Matty Blog

30 Aug

Posted at 18:40h in Shoots
matty_8.20.10_ 084 Meet the Williams family. I had the pleasure of shooting the group a week or so ago in their local neighborhood park in Federal Way. They were fun to shoot, very easy-going family. The park was quite pleasant, it gave us lots of options for some nice compositions. I will also run with places that give my subjects a prop to around with, it gives them something to do, and makes the subjects look way more natural posing for a photo. Even if that means just a tree, like below, it's a good place to start our left most subject. Cause five people just standing around in the middle of a field is just kinda... silly. Had a nice sun setting, so used it as my back light for a bit.

25 Aug

Posted at 13:34h in Gear
matty_8.21.10_ 004 Very, very rarely do I come across a location shoot where the ever adaptable light stand just can't cut the mustard when I need to hang a light. The only time I find myself unable to use a light stand is when I simply don't have enough room to squeeze a light stand into a composition due to various constraints. It can be tricky, and at times, you end up having to change up your shot to a less ideal composition to acoomodate light stands where you need them. Last weekend, I didn't have that option, I couldn't change up my shot even if I wanted to. You've heard me say it many times... I love location photography. It's always something new, fresh, and pushes your photographic work to a dynamic range whether you like it or not. To be able to walk on to a location, one that you've never seen before, and it's your job to tell a story with a photograph. To create and control light and execute proper exposure for an inspiring photograph within just a couple minutes after arriving is challenging and something I love doing. It starts with seeing what you have to work with, asking yourself a bunch of questions, and visualizing the desired end product.

23 Aug

Posted at 16:18h in Info/News
matty_8.22.10_ 546 It was a busy week/weekend that started in Tacoma and ended up in Bellingham. Family portraits, marketing photography for both the Emergency Food Network as well as a budding comedian, volunteer work for the Burned Children Recovery Foundation, and a couple completed shoots for the Active Series. Phew, the cameras were busy, got some amazing stuff. Through the week, my photography led me on a journey that created a lot of inspiring photographs as well as invoking a lot of emotion in myself through it all. I found myself intensely focused on the active series shoots, laughing with families and comedians as I captured them, and felt extremely fortunate for my health, while being truly touched as I photographed children who have unfortunately had to go through, and will continue, to travel the painful and tough road as burn survivors. So needless to say, be on the lookout for those sets of pics.

17 Aug

Posted at 11:39h in Gear, Just for Fun
IMG_7850 So throughout my life, I've occasionally owned venus flytraps. I'm not what you'd call a "plant guy" by any means, in fact, the only plants I've ever purchased for myself are flytraps. I'm sure most of you all know that these are not your normal, give water, give sunlight kinda plant. Of course the flytrap requires both water and light, but these things eat bugs! Come on, that's just cool. Ok... maybe I'm just too much of a boy still, but it's fun as heck to watch. These things use the traps to catch bugs, seal up, and literally liquify said bug for food. Evolution... you are scary scary thing. Oh, and if you are reading this and going "why did this Matt guy tag this post as a gear post," just wait for it.

12 Aug

Posted at 10:43h in Just for Fun
matty_8.11.10_ 010 Walking out the door the other morning, I spotted this dewy spider web. The wet morning air had formed super small beads of waters along the entire web, as well as a couple larger drops. A full screen view reveals the detail and reflection in even the smallest beads of water, hence the reason I'll be releasing this photo in an upcoming wallpaper release. It will feature various non-portraiture photos taken in the last six months or so. Be on the lookout for that download, and enjoy the pics.

05 Aug

Posted at 15:59h in Shoots
matty_6.16.10_ 130 Shooting in a white seamless environment, a standard for modeling and product photography portfolios, is a pretty straight forward process. Throw a subject on a huge sheet of white paper, light the model, light the white paper to blow it out white, creating a white abyss around your subject. I've shot seamless for years, it's appropriate for so many shoots, yet I've been shooting more seamless lately with all but the key light off, not blasting that background with a ton of light. This brings a lot more... what I'd like to call intimacy into the composition. Varying your light and subject distance from the background, you get varying degrees and gradients of light falloff on the background. I loved how this set came out. Seamless with just a single key light on the subject.

