Cape Cod, Mass. Screen Savers Now Available

Two sets of screen savers, each featuring 18 different photos of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, are now available for online purchase and download. Beautifully designed myself, the photos randomly change every 8 seconds.

Screen savers are available for both Mac and PC. They are specially optimized for either standard or widescreen displays.

Online ordering is safe and secure - wherever you are located worldwide - in most major currencies. Shortly after your purchase you will receive an email with a link to download your screen saver so you can enjoy it right away - no waiting for a CD to arrive.

For more information click here.

Gift Certificates Now Available

Just in time for those last minute Holiday shoppers...

Introducing the new Dramatic-Landscape Gift Certificate. Available in any amount you choose, and redeemable for any items on my website or in person at my art shows.

If you act now you can have a copy of the Dramatic-Landscape Gift Certificate available to give as a gift in person. Simply call me toll-free at 1-800-881-5780 or 623-433-9401 to place your order. You will then be emailed a copy of the Gift Certificate to print out yourself and deliver to your friend, boss, co-worker, or loved one.

And if you order before December 25, both you and the Gift Certificate recipient will receive 20% off your next order, and receive free shipping!!!

Don’t hesitate as December 25th is just a few days from now!!

New Website Redesign

Today I launched a brand new look for Dramatic-Landscape.com. While you do need to have a modern version web browser such as Apple’s Safari 3 for Mac + PC, we feel the changes will be very much welcomed and will allow for some great features in the future.


The biggest improvement, outside of the overall look, is within the Galleries. Now you can view each photo in a full-screen slideshow mode.


We hope you enjoy our new look. Let us know what you think by adding a comment below.

iPhone Friendly

Did you know that my website http://www.Dramatic-Landscape.com and blog are both iPhone Friendly? View my websites from anywhere you have an AT&T Edge or WiFi connection. The photos from my website and blog look great on the iPhone - very similar, color-wise, to what you would see in person when viewing the actual print!!

New Photos from Grand Canyon and New Mexico

It’s taken a while, but I finally have some new photos online...

No sooner did I return from the Grand Canyon - that day actually - I received a phone call. I was being commissioned to photograph the landscape in 2 specific locations in New Mexico for a developer. So after unpacking from my photo trip to the Grand Canyon, I began packing for a week-long trip in New Mexico.

The photo trip was a great success in New Mexico, but as soon as I arrived home I had to get ready and head out yet again - this time to Northern California for an art show I was in. I have now actually been home for more than 5 consecutive days - the first time in nearly a month - and have had the chance to work on some of the photos I have been taking lately.

All of these photos are now on my website, complete with print sizes available.


“Yaki Sunrise” - one of my favorite photos from my recent Grand Canyon trip, seeing it this small on the web is definitely a shame. This photo is now available in a size that it truly deserves - 30 inches by 90 inches!!

Other new photos from the Grand Canyon:



The new photos from New Mexico are:

Grand Canyon Day 5

Some days just are not made for photography...

The alarm woke us on Monday - our last full day at the Grand Canyon - at 3:15 am, and an hour later we were on the shuttle bus heading to Hopi Point. We were the only 2 on that first bus run of the morning, and arrived at the point in complete darkness about an hour before sunrise.

We were a little bit concerned with how the day was going to shape up photographically. The barometer had been steadily increasing, indicating sunny and clear skies ahead - not at all what we were looking for. The last thing we wanted was a cloudless sky, and looking up into the sky all we saw were stars and no clouds whatsoever.

Using our headlamps and the little light from the stars, we were both able to find locations from which to level our tripods and wait for the sun to rise. When it did come up, there was very little color and it was rather disappointing photographically. Not only that, but we could now see a thick haze in the Canyon, and not a cloud in the sky.

After sunrise we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon alternating between hiking the rim and taking the shuttle between points, looking for a location from which to photograph from later in the evening. It was hot at times, carrying 50 pounds of camera gear, food and water, and moving about with no cloud cover. Checking the barometer every hour confirmed to us that this was shaping up to be a poor day for photography.

We decided to stay at Powell Point. We hiked down to a ledge overlooking the Canyon at about 3:00 in the afternoon to wait out the remaining 4 hours till sunset. When we first arrived some clouds were starting to build, but they quickly disappeared, providing us with no photography possibilities. The point offered little shade and no protection from the wind. John did make the best of it, covering up from the sun and enjoying the view as seen in this photo:



We waited, and waited, watching the sun slowly create shadows in the Canyon. The haze in the Canyon was terrible today, and our hopes were fading fast for a good sunset. You can see some haze in the photo below of me waiting, and more so in the photo of John above.



Sunset eventually came, and just like the morning, lacked color and drama. We took the shuttle bus back to my truck and got back to my RV some 16 hours after we first left it this morning, with little to speak of in terms of great photos from the day. One last look at the barometer, holding steady, convinced us not to try for sunrise on Tuesday morning, so we slept in for the first time in 5 days, had breakfast, and left for home.

Despite the last couple days, the trip was a great success and I have some amazing photos I will be adding to my site in the next few days to a couple weeks. I am really excited about them and will post information here when they become available online. In the meantime if you have any questions regarding the trip don’t hesitate to ask.

Grand Canyon Day 4

Yesterday we ate lunch in the truck while driving 25 miles east to scout out the Desert View Outlook. This outlook marks the east entrance to the South Rim. We found locations there we each wanted to photograph from, and considering it was only 1:30 in the afternoon and no clouds in the sky, we headed back to camp to take care of a few errands - get gas, upload yesterday’s blog, groceries, etc.

We arrived back at around 4:00 - just in time for a quick rain shower - then set up our tripods in the locations we found earlier, and waited. Broken clouds were overhead, allowing for photos of sun rays piercing through the gaps, shining rays down to the Colorado River. A little while later a bright, 3/4 length rainbow formed behind us. While it wasn’t the rainbow I was hoping for when we first started out (I wