Boris Uses His Nuts.
He's a timid dog. Today he summoned some courage and looked out the window.
November 13, 2007
November 28, 2005
Thanksgiving 05 Gallery
Click here for full Thanksgiving Weekend gallery.
October 06, 2005
Photo Payola.
Tonight I did my first paying photo assignment! Granted, it was just a few hours shooting a corporate reception for a finance brokerage of some sort, but hey - it's money! Not the sexiest or bleeding edge artsy thing I've ever done, but I found a moment or two to try to get a shot that was interesting to me. Does getting paid for photography services (as low budget, low brow, generic as they were) mean that I can actually say I'm a photographer? Probably not, but a few more of these and I may actually feel comfortable saying that I've made the J.V photo team...
June 23, 2005
Family Fun Time!
This is what's hidden behind the trees at the corner of Duluth Highway and Riverside Parkway. Eerie cool.
June 13, 2005
Um boss, is this thing on?
Damn. The right side of my brain has been running on FLAT empty the last two weeks. I've sat down a number of times and just stared at the monitor. I've picked up my camera, looked through the view finder and seen... well, nothing.
A wise creative writing professor from a former life once said that writing was like working out. Even when you don't want to, feel like you can't, or are just plain bored -- keep doing it. Sometimes, writing just for writing's sake is enough.
So this is me, sitting with Boris in a partially empty house (Nat packed her stuff and high-tailed it back to the city... that's a story for another day though), not wanting to write and feeling unmotivated to take pictures. Writing for the sake of writing. Taking pictures for the sake of taking pictures. Asking Boris in more way than one: "It's just you and me kid. What side of the bed do you want?"
May 21, 2005
Bangalore, India - Photo Gallery
Here are my photos from Bangalore (well, at least the ones I liked). Again, I apologize because I haven't had time to update all the captions yet, but most of the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!
PS - I love feedback. Let me know what you think!
May 16, 2005
Hong Kong Photo Gallery
Ok, here are is the gallery of all my Hong Kong photos. I haven't had a chance to write captions yet, but I hope you'll enjoy them just the same.
March 25, 2005
mattLandia Photogalleries.
Ok. I'm a big fat geek. Every now and then I get an idea for something that I should learn how to do (i.e. this blog) and this week it was learning how streamline the production of my photogalleries. For anyone interested, I highly recommend using the freeware called Simple Viewer, developed by Airtight Interactive.
Check out the new gallery format by clicking on the 'GALLERY' icon on the right. Let me know what you think!
March 08, 2005
The Alabama Sloss.
On Sunday, my friend and fellow shutterbug took to the asphalt and travelled to The Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama. The Sloss Furnaces are contributed largely to the growth of Birmingham at the turn of the last century, as they were strategically located a crossing of railroads. It's stacks poured smoke over the 'bama horizon for many years.
Although now defunct, the Furnaces are open to the public. And by open, I mean OPEN. We climbed rickety catwalks and welded iron ladders to the highest reaches of the furnaces. We walked down dark, moss laden stairs into the deep cool of darkened machine rooms. I found the whole experience to be a sensory overload.
My eyes gorged themselves on the myriad patterns, textures, shapes, minute detail and behemoth size of what was once a living iron vomiting industrial wonder. At every turn, I was engaged by color, shadow, depth and detail.
The place smelled of metal, dirt, water and moss. As we moved through the caverns of mechanical solitude, I walked from one olfactory experience to the next.
When I closed my eyes and stood very still, there was an orchestra of alien noise to my ears. The distant dripping of water. The wind winding gently through girders, drums, and welded plates producing varying tones of murmer. The creaking of metal stairs and I cautiously stepped from one room to the next.
In all, I took around 200 photos. Of those, I'm only keeping 25 or so. In my excitement, I often rushed the shot or opted out of using my tripod when I should have taken the time to set it up. Click on the photo above (or here) to see the photos I'm keeping.
If you ever have the chance to visit... do.
March 05, 2005
Shay's B-Day Lounge.