04 Aug

Posted at 14:19h in Shoots
matty_7.11.10_ 381 I've been trying to work more children photos into my portfolio, and had a fun idea. A shoot like this really pays off when you put in the extra prep work. Having finalized the fairy concept for the two girls, we set out for fairy outfits. We ended up ordering costumes off of a year-round halloween shop online, and waiting for those to come in. I scouted some nearby wooded areas for a good location a week or two ahead of time, planned out right time of day for falling light in the event I wanted to pull in some of the sun light for illuminating the surrounding woods in the background.

03 Aug

Posted at 12:15h in Just for Fun
matty_8.1.10_ 004 So living in the North end of Tacoma has a few perks, one being the great views of the Narrows bridges and the sunsets that are typically photo-worthy. I still appreciate each and every one as it casts brilliant yellow, orange, and red light through my living room. For an hour's time, the setting sun breathes an amazing aura into the house before tucking behind the mountainscape. This last Sunday was a different story though. A haze lingered through the entire day, nothing spectacular for us PNW'ers, but the sunset started to look more like an angry moon, as the thick cloud cover allowed me to look straight at a fire red sun (I'm sure not doctor recommended, looking at it). It was cool looking enough to make me bust out the camera and snap a few shots. So... here they are. It was solid red, even when high in the sky at 7pm, and as it crept closer to the horizon it started to find some break in the clouds and showed a little orange.

26 Jul

Posted at 17:21h in Just for Fun
matty_7.24.10_ 198 Spent the day in the lava parks just outside Bend and Sunriver, OR. Some really cool lava landscapes, super hot when you are out walking on it in the middle of the day. The lava fields park is complete with a visitor center with all kinds of info about the surrounding volcanic history. I set out to take a few photos of the lava parks, but I also came away with some fun cloud photos. Used the lava formations and forest for framing/silhouetting for these shots. I'll have some of the lava pics for you later on, these cloud photos just stuck right out after I dumped the set to the computer so I tackled them first. These look amazing full screen. Enjoy.

25 Jul

Posted at 20:43h in Info/News, Just for Fun
  matty_7.24.10_ 025Spending a week down in Sunriver, OR to get some sun and relax. Brought the camera bag with me. Leave it to me to back 60 lbs of camera bag with me on vacation. No real plans to take any fantastic photos, just some fun and family captures. Much more extreme environment here when compared to the Seattle, WA area, it's much like Eastern Washington. It's either very hot or very cold. Even with temps hitting high 90's here, it's dipping into the 40's at night. The dry climate paints an different kind of landscape, plants adapted to live happily with virtually no water, and funny little critters shooting in and out of the rocky land. One such animal that can be found in abundance are chipmunks. They are cute and hilarious to watch. Every movement is a quick twitch, a sprint and a hope from rock to rock, they can't do anything slow, even whipping their tales from side to side like a dog, but at a lightning-like speed. The cameras (yes, plural, I overpack whether it's clothes or photo stuff) didn't come out during the ride down, not even the first day. The first itch to click the shutter came with the entertaining little chipmunks. Finally! A reason to slap the heavy yet amazing 100-400mm L lens onto the body. Sitting on the deck enjoying the late evening fading heat, these chipmunks were zipping in and out of the rocks, scavenging for any trace of food (the poor guys). For the benefit of their bellies (and the opportunity to get a closer shot, *cough*) we set out some potato chips for them to nibble on. Turns out, not only American humans enjoy super fatty food, but the American wildlife (when given the chance) partake in the junk food. If an article comes out next year about chipmunk obesity I'm gonna feel really bad. Here is a guy down below, probably just thinking he'd already been run over and had died and gone to heaven. "Holy acorns! A chunk of food the size of me." He'll sleep good tonight.

