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October 23, 2012 by matt

2nd Cover Shot on The Flyfish Journal

The Flyfish Journal Covers
Who’d-a-thunk that a small farm pond in the middle of Oklahoma would serve up my second cover shot? I sure didn’t! Looking back at that spring day, I honestly almost didn’t pull my underwater housing out – the water looked a bit dirty for me. Well, it turns out I was wrong and I made the right decision to shoot some underwater photos. “Dirty” was in fact stained as we sat less than a mile from the Red River. For those that don’t know the area, the soil is umm – red! The water that I thought was dirty was simply just off color.

After downloading the set of images I was pleasantly surprised. The combination of the bright sun overhead and the stained water worked magic in my favor. All of my UW images had incredible sun rays! Stick a fat bass tail in there and poof! An unexpected cover shot.

This serves as a great lesson. Never underestimate the potential of any location – even if that location doesn’t seem all that glamorous. The incredible difference between my only cover shots is funny to me – a giant trevally in the Seychelles for cover #1, and a bass tail in Oklahoma for cover #2. Couldn’t be more opposite!

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July 20, 2012 by matt

Flipside Sport AW Product Review

I recently made my 5th trip down to Baja (Sea of Cortez side) – my ultimate paradise for many reasons. Among many other activities & sports that folks indulge in, I always go down to chase roosterfish from the beach, and of course, shoot photography. When mixing photography and fishing from the beach, multiple problems arise. How the hell am I going to carry a rod, a camera, lenses, a housing and most of all, be completely mobile and comfortable at the same time? How am I going to keep up with a sprinting angler all while keeping my gear close by so I can get that awesome action shot? In the past I can’t say I had a good answer for any of those questions – pain in the ass comes to mind. There are times when you must walk a mile from the ATV or truck in search of fish and if you don’t have the right gear, keeping photography equipment with you at all times can be difficult. In comes the Lowepro Flipside Sport AW – my savior.

Anticipating issues from past experiences, I knew that I HAD to find some kind of backpack that would allow me to carry my gear, was light and comfortable, and was easily accessible on the fly – literally. The nature of rooster-fishing from the beach almost always requires relocating, if not sprinting after fish. It’s when I choose to shoot images of an angler instead of fish myself, is when this pack really shines. I can have all my gear with me and comfortably run up and down the beach – stop – flip the pack around – snap a few shots – flip it back and continue on my way. All of that within seconds. There is no unstrapping, pulling the pack off, digging for the camera or any of that non-sense. It is stupid proof. To be 100% candid, this pack couldn’t be more perfect for this type of activity. It is now the permanent home for most of my gear when I travel. If you don’t have one, get one!

To summarize what I love about this bag…

- lightweight
- quick, easy access
- with a caribiner, I can attach my UW housing and secure it with bungees that are on pack
- tripod slot acts as great rod tube storage – no slipping and sliding
- bladder slot for agua!!
- plenty of room for gear, accessories, filters
- quality construction
- still works great for skinny guys like me

What I was able to fit…

- Canon 7D + battery grip w/ 24-70mm 2.8/L
- 3 Singh Ray 4×6 filters
- 2 Polarized filters
- 10-22mm f3.5
- extra memory cards
- Canon 430EX flash
- lots o’ water
- Aquatech housing on outside secured by bungees and carabiner

Here’s a short video to give you a visual on how this bag makes a photographer’s life better…

Lowepro Flipside Sport AW Series from Lowepro on Vimeo.

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April 4, 2012 by matt

Surface Film II – Prints for Sale

Last year I was fortunate enough to be included in great company. One of my images was selected to show in a brand new art show, called the Surface Film. The Surface Film is a one month showing of top fly fishing images from the best photographers in the country. All funds raised are donated to Trout Unlimited Greenbacks Organization. Due to it’s popularity last year, they held another great show this year, Surface Film II. One of my most favorite images to date, a “Crab’s Eye View” was included in this year’s gallery. There are some outstanding images and I feel honored to be a part of this show.

Crab's Eye View

The folks over at Midcurrent.com now have the gallery live and prints are available for purchase. Go on over and check it out. If you feel so inclined, please make a purchase and help raise money for this great organization.

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April 3, 2012 by matt

Bio Spotlight at Aquatech

The folks I heavily rely on for outstanding gear have recently spotlighted me on their homepage! I feel honored to be featured on their site. I couldn’t be more happy with my Aquatech equipment. If your’e considering a housing purchase in the near future, I’d highly recommend purchasing from them. Take a look at the review I wrote in my second newsletter.