Last night we went out to celebrate Shay's annual re-celebration of her 28th birthday. If you click on the photo above, you can check out some of the photos from the evening's festivities. We ate at Sala first. Natasha and I shared an appetizer platter that was pretty decent. Not impressive, but fairly priced I suppose. Shay faired much better with her Turkey and Mole dinner. Very tasty!
After dinner we headed downtown to the top floor of the Hilton, to partake in the cosmic lounge stylings of the Wickersham POV. It was.. well... lounge. Surrounded by terrible 80's cruise ship decor, we hung out, sipped coctails, and enjoyed each other's company. Casey and I geeked out and talked cameras most of the time. He got some awesome short movies of a particular patron who was expressing herself through insane dance moves. I wonder if she just saw Napoleon Dynamite?
As the night went deeper, the group grew larger and we found ourselves at 97 Astoria till last call. The drive home was uneventful (except for Natasha's moanings about desperately needing to pee). A decent friday night.
January 26, 2005
Pictures: Utah 2005
Click here for the full photo gallery: Utah 2005.
December 20, 2004
Australia Photos
For those of you who didn't see the photos from my trip to Australia, CLICK HERE...
November 29, 2004
Thanksgiving '04
For pictures of Thanksgiving 2004, click here.
November 18, 2004
I am PROSUMER. Hear me 'click'.
prosumer (proh.SOO.mur) n. 1. A consumer who is an amateur in a particular field, but who is knowledgeable enough to require equipment that has some professional features ("professional" + "consumer").
I am the proud owner of the Canon EOS 300D (Digital Rebel). I’ve been coveting a digital SLR since taking a few snaps with the camera of my old neighbor Margaret Cain. Determined to satiate the shutterbug in me, I decided to ask that any friend interested in getting me a birthday gift, just get me a gift card to Wolf Camera. So between my GREAT friends, my awesome girlfriend, some savings, and a little credit, I was armed with the funds to make my purchase.
Empowered consumer that I am, I decided to do a bit of extra research to make sure I would be happy with my purchase, and for the first time in my amateur life, came across the above mentioned consumer description. I had to chew on this word for a while. Proh.SOO.mur... It’s such a contrived word. Like Spork. Or Skort. It’s also so demeaning. I haven’t even purchased the camera yet, and I’m already getting ‘flack’ from the establishment. Why don’t they just go ahead and call the category "If we were playing Global Thermal Nuclear War, you’d be Canada". Meaning I'm in the game, but not really IN the game. No doubt the world "Prosumer" was birthed by a snarky Manhattan copywriter who sold a single picture to Corbis.com and is telling everybody he just went pro.
I would much prefer the following consumer descriptions: "Temporary Amateur". "Latent Professional". "The Well Funded Enthusiast". In any event, I will not be boxed in by the so-called "Professional" oligarchy of digital SLR copywriters. I will be "King Dioptric Adjustment Knob"... "Master Motion Capture"... "Dr. ISO"... "Sir Shutter Speed!"
The man can't hold me down... [[click]].
November 16, 2004
My Birthday ::: El Gran 34!!!
To everyone who sent me a card, called, or came out on my birthday night; I want to say "Muchos Gracias"! I had a great time, and for a guy celebrating one year shy of rounding up to 40, I had a great time! Another big thank you to Dan for bringing his digital camera. I'll have mine soon enough! Click here to see the photos...
November 15, 2004
Natasha the Natural.
It's hard to believe that Natasha ever doubted that she would enjoy a puppy, much less know how to raise one. Click here for evidence...
November 07, 2004
Pointillist Camera Phone.
This snap shot with my camera phone was suprising. It actually captured the soft light and beauty of the sunset at the Balducci Winery in Augusta, Mo.
October 28, 2004
Matt Serpico.
Bustin' up cube pimps since '70...
October 25, 2004
Baron Boris Von Fett
Welcome the newest roommate to Natasha's place....
October 14, 2004
Nat's B-Day.
Nat's B-Day night at Lenny's.
October 12, 2004
Drive-Invasion Pics
Here are my pics from the Drive-Invasion in September 2004. <<click here>>
Melbourne, Australia Pics.
Here are the pics from my work trip to Melbourne, AUS. Click <<click here>>