Matty Blog

30 Mar

Posted at 20:24h in Shoots
matty_3.19.11_ 078 Meet Kent, an actor/performer out of the Bellingham area. I've actually known Kent for a little over a year prior to this shoot. He's a regular at the Upfront Theater, very entertaining to watch, and just a really great guy overall. The more you talk with him the more you like him. He also runs the Ryan Stiles Golf Tournament fundraising weekend every summer, which he had hired me to shoot. Kent needed to refresh his headshots, as it'd been a couple years, for his talent agency. He was looking for simple, very traditional headshots.  The first thing you'll notice about Kent as he walks closer and closer to you is his size. I'm 6'2'', 200 lbs., and his large 6'4" frame dwarfs mine. He's a guy that you would instantly want to cast into a dominate character role, as he has and edge to him aside from his size. Put a thick goatee on the guy and he's a harley rider who can step into the door of a bar and fill up the whole thing with attitude. Hence the reason why I very much enjoyed taking the photo style of Kent at the top of the page, it just seemed fitting. A little more drama, a little mood. The rest of the image styles are pretty clean, pretty standard, which exactly what Kent was looking for (showing a range from smiling to very serious expressions). We quickly shot a few photos outside, but quickly had to duck into the studio to avoid the cold and wind. Enjoy the photos, a lot more coming down the chute.

26 Mar

Posted at 18:06h in Shoots
matty_3.6.11_ 021 Tomasi, owner and designer of Tiare Floral Design, and I got together the other day to shoot some of his work for publication in a magazine (can't drop the name until it's published). Tomasi was contacted by the magazine and asked if he could design a couple floral arrangements which are made out of common flowers the average family can find at their local stores. Tomasi contact me to shoot the two pieces he created. The topic will run as a little feature article in the magazine. Tomasi's talent in floral design never ceases to amaze me. It's work that delights multiple senses, both sight and scent. The two creations he brought to the studio were simply fun, as he integrated lime and kiwi into the pieces. It was a fairly quick shoot. In less than an hour we shot both pieces from all proximities and angles, and called it good. Enjoy the photos, and look for Tomasi's article in a late Spring or early Summer issue!

22 Mar

Posted at 23:24h in Shoots
matty_3.1.11_ 314 I photographed Stephanie a couple weeks ago. She contacted me and said she wanted to submit some photos for Maxim Magazine's 'Hometown Hotties' contest. It's a contest Maxim holds every year, girls from around the country submit there photos. A large bunch of those make it to the magazine for readers to view and vote for their favorite. So, that leaves Stephanie and I to take some fun and sexy/cute images. Unfortunately, the PNW in the middle of March doesn't really lend itself to warm, outside shooting situations. That meant we had to fall back on shooting in and around my studio, which worked out just fine.

15 Mar

Posted at 13:06h in Behind the Scenes, Info/News

Just as the first beginner workshop was wrapping up, I already had people asking when the next one will be. The short answer to that is in about two months. I'll be presenting the first advanced workshop in roughly a month from now, so keep...

13 Mar

Posted at 18:05h in Behind the Scenes, Info/News
The second and final day of the very first beginner workshop has come and gone. The weekend went by SO fast, just whizzed right on by! Lots of information, lots of shooting, and a lot of laughs and smiles through it all. Today was a lot more applying all of the photography knowledge and techniques the students learned from the day before. Example above, Bailey, the brave soul answering my volunteer call for a subject to use for lighting examples. With getting exposure knowledge and techniques all squared away yesterday, the students got a taste of light and how important it is to our composition, and were able to apply everything learned yesterday to refine their photography with light techniques today. If you are interested in learning about photography from the beginning, or would like to up your game with an advanced class, please take a minute to look over the Matty Photography Workshops site!

12 Mar

Posted at 19:47h in Behind the Scenes, Info/News
What a great day of photography. The workshop went from 9am to 5pm, only breaking for lunch, so we got a lot of information covered. Everyone in the class is doing great. We have a wide variety of photography experience in the class - from people who have never really touched a DSLR to people who have used DLRs for a while now, but either shoot in automatic modes or do not fully understand how to manipulate the camera to create a wide variety of photography. It was so much fun today to see the students learning the fundamentals and then watching them successfully execute those skills just minutes later during the shooting sessions. I'd have to say the most fun parts of the day were the shooting adventures outside of class. After each major topic section we break for a shoot to adapt the newly learned material. The students quickly fell into a groove and were roaming around the Bellingham streets taking photos, working on the new objectives. A few funny moments as the group of photographers all stood in a line and took photos of passing cars, working on shutter speed techniques. The reactions of the drivers were hilarious, them not quite knowing how to react to their own personal paparazzi snapping photos of them. I love the sound too, 8 DSLRs just capturing away all at once. Below, the group getting some last quick pointers before going out to do their thing.

