Marisa Matluck Photo Blog

Yesterday I went to the beach for a photo shoot. Those are usually hit or miss. Actually, no, they are always hit! I had the pleasure of working with a woman and her 3 beautiful children. Earlier in the day, while anticipating the shoot, a storm started rolling in. You can imagine how bummed I get when I have outdoor shoots planned and it rains.

Luckily, by the end of the day it had cleared up but there was definite overcast. Not a problem… shoot was still on!

I was beyond blown away by the breathtaking calmness of the ocean and everyone in it. It was just what I needed at the end of yesterday!

One thing about Miami’s tropical weather that I love – STORMS. They produce the most magnificent clouds, the most beautiful rainbows, the coziest days. I can watch a storm roll in and enjoy every second of it. I enjoy it even more when I have my camera nearby.

I know I put this quote on my blog some time ago, but I just love it (and try to live by it) so I had to put it again:

“We must strive to be like the moon.’ An old man in Kabati repeated this sentence often… the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others. [S]he said that people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold. But, no one grumbles when the moon shines. Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way. Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night. A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines. These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon.”
— Ishmael Beah

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago at the drum circle, the night of the huge huge moon!

Im sure you can tell by the title of the blog post that the above photo is one of my favorites from last weekend at Ultra… The whole reason I was so excited for Saturday at Ultra was EMPIRE OF THE SUN!

This has to be one of my greatest moments; when the lead singer (Luke Steel of Sleepy Jackson) looks over at me (and yes I have a shot of him looking straight at the camera) plays his way over to the front and center of the stage, and rocked out on his guitar for a hot-minute. Hence, this image was captured…

I absolutely LOVE Afrobeta!

Bump your speakers… hit play on the little music thingy below, listen to the music of Afrobeta (Cuci Amador & Tony Laurencio) and click HERE to buy their album (which rocks my world)!

The best part about this electroduo is that they are local!

Do You Party? by Afrobeta

This year I went all 3 days… Talk about exhaustion well worth it. There seemed to be a trend of animal heads, neon, ecstasy and everything associated with the club culture… but for me, I went for the photos. After shooting Ultra last year, I had been dreaming about this years event and the photo opps I would have. After 3 days, and more than 2,000 photos, the only solution I had to show all of my favorites is to post pics in a 3 day time period… so here it goes: Ultra, Day 1… Tiesto, Duran Duran, Erasure, Fedde Le Grand and tons of cool concert goers…

Oh how I enjoy a good beat(nut)! This past weekends’ artwalk festivities led me to the Electric Pickle where I was super happy to learn that the Beatnuts were going to be performing live! I have never seen them perform but have been bouncin’ my head to the their beat ever since I was a little thuggette! JK I was never a thug… (or was I?)

Anyway, I had my super bad ass camerasita with me there and decided to video one of my favorite songs that they sing.. And wishing La <— you know who you are — would have been there bc she would have loved this stuff!

I never realized how beautiful a pelican could be until I photographed one with dark rain filled clouds as in the background. Last week, while photographing a maternity shoot in my favorite undisclosed location, I came across a bunch of fisherman returning to dock. These men were throwing scraps of fish at the pelicans and that allowed for some pretty awesome shots! There was one pelican imparticular who kept gracing my camera with its presence… Thus, I have cool Pelican photos!

Please note that these are not photoshopped

Last night I was given the opportunity to shoot some sports photos from the sidelines of the Orange Bowl Championship Game. The minute I found out I got the press pass I requested, I was so excited… I even did some online research (aka web surfing) to find out which players were the most sought after for the Heisman/NFL Draft so I k new who to aim my camera at. I was so excited the night before that I barely got any sleep. I know, I know… I am such a girl! I also had a really awesome sports photographer (twitter – @JohnnyBonds86) show me the ropes and give me some sports photo pointers. Thank you to NBC for trusting me out there, and JB for hanging on the sidelines!

So here is my version of sports photos:

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Last week Diplo threw it downnnn at Grand Central and my boy Ari hooked it up! I am just such a music lover so if you show me a stage, with a DJ on it, and I have a camera in hand (like always), this is what ensues…