Matt Schmachtenberg Photography

Hi! I’m Matt, a Virginia-based wedding photographer. Documenting happy lovers on new adventures together, whether alone on a windy mountain-side or surrounded by 100 of their dearest friends, is what gives me life. I believe in real, raw, creative, unposed moments and I always strive to leave weddings feeling like my couples + their surrounding communities are my close friends.

I know things have been weird in wedding land for the past couple years thanks to COVID, but I’ve been very grateful to be able to continue shooting sessions + intimate elopements in a safe manner throughout this uncertain time, and would love to document your love in light of all the craziness going on in the world currently.

I fell in love with APW because of their dedication to helping couples make weddings “beautiful and meaningful and fun.” In my experience, most other wedding planning sites focus on the “beautiful” and let the “meaningful and fun” fall by the wayside. My main goal as a wedding photographer is not letting couples’ authenticity + personalities get lost in pursuit of perfection & beauty.

Also – the most important thing for me, no matter the specifics of the wedding/couple/celebration, is always connecting with my couples. I don’t want to be just another “wedding vendor” or want you to just be my “wedding couple.” I want us to be friends working together towards the shared goal of creating beautiful documentation of an important moment in your lives together, and I want to be a part of your planning process the entire way. I think most APW couples share this philosophy.

Adventurous, unintrusive, and focused on capturing authentic, natural beauty. My main goal at weddings, elopements, and sessions is blending into the background and letting things happen without me carefully orchestrating everything.

When it comes to portrait time, I emphasize actions over poses. There will be lots of: talking, games, laughing, snuggling, and reflection on your relationship. There will be not a lot of: meticulous hand placement. I’m looking to foster genuine emotion and authenticity, which is not easy if I’m telling you “ok, now turn your head 36 degrees east and move your hand up.. down.. up.. down but also maybe left?”

In my eyes, wedding days should be fun, real, & reflective of your personalities, not a day-long photo-shoot.

Going on outdoor adventures! Hiking in ethereal, foggy places like Seattle & Scotland (because I’m secretly a woodland deer, AMA). Going on questionably long forest service road bike rides that beg the question “is this actually fun?” Finding further scientific evidence that our cat is, in fact, a dog in disguise. Millennial things like eating avocado toast. Being the living human embodiment of the question “who even likes going to see sad music live?”

My favorite genre is obnoxiously long books that paint vivid, detailed worlds. Two recent favorites are A Little Life and the Overstay. I generally read one of these and then promptly forget about reading entirely for the next year or so. It’s a thing.

My favorite movies are very dependent on interesting cinematography. A real shocker coming from a photographer! Marriage Story was a recent favorite.

I bless the rains down in Africaaaaaaaaaaaa