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December 24, 2011 by matt

Palometa Club Ad in The Drake Mag

I was super excited to see the new issue of The Drake arrive at the shop a few days ago. Aside from the fact that this magazine always has great content, I was really looking forward to seeing the Palometa Club ad that I had laboriously designed. Since Tailwaters (my employer) took over booking/marketing for the Palometa Club, I am now the graphics “dude” for the club. After spending a week at the Palometa Club back in June, I knew exactly what I wanted to focus this ad on – the guides. They are the fruit of this place and they truly make for a trip changing experience.

My intentions were to relay that permit were what these guys were infected with. As guides they love all species, but the permit is the holy grail and they’ll do anything to put their guests on to them. After brainstorming for a few days, I ended up sticking with the permit filled brains (shown in cat scan) and built the rest of the ad around that. Many of the funny phrases and “symptoms” were spawned from my boss, David and Palometa Club owner, Dick Cameron. This ad is the beginning of a fun marketing campaign for them and I can’t wait to get started on the next design. Feel free to leave any constructive criticism. Is it to busy? Hard to read? Message not clear? Please share!

Initial photograph

Initial photograph

Adding the elements

Final Product

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December 21, 2011 by matt

Gear Review: Canon 7D & Aquatech CO-7 Underwater Housing

A gear review published in my recent newsletter. If you havent checked it out yet, click here.

When I found out that I’d be heading out to the Seychelles, I knew I would have to make an upgrade in gear. My immediate need was a new camera body. Up until this trip, I had shot all my photography with one camera – a Canon 30D. It’s a great camera, but it was time beef up the body. After much debate between a Canon 7D and 5D, I decided to purchase the 7D. Other than the price, the feature that influenced my purchase was the AF system in the 7D. It’s a smarter system than that of a 5D, which I prefer for shooting underwater images.

A GOPRO mounts perfectly on the top of this housing to capture a cool point view.

With the types of underwater images I shoot, it’s rare that I’m able to look through the viewfinder. Not only do I have to know the lens I’m shooting, but I must heavily rely on the AF system to do it’s job. With the 7D’s advanced AF system, particularly zone selection, I can trust that I’ll have a higher quantity of sharp images. An issue I’ve always fought is the camera’s tendency to focus on the waterline in split shots. Often times in this situation, the subject in the lower portion of the image is out of focus. I found that the zone selection really assisted in solving this problem. Another convenient feature I love is the quick control (Q) option. With one push of a button, I’ve got access to virtually all camera functions other than shooting mode. This makes it incredibly simple to make changes on the fly. Overall, I’m very happy with the decision I made and I look forward to the future I have with this body.

With intentions of shooting underwater images with my 7D, I had to replace my old housing, which was specifically designed for a 30D. My Ikelite housing was a great piece of equipment, but honestly a bit of an overkill for what I do. It’s a housing designed for diving, which meant HEAVY. It was a complete beating to carry around. In comes Aquatech. They’ve pioneered underwater housings catered specifically for the action sport photographer. What you have to realize is that these are not designed for divers, which is why it’s depth rating is only 33ft. With the CO-7 model, I equipped it with a 50mm extension ring for my Canon 10-22mm lens, as well as their LP-3 8” dome.

After installing my camera (so easy), the most exciting feature was it’s overall weight. The housing alone is a slim 3lbs. Next, is the large handle. While marching out to the reefs on St. Francois, this handle was a life-saver! All around, it’s construction is incredible. The housing design is simple and ergonomic, making it super easy to handle while shooting. It’s simplicity allows for quick assembly and easy cleaning. Both the extension ring and LP-3 dome are constructed of high quality, super lightweight aluminum. The threading is machined to perfection so you can count on a snug fit every time, ensuring a safely enclosed camera. After putting this housing to the ultimate test, I can’t say there is a single flaw. I commend and thank Aquatech for offering such a great and high quality product. The only regret I have is not purchasing one of their great sport shields! For more info on these great housing, please visit www.aquatech.net

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October 14, 2011 by matt

Flight

I’m pretty bummed that I can’t make it to the annual air show at Alliance Airport this year. My brother is getting married and well, I guess that’s more important. I did however make it last year and it was awesome. It happened to be my first air show to shoot photos at – it was difficult.

A friend, Tim Romano recently posted some photos of an air show he just covered and it inspired me to get off my butt and post some pics from last year. What I love about Tim’s photos is that he had subject matter other than the sky to incorporate into his photos. It makes such a difference. I’m fairly pleased with how mine turned out. Either way, I always love going to these shows. Simply amazing.