22 Jul

Posted at 15:29h in Events, Shoots
matty_7.18.10_ 704 Last weekend was the first annual Ryan Stiles Golf Classic event, held up in the always pleasent Bellingham, WA. It was a fundrasing effort with all proceeds going towards the Burned Children Recovery Foundation. The weekend was kicked-off Friday evening with a soldout comedy show with Ryan and the rest of the 'Whose Line' cast. Saturday evening hosted the Celebrity Gala & Auction where many cool, unique items were bid on, and many celebrities came to support. Sunday was 18 holes of celebriting golfing. In all, it was a very successful effort, generating more than $100,000 for the foundation in three days. Kent Loomer, fellow funny man and the event director, asked me to cover Saturday and Sunday's events. A lot of coverage here too, folks, about 16 hours worth within a day and a half. I do all of the photography for Ryan's comedy club up in Bellingham, and was more than happy to donate some time to document such a great cause.

13 Jul

Posted at 21:51h in Behind the Scenes, Gear, Just for Fun
matty_7.1.10_ 165 So, what do you need to use when you are looking for softbox-like light quality without having light spill all over the place? The answer is simple, the gridded softbox. It gives you the same control over light as normal grid spots that you'd throw in front of a normal barebulb light, but now with soft, beautiful light. I've always loved using grid spots on my barebulbs, but the light can just be so harsh on a subject's face, especially when it is one of the key lights. The gridded softbox works on that same principle, controlling the light and only letting it hit a small portion of a subject, but now you can get those pleasing contrasts and skin tones you can't get very well with barebulb lighting. That's typically my problem too, wanting that gorgeous, soft light on my subjects (usually female), but having trouble trying to keep the light off of other elements of the photo. It's not an easy task, that is, until now. Notice the photo below, my subject is literally 2-3 feet away from a black sheet used for a background, yet no light is spilling onto it. Even though it is a black sheet, if you were using a normal softbox for a light modifier, you'd have light spill onto the sheet and you'd get a little grey tint to the background. The grid added to the softbox directs the light on just my subject... a very good thing in this case.

03 Jul

Posted at 22:35h in Just for Fun, Tips & Techniques
IMG_8949 I was browsing the web the other day, like most days, and I saw the term once again, "light chaser." A descriptive term used for photographers. It struck a chord in me. If you are a regular reader of the blog or even a follower of my work, you'd know that the vast majority of my photography is not "chasing" light at all. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I am usually making light to compose my photographs. When I think of a 'light chaser' I think of like this herd of photographers roaming the streets, waiting for favorable light, or heck, just keeping their heads on a swivel, looking for chance opportunities where light might be shining a little luck their way. It's like back in the day when I used to watch the Scooby-Doo cartoon. Remember when they'd usually have a montage somewhere in each episode where the "gang" was running in and out of hallways doors, evading a monster. That's kinda how I picture photographers when they are referred to as light chasers, just running every which way, literally chasing light around, minus the cheesy music. Ok, leave the cheesy music, it's a good touch...

01 Jul

Posted at 16:14h in Shoots
matty_6.24.10_ 133 Beautiful Taylor, pictured above, recently joined with a model agency. She was in need of some photos with emphasis on just her to use for her portfolio. Nothing distracting, simple, nice head/model shots. Originally she wanted to do this on white seamless. Seamless is great and all, but... it's nothing special, everyone does it. In my mind, if I were marketing myself as a model in a sea of "talent," I would wanna standout a bit. I talked Taylor into doing some location stuff that would keep the backgrounds simple, add a little spice, yet keep her as the focus. She said that was cool. I selected a location with cement walls, ivy... just something with a touch of character to add that little something to the photo. It's not as simple as white seamless, and it's not like the 4th of July going off in the background. Calm, subtle, different.

22 Jun

Posted at 12:13h in Shoots
  Light, you know... that stuff we need reflecting off of everything around us to see. It's awesome, but... it doesn't tell nearly as good of a story as the shadows. Of course without light, you'd just have shadow, a black image, so I'm talking about a good mix of the two, it's that heavy contrast between light and dark that I'm in love with. Just as much as I need the light in my shots, I need those shadows. In my mind, it's not the light that tells the story of an image, it's the shadows, the parts we can't see. It carves out the subject, showing shape, telling a story all in it's own. Sure, super bright, over exposed images are great for making people's skin and faces look nice and clean, but it's boring. I want some character, I want the person to be etched in their true form, not hidmatty_6.20.10_ 154den in bright, over exposed images. I'm always looking for ways to bring deep, dark shadows into my images. I believe it tells the best story, it makes people stop and look at it. Obviously, there will always be exceptions to the rule, I will shoot bright, happy images when it's called for, but my preference is like the image below.

