Photo Gallery
Information
About Matt Lee Photography
Biography
Born in Moree in the mid 1960's, my parents, George and Sylvia Lee gave me an old box brownie camera to "get me out of the house" and outside. Thanks to them and Scouts Australia, I began a love of the Australian outdoors and photography. Combining both at every chance.
Overall my life has lead me on many adventures and due to the "can do and never give up" philosophy passed on to me, by my parents this led me to representing Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games as a coach for the Australian Archery Team. I coached archery at the Australian Institute of Sport from the start of 2003 to the end of 2007. After-which, I decided to retire for some all important family time, as well as to get away from the politics in sport for a while. Since retirement from coaching, I lived in the Shoalhaven area for a few years, where my large panoramic images sold throughout the area in the many galleries in Berry and Nowra. With life being ever changing and opportunities opening doors, my family and I have recently moved back to the New England area
My Landscape Photography
In this technological age - I think that some people will call me a "techno-dinosaur" as I very rarely use my canon digital Pro-level SLR and in fact I also actively work in the I.T. industry - so I am not a person who shies away from technology.
But 98% of my landscape photos you see on my website are all taken by a large format film camera, using the old 120 roll film, whose technology dates back to the Kodak box brownie days. My landscape photography camera is a specially designed 617 panoramic camera. The 617 designation indicates that my negative or slide ends up being 6cm x 17 cm in size. This enables me to capture distortion free, very large images that can be enlarged to amazing sizes but still maintain the absolute in-focus sharpness, detail and colour of the image. I only use Fujifilm films such as Velvia, Provia, Reala, 160S and 160C, depending on what I am photographing. These films are known for their low grain, natural colour with good saturation and detailed sharpness.
As my photos are captured on film, it allows me to capture the real colours that were present at the time the photo was taken.
I DON'T digitally manipulate my film photos. After I develop the films myself, I scan them using state of the art film scanners. The image is then printed using colour calibrated equipment, so what you see is exactly what was captured on film by my camera, not a digital manipulation.
The only time Photoshop is used on my film scans is when I print the image to ensure that colour calibration to my printers and the type/brand of paper I use is correct and the same as the image being displayed on my computer monitors.
That said, I still use my Canon SLR digital camera to take many photos and these are also available for purchase. The reason for this is that the National Parks and Wildlife in NSW are permitted to use my photos for their brochures and reports and the standard format (not panoramic) is mostly preferred.
But also, I realise that not everyone can afford or has room to display a 1.5 metre long panoramic photo in their house. So for those people, I have made my standard size photos also available for purchase at a much reduced price. No matter which camera I use, I strive to bring out the real scene that has presented itself, to draw the viewer into the photograph so that they enjoy looking at it as much as I did when I had the opportunity to record it on film. I also endeavour to show the natural colours on the day, according to the time of day and weather conditions, which as we all know, has a direct effect on the colours we see throughout the day.
Weddings and Portraits
For weddings and portrait photography, I work digitally. Though, I have actually taken my 617 Panoramic camera out on a wedding photoshoot at the request of the groom to take a panoramic landscape photo with both the bride and groom in the photo. My style of wedding photography is less formal and more towards the "Reportage style" which is recording the day as it happens with little intervention and arranging more natural and fun poses with the bride, groom and wedding party. To do this, I like to get to know the bride and groom well, so that when their special day arrives, I tend to be "one of the crowd" as far as they are concerned and actually forget that I am there. In many of my photos of the bride and groom, they didn't realise I captured the shared moment between them, saying that they either didn't realise I was even there or didn't know I captured the special intimate moment that they shared. But this is what wedding photography is about - capturing the moment to bring back the memories that will last a lifetime and become unforgettable.
Picture Framing
To compliment my photographs I design and custom make all types and sizes of picture frames. These are made to order, for anything you would like to frame. From photos to football jumpers, tapestry and needle work to canvas paintings of any size, coin collections to records and other collectibles. My frames are of the highest quality and are produced using the latest techniques and of course the highest quality professional materials and tools. Call for a free quote at any time. I have a very large selection of frame boarders to choose from to suit anything you would like to frame.I hope that you have enjoyed viewing my photos and browsing through my current catalogue. Please feel free to contact me to ask any questions or if you wish to order a photograph. I also sell un-framed print-only versions of my photographs. Both framed and unframed photos are individually signed and named by me and if they are a limited edition, they are also numbered.
Best Regards
Matt Lee