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September 17, 2011 by matt

New Sponsor: AquaTech

AquaTech

I’m super excited to announce my first sponsorship! I have partnered up with AquaTech, a company that specializes in camera housings, sport shields and other photography accessories. These guys build their products with adventure photographers in mind and I can’t wait til I get my new housing in. What initially caught my eye is their attention to detail when it comes to housing accessories. The winner for me is the ability to fire the camera remotely by using their Pocket Wizard housing. I have been sitting on all sorts of ideas that require a housing and firing the camera within it remotely. Now that I have access to that, I can’t wait to see what creative shots I can come up with. I leave for the Seychelles in two months and when I return I’ll write an extensive review on both my new camera body (Canon 7D) and the new housing (AquaTech CO-7).

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September 7, 2011 by matt

5 Resources I Can’t Live Without

If you’re a entrepreneur/information junkie, like me, you will dig the sites below. As an entrepreneur, I am constantly surfing for quality information, inspiration and more to learn as much as possible about the business world we live in and how to build a successful one. If you consider yourself a creative and run a small business, or a large one for that matter – these sites will provide you with some great material to feast upon.

1) Think Vitamin – this site is a great resource for web designers as well as entrepreneurs. They cover html 5, CSS3, php, business, and much more. While you can learn a lot by simply reading their blog, you can also pay for the membership to gain full access.
Click here

2) ProBlogger - Darren Rowse is the master behind this incredibly successful blog. He teaches everything you need to implement a strategy for turning your ordinary blog into a money making one. Are you ever in a blogging slump? He’s got you covered. If you have a blog, you need to read his. Click here

3) The 99% – This is a site run by the Behance Network. Their sole purpose is to help creatives take their ideas and make them happen. The 99% focuses on topics such as leadership, email strategy, self-marketing, collaboration, organization, and much more. Click here

4) MarketingProfs – This is the all time website when it comes to marketing. They cover everything from branding to email marketing. I make it a point to read through their articles daily and I’ve learned so much already. Click here

5) Action Method – One more site by the Behance Network. I’ve written about this site once already and have to mention it again. This is one application I truly can’t live without. Since first using it a month ago, I have become more organized and efficient in all my projects. It’s incredibly easy to use, and it’s free up to 50 action steps (after that it’s $12/month). Click here to get organized.

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August 26, 2011 by matt

Action Method – How I Organize My Tasks

If you’re like me and have a billion different tasks within 20 different projects and need a way to organize and efficiently execute those tasks, this post is for you! About a month ago I stumbled upon a task management tool called Action Method. In the past I had always toyed with I phone apps, but they were far from user friendly. After trying Action Method, I can honestly say that it is the most user friendly, clean, and feature rich task management service I’ve seen yet. Best of all, it’s FREE!

Action Method is a sister company to the Behance Network, a very very robust portfolio website for creatives across all industries. Whether you are on the computer or on the run, this service is accessible both online and through their iphone app. You can create tasks, projects, ect. on either and they will both sync with one another to make sure everything is up to date.

Features I love:

- Action Steps – these are what tasks are called
- Projects – basically a way to organize or collect a group of tasks
- Events – the milestones or occasions you or your team is working toward. Events are a way to organize all your action steps
- Backburners – A place to store ideas that you’d like to work on at a later time. For me it’s a great place to organize all of my thoughts from my brainstorming sessions, or a place to list ideas I don’t want to forget about.
- Discussions – This is a place to share all thoughts with the individuals or groups you are working with. File sharing is available here as well.
- Delegations – With delegations, you can create tasks and delegate them to whomever is involved in that particular project
- Alerts – iphone app

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July 5, 2011 by matt

Fishing the Texas Heat

Last week a friend of mine invited me out to his ranch out in East Texas to do some bass fishing. Although the heat was maxing out at a little over 100 degrees, we opted to try and catch a few fish. It was a bit slow, but it’s always awesome to get out of the city to do some fishing, and of course photography. If you plan on getting out in this heat, all I have to say is drink a ton of water!

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June 15, 2011 by matt

Most Epic Week of Permit Fishing

I just returned from the Palometa Club in Punta Allen, Mexico on the northeastern end of Ascension Bay. Tailwaters Fly Fishing put together a group of 12 great guys for a week of hardcore permit fishing to end the season for the club. With total of 19 permit caught (many of which were in the 20-25lb range), the trip was a monumental success.

Once again, I traveled as Tailwaters’ staff photographer. After hearing so many wonderful things, I was stoked to finally arrive in Mexico to start shooting and experience what the Palometa Club has become known best for – permit fishing. While fish and underwater photography were a high priorty, I really wanted to capture the prized asset of this operation – the Palometa Club’s guides. These guys are what make the difference and it shows. On Thursday (the last day of the season), the Palometa Club wrapped up the season with a benchmarking 159 permit. Incredible! You might also remember that they hit permit #500 back on April 14 of this year. Such an incredible accomplishment for only it’s 6th (6 month) season.

