Artist of the Month, Matthew Buckley, June 2009

About the Artist, Matthew Buckley, in his own words.

This picture was taken at the Tifft Nature Preserve near Buffalo. I was walking through and I saw this tree. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I thought to myself "that's a weird lookin' tree." Well at least that's how I saw it in my imagination. In reality, it was just the left half of the image but I felt the mirror image of itself was a little more interesting. With minor color enhancements, of what I like to call a "15 point" saturation increase, and some
added contrast, this is what i ended up with. This still remains as one of my only photos that I do not get sick of looking at...yet. It is better when viewed at a larger size and helps bring you into the photo as if you are there. If I could, I would like to get a print of it about 50' x 20', but with the resolution, I'm not so sure if it would be a good idea.

I'll tell you about my favorite experience I have had as a photographer so far. I was taking a View Camera class at Villa Maria College. My brother, our friend and I hiked down to the bottom of the gorge in Niagara Falls, with close to 100 pounds of photography equipment. Stopping along the way snapping shots with my digital, we finally reach the bottom, and it was quite an experience. I found a stable location along the shore line, and started to set up my camera, with help, and got everything set up. I went under the hood and used my light meter, to get my exposure, and I saw the tide was coming up and two of the three tripod legs were under water, at this point. I got the exposures I needed, and packed up before we were completely submerged.

A piece of art that influences me, I would have to say, might be the largest piece of art we all know as, "Life". We each are an artist, that has a never ending canvas. Every move we make, everything we see, is inspiration, and a new color on our canvas. I try and take things that not everyone may notice and bring them to a format where people can see the true beauty. Some of my favorite artists are David LaChapelle, David Hockney, Ansel Adams, Julia Mordaunt, and Storm Thorgerson. Another artist that I like, but may not be a favorite, is John Paul Caponigro, I got the idea to mirror my images from him.