Matt Freedman Photography: Blog

La Figa: Behind the Scenes

pmattf — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:36:58 +0000

Work on the La Figa: Visions of Food and Form project is continuing – we should have some news to report on publication of the book some time this spring. Meanwhile, Tiberio and I continue to shoot. We recently did two different shoots with two different pairs of women and two different small round fruits (grapes and cherry tomatoes). We are saving the final images for the book, but here are some fun behind the scenes shots of the process (it is a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it)…

Click for larger images…

Seattle’s Sexiest Physician and Personal Trainer/Stripper

pmattf — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:21:10 +0000

Seattle’s alternative weekly paper, The Stranger, just announced their picks for Seattle’s Sexiest 2010 – the eight sexiest people in Seattle – and remarkably, both of our two cover models from this month’s sex issue of JUST CAUSE Magazine made the grade! A photo of mine of Lisa – now officially Seattle’s sexiest physician – is featured by The Stranger (the rest of the photos from that set have previously been featured here, and can be found on my Facebook fan page). Gabriel, Seattle’s sexiest personal trainer/stripper is also a good friend of mine, and one of my favorite models to work with.

Here are some bonus photos of two of Seattle’s sexiest people. Click for larger versions…

This month’s JUST CAUSE Magazine cover:

The photo of Lisa that The Stranger selected (see my Facebook Fan Page for more of the photos from this set):

A few of my favorite photos of Gabriel…

And these two, from the La Figa Project…

Fremont Winter Feast

pmattf — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:28:44 +0000

The Fremont Winter Feast is a winter solstice celebration put on by and for the Fremont Arts Council – the same group that puts on the Fremont Solstice Parade at the summer solstice (wow, has six months gone by already?). Here are a few shots, you will find a larger gallery on my Facebook fan page.

Click for larger images…

Burning Man iPhone App: Now Free!

pmattf — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:47:57 +0000

Version 1.1 of my coffee table book for the iPhone – Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman has now been released:

It includes post Burning Man 2009 updates to the text of my introduction, packing list, and guide to photography at Burning Man.
The app has now been gifted to the Burning Man community, and is available as a free download.

Also, if you or somebody you know may be interested in putting out your own coffee table book for the iPhone – either as a free app for promotional purposes, or as a paid app to make money – my platform is available for licensing. See my Monkfish Labs site for more information.

Stay tuned for updates about a Burning Man 2009 iPhone app. There is one coming, but it will be quite different than this one.

Burning Man 2009 Photos!

pmattf — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:28:56 +0000

I have just posted over 100 of my absolute favorite images from Burning Man 2009 on my Facebook fan page.

Here is a small sample. Click for larger images…

Maternity Nudes

pmattf — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:45:50 +0000

Here are some samples from a recent maternity shoot in my studio. Some of these are shot with a black paper background, and some in the “dungeon” – the back storage room, which is technically part of the Seattle Underground.

There are also few more (non-nude) images from this shoot available on my facebook fan page (which you are highly encouraged to join if you have not done so already).

Click for larger images…

Last Summer Shoot of 2009

pmattf — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:19:56 +0000

Based on how it feels outside today, I think the endless summer of 2009 has finally ended. But I did manage to squeeze in one final summer portrait session last week, out on the beach at Seattle’s Carkeek Park. It was a perfect day – warm, no wind, and clear skies all the way to sunset, giving us that perfect golden hour light.

The model is a naturopathic doctor who needs the photos for her website, though the look we went for is more fashion model portfolio than business portrait. Mostly because I like to make everybody look like fashion models.

(click for larger images)

And we even managed to get some behind the scenes action shots (photos by Danny Berg)…

Burning Man 2009: Portraits

pmattf — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:16:19 +0000

To continue the themes from my last two posts (portraits and Burning Man), I have just uploaded 30 or so of my favorite portraits from Burning Man 2009, to serve as a preview of this year’s images. The photos are on my Facebook fan page.

Meanwhile, here is a preview of the preview (click for larger images)…

50 Portraits

pmattf — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:53 +0000

I have just uploaded an album of 50 or so of my all time favorite portraits to the new Matt Freedman Photography Facebook Fan Page. I am posting these photos to:

Give the tagged people at least one really nice photo on their Facebook pages.
Drop a subtle reminder that I am a professional photographer available for portrait (and other) sessions.
Build up the number of fans of my photography page before the inevitable anti-Facebook fan page backlash begins.

View the album 50 Portraits.

