Marisa Matluck Photo Blog

I spent this weekend moving (YES!) and had no time to “get out there” and shoot. So I went back back back into my super old hard drives and found some interesting photos of hurricanes and their destructive aftermath.

I think that most of these were from Hurricane Wilma. Remember that one South Florida? The one where we had no power for a week? I remember pushing my car through an entire parking lot just so I could fill the tank with gas at 6 in the morning.

Shakira has a dance face. I love her. I love her so much that I saw both her performances when she was here last weekend. I have loved her since first hearing her song ‘Estoy Aqui’ at my cousins house in Bogota, Colombia. I think I was 12. At the time, I was particularly fascinated with how quickly she sang the chorus to that song and I was determined to learn all of the words. Needless to say, upon my return to Miami, I knew all of the words to her album Pies Descalzos.

Now, being the intense Shakira fan that I am, who I attend the concert with is key. I went once with someone (who shall remain nameless) who didn’t know one song and I was left there dancing and singing my heart out all on my lonesome. This time around was much much different. Both times I attended with phenomenal company .

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do an engagement shoot for an absolutely beautiful couple whose wedding I will be photographing in just 3 short weeks! I am so excited to get to work with such awesome (and photogenic) people!!!

Which brings me to this blog post… we took a stroll down Calle Ocho. It was the first time I had ever actually walked around there other than the festival held in March. Rachel and Rene (the couple) are Cuban and wanted to have their shoot there. I was so glad, it was a nice change from the typical places people normally want their photos taken.

Anyway, as we were strolling along, they led me to a place where there is a monument and a torch and a super big tree. Im not sure what the monument and torch were for because I was mostly paying attention to the tree but it had something to do with Cuba I am sure. Rene told me about this tree, called a Ceiba Tree, that is very important in Cuban culture. I had never seen such roots. All the photos you are about to see are mainly just the roots of this ginormous tree. I did include one photo of the couple just because they are awesome!

A few years ago I moved one of my very close friends, Michelle, across the ocean to a magical place called Amsterdam. I pulled a New Years Eve all nighter, got on a plane, passed out, and woke up in 10 degree weather in the Netherlands. It was  fah-reeeez–zing (pronounced as it is spelled).  Come ot think of it, as a type, it is very cold in my office and the comparison is remarkable!

Anyway,  I spent an amazing 9 days there. 3 layers of pants, 4 layers of socks, multiple long sleeve shirts, sometimes ear muffs and a partridge in a pear tree!

One may think that you have to be a lover of Mary Jane to enjoy Amsterdam but au contrair! I was able to visit more museums than coffee shops and take more pictures than joints. The streets and architecture in Amsterdam is really beautiful. I even managed to make it to a super cool black light museum and if you (the reader) ever head over there, let me know and I will point you in the right direction. Unfortunately, I was not as in tune with my photography side when I went there and was unable to operate the camera the way that I do now. The end result is a few awesome pics that I went back and edited for blog purposes!

I recently borrowed an underwater housing for my fabulous G11 Camera. I really do love that cam!

On Saturday, I joined my grandmother and my sister for a nice relaxing day at the beach. Lately I have been working so hard that when I have a few free hours I use them wisely and do absolutely nothing! So I brought the camera and the casing and ventured into the great blue. Aside from my sister posing as she normally does, there wasn’t much to photograph seeing as it was a relatively calm day on the ocean. There weren’t even many waves.

I took this opportunity to really meditate and “become one” with the ocean. My name, after all, means “of the sea”. We so often take seaweed for granted. I know that sounds silly but imagine all the amazing little creatures that live in them. Us swimmers usually avoid them and throw them at each other not realizing that they are just a beautiful living thing housing other living things just floating on top of the sea.

.

This one time, a bit over a year ago, I got lost in Noosa, Australia. Let me just clarify that it was not in the middle of a city that I was lost. I was trekking through the National Park with 2 Israelis I had met and the sun was setting and we were lost in what seemed to be a forrest. It was some scary $hit for real!

