Mat's Photography Blog

 

 

Sports Portraits

Creating an image of strength and character

Some of you may recognize these pictures from an earlier sports portrait session I had with my good friend, Doug Clark of Morristown. The reason I'm showing them again here is because I wanted to announce that Doug is now World Masters Champion after successfully taking the first place spot in the Hawaii Ironman. He'll be there again this fall defending his triathlon title. He was also awarded the "Masters Triathlete of the Year" for 2009. I'm looking forward to creating another set of fabulous sports portraits for Doug later this year.

 

Children's Portraits

Can they really sit still for that long?

Working with children has its challenges just like anything. But doing sophisticated portraits of young children who have super short attention spans requires you to move fast, change gears often and employ bribery. Yes.......I have been know to bribe children. But it's worth it.

 

 

Monster Jam

Wow - these guys are nuts!!!

Took my boys to see the Monster Jam at Meadowlands Arena this week. Apart from being an insanely noisy experience, I have to say that I was completely blown away by how crazy these drivers and riders are. I got some really great photographs at the show but these two just caught my eye. When you look closely at the monster truck photograph and see just how high the driver is above the ground. My hats off to him. The bikers were amazing. This rider is literally 60 feet up in the air while doing this stunt.

 

 

Corporate Headshots

When being approachable is everything

When you're a psychologist, having a friendly, open and approachable persona is very important. And when you rely on your website to create a lasting first impression, it's also vital that the photographs displayed on there reflect that openness but at the same time have a strength to them that portrays confidence. As a commercial photographer, it's my job to work closely with the client to evoke the right mood in order to achieve their goals.

 

 

Corporate Casuals

Classic corporate headshot and casual portrait in the same session

In the business world today, appearances are definitely changing. There's a move away from the traditional suit and tie, well lit, head and shoulders portrait to a more casual and relaxed style. This CEO and owner relies heavily on his many online multimedia outlets to market his company. As such he needed a classic portrait for the glossy financial report as well as a more down to earth photograph for his blog and other media outlets.

 

 

Dramatic Sky

Amazing landscape photo opportunity

I had a gem of a moment recently in the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. It was insanely cold and my family were already packed up in the car ready to leave for home. The sky looked like it was getting ready to do something dramatic so I was dragging my feet as much as I could. Finally at the right moment I announced in a loud voice that this is amazing and sprinted off to the lake. The sky stayed like this for literally two minutes before the color went from the clouds completely.

 

 

Holiday Photographs

Family portrait session

On a super chilly winter evening, it was really great to spend time doing a family portrait session in the warmth of a festive home.

 

 

Valleyview Holiday Photo Fundraiser

Family portrait sessions for Denville residents

After the success of the Lakeview Holiday Photo Fundraiser I was flattered to be asked to do the same thing for families at Valleyview school in Denville too. With only two weeks to organize and promote the event we actually had quite an impressive turnout and raised quite a bit of money for the school PTA. We also had a visit from the Town Mayor, Ted Husser, who wanted to meet and greet some of the families taking part as well as update his professional headshot.

 

 

Rockin Robin

Commercial product photography

I've worked with Rockin Robin for quite a few years now and I'm always impressed with her creativity, growing line of products and ever growing list of stores selling her merchandise. I always strive to provide product photographs that match or exceed her expectations and reflect her simple branding. And as an added bonus, I get to see my finished photographs gracing the pages of many glossy publications.

 

 

Dr. Peter Dabrowsky

Corporate headshots with a commercial theme

I take a lot of corporate headshots and product photographs during the course of a typical month, but this photo shoot had a real message that needed to be conveyed. Dr. Dabrowsky is a really great guy and fabulous physician. He actually left a perfectly good practice to start a back-to-basics, traditional family style medical care practice on his own. What does this mean? Well, he spends a lot of time talking to patients on the phone out of regular hours. Doing house calls and visiting with families of sick relative or loved one. It's very refreshing to see this and I wish him a lot of luck getting started.

If you like his way of thinking and you're live in the Denville, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany area then you might want to give him a call to get on his books. I'm sure he's going to fill up his patient register very quickly - 973-335-3002

 

 

New Born

New born, first snow

I spent a nice cozy afternoon with a wonderful family this weekend. It was snowing outside, the first big snow of the season but we were creating some wonderful warm memories with a two week old newborn and 3 rambunctious siblings. What a contrast.

 

 

This Really, Really is the
Last Outdoor Shoot of the Year

Fall modeling portfolio photographs

I know I posted earlier about my last outdoor photo shoot of the year, but we had a brilliant last blast of fall and I was able to take advantage of nature once again as a setting for some fabulous modeling shots.

I'm quite partial to photographing outdoors anyway, but for a modeling portfolio, you really want photographs that stand out from the crowd. We took a set of indoor studio style shots at the models house before taking it outside and creating something different and striking for contrast and the "wow" factor.

