Amber Schmidt

Who am I?  I am wife to my “after” high school sweetheart Troy for almost 12 years now, mom to three of the most amazing tiny humans I have ever known, Owen (9), Ross (7) and Kyleigh (5) and Anakin the dwarf rabbit.  Our house is nothing, if not exciting and most days we collapse in bed at night far earlier than a late 20 something couple should.  No matter how crazy life gets… is our life and we love it.

Photography IS who I am.  Weddings specifically.  Although I can, have and sometimes still do, photograph babies, children, families and commercial work, my heart is not there.  I am still decent at it because all basic photographic principles still apply but truly, Photography HAD ME at “I do”.  With purpose and conviction I can truly say that we SPECIALIZE in weddings!  As one of very FEW photography boutiques in Kentucky that can claim that, you will notice that when you open our website you will not see a picture of a baby or child at the front and have to sift your way through to find information about weddings.  I shoot weddings, I LIVE weddings, I PIN weddings, Wedding…they’re kind of my thing!

My sweet hubby Troy and I have been married 11 years and we wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.  Life, is beautiful.  We are blessed.

Me… well I am a bit of a workaholic… my phone is permanently attached to me, my kids constantly say “Yeah we know… you’ve got a client!”, if you become an SS&G bride you will end up receiving emails from me after midnight and I would have it no other way.  Who needs a boring 9-5?  Not me!  We are fast food junkies, but truly I LOVE to cook… I hate to clean up after, but there is nothing like a home cooked meal.  Secretly I will tell you that if I have to eat McDonalds one more time I might end up in the funny farm! ICK.

I love: snowy days, rainy days, gray days, sunny days, summer evenings, cool breezes, the sounds of the ocean crashing into the shore, the sound of my children’s laughter, the way my husband yells “Marco” when he comes home from work and always expects me to reply “Polo”, I love   Black Friday and Christmas more than any person should and leave my Christmas tree up until February if I can get away with it!  I love flip flops and pedicures, and Mt. Dew.. yes.. sadly I am addicted.  I love black and white photos almost more than color and I love it when an image makes me cry YEARS after I shot it.  I love life and people in general and with the exception of a handful, feel like humanity, in general are GOOD people.  I love cookies and would rather eat anything with cinnamon and sugar rather than chocolate.  I love Italian Food and Mexican Food.   I love to bake, to sleep, to WASH Laundry but NOT to put it away.  I love the feel of FRESH sheets and a clean garage.  I LOVE my home! (truly, madly and deeply love it) I love to wake up and watch the duck in the lake out back and the way the fog often sets in over the water.  More than anything else, I Love my Heavenly Father.  If you are not religious, I will respect your beliefs but it will never diminish my own.  If you hear me refer to God I most often call Him Father.  That is WHO He is to ME.  Every single time I ask, He gives.  Every time I cry, He listens.  Every time I am down, He scoops me up, dusts me off, and sends me back on my way.  I know that I am special… because I am the daughter of a King and each day I live, I understand a little more, just how much, HE love ME too.

I hate mean people, watching my Cats lose, the words “birth defects” (its a long story… find my family blog if you want to know), Thai Food, and bad smells.  I cannot stand Dr. Pepper, super spicy food, and 105 degree days.  I hate that I sometimes stutter and mix up words when I am stressed… if I call you your husband or your twin sister’s name on your wedding day… I apologize… I promise I KNOW your name… my temporal lobe often fails me!  I am scared to death of Tornadoes.

I am, Stronger than I ever thought I could be, kinder than I often should be, thoughtful and wish that I had more time to SHOW people how much I care.   I am assertive, passionate, intelligent, brilliant (if I do say so myself!), witty, sarcastic, tender-hearted, wiser than my years, funny when I don’t even try, forgiving most of the time, hopeful of all things, full of faith, and most of all I am unwilling to quit.  I will never give up.  Starting a business with nothing, growing a business, and now owning a rather blessed and successful one is not always easy… but above all else… I rise to the occasion.

I am a woman who will always seek to do right by her fellow human beings and to follow the Commandments which my Heavenly Father has set before me.  I always intend to Do unto others… as HE would have me do.  I am a dreamer, a wisher, a hoper, a thinker, a believer, a planner, a DOER, a mover, a runner, a winner, a lover, a fighter, a crier, a survivor, a victor, a daughter of the Most High.

