Seattle Photography by Matt McDonald
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.
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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 […]
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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.  
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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.
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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 […]
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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.
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Nov 05
by matthew in Seattle 0 comments

Blue Seattle Cityscape In Honor of Paul Allen

Paul Allen passed away in October of 2018 and Seattle mourned the passing of the co-founder of Microsoft, owner of the Seahawks and so much more. On the weekend of Nov. 2-4 the Seattle cityscape turned blue and I ventured around the city capturing photos of some of the blue landmarks like the Space Needle, Amazon Sphere, Columbia Tower, Great Wheel and more.
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Oct 20
by matthew in Seattle 0 comments

Borealis, A Festival Of Light In Seattle

The folks over at Borealis, A Festival Of Light reached out online letting me know about the festival coming to Seattle’s South Lake Union. I made some blog post on Do206.com letting Seattle know and planned on attending myself. The BOREALIS, a festival of light debuted in Seattle on October 11-14 2018, at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on South Lake Union and I am glad I attended the first night to witness the spectacle. The video recap below features several timelapses in the beginning edited to the music of Cuff Lynx and the two final portions were full video of two of the light artists. Learn more at: borealisfestivaloflight.com
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Aug 23
by matthew in Seattle 0 comments

The Top Iconic Photos Spots In Seattle

I spend a lot of time capturing photos of Seattle as a hobby and for some of my clients. I always enjoying setting up a tripod and enjoying the pristine view of the Emerald City. I started building out a list of my favorite iconic Seattle photos spots and you can see the beginning of that below. THE CLICHE, EASY TO GET, UNDER THE SPACE NEEDLE PHOTO We have all been there, captured that photo and should continue to do so. Thank you World’s Fair for this amazing building. When is the World’s Fair coming back? KERRY PARK | THE POSTCARD VIEW Kerry Park is the iconic view of downtown Seattle where it appears the Space Needle is the largest building in the city and is right in the middle. On a nice day this park is packed with photographers, tourists and walkers stopping to take in the view. Get there at least an hour early if you are trying to capture the sunset from a good spot with a tripod. Make sure to get a spot to the right of the park on the dirt mound. It’s the best spot to get the full city in our opinion. PIKE […]
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Aug 13
by matthew in Music 0 comments

Pearl Jam’s The Home Shows Photos

I had the opportunity to do some marketing for Pearl Jam and The Home Shows thanks to Do206.com. I captured a photo of the Pearl Jam flag being raised on the Space Needle when the show was announced in the fall and Pearl Jam reposted it on their socials as well. It was an amazing honor since Pearl Jam was the first concert I went to and Vs. was the first tape I ever bought. Two days before the show Pearl Jam reached out to Do206 and offered me a photo pass to capture the shows. I have captured a lot of live music over the years, but this was truly special. The day of the show Pearl Jam raised the flag again and I captured another photo that they retweeted, trended on Twitter and reached over 500,000 people.  
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