Here are a few highlights (click for larger images)…

Burning Man Photos!!! And a Facebook Fan Page!!!

pmattf — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:20 +0000

Burning Man 2009 has come and gone – and as everbody is saying, Best Burn Ever!!! I have gotten the 3100 images I took down to about 500 that I am going to keep, and started the process of individually fine tuning each one to bring it to its full potential (anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes per image). In other words, the photos won’t be done for a while.

Meanwhile however, I have now released 100 of my absolute favorite images from Burning Man 2008. As you may know, these were previously only available with purchase of my iPhone e-book, Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman. And, I am getting on the bandwagon, and have a launched a Facebook “fan page” for my photography. I have inaugurated that by putting the 2008 Burning Man images there. So click the following link to go there, and enjoy the photos from Burning Man 2008, and if you would like, become a fan, so you can stay informed of the latest developments with my 2009 photos etc.

Matt Freedman Photography on Facebook

(and please forward/post/tweet this – I really would like to get the word out that these are available).

Meanwhile, here are a few of the new photos. Click for larger images…

The Early Bird Gets the Dew

pmattf — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:27:29 +0000

A few weeks ago, just as the Seattle heatwave was starting (which soon led to our highest recorded temperature ever of 102 degrees) I really wanted to get out and climb Mount Dickerman. Due to its 4000′ elevation gain though, I really did not want to be climbing in the heat of the day. So I left my house at 5:30 AM, and was at the trailhead around 7:00. This got me to the first alpine meadows just as the sun was cresting a ridge at 9:30 AM, and hitting a patch of wildflowers for the first time that day, and thus still dew-covered. If you have seen my macro photography portfolio (i.e. ultra closeups), you may have noticed that I am a bit obsessed with dewdrops. So hitting a patch of wildflowers completely soaked in dew, yet being blasted by beautiful low-angle morning sunshine was basically like dying and going to heaven. Here are a few of my favorites from that morning…

(Click for larger images)

In fact, I was so obsessed, I barely noticed the flies that were swarming me…

Jeet Kune Do

pmattf — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:30:51 +0000

Here are a few images from a recent photo shoot with French martial artist Daniel Locicero – a certified Jeet Kune Do instructor (not to mention talented artist) currently residing in Seattle. Photographic hint of the day: when you want to highlight somebody’s muscle definition, side lighting is your friend.

(click images for larger versions)

And, BTW, yes, I also do regular old headshots…

Garden Macros

pmattf — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:31:30 +0000

The July/August issue of JUST CAUSE Magazine is all about food, and I did quite a bit of shooting in several Seattle community gardens for the Concrete Jungle story. Usually I do macro photography in the wild, or in decorative gardens, so shooting vegetable gardens was a change of pace. Here are a few of my favorites, only the first of which actually made it into the magazine…

(click for larger images)

“Meet Tiberio”, a Short Film by Ben Medina

pmattf — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:10:20 +0000

As mentioned a few posts ago, Tiberio – and his work on the La Figa Project – stars in an upcoming documentary film about independent business people. The movie is called SHINE, and it is being produced by Dan McComb of Biznik. The director, Ben Medina of Kingmaker Mobile Group was generous enough to produce a two minute preview video of Tiberio’s role in the film.

Without further ado, meet Tiberio…
(if you have trouble playing it on your computer, please get the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player)

Lullaby Moon

pmattf — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:32:35 +0000

Here a few of my favorite photos from the Lullaby Moon performance in Seward Park a few weeks ago. Held on the night of the new moon every month, Lullaby Moon is “a year-long invitation to Seattle to explore a world of dream. A celebration of the night sky, the series of performance events brings bedtime whimsy and wonder to parks and other public spaces throughout the city, enlivening and enlightening the dark time of each month.”

The complete set of photos can be seen on my “friends and family” photo sharing site…
http://imageevent.com/pmattf/misc/lullabymoon

(click for larger versions)

Fremont Solstice Parade

pmattf — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:40:33 +0000

Last weekend was the Fremont Solstice Parade, perhaps the most photogenic event of the year here in Seattle. A handful of my favorite shots are posted here, but I have also posted a complete gallery of over 150 photos at http://imageevent.com/pmattf/fremont.

