take this advice to heart. I support conservation efforts in spirit and financially as I am able, and I try my best to minimize my impact on the places I visit and to understand and respect the customs and values of the people that live there.

I've spent a lot of time in the past doing personal interpretations of lots of iconic locations. Nowadays, I'm into taking "the road less traveled" and honing my own personal style and vision.

I don't feel the brand of gear has much to do with the quality of my photography. No one is paying me to endorse their product at the moment, so I don't list the equipment I use. I'd be happy to discuss the technical stuff with you by e-mail if you want to compare notes.

I'm not independently wealthy, have rich parents, nor do I have a spouse that pays all my bills. I still have to work for a living!

As for post-processing, I use luminosity masks and targeted color adjustments but I don't do anything to add features, colors, or structures that weren't there when I took the shot, and that includes lighting effects and sky composites, for example. Call me old-skool, but I don't think it does justice to the effort I put into getting the shot to add elements that weren't there no matter how "stunning" the results might look, to use a term that's incredibly overused. If that's your bag, cool, it's just not mine, no offense intended.

You need to support the art that moves you, because the artist may be challenged to support him/herself nowadays - the field is very crowded.

Wish I didn't have to say this, but please note that even though I choose not to use distracting watermarks on all of my images here, I do hold the international copyrights to all of them. My photographs are also licensed and protected by the stock agencies that represent me in markets worldwide, who are contracted to take legal action for unauthorized use. In other words, please contact me to license the rights or otherwise use any of my work. I'm a pretty reasonable guy, but I've been burnt. It takes a lot of effort and work to do what I do and it's not right to allow it to be given away.

Thanks for looking, and I hope, if nothing else, you find inspiration for your own vision here!