Jen Schmidt Photography

02/09/2024

Cotton candy snowy sunset skies. There’s no place like home ✨

01/28/2024

New Zealand, you are a stunning treat for every one of the senses, but you are especially easy on the eyes.

01/26/2024

The world’s most dangerous bird. Thankful I was behind a railing, and that he was kind enough to let me get this shot before continuing to hide in the bushes.

01/01/2024

What a year. Recap to come, but tonight I’m going to relax with my loved ones and eat an ungodly quantity of molten cheese. Best wishes to you and yours in 2024. 🥳✨❤️‍🔥

12/27/2023

My favorite face no matter the time of year (or the year, 2023➡️2016) After a very scary dental surgery a couple years ago I am always a little worried about Addie going under, and today was another dental/minor surgery day. About seven years ago I took a photo much like this one and in a flurry of anxiety and hope last night, I decided to recreate it since the first one wasn’t quite perfect. Personally I love both, and how my puppy is aging gracefully (even if I do tear up a bit when I see the new white hairs on her muzzle). So grateful to for taking excellent care of my heart today, and (I’m guessing) loving on her before and after surgery because she is just so irresistibly sweet.

08/20/2023

Playing with drones and watching the sun set with , who is still the best person to weather a storm, a pandemic, or a full kitchen remodel alongside.

06/24/2023

Hope you’re all having a relaxing start to the weekend! After the trip of a lifetime (and I’m not being hyperbolic), I’m finally semi-recovered from a nine-hour time difference, two redeyes, never enough sleep and many pre-dawn starts in Rwanda. Leaving shortly to photograph a very special elopement today, and I have some other fun projects this week like my monthly visit with the shelter dogs at , a day with photographing a commercial space, and the dress rehearsal for Little Shop of Horrors, among others.

04/03/2021

So...this is kind of surreal. This week marked JSP’s TWELFTH (!) birthday. For 12 years I’ve been photographing all the best parts of life. Births, bellies, delicate newborns. Weddings (I’m not crying, it’s just been raining on my face). New puppies I couldn’t help but snuggle. Sweet senior dogs I also couldn’t help but snuggle. First birthday parties; hundredth birthday parties! Iconic mountains (I see you, Fitz Roy), glaciers, waterfalls, rocks, sky, clear waters. Powder days beyond my wildest imaginings. The libations that warmed us. Camels and guanacos. Bison and coatis. Snuggly koalas, and not-so-snuggly black bears. Sushi at the Sydney Opera House that was so fresh it made me close my eyes in ecstasy. There were photos that nourished my soul, too. Pet Network’s rotating cast of adoptable love bugs; Star Follies’ glittery dances; the great work of Pets of the Homeless, or that of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Documenting a little boy’s Make-A-Wish trip to see snow in Tahoe (I was inconceivably lucky to have that opportunity). I’ve created marketing imagery for ecological clothing brands and avalanche safety clinics. Raising money for a cause with photo fundraisers tickles me pink.

I’ve had a lot of adventures, and made a lot of pretty pictures. Millions. Photography can capture a moment in time that you will never get back, literally or metaphorically. Photography can also do a world of good. The past year has been hard, and it has made me think a lot about what I’m doing in this world and with my camera. The difficulty of the pandemic has clarified and distilled what’s most meaningful, the way I’m looking at life, and my purpose.

It’s a given that I’ll keep making photos for loving people who want their most precious moments immortalized, because that is important work. I’m going to keep searching for ways to do greater good, too. I invite everyone to join me because the journey is never-ending, and we need all hands on deck. We all have our special skills, and however I can use mine to impact the world in great or small ways, I will. It’s important, now more than ever. Thanks for twelve years of pretty pictures and beautiful memories. Love to you all.

01/30/2021

What a way to tell a story.

“As I pivoted this work into documenting social justice issues and endangered species, I focus on creating photographs that are dealing with important social issues and trying to inspire change,” he says. “And as I look at the work, I do feel that maybe, these photographs become windows. As time changes they begin to tell people 50 years from now, 100 years from now, what the human experience was.”
- Stephen Wilkes

Photographs taken over the course of 15 hours are combined in this historic image. "Sometimes it’s this magical serendipity that I have no control over but I am just present for."

10/02/2020

O hai! I'm still alive, and the sweetest little wedding I photographed this year is published! What an amazing pivot these two had to make in the midst of this pandemic and a shutdown.

Congratulations Sean and Felicia :D https://www.loveandlavender.com/wedding/us/felicia-sean/

05/05/2020

We are born of love; love is our mother. - Rumi
I can’t wait for the day when we can take pictures and capture all of life’s little moments together again. If you still don’t have a gift for the mama in your life, I do have a special for Mother’s Day mini-sessions (to be scheduled later this summer ❤️)—message for details. And happy almost Mother’s Day to all the strong mamas who made us, raised us, and love us to the ends of the earth! 💕

01/31/2020

This is Dindi. He’s a resident of the Healesville Sanctuary outside of Melbourne. Although he lives a very comfortable life, more than a billion of his wild friends haven’t been as lucky. Fortunately, the vets at the sanctuary and others like it are working around the clock to care for Australia’s devastated wildlife. It’s been amazing seeing the fundraising efforts of Australia’s businesses - from restaurants offering resurgence cocktails to wine lists sourced from deeply affected regions, to stories of children bringing their piggy banks to wildlife sanctuaries because they want to help. If you’re looking for a way to help, too, you can donate online at https://www.zoo.org.au/healesville/