Random Photo of the Day

Random Photo of the Day

This is a shot of McKala. I'm sure I'm spelling her name wrong...sorry about that Mick-Ayy-Lah.

Anyway, she's one of the gals on the opening team in Federal Way I told you about before. Every month I print a calendar for all the restaurants in our company and I put interesting, unique photo's related to the Fish House on it. I was going to feature this pic of MicEighLuh on it but she wasn't at the Fish House when I tried to reach her to guage her sense of humor level before publishing this image for thousands to see. So I was nice and didn't use it quite as much. Instead I am now publishing it on my blog for millions to see (well, the blog could take off like crazy..you never know :) Anyway...everyone say hi to Mychayla, my random photo of the day!

Really Random Photo of the Day

Well, at first when I told Lea about my idea for a new stock photo she was reluctant. I had to set it up with a 10 second timer, focus on her foot and race to the location, lay down and have her stomp on my face. After a few tries, she started to get into it though...maybe a bit too much :) Even after I had the shot she kept wanting to do it over and over again...weird eh?

Random Photo of the Day

This Snow Leopard in the Woodland Park Zoo is pretty tricky to get decent photo's of. For one thing, she is almost always near the back of her habitat. The glass for the main viewing area is as thick, uneven and just plain bad as any I've seen for taking photo's through. I got lucky a couple of weeks ago as she was out and about. This photo wasn't shot through the glass, but rather through a chain link fence. It was pretty funny because she is a pretty good sized cat. She was agitated about something and she made her sound to express it. I expected a roar or at least a growl. Instead she sounded like my house cat Jasmine and had a sweet little "meow."

Random Pic of the Day

Here's a shot I grabbed of my Aunt and Uncle on Turkey Day on their back porch in Mount Vernon, WA.

Random Photo of the Day

Does anyone recognize this guy? I will be amazed if you do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

There is so much to be thankful for this year!

We had a very low key, nice day at my Uncle John's house. My Uncle is a huge wine nut and so of course we had some spectacular vino. We watched some movies (Ratatouille is a must see whether you have kids or not) There was a fire! There was broken glass! There were Swans everywhere! Yes, live Swans! There was a Hawk that visited. All those huge birds paled in comparison to the spectacular turkey that made an appearance on the table after Aunt Vickie cooked it to perfection! I know that's a lot of exclamation points but doggone it! We had a great day!

I'll post some pics asap!

Mat

Alex and Trina's Wedding Photo's

All of Alex and Trina's wedding photo's are available to be viewed here...


http://kkstudioconnect.com/apps/customer/index.php?clientID=9518&albumID=11186

Alex and Trina's Slideshow

Hi everyone!

I just added a tool to my blog that keeps track of how many visits I get to my blog and what country you are in when checking. I was surprised to see quite a few visits! Many from Australia and France. To you I say Bonjour! and Gooday! Thanks for stopping by. Please be sure to leave a note in the comment box to say hi!

I finished Alex and Trina's wedding photo's last night, you can view a slideshow featuring 100 of my favorite's from the day here...

http://www.mathaywardphoto.com/AlexTrina/

For those of you visiting my site that were at the wedding, there will be an online gallery up and running shortly where you can order prints for yourselves. I will post a link as soon as it is up and running.

Take care!

Mat

Livin the dream!

I do love my life! If I had to describe it in a word, that word would be hectic. Sometimes things can be a bit overwhelming, but the truth is I wouldn't have it any other way. I remember the last time I was caught up on things. It was back in the summer of 2002. I remember twiddling my thumbs and being a bit bored. The way things have been ever since have prevented me from ever feeling boredom again! To my family members...yes, I still have the RAW files from last Christmas and I am sure I will get them edited some day. To my wife and kids...yes, I still have all the Disneyland pics. They'll get edited...some day :) Ryan, I know I've got some great shots from the Zoo. I'll get them to you asap, I promise!

Truth is, I've been very blessed with an amazing family including a beautiful wife and two incredible daughters as well as many tremendous opportunities in my life that have helped mold me into the person I am today. Everything happens for a reason. I firmly believe that. In addition to my incredible family, I have been blessed with the gift of photography as well. It is rare to be able to do something that you love. To have a genuine passion for something and to get paid to do it is incredible! Last night a friend of mine from Portland Randy Kepple stopped by the restaurant with his daughter and we had a great conversation. His daughter is so patient as so often happens when photographers get together we talk about what else...photography. I know when Lea is around those conversations, her eyes roll in the back of her head and she starts speaking in foreign tongues. The girls start ripping the heads off their My Little Pony Dolls and flushing them down the toilet. Randy's daughter is 16 so she had control of the urge to destroy things but I was extremely impressed to see a teenage girl with a level of maturity that kept her from text messaging anyone and everyone. Instead, she kept right up with us in the conversation and Randy tells me she herself has a great eye for photography.

Randy sent me a link to his blog today and I was humbled by his kind words. He's one of the best bloggers out there and one of the best photographers for that matter as well so you should be sure to bookmark his blog and check back on it frequently. He's always got something interesting to say and he says it well. Thanks again Randy! Here's the link... The Unauthorized Blog of Randy Kepple

Grand Opening!

I have worked for McGrath's Fish House for over 19 years now in a variety of positions ranging from Dishwasher to General Manager. We open our 20th restaurant in Federal Way, Washington on Tuesday at 5PM. I had the distinct privilege of helping out over the weekend. These amazing men and women are working day and night. Literally from 8AM until at least Midnight or later every day of the week. Last night they finished the final VIP dinner. It was a tremendous success thanks to the hard work by everyone photographed below (click the image to view a larger version) and their great staff. Opening a restaurant is one of the most challenging, intense experiences in the world. In addition, it is one of the most rewarding, exhilarating experiences because it pushes your personal envelope and challenges you in many ways physically and mentally. When you walk away from a successful opening you can look back with tremendous pride and say to yourself "Wow, I did this! If I can do this, I can do anything!" That is more true than anything else I can think of. I am proud of everyone on the team and have absolute confidence that through them and with the tremendous team they have hired in Federal Way that restaurant is going to be extremely successful. Congratulations to you all and I'll see you at the game tonight! Go Seahawks!

Oh yeah, I meant I'm proud of everyone except Tiffany whom by default I cannot give praise to even though she is an incredibly talented and hard working woman...she is rooting for the 49ers tonight so her and I are not friends at this time. Tomorrow, after the Seahawks have dominated and embarrassed her "Team" Tiffany will also be counted as one of the people I am proud of :)

Dan and Kali's images are available online!

You can view a slideshow featuring some of my favorite shots from the two days I spent with Dan and Kali at the Holly Farm in Carmel, CA here...

http://www.mathaywardphoto.com/DanandKali/

Afterward be sure to visit www.kkstudioconnect.com and enter the username: Carmel
to see all of the photo's. You can order prints directly through that site. Be sure to leave comments on the blog and let me know what you think!

Here is a direct link to the gallery if you want to skip the username..

http://kkstudioconnect.com/apps/customer/index.php?clientID=9262&albumID=10887