15 Jun

Posted at 17:21h in Info/News

A little update for everyone: I've had a great response to the call for participants in the Active Series project. We have well over 100 legitimate contenders fighting for a spot, and we are getting those narrowed down now. We are still accepting new comers, as...

14 Jun

Posted at 11:01h in Gear, Shoots, Tips & Techniques
matty_3.4.10_ 373 Ok... so we are shooting on-location. Woah, hold on. What does "on-location" even mean?! That all depends on you, the photographer, or you, the client who has hired a photographer. A lot of new photogs out there will toss around words like "on-location" to describe in a round-about way of saying they don't use lighting. Which translates to they haven't invested in either the knowledge, the equipment, or both in order to utilize lighting for on-location shoots. Photographers who spin their own reality using catchy words in an attempt to sound marketable, allthe while misinforming the public can drive me crazy at times. On-location does not mean you are having to settle for anything less than amazing. I bring up this odd tangent at the very beginning of my post to make a key point. That point is that on-location does not mean I can't bring the power and control of my lights with me where ever I go, in fact, it's the exact opposite. I repeat, I'm bringing more than just my camera to the party. I use every single piece of lighting equipment that I use in the studio in that big, wild, endless possibilities of an environment we call "on-location." It's the world around us, every part of it. And I'm here to tell you that every single part of it can be lit with off-camera lighting to create your own vision. A vision that couldn't happen without bringing your own lights along for the ride.

10 Jun

Posted at 16:11h in Shoots
matty_6.8.10_ 103 The picture above, which can only be described as pure awesomeness, is of little one and half year-old Brennan. The Barnes asked me to capture a family portrait while they had the growing family all in one spot for the week. An extremely sweet group, they were great to work with. We selected a spot at Tumwater Falls Park. If you haven't been there and live in the nearby area, you should definitely come visit it on a nice day. It has a really nice walking trail with little waterfalls to look at along the entire loop. There are little spots where you can get down to water level and climb on the rocks. This is where we ended up doing our session.

06 Jun

Posted at 01:13h in Gear, Shoots
matty_5.17.10_ 108 Yep, that's my super intelligent title for this post. Sorry, I'm kinda at a loss for this one. The resulting pictures from this shoot are actually for the Emergency Food Network. They have a harvest every year where they grow their own food for the food donation cause. The EFN team want me to capture the harvest at different points of the plant growth, then use the resulting photos for large prints around the office and such. So I'll be heading out to the harvest a handful of times from now to September. Pretty cool idea, something a little different for me, and a reason to try out the most recent addition to my lens collection, the new Canon macro lens. Yes, I market myself as a portrait photographer, however, I do a lot of other kinds of photo work besides just capturing people. So much so that I invested in a top shelf macro lens. Enter the Canon 100mm F2.8 L USM Macro. I'm using this bad boy for all of my small product photography as well as... well really small plants and anything else I need really great close-up detail on. So this post is kinda of a shoot/gear post, as I'll talk about the shoot itself and the macro lens too. I'm not great at all about doing the whole review thing on my gear. I just kinda like telling you what gear I have, how I use it, why I like/dislike it, and show you some work made by the gear. I'm a practical guy. I like practical explanations and real examples. So that's what you're getting. :)

05 Jun

Posted at 21:49h in Events
matty_4.18.10_ 124 - Version 2 Second and last full day of the Bellingham Film Festival. Two more workshops, more film showings, an awards ceremony, and of course, the party. The boys had there fun yesterday, today was the girls' turn to do some workshops. You might recognize the moderators for these workshops. Improv comedians DK and Morgan, provided some well-timed laughs during the sessions and kept the mood light. The days' guest speakers, Lisa Beach and Sara White, provided some much desired information for the audience, and of course, answered a ton of questions. Same drill as the day before, spent some time with each guest on the white seamless, as well as a few shots with their moderators. DK and Morgan always make my job easy, hell, even I'm laughing and smiling while behind the camera. In the words of Morgan as he was getting makeup applied for the shoot, "I don't know what this stuff is but it tastes delicious."