04 Mar

Posted at 19:28h in Shoots
matty_2.26.11_ 147 I spent a little time in the studio with Margie, an extremely talented harpist. I can actually attest to that as well, as I've listened to her play at concerts. She is the harpist for the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, pretty cool stuff. The harp is an amazingly complicated instrument, I couldn't imagine the years of learning involved, especially since I'm in the process of learning how to play guitar, which has a measly 6 strings. I get dizzy just looking at the sophistication of the harp. I don't know how many strings, and then there are a number of foot levers at the base to change pitch and who knows what else. The people who makes these things deserve a standing ovation, not to mention a musician who can master it.

04 Mar

Posted at 19:25h in Just for Fun
matty_3.4.11_ 021 Ok, so have to share a funny story with you guys. Took some pics, as you know, pics are always a good idea with any fish story, right (ok, that was cheesy). I recently purchased a new betta fish, Ruby. Ruby is well... mostly red, and full of spunk. For those who don't know, betta fish are quite smart, have amazingly varying characteristics from fish to fish, and can actually be trained to do tricks. People have trained them to jump out of the water or swim through a hoop for food (seriously, who are you people? Go do...things... just do something, you are making your fish swim through a hoop for it's food). From what I hear, most fish are mostly active at night and sleep during the day. The opposite is true for bettas, they tend to mirror humans when it comes to sleep schedules. So, I've had Ruby for 3-4 days now and I've been watchin' him, seeing how he's adapting, and he keeps me company as I work on my laptop at the desk here.

27 Feb

Posted at 16:27h in Shoots
IMG_2561 About a month ago, Lindsey was my first barista to photograph in the new Tacoma studio for Smokin' Hot Espresso. Working as the company's staff photographer, I am making sure we get a couple shoots in a month, including additional shoots which we call "punch card shoots." Smokin' Hot Espresso gives regular customers punch cards, which after purchasing 10 drinks, they get one for free. Each girl who works for the business gets their own personalized punch card with their photo on it to hand out to customers. So as new employees come onboard, they get to come down to my studio for a photo shoot so that we have photographic content for their card as well as any additional marketing material we may put together down the road. We've been doing the personalized punch cards ever since I started doing all of the photography for them about a year and a half ago.

24 Feb

Posted at 14:02h in Video
spaceTrekHeader Rewind to just this last weekend. Up in my Bellingham studio editing photos, a song on my iTunes played through my speakers that immediately forced me into a collage of mental imagery (it was a piece of music from the newish Star Trek movie). More specifically, a short video montage cut in a music video style and length, utilizing the Upfront Theatre main stage players as our Star Trek characters. Before the two and a half minute song finished, I was already picking up my phone to call Stephen Edwards, one of the main stage comedians. It took even less time for Stephen to jump on-board with the idea as I excitedly explained my vision over the phone. One lunch meeting later, the gears were greased with enough key shot concepts to go ahead with casting the project and scheduling a shoot date.

24 Feb

Posted at 13:52h in Events
matty_2.19.11_ 052 Last Saturday evening, I photographed a teen dance at the Whatcom Community College. It was quite the scene, I'd guess about 500ish teens shakin' their stuff. I also setup a photo booth for the kids to come over and get a fun photo. The photos were shot up on a GIANT screen via a live feed from my laptop to the projector, so everyone in the dance room would see them. As soon a I took the picture, it was projected on the screen and I sent the photo directly the the subject's email, allowing them to view their photo almost instantly on their phones. It was a pretty cool setup. Here's a couple pics showing the scene.

19 Feb

Posted at 15:41h in Events, Shoots
matty_2.17.11_ 102 Thursday night at the Upfront Theatre was the place to be. In front of a sold out crowd, the main stage players put on one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was a non-stop string of laughter that made an hour of entertainment seem like only 10 minutes. Ryan Stiles was there, performing with the last group of the 8pm show. For those of you that do not know, Ryan owns the Upfront. He started it up a few years back, and he's been regularly performing with the rest of the main stage players on Thursday nights if he is in town. I have a scheduled shoot with the theatre on Sunday, but I came to the performance to get some live shots, and I'm SO glad that I did. I stayed and captured both the 8 and 10pm shows, both providing plenty of laughs. The first show, an ensemble of the whole gang split into three groups. The second show, presented by The Project, a format hosted by Morgan Grobe and Stephen Edwards, "General Tso's Comedy Show." I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking, and stay tuned for more photos from B-ham!

18 Feb

Posted at 17:01h in Just for Fun
matty_2.17.11_ 471 I attended the Thursday night showings at the Upfront Theatre yesterday. Man, I think it could have been the best show I've personally seen performed there. I was taking pics the whole time and laughing the whole time. I had to catch myself a few times, laughing so hard when I was taking pics that it was chancing blurring the photos. Ryan Stiles was in attendance, and perform for the crowd last night with the rest of the players. Above, a little sneak peek from the late show. Morgan and his belly, a man not scared to put it out there. As you can see, even one of the guest comedians couldn't help but take it all in. Lots more to come from the number of shoots to come during the week in Bellingham. Just wanted to give you a taste. Stay tuned...

