From Cockpit to Camera: My Journey Through the Lens of Storytelling - Moments of Mood, 1.6

This is a monologue that I did for my youtube channel (see link below), and I thought long and hard about if I should post the audio here as a podcast episode. So I apologise if it's not tailored to an audio podcast but I hope it can provide some introductory value to you if you're new to my channel. If you want to see some of the images and video clips from behind the scenes please feel free to head over to YouTube and check out the video version of this latest 'Moments of Mood'.

Thanks once again for listening, and as we navigate this digital gallery together, I invite your voice into the mix. Please share your thoughts, contribute to the dialogue, and suggest pathways for our collective creative odyssey. I hope you can tune in, and let's make art in this conversation we call photography.
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Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can also watch this episode on my YouTube channel (link below) where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as my social media, so make sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok or check out my website for my complete portfolio of work.

yoreh.
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Getting old. Hello, greetings YouTube. It's Matt here. Welcome, welcome to you and welcome to me. Although I'm not new here maybe you are I felt this was an appropriate time to do a video like this. I feel comfortable, finally, in sharing a little bit about me in an attempt to reach out and connect with you. Honestly, I feel my previous videos have been a little distant and I wanted to correct that moving forward. So why should you care? Well, you shouldn't. I'm not asking you to, but if you are interested, then please continue watching and listening what I have to say.

Speaker 1: 0:57

I've had my YouTube channel for a while now, but I haven't found the right time to properly introduce myself, to tell you a little bit about me and my passions and goals within the photography and art world and, probably most importantly, why I'm here and why I want to talk to you out there in the weird and wonderful realm of YouTube and social media. I'm 41 years old. I'm married to a beautiful and loving wife. I have three cats, three dogs, who are my whole world, other than my wife, obviously. I live in Bali. We live in a villa and rent a separate space that we turned into a specialty coffee bar my other obsession and a photography studio on top, but I think more about these things may be better in videos down the line. For the last 15 years, I've been applying my trade as a professional pilot, and this has given me many opportunities to travel around the world and experience some wonderful cultures. It's to this job that I have to thank for opening my eyes to photography and the art form of telling stories through, well, a box and some glass. Essentially, I've been photographing on and off for the last five years or so, as much as I can in my spare time. I still consider myself a newbie in the space and I'm extremely grateful to have found my passion and purpose in life, and that is, without doubt, photography.

Speaker 1: 2:22

You might have seen some of my images I hope you have on my social channels or indeed somewhere else, and if you have done, thanks so much for your support. But if you haven't, then here's a brief idea of what I love to shoot. These photos are kind of my typical style of photography. I spend a lot of time planning and researching different areas and cultures around the world. But now, more specifically, indonesia. I live in Bali and I love to drive around exploring and looking for light. Excuse the. Did I really just say that? Looking for light? Anyway, I spend my time searching for unique people and scenes and environments like this.

Speaker 1: 3:03

I love images that really show a fine art aspect to a human face, human practice, culture, location, experience and environment. To do this, I often have to plan or stage a shoot or series, and it's not the orthodox meaning of staging. It's just a pause or momentary capture within the authentic lives of my subjects or, with permission, a smile and often money, of course. Technically, I look for atmospheric lighting, dramatic contrast, leading lines, shallow depth of field, subtle color grades, textures and subjects that help bring the story to life. I generally shoot environmental portraits when the subject is interacting with a scene and we can see more of what's going on. Or I'll do closer, more intimate portraits with very carefully controlled lighting.

Speaker 1: 3:50

Light is everything to me. I shoot mainly medium format using Hasselblad H6D for closer portraits and the X2D for environmental portraits. On top of that, I love using my Leica M11 full frame to shoot wide angles and crunchy, contrasty, repultive shots. I'll use a mixture of natural and artificial light and enjoy using a subtle pop of artificial light when on location in the field. I feel this doesn't get done much. Some may say there's a reason for that I can hear you typing away already but I truly believe if you use subtly, you can't tell and it adds a huge amount of versatility and originality to your style.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Other than this trying, failing and trying again with photography, I really enjoy hosting my own podcast. This is truly an interest and hobby. That's in my life purely because I enjoy it. It doesn't need to make me money, or as long as I continue to enjoy the process and produce episodes to a quality in both content and technique that I'm proud of, then I will continue doing it. The goal of the podcast is just to talk, to forge connections with fellow artists, to initiate profound, insightful discussions with individuals who might feel isolated or detached from the faces behind the lens. Crucially, to partake in genuine and authentic dialogues, delving into the why behind every path taken by photographers, filmmakers and artists alike. The dwindling art of conversation is especially palpable in today's highly digitized world and within the visual arts domain, characterized by even more pronounced digital landscapes. People, including myself, crave authentic connections that transcend the superficiality of viral short form videos, which have become synonymous with those relentlessly chasing algorithms, especially within the realm of photography. Ok, so rant spill over with, but you can check out any of my podcast episodes on my YouTube channel under the podcast playlist, the mood podcast. I'd be fortunate enough to chat with some incredible people and artists over 32 episodes or so, and I hope you can find one or two that really connect and resonate with you. That's the goal. After all.

Speaker 1: 6:07

The podcast is held here in my studio where I'm sat now, with the exception of some online, and I'm very proud of it. But if you have some comments or feedback or guess suggestions, please, course, comment and send them my way. I'm still at the very early stage of developing this podcast and I would love to have you guys involved as much as possible. Other than this show, I'd like to dabble in some tips and tricks and some educational content, and, to be honest, I wish I could do more of this. I love it. I'm planning on doing workshops here in my studio and on location soon and I'm releasing a portrait video course later this year. Oh, it's a lot of work. And also I'm doing my ebook, which is just going to come out, so please check the link in the description for free coffee, free coffee, free copy.

Speaker 1: 6:58

My educational videos here take the form of some short form quickies, some longer tips and tricks and some analysis and edits of my photos, so you can see how I edit and how I capture certain shots. But why am I here? Really Well, as a cultural portrait photographer, or whatever label you want to put on things, I've learned a lot, mainly through fucking up so many times and being too stubborn to accept any help in the past five or six years, and I really want to share my experiences and lessons with you, whether that's through direct educational content or conversational podcasting. There's so much faff in the world right now and all these platforms are littered with algorithm first content and why I think this is important.

Speaker 1: 7:45

In order to get in front of people, I want to do only what I want to do, and do it with honesty and integrity. So I can promise you this every video you see from me will be with 100% honesty, integrity and authenticity. I just want to talk to you and share what I've learned and where I've gone wrong, in the hope that you can avoid the same pitfalls, and that's what it's all about, really. Isn't it Just giving you some value so you can not waste your time and, as such, come away from a short video with just one or two things that you might remember or take away and implement. If I can help you do that, I'll be the happiest bloke around For me to know that, though I'd love for you to tell me. Tell me what you want to see, tell me what can help you, tell me to just fuck off, but just communicate.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Youtube doesn't have to be a search engine. It's still social media, right. It's still social, it's still communal, or at least it should and can be right. So that's it. That's me in a nutshell. Sorry for any rambling. Let me know your thoughts. Was this a good intro for you? Do you better understand what this channel is about? How can I help you learn and grow in photography? Let me know. Hopefully I can see you in the comments and until the next video, happy shooting and hugs.