As idealistic as it sounds all I have ever wanted to BE in life is someone who changes the world. I am destined for greatness. My Heavenly Father has a plan for my life and I am just along for the ride….  the day my daughter was born, everything I have ever wanted to BE in life, instantly came true.  In all her imperfect, perfection, I can only hope, for the rest of my life, to be HALF the woman she already is.  I watch her and wonder how it was that my Father found ME worthy to be her mom and mom to my boys too.  I am blessed.

Honestly, to truly understand us, as people, you cannot exclude our kids.  They are the smartest, funniest, truest people we have ever known.  Often, we cannot begin to believe that we helped create these tiny humans who are everything we could have ever hoped for and more!

Ross is our middle child and is 7 years old.  He has been, since the day he was born, the sweetest child I have ever met.  He cares about everything and is very sensitive to the world around him.  He is a bit of a perfectionist (I have NO IDEA where he gets that from… rollseyes) and is also VERY intelligent.  He helps everyone he sees and especially his little sister.  The two of them are more like twins that normal siblings.  Ross loves his Ipod, the Ipad, the Iphone (get the point?)… Spongebob and Star Wars!  He also very much enjoys everything outdoorsy like fishing, camping etc.

While this business is my life, my children, are my whole world.  Now you understand the heirarchy

 

Why Weddings?

I always, ALWAYS cry when a bride’s daddy “gives her away”.  The point that brings big strong men like Daddies to tears at they turn and walk away, leaving behind his baby girl, standing there with the man who is supposed to take care of her for the rest of her life.  I just know that there is NO ONE else in the entire world who will ever love her like he does.  I often think of the fact that Troy will one day do that same thing for our daughter.   No one else, including her husband, will ever quite understand her life quite like we do.  I just hope that she finds a man, someday, who will be worthy of her love and not take the honor of being her husband lightly.  I try to hide behind my camera… but if you look closely you will see tears falling off my cheeks!  I cannot imagine what saying goodbye to your little girl will be like and every wedding night I come home and huge my daughter a little tighter knowing that in the blink of an eye Troy will be doing the same thing for her.  I, of course, will be blubbering on the front row.  I also happens to have a weakness for the ceremonial dances… yeah.. those hit me hard too.  LOL

I love everything about weddings.  Every long, hot, stressful, emotional moment of those days.  That is the FIRST day of the rest of someones life… and those someones just chose ME to document that on “film”… that is an honor and a privilege.

I thrive on the adrenaline rush that a wedding day brings and look forward to each and every one.  I love the challenge and the reward that comes when I receive the email or note thanking us for being their on their wedding day.  There is no other life event quite like a wedding and although I will only have my own wedding ONCE, I am very content to enjoy one nearly every weekend for someone else.

 

“A thing that you see in my pictures, is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.” ~Annie Leibovitz

This is truly how I feel about my photographs.  When you look back on your photos I want you to be able to close your eyes and go right back to those minutes of your life.  I want you remember just how the freesia smelled in your bouquet and how the silk of your gown felt against your skin.  I want your body to warm as you remember the flushing in your cheeks during your first kiss and the warmth of the sun on your face.  I want chills to run down your spine as you remember just how he held you during your first dance.  I want you to laugh at how you smashed cake in his face when he wasn’t expecting it.  I want tears to fill your eyes when you see the images of you dancing with your Daddy.  I want you to GASP and have your breath taken away at the sensual, sweet images of yourself and your husband.  I want the images to jump off the page and grab you by the heart and NEVER let go.

One thing that you will notice about my images, especially on Facebook and our blog.  You will rarely see them described as things like “Nice” or “Pretty”.  Most often people’s first reactions are somewhat stunned and include words like “Amazing”, Fantastic, Gorgeous, Stunning.  To tell me that my images are “nice” is almost a bit insulting.  If my images are only ever NICE… then I will close my door and not photograph again.  I am not content to create NICE images.  I want to create images that touch your heart, images that truly tell your story.

My all time favorite Image? I don’t know what it is but this image just calls my name.  No matter how many weddings I shoot at Talon this one is still “it” for me.  I get chills every single time I see it.