Also see Experimenting the Self-- Part Deux

 

Sometimes I get wrapped in limitations of my own doing.

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Wrapped     2013

        It's not easy to break through

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Push     2013

  You have to push to see

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Push to See     2013

Even though you may not want to see what is

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Push  to Block       2013

 It's easy to stay in the trap

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Push but Trapped    2013

And not look 

Matthew G. Beall  Photography    Push to Not    2013

I am excited about Lightroom 5 (BETA). I tested it out on two photographs I took this past December in Shell Beach, California. These two new photographs are now part of my California Central Coast Series

And http://matthewgbeallphotography.blogspot.de/2013/10/a-rocky-shore-caught-in-black-and-white.html

Matthew G. Beall Photography   The Rocks    2013   Shell Beach, California

Matthew G. Beall Photography   The Cove   2013   Shell Beach, California

Perspective. Your point of view. The way you see things. Subjective. This is what it really comes down to in art making.

Matthew G. Beall Photography    Ulmer Münster through the Stadthaus   2013   Ulm, Germany

I absolutely love making photographs. It's fun. It's relaxing. It's sometimes frustrating, and it's not always easy. It takes knowledge and vision. You have to be curious. You have to be open. You need to look and see. You have to be willing to learn  from others and from yourself. You need to experiment. You should strive for quality over quantity. You need to know when to reject those that just don't cut it. You need to accept that some may reject your work, your vision.  After all, it is completely subjective.

And every so often you should go back and revisit those you made. Sometimes after days, weeks, months or even years, you see these 'old' pieces of work in a new way. Sometimes you will even make another version or change the name. Sometimes you won't. 

Matthew G. Beall Photoghraphy
Shell Beach Morning Point
2012
Shell Beach, California

Matthew G. Beall Photography    The Wheel Goes Round    2011   Ulm, Germany

Matthew G. Beall Photography    A Small Park     2013        Ulm, Germany

Matthew G. Beall Photography    The Stream and Trees and Plants       2012        Neu  Ulm, Germany

Matthew G. Beall Photography    A Snap Shot       2012      Santa Barbara, Californina

Matthew G. Beall Photography    The Münster Series       2011 - 2013          Ulm, Germany

Matthew G. Beall Photography      Airport     2011        Munich, Germany

I don't like winter. I don't like the snow. I don't like the cold. Winter be GONE! You overstayed your welcome.

Perhaps a positive of a snowy winter are the endless photography opportunities. Maybe that's pushing it a bit...

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Such a Long Winter    2012

 

 Wide Angle  Black & White and Color Photography 

Where in the world would you go to make some photographs? NYC? A tropical island? An iconic national park? They all sound pretty awesome to me.

BUT

Sometimes you have to simply look at what is right in front of you. I have said this many times before - You don't have to leave your home to find interesting things to photograph.

You can make a photograph of yourself making a photograph

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Self   2013

Spring is on its way, but I wish it would hurry up a bit. Tulips on the window sill in the living room as a subject.

Matthew G. Beall Photohgraphy   Tulips on the Window Sill   2013

or of the iris enjoying the sun

Matthew G. Beall Photography    The Iris    2013

And finally you can venture out for a walk in the neighorhood

Matthew G. Beall Photography    Schatten     2013

Palms at Mission Santa Barbara. How could I resist such a subject. The feel of California.

Get more of that California feeling here

Matthew G. Beall Photography  The Feel of California   2012

Between Winter and Spring

A fun snapshot from the past

Neue Mitte in Ulm, Germany

Thinking of the ocean and palm trees swaying in the breeze.

Black and White Long Exposure Photography

Matthew G. Beall Photography    Breeze     2012

Early in the morning

 I'm not yet fully awake.

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Early in the Morning or How I Sometimes See   2012

I miss this!

Matthew G. Beall Photography   California Sunset   2012    Pismo Beach

Color Photography 

Mirrored

Matthew G. Beall Photography  Mirrored  2013

I am longing to be back where I was over the Christmas holidays: The California Central Coast. Instead I am in a place where there is snow all around.

Longing for the sand, the sun, the sound of breaking waves, the smell of the sea.

 An ordinary rock in ordinary sand is extra ordinary on a sunny  Pismo Beach, California December morning.

Matthew G. Beall Photography    Longing for Before    2012     Pismo Beach, California

It's been some time since  I posted. I am back after a nice, long vacation to the place I was raised. Naturally, I had all my gear and a preconceived idea for a new series.  

I went back in time, way back. Memories are sweet. Memories connect to the present. This is the result.

 California Central Coast Series -- see the complete series on my Facebook page, and while you are there, please "like"it,

Here's a taste

Matthew G. Beall Photography
Shell Beach Wonder
2012
Shell Beach, California

Matthew G. Beall Photography
Here It Comes
2012
Shell Beach, California

Matthew G. Beall Photography
From the Bluff 2
2012
Shell Beach, California

The significance of THREE can be interpreted as wholeness.

Three photographs - One plant  =

Triptych

 

Matthew G Beall Photography   The significance of THREE   2012

Matthew G. Beall Photography  Three is Wholeness 1  2012

Matthew G. Beall Photography  Three is Wholeness 2  2012

Matthew G. Beall Photography  Three is Wholeness 3  2012

One of the modernist pioneers of photography. 

 Under the Darkcloth is broken into 6 parts for Youtube. Thanks Youtube and Tom Johnston Photography

Oct 25, 2012. What a beautiful day in Ulm, Germany. A day for photographing.

It was an awesome day because I got to out shooting pics with my good friend Axel Busch. Axel is an entrepreneur,  an adventurer, a sailor, a diver, a fellow photographer, a videographer, and above all, my  friend. He is someone that I greatly admire.

 A three hour tour: Axel isn't in Germany very often, so we took advantage of such an awesome day to grab our gear and shoot. It was about having a great time. Man, did I enjoy it!

Axel in action. Oct. 25, 2012

A few shots

Ulm from across the Danube  Oct. 25, 2012

Without light what are we? I am always chasing the light. There are days when the light shines through a window and creates such shadow that I am compelled to get the camera and play around with the ordinary inside the apartment.

Matthew G. Beall   Shadows on a Bathroom Wall   2012

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Her Office   2012

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Her Office Desk   2012

The Internet is AWESOME!

One of the greatest things I like about it is how one can rather easily connect with other photographers . Although I am from the States, I live in Germany, and it's far, far away from "home" physically speaking... yet, so very, very close online. Take Miami, Fl. for instance. It's is 4931 miles from where I am at. It's kinda tough to pop by to talk to someone face-to-face but online, well, it's as if it is just around the corner.  Miami photographer Jorge Ledesma - Ledesmaphotography -is an example of one of these connections.

I have been following Jorge's blog http://ledesmaphotography.wordpress.com/home/blog/  for a some time. I like what he has to say and I like his work. He and I have very similar thoughts on the art of photography. In his  Week40 post he writes, "I can assure you that cameras don’t really matter all that much." Yep! He continues to say, and I paraphrase here, it's your vision and how you make the photograph. Absolutely! I think he hits it spot on with this sentence: "Processing for me is so intimately tied to vision because it hones in on what you saw and what you want your viewer to see..."

Jorge is one of the photographers that helps me to see a bit differently when I am stuck and helps me to color outside the lines.

Matthew G. Beall Photography   Shadows on a Bathroom Wall    2012

Fall is here and winter is coming

 There's a wonderful beauty during winter when the tress are bare, the skies are gray, and fresh soft snow is on the ground. I see monotone.

Matthew G. Beall Photography   There's a Wonderful Beauty    2011