The Imagery & Writings of Brian Matiash | brianmatiash.com

The last minute is the best minute to change plans

Brian M — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 18:14:16 +0000

We kinda, sorta had a plan for yesterday as it pertained to how we were going to occupy our second to last full day. It involved a serious amount of driving for what may have been little payoff. So, at literally the last minute, the snap decision was made to shift gears and spend some time in Kona. Specifically, Kona’s Old Airport Beach. After seeing some quick images of the location via Google Image Search,

Suffice it to say that it was totally the right move. The beach is set against the old Kona Airport runway, which is cool by itself, but what was so nice was the vast amount of rocky shoreline at our disposal… and there were maybe 15 people on the beach. We ended up spending about six hours shooting the coast from all different angles, right up through sunset (you can even seen the beautiful glow of sunset on the right part of the frame).

All in all, this has been a really fruitful and relaxing trip. Today is our last full day on the Big Island and we’re going to spend it visiting the local market and find some abandoned structures to shoot (w00t!) before heading back to the mainland tomorrow. I can wholeheartedly say that we’ll be back.

Lava Glow

Brian M — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 17:56:12 +0000

Yesterday, we continued to experience Hawaii’s vacillating weather patterns as we drove around Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. There was a point where we were literally standing on the border of a rain shower and then there was driving into what looked like the gates of hell. Suffice it to say that we got positively soaked while walking around roadways that were rendered useless due to lava flow. But, we kept on keeping on and that perseverance really paid off because, true to form, within an hour or so, the rain blew away and we were greeted with dryer conditions and a sky filled with dramatic clouds.

Towards the end of the day, just after sunset, we hustled up to the Jagger Observatory to witness one of the coolest (pun intended) things ever – the radiant glow of lava from the Halema‘uma‘u Crater within Kīlauea Caldera. What made this even more aesthetically pleasing was that there was still some cool blue color in the night sky, which played beautifully off of the warm, radiant glow. It truly was something to behold.

Today is likely going to be a more leisurely day. We may head back to Volcano or spend some more time roaming around South Point. Hope everyone is doing well!

It’s a big, round world

Brian M — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 17:26:38 +0000

If there is one lesson that I’m learning during my stay here on the Big Island of Hawaii, it’s that you should not try and predict the weather. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful and dramatic shifts in weather patterns right in front of my eyes these past few days and it hasn’t ceased to amaze yet.

Last night was a perfect example. All signs pointed towards a lackluster, overcast sunset at Two Step beach. We just assumed that all of the color would fizzle out or not show up at all so I decided to turn my attention to getting tight shots of the water flowing over the rocks (you can see them in the lower left corner of the frame). But sure enough, as the sun approached the horizon, the clouds broke apart and the sky erupted into a gorgeous array of colors. It turned out to be a spectacular sunset so I slapped on my good ol’ Canon 15mm Fisheye Funkbuster with a 3-stop ND gel onto my Sony A7 and went to work.

I could get used to all of this lack of planning for the weather. :)

Into the vastness

Brian M — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 18:07:36 +0000

Yesterday was, shall we say, rather wet on the southern part of Hawaii’s Big Island. Not quite Portland wet but more like a frenetic ballet of light and heavy rain with some dryness sprinkled in between. Still, it didn’t keep us from jumping in our rented Jeep Wrangler to explore – and trust me, rent a Wrangler if you’re planning on doing any sort of meaningful off road exploring here.

This photo was taken on the border of Honu’apo (Whittington Park), at Pohina Pali, just as the sun was setting… although there wasn’t much of a sunset to speak of. However, it did give me a great opportunity to really test out the new gear that I had recently acquired. I’m really happy to say that the Sony A7 performed admirably against the variety of shots taken yesterday. This photo was a 61 second long exposure taken with the Sony A7 with +Aravind Krishnaswamy‘s Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 II mounted on my new +Really Right Stuff TQC-14 travel tripod. Because it was pretty dark already, no filters were required to drag the shutter.

I have a number of other images that I’m really happy with and will share in the coming weeks. For now, we’re grabbing some breakfast and hitting the road again for some exploring and shooting. Aloha!

Onward

Brian M — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 15:31:20 +0000

I always love a photo that can instantly stir up the chill in the air that I felt when I was standing there, taking it. There’s something to be said about really getting your feet wet in freezing water.

Over the river and through the woods

Brian M — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 04:00:42 +0000

Here’s another photo that I recently finished working on from my visit to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon last week. It’s funny because it took a while before I actually found a composition that I was happy with that included all of these branches and limbs. Normally, I try to steer clear of obstructions or, at the very least, I do my best to use these natural inclusions to frame my photos. But in this case, I was really happy with the way the color of the water played off of the color of the moss. I also liked the juxtaposition of fluid motion against the more static, texturized surfaces of the trees.

The Path of Least Resistance

Brian M — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:56:45 +0000

I had a really good idea of the direction I wanted to take in terms of stylizing this particular photo. I knew it would be dark, brooding, and ideally cause some anxiety. All of the natural elements were there – I just took the cues presented to me and ran with it. Ultimately, I was able to bring this photo to a place where the picture on my display matched very closely the picture in my mind… and when that happens, it is a very good thing. :)

I can easily spend days roaming the meandering paths of Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. The best part is that I haven't even scratched the surface and am already eager to return.

It's all a matter of perspective

Brian M — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 02:13:00 +0000

If it wasn't for +Jeffrey Yen, we likely would have missed this little waterfall altogether. It was small, unassuming and set a bit in from the forest road that we were cruising on. However, he caught it, we stopped, and all was well.

The funny thing is that if you were there, standing with us by these falls, you'd probably do a double take. Compared to most of the other waterfall offerings in the Pacific NW, this would rate up there with water flowing out of a faucet. But, alas, perspective is a wonderful thing to have along with a camera and lens. :)

When in doubt, shoot what's in front of you

Brian M — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 04:14:57 +0000

Earlier today, +Nicole S. Young, +Brian Bonham, +Jeffrey Yen and I went on a trip to Washington in search of a particular waterfall that looked very promising. Despite following the directions that the PacNW Waterfalls website provided, we were totally clueless as to whether we were getting closer or nowhere near our destination. After a bit, we decided to just forget looking for the bloody waterfall and opted to pay focus to the other cool scenes that we took stock of while driving down the forest road. In most cases, the best laid plans just don't pan out, but I'll be damned if that's a reason not to find something beautiful to photograph.

This photo was edited with Nik Analog Efex Pro. I applied the Bokeh filter so that the lower third of the frame was kept sharp while the trees and sky were rendered just slightly out of focus. I also really dig this particular processing effect that one of the camera presets provided (with some refinement).

The little things

Brian M — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:35:58 +0000

It's funny how easy it is to overlook the little things. They're usually those things that register in your mind and then are forgotten just as quickly in the wave of, well, the bigger things. But it's in holding onto those moments that you learn to appreciate what is truly important to you.

Take Ruckel Creek Falls as an example. I first visited these falls while still living in Portland. I remember being underwhelmed by the place, probably because I held it in direct comparison to the more extravagant falls that I had been visiting regularly in this area.

Flash forward to the other day, when I visited these falls again after living in the South Bay of northern California for the past nine months. It was the first time I had been back to a waterfall since moving and the falls that I had once passed over without a second thought was one of the most beautiful places I could remember seeing. I started noticing little things about it that added to its charm and it made me appreciate this place that much more. I only photographed here for about 40 minutes but in that time, I had more creative energy flowing through me than I had in a long time and I attribute it to just paying attention to the small things. It's a lesson that I'm seriously going to try and hold onto for a long while.