Photographer Matt McDonald

May 29

by matthew in News, Seattle 0 comments

Washington Ferry Hits Humpback Whale Photos

On May 28, 2019 I was walking my dog along the Seattle waterfront and saw a whale. It was the first time I have seen a whale in Washington and if you know me you know I was super excited. I spent the next 15-20 minutes watching it swim across Elliot Bay. I lost sight of the whale and it resurfaced near the ferry route. I saw a ferry go by it and thought it had hit it at first, but figured it was a distance / compression effect from the lens. Sadly, it turns out the ferry ran over the whale. I did see it breach a couple times after that and then it disappeared. Super sad to say the least. You can watch my interview with KOMO HERE View The photos in People Magazine and The Seattle Times.

Mar 17

by matthew in Uncategorized 0 comments

2019 Emerald City Comic Con Photos

I worked on a marketing campaign via Do206.com for Emerald City Comic Con. Since I have never been to a Comic Con before I wanted to check it out and attended the first day as a member of the press. It was fun to see excited kids and adults running around the Washington State Convention Center. Being a nerd myself who still has part of his comic book collection and has been known to capture photos of super hero related toys I enjoyed it myself. Take a look at a couple of my favorite photos below and take a look at more photos at Do206.com HERE.

Feb 10

by matthew in Seattle 0 comments

Seattle Snow Storm 2019 Photos

Snow took over Seattle and Western Washington during February 2019 and I ventured out to capture all of the chaos and beauty. You can view a bunch of my photos from the snow storm below and see even more over at Do206.com HERE.

Feb 03

by matthew in News, Seattle 0 comments

Seattle says Goodbye To The Viaduct and Hello To 99 Tunnel

I walked the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the new 99 Tunnel with some friends on Feb. 2, 2019. It was amazing to see the difference between the two structures and will be interesting to see how the change affects Seattle in the coming months. Below you can see some of my photos from the recent adventure in Seattle.

Jan 26

by matthew in Music 0 comments

The Knocks Live At The Showbox In Seattle

I haven’t been shooting as much live music as I used to, but I could not pass up the opportunity to capture my current favorite band The Knocks when they played at The Showbox in Seattle. According to Spotify, I listened to their music for over 13 hours and also edited my sister’s wedding video I captured to their music (the official wedding edit was to a royalty free song, but man does their song Retrograded give that loving feeling and I had to make a separate edit just to share). My friend Matt Ogle is also on tour with the band running lights, so across the board it was a super fun night. Take a look at some of the photos below and make sure to listen to their music.

Dec 19

by matthew in News 0 comments

2018 Seattle Photos Of The Year

The year 2018 has come and gone and was quite the adventure for me in Seattle. New business, new clients, more video work than ever, and some really exciting photo assignments along the way. Most of the photos below were captured on my own time because I love photography. I enjoy trying out new concepts while also capturing those familiar beautiful Pacific Northwest scenes I love. Here’s my top 10 favorite photos of the year. The Ferry Ride I have captured a lot of ferry photos in the Pacific Northwest throughout my life. This one is by far and away the most popular. It got over 1,450 likes on my measly Instagram account, made it to the front page of Reddit, and was shared around quite a bit. All those ferry photos paid off. Now I just need to get this at sunset or sunrise… Pearl Jam Via Do206 I was able to secure a photo pass for the first Pearl Jam Home Show at Safeco Field. Middle school me rocking out to a Pearl Jam cassette never ever would have dreamed I would have had this opportunity. It was an amazing experience to say the least and […]

Dec 09

by matthew in Seattle, Video 0 comments

Let There Be Light At Pier 86 In Seattle

I ventured to Myrtle Edwards Park to capture some photos and a time-lapse videos of the “Let There Be Light” art installation in Seattle. “Let There Be Light” is be a celebration of the Seattle waterfront, it’s history, it’s people, and it’s light shining the way into the future. The art on the Pier 86 Grain Terminal featured two different projection art installations from Northwest artists. The series is running from Dec 11 – Dec 21st, 2019. Learn more about the event HERE.

Nov 24

by matthew in Landscapes, Seattle 0 comments

Seattle In The Fog

Every fall and winter when the fog rolls into Seattle I watch every webcam to make sure I don’t miss when the fog hits the right spot. 2018 was no different and I woke up before sunrise for nearly 7 days straight to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I ventured to Kerry Park, West Seattle and Capitol Hill to try and find that perfect vantage point. I think my favorite shot of this fall Pacific Northwest fog season was the singular Space Needle shot with the Olympics in the background. Hoping we will get some more foggy sunrises and sunsets before the year ends. Some of these photos edited into to timelapses-videos will debut in an upcoming documentary about the Space Needle as well. A few of my favorite photos below.

Nov 24

by matthew in Macro 0 comments

Macro Product Photography With Bumblebee The Transformer

I enjoy macro photography, so I decided to have a photoshoot with a Takara Tomy Masterpiece Transformer in celebration of the new Bumble Bee Transformers movie coming out in December. It was a fun side project to work on my product, composite, and long exposure photography skillsets. I started out with some basic portraits atop a roof in Seattle. Then moved on to making a composite photo while battling the Seattle rain. I posted a few of these on the Transformers subreddit and got a lot of critiques and feedback on the photo. Turns out there is quite a large group of collectors out there and companies making Transformer toys. The Transformer collectors were great letting me know I forgot to put stickers on and wasn’t actually transforming the toy properly. They also came up with some other ideas for photos like the classic 1970s cheesy double exposure photo concept you can see below. The photo I really had in my mind was a long exposure composite photo with the Seattle skyline in the background, which I was hoping would give it a Cybertron kinda feel. The first couple tries went OK, but To really get the photo U had […]

Nov 11

by matthew in Action, Landscapes, Seattle 0 comments

Fall Colors In Seattle At Sam Smith Park

For years I have driven past Sam Smith Park in Seattle and never really explored it. Thanks to a random day off in the middle of the week I ventured to the park and it is now officially one of my favorite places for fall color photos and to just hangout. I also found a couple of small skate spots and cruised through the tunnel to the other side to view I-90.