Click for larger versions…

It’s a Tough Job, but Somebody’s Got to Do It

pmattf — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:59:55 +0000

Here are some photos from a recent shoot for a local pole-dancing instructor, Ava. Her site is not up yet, but if you are interested in private pole dancing lessons, I can put you in touch with her. This was actually the first time I have shot in the back storage area of Studio Brick (the studio/gallery space I share with three other photographers in Seattle’s Pioneer Square). The storage area is pretty grungy – technically it is part of the Seattle Underground. It is actually under the street, so not even part of our building per se. It was actually an accident that we ended up back there at all – we were going to shoot in the main studio, but the ceilings were too high to set up the portable dance pole, and the storage area was the only place that worked. Definitely worked out for the best, I think these are much more interesting than they would have been on the plain black background I had been planning.

It was a pretty simple lighting setup, big softbox in the front left, and a gridspot in the right rear. And notice the big difference in lighting in the last shot. There I took the gridspot off, so it was a bare reflector, which casts a much much wider beam of light. So intead of just lighting Ava, it lit the whole room.

(click images for larger versions)

La Figa SHINES

pmattf — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:10:47 +0000

As mentioned in my recent post Painted Backdrops, we were recently in the studio/gallery of painter Jose Luis Rodriguez Guerra, so Tiberio could be filmed in action creating a couple La Figa pieces for an upcoming movie. The title of the film is SHINE – it is a documentary about independent business people, produced by Dan McComb (co-founder founder of Biznik), and directed by Seattle film-maker Ben Medina. Here are some “making of” shots from that day…

(Pop quiz for the photographers reading this – why is the background so blue in the third shot? How would you fix it in post-processing if it bothered you?)

Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman

pmattf — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:05:13 +0000

After 9 months of work shooting and editing images, writing the essays, working with Burning Man on permissions, learning to write iPhone apps, actually developing the application, and dealing with the insanity of the Apple approval process (see this example of what that is like), my first iPhone App is finally available in the iTunes store!!!

Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman
Think of the app as a coffee table book for the iPhone. It contains over 300 extraordinary Burning Man photos, packaged in an easy-to-use full screen photo viewer:

View the whole set, or browse by categories (People, Art, Art Cars, The Man, Dust, etc.).
Mark photos as favorites, for quick retrieval.
Every image has an informative caption, which can be displayed, or left hidden.
Slideshow mode, or manual “flick” paging.

In addition to the photographs, you will find essays:

A foreword, by Marian Goodell, Burning Man’s Director of Business and Communications, explaining what exactly Burning Man is.
An introduction describing my own personal 10 year journey with Burning Man, along with my views on the evolution of the event.
My 4000 word Photography at Burning Man how-to guide, which gives you detailed information on how to take better photographs at Burning Man. What gear to bring, how to carry and protect it, when and where to shoot what, and perhaps most importantly, rules and etiquette.
My own annotated Burning Man packing list. What to pack for your own visit, and why.

You can visit my site to see sample images, excerpts from the essays, and a complete version of the packing list. Or better yet, go directly to the iTunes App Store and get the app. And if you do get it, PLEASE go back to the app store and enter a numerical rating, and if possible, a brief written review. This is absolutely crucial for its success.

Please share this link with anybody and everybody you know who has an iPhone or iPod touch, and/or an interest in Burning Man (if you could post it to your Facebook newsfeed, twitter, etc. that would be great!)…
http://www.silentcolor.com/projects/burningman2008

Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman has been reviewed and approved by the Burning Man Organization, and a portion of the proceeds from every sale goes back to the organization as a contribution to the community it supports.

Painted Backdrops

pmattf — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:34:25 +0000

Use of painted backdrops is quite standard in photography. I generally find them to be ok at best, and horrifically cheesy at worst. But it is not every day you get to use absolutely gorgeous painted backdrops that are each worth substantially more than your car.

Yesterday, Tiberio and I brought the La Figa live installation to the studio/gallery of Jose Luis Rodriguez Guerra – an incredibly talented painter, originally from Mexico, but now living and working in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Tiberio is being featured in an upcoming documentary film, and we were there to get footage of him creating some La Figa pieces. Jose was kind enough to lend his space for the filming. More details about the movie (and of course still photos) will be coming in my next blog post, after I have had a chance to post-process the images.

While waiting for some extra video lighting to arrive, I did a spontaneous quick shoot with Reyna, one of our absolute favorite La Figa models. Regular readers (and anybody who was at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival this year) will undoubtedly recognize her. Jose generously allowed us to use his stunning canvases as the backdrop for these photographs.

Also note that Reyna is available for modeling gigs of all kinds. If you have a project that she would be suited for, and would like to get in touch with her about it, just drop me a line, and I will introduce you.

(Click for larger images)