january 2007 - Professional Photographer Magazine

Hollye Schumacher rummaged through the
refrigerator in her Scottsdale, Arizona, home
while speaking to an interviewer on the phone.
She’d drawn a blank when asked what type
of film she shoots, so she was looking for
whatever film might be stored there. Her
refrigerator sounded rather hollow on the
other end of the telephone. There was a
slight echo when she knocked over some
boxes of film. “Yeah, you can tell someone’s
into photography when there’s more film
than food in the fridge,” she laughed.
You don’t have to peer into her refrigerator to
know photography is no less essential than food
to Schumacher. She’s one of those lucky souls
whose avocation is their vocation. Schumacher’s
been passionate about photography since
high school, and at 29 she still gushes.
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“I feel like I’m affecting people in positive
ways and that’s the reason I do what I do.”
“I’m so happy I found my calling,” she said.
“Everything I wanted to do growing up,
[including] making a difference in the world,
has happened in wedding photography, oddly
enough. I feel like I’m affecting people in positive
ways and that’s the reason I do what I do.”
Comedian George Carlin is widely
credited on the Internet with the wise
observation, “Life is not measured by the
breaths we take… but by the moments that
take our breath away.” When Schumacher
read the quote, it resonated so deeply that it
became her personal motto. “I try to live my
life that way,” she said earnestly. “I’m not
religious but I’m definitely spiritual. I read a
lot of books about being in the moment.”
Yoga, meditation and living a conscious
life, Schumacher says, keep her skills sharp.
“In wedding photography you have to be so
present. If you lose sight of that, get caught
up in the technical details, you lose the
moment. Digging deeper into myself and
being in the moment have really helped my
wedding photography.”
It must be working. Schumacher’s
wedding portfolio is lithe, even lyrical. She
offers a nice mix of candid and posed photos
in color and black and white. She also
shoots infrared for its dramatic effect. “It
lends itself to capturing romance. It takes
away the color and leaves the emotion. It
seems more ethereal than black and white. I
don’t want to make people’s weddings a fairy
tale, that’s not the point, so I only shoot a
little infrared. But it offers more emotion
and power to the scenery. I think when people