Hunting Permit

The Difference

The Palometa Club’s success is a direct result of their approach to permit fishing and their family like atmosphere at the lodge. Having two sets of trained eyes is always better than one, which is why they use a 1:1 guide/angler ratio. This is not to be confused with one guide serving as a boat driver and the other acting as a “head” guide. Both are professional and are equally skilled. When a permit is spotted, guide #1 will position the boat with his push pole. The other guide and angler will then slowly step out from the boat and begin to position themselves to intercept the fish. While both angler and guide are in the water, guide #1 is continually feeding information to the guide next to you – making sure they are both on the same page. When it’s time to present the fly, your guide is right next to you explaining exactly what to do – all while managing your line so it won’t tangle. It is truly an incredible approach that increases your confidence and chance at landing a permit.

Guides at Work

Permit release

While most anglers visit the Palometa Club to catch a permit, those that seek variety, other species are available to catch. Tarpon, Snook, Bonefish, Cuda, and even shark are all plentiful. That being said, we had three gentlemen Grand Slam (permit, tarpon, and bonefish in one day) this past week. A 40lb lemon shark, and a monster toothy cuda were also landed. Yes – there are permit, bonefish, tarpon, ect. from Ascension Bay down into Belize, but the difference between a good trip and the trip of a life time is the unique operation the Palometa Club has to offer.

For more information on the Palometa Club, please visit www.palometaclub.com or
contact their US Booking Office: 888-824-5420 or email permit@palometaclub.com

Tarpon

: Guides at Work

: Permit release

: Tarpon

: Hunting Permit

Go Mavs!

To add an extra spin to our trip, the entire group was eagerly anticipating the Mavericks vs. Heat playoff games – games 3, 4 and 5 to be exact. Being that we were in the small town of Punta Allen, our viewing options were limited. For games 3 and 4, we ended up in a small, “hole in the wall” joint. It’s walls were piled high of empty beer boxes, the lights were dimmed, and there was a single 19″ tele to scream and cheer at for hours on end. For game 5, we were a few minutes late and were lucky enough to see the 4th quarter. The only legitimate bar in town – equipped with a 50″ flatscreen, was showing the Mexico vs. Cuba futbol game. Luckily, Mexico was slaughtering Cuba 5-nil, and with a few free rounds of beer the locals granted us access to the tv. I’m now proud to say that the Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champions after an incredible journey. GO MAVS!

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May 27, 2011 by matt

Texas Lightning

With all the recent weather insanity, I’ve had the opportunity to go out and attempt capturing some lightning. These past two storms in particular had high amounts of cloud to ground strikes as well as in cloud strikes. With my tripod, cable release, and camera I’ve managed to capture a few that are worth looking at. By no means are they great, but it’s a start. I look forward to the rest of the stormy season and hope to capture some more.

Prosper, Tx.

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May 21, 2011 by matt

Split Toning Alaska

Just going through some photos earlier from my past years in Alaska. I’ve been playing around with split toning lately and really like the look of it. For those of you that aren’t in the know, split toning is simply applying one color to your photographs highlights and another color to the shadows. This can easily be done by using the hue/saturation adjustments in Photoshop and then using blend modes to tweak the overall look. By no means am I a pro at this. I’ve only begun to explore the split toning world and am loving it so far. I can only continue to experiment and learn to hopefully come out with a great image on the other end. Here are some shots from Unalakleet, Alaska…

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April 21, 2011 by matt

Having Fun with One Flash

On the latter end of my family vacation this past weekend I decided to have a little fun with some portraits. What’s a family vacation without screwing around and making some goofy faces? It simply had to be done. There was a challenge however – I only had one flash and my shoot-through umbrella. I waited for the sun to get low for some dramatic lighting and tinkered with positioning my light source until I found the sweet spot. While portraits have never been “my thing”, I have started the learning process and am really getting into it.

Presenting the three stooges – together we’re likely the goofiest, strangest brothers you’ve ever come across…

Single Flash Portraits

There are obvious faults in these photos and they are far from excellent portraits, but I’m pretty pleased with what I got while only having one flash. I flat out just wanted to have a good time and experiment with lighting. It’s amazing how much you can learn by simply playing around. DUH!

Things I’ll consider for next time:

- Make sure to position my subjects to where objects (in this case the roof) do not ruin the background
- Find a way to light the underside of the chin and neck either by adding a second light (fill) or by using a reflector
- If a third light is available, use to highlight the hair or accent the background (if needed)

More equipment here would have been great, but it was awesome managing one light source to produce some interesting images. Next time, I’ll include the exact same details – hopefully with a few more toys in the mix.