14 Feb

Posted at 16:16h in Info/News
mattyFront3 It's not really a functional postcard, just advertising material printed on postcard stock, and the standard 4x6 size. These babies are great and ready to be released into the wild. Clean and simple is the theme here. The front of the card at the top of the screen (I'm sure a fun surprise for the model, Myrriah), the back design is below. Gets the point across what I do, right? Leave the rest up to imagination, besides... 4x6 inches doesn't leave a lot of room to showcase photography if you clutter it up with all them fancy words like "creative" (eye roll). If any of you would like any for shops, friends, whatever, let me know and I can toss you a stack (I got a lot of these things).

14 Feb

Posted at 11:52h in Behind the Scenes, Info/News
matty_2.12.11_ 355 Just wanted to post an update... Had my first official newborn baby shoot last Saturday. For just being a couple weeks old, Makenna was a very alert baby! I'm sure all of the flashes popping off didn't help. Up above a BTS shot, Cherial comforting her new daughter. This was not a setup at all. We were shooting and Makenna started to get a little uneasy, so mom stepped in for a couple minutes. Lights happened to be in the right spot and I took a couple shots. That baby is a limp sack of potatoes in her are, completely relaxed. I'm in the middle of going through these and wanted quickly share two that I really like. These are the shots I took on a whim as Cherail was holding Makenna between setups.

11 Feb

Posted at 17:01h in Just for Fun
matty_2.10.11_ 090 5:30pm, primetime for commuters to robotically make their way home on the major roadways. A drastic, yet true statement. We've all been there, left with no choice but to hop in with the vast stream of cars as they all try to make their way home at the worst possible traveling hour. It really sucks to be in, however, it's another kind of amazing to be at a vantage point to watch it happen. Another things happens at 5:30 this time of year, and that is the sunset. This gave me an opportunity to do some long exposures, capturing all of the craziness traversing the Narrows Bridge. At the last overpass before the bridge, I made some pictures. Got there a little early so I could get some faint mountains in the background and maybe some sunset shots. The sunsets haven't been kind to me lately, all kinda just getting mucky and losing color. Thanks PNW! Here's my basic setup, shot most of these with a 100-400mm zoom, and a couple with a wide angle.

09 Feb

Posted at 14:46h in Shoots
matty_1.30.11_ 096 Say what?! Senior pictures... this time of year? Yep. About a week ago, I captured, what I can safely say, will be my last senior picture session for the graduating class of 2011. Emily, a senior this year, works on the yearbook staff (I guess a perk is that you can submit your photo SUPER late - I tease, Emily), and with great responsibility comes... great procrastination? I don't know, and didn't care, cause all it means is that I got to have another fun senior photo shoot. We shot in and around my Tacoma studio. Speaking of perks, one of the major perks of my studio location is being a part of a large group of work spaces located inside of a large antique mall. Three floors of really cool, old "stuff." (Ok, not trying to hijack my own blog post here, but I'm in a coffee shop writing this right now and a 50 year old dude just walked in, and he is rockin' a seriously large mullet. What's the deal with that? People, come on. Joe Dirt called, he wants his mullet back, and even he said that mullets are out right now. Ok, sorry, I'll focus, back to the post). Anyways, the studio and the surrounding space is filled with all kinds of shooting possibilities, and a huge reason why I selected this as my studio location. Not to mention it is right in the middle of downtown Tacoma, so walking outside the doors puts you in some serious metro shooting locations, including a graffiti garage I frequent, all within walking distance.

04 Feb

Posted at 17:19h in Behind the Scenes, Gear, Tips & Techniques, Video
IMG_0578 Life is all about time, or rather the lack of, right? Time is always the most scarce resource, even if you have all the time in the world, others around you, or even mother nature does not. As a photographer, "good light" naturally only happens in small fragments of time, and we counter this by using off-camera light, even when we don't need to in order to get even "better" light. I think we need to put all our cancer curing resources and task them into figuring out how to extend really nice sunsets to say... twice as long (I kid.... but seriously). Here is a behind the scenes video I cut together today, it showcases a little bit of the stuff we did while we were running around the island.

02 Feb

Posted at 20:32h in Shoots
matty_1.26.11_ 067 Stephen Edwards, a regular improv comedian at the Upfront Theatre, is starting up a new show. 'The Comedy Panel' will debut at the Upfront February 10th, at 10pm, and will feature Bellingham's favorite improv comedians to entertain the crowd. Stephen approached me a couple weeks ago, let me in on his new show, and wanted me to shoot the photography for the marketing. The main idea was that the photography presented Stephen as the host and the other comedy players as... well... the players. So how do you clearly represent this and identify people in a photograph without drawing arrows with labels to different people on the poster?