 

 

"Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas"

One of a kind photo holiday cards

I can't claim any credit for the catchy holiday card greeting but I can say that this portrait session turned out to be a very interesting challenge. The star of the shoot was playing his Wii when I arrived. I spoke with him while I set my lights up as I always do to break the ice, build a rapport and make the model feel at ease. It very quickly became apparent that this boy lit up and became his comfortable self when playing Wii. I took the usual set of headshots and casual portraits, but the photographs playing Mario Kart really stood out and became the inspiration for the, "Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas", holiday cards.

 

 

Family Portraits

And I don't just mean family, I mean "Family"

As a photographer there's always pressure to be taking really great "Wow" photographs al the time. Even in situations where a snap shot will really suffice, people still expect a little something extra. Family are no different, so I was delighted to be able to take the time to photograph my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in a controlled environment.

 

 

Last Outdoor Photo Session of the Year

Fall is coming to a close

I absolutely love the fall for outdoor photography but it's also quite sad when all the leaves finally fall. Gone are the beautiful colors and soft light as they're replaced by crisp days, bare branches and really harsh shadows from the direct sun being lower in the sky.

This might be one of my last outdoor family portrait sessions of the year so despite capturing some really precious family moments it's still filled with mixed emotions.

 

 

Lakeview School - Denville

Family portrait photo fundraiser

Each year I do a couple of fundraisers for the local schools as a way to give back to the community, meet some really great families and have a lot of fun at the same time. Don't get me wrong, it's a really busy non-stop day of photography. I figured that I did about 800 squats getting down to children's eye level, so walking the next day can be troublesome :)

 

 

Model Portfolios

What to do and what not to do?

When photographing with the purpose of putting together a modeling portfolio, what should you do? Well the simple answer is to be very critical of the photographs. I rate all my photographs on a scale of 1-5. For most family portrait sessions I will show the client the 4s and 5s and maybe some 3s if they tell a story. For modeling you only want to look at the 5s. And then with an even more critical eye, narrow it down to 4 or 5 "WOW" photographs. If a picture doesn't have the WOW factor then it dilutes the portfolio even if it's an otherwise great shot. And when modeling agencies look over hundreds of portfolios in a day, you don't want anything to stand out for the wrong reason. You can be sure they'll eliminate a portfolio for having a less than perfect picture in it but they won't throw out a portfolio for only having a couple of shots if they're both jaw dropping.

 

 

Photographing Leafy Goodness

Fun frolics in the foliage

I spend a lot of time lighting my subjects to bring out the best in them, but there's a lot to be said for abandoning all the gear and getting down on your hands and knees to catch the action. And my wife wonders why I have so many pants with holes in the knees?

 

 

Children's Modeling Portfolio

Careers in modeling

Modeling is tough to get into at any age. There's the obvious requirement of not only looking good but having the right look for the product that's being photographed. With children there's also the added dimension of attention span and being able to follow direction. On this particular modeling shoot the young lady just did everything on her own without needing much direction from the photographer at all. There are very few that have that ability. She'll definitely do well.

 

 

Puppy Love

Animal portraits at an unbelievably cute level

This is a very busy time of year for me, so it was nice to take some time out and photograph a friend's daughter playing with her puppy. We captured some fabulous moments despite my model not feeling very well. In fact she came down with a 103 fever the following day.

 

 

Fall Outdoor Photography

Working with nature

Fall is my favorite time of year to photograph outdoors. The days are cooler, the light is softer and the foliage just looks stunning. And when you combine that with being able to work with my long time friends it's an even more magical experience. These photographs were taken on location at the Tourne in Boonton.

 

 

Landscape Photographs

Some classic English scenes from a recent trip back home

For those of you that don't know, I come from Sheffield in England. During a recent trip back home I was able to enjoy exploring the landscape through my camera lens. Here are just a few. I'll add some more when I get time.

 

Professional Corporate Portraits

When is a headshot not just a headshot? When you're looking for work in an aggressive marketplace and need to make an impression!

That's a very long title, but when HR departments spend so much time looking over hundreds of resumes, it's important to make your's stand out. That's where a professional corporate portrait can really earn it's weight in gold.

 

Sports Portraits

Creating an image of strength and character

I had the very good fortune to photograph my good friend and best man, Doug Clark, who just happens to be the National Masters Triathlon Champ. We did an evening portrait session at a local park wearing his full racing gear.

 

Sister Act

A great photo session with a great family

I got the opportunity to photograph 3 really great sisters just being themselves and having a lot of fun. Part of my job as a photographer is to not only get the technical aspects of photography right but also to direct what's going on in the scene with the subjects. This can often be the most challenging part of photography so I was thrilled to work with 3 great sisters who just naturally did their own poses and setups. We bounced ideas off each other and the girls fed on each others ideas and energy making the whole shoot a great deal of fun. It also meant that I didn't have to think so hard and could just concentrate on getting the shots.

 

 

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