The funny part of this story is how we got out of the park:

I got lost in the park with a couple of Israel soldiers who swore they could protect us and get us out in once piece. I trusted them, but was really not happy about getting lost in the dark. As we were walking across an empty beach (part of the park) at sunset, contemplating on pitching a tent and hoping the tide didn’t rise and leave us stuck or heading away from the ocean into a forrest area that we were unfamiliar with, we met a couple. Not just any couple. We met a very drunk, nude, couple of swingers. This was just icing on a cake and I knew that at some point in my life I would be able to share this story.  Needless to say, they were quite amused with us and our getting lost. They thankfully led us out of the park, through the forrest… picking on us the entire time. They kept shouting “snake” or “possum” or some sort of animal, just to scare me. Once we got out, the man saw my camera and dropped his drawers one last time for photo purposes. That one will not be on the blog… sorry

It seems as though this summer I have taken more trips to the West Coast of Florida then ever before. Granted I had only been to Panama City Beach back in my college days, but I still managed to make it West quite often for some much needed R&R.

All I did this weekend was sit on a beach and take pictures. You may think I would get bored of taking beach pictures but this is why I had to get adventurous with the shots. I get down low and photograph the smallest details. I also took the G11 to the beach at night. That full moon provided the most beautiful light and I was able to take some pics of my friend. Thank TSH for being such a good model (and for such a great weekend getaway). Love that family!

On Friday night, I attended an über cool fashion show at a hip, new, members-only burlesque bar called La Fee Verte. It was my second time there and I actually really like the place. You have to be on a list to get in which could sometimes be annoying but they only let a certain number of people in the place. This is great because you can enjoy the atmosphere with plenty of breathing room!

The crowd is cool. Its an ‘anything goes’ kind of place. Did I mention their drink specialty is Absythine?

The reason for the event was a KRELwear fashion show. Krel is a local designer (support the locals!) with such a talent for knitting and color. “The one of kind line embraces flaws with no rules at all; enhancing originality through organic methods, let it run, knit.” I took that from her site. I am not a fashion critic but I have happened to photograph my friend Erin Newberg in her clothing before and it is absolutely, without a doubt,  photogenic! I didn’t include many of her pieces in this blog post because they are featured in my photo gallery on NBCMiami. These can be seen by clicking here.

I was really glad I was able to bring my camera in the place. I don’t think they allow photos to be take which is why I am not showing the faces of the girls that stripped down to everything but nipple covers and undies. I love being able to take pictures in dark surroundings where the light hits the body just enough to see curvature. Lets face it, women have beautiful curves. And this, my friends, is why I enjoyed taking photos that night  (for artistic purposes).

I never cared much for futbol (soccer for you Americans) until this year. Being in an office full of fanatics makes it that much more fun. I watched these boys in the office trade “monitas” (stickers) like 5 year olds trade SillyBandz. Every game was on in the office, I don’t think I missed one. I have to say, that although those vuvuzuela’s put me to sleep with their monotonous tone, I will miss them and the excitement that was the World Cup for the past month.

Yesterday I went to a super cool world cup celebration block party on Brickell. I wasn’t really cheering for any team in particular, I was there for the photo opportunities. I was really excited when I was allowed on stage and managed to snag a few shots of the Mayor of Miami!

Man was it a good time ! I think that 95% of the crowd was ready for Spain to win and when they did… it was mayhem.

I love this city and the energy that it comes with when crowds like this one gather.

I recently returned from a nice little vacation in Virginia Beach. Why Virginia you ask? Well, I happen to have a remarkably good friend who just happens to live there. Aside from being a good friend, Michelle is one of the coolest people I know. I called her up and told her I wanted to come visit and take pictures and for 5 days she showed me around and let me snap away.

We did everything from concerts (Hall and Oates & Passion Pit), to bike riding, wake surfing, touring… we even visited a haunted hotel. Actually, we tried to visit the haunted hotel (The Cavalier) but the doors were locked so we peered through the windows. I am also 100% sure that we saw a ghost on the top floor window and when we mentioned it to her friends later that night, one of them confirmed that some one had in fact jumped from the very window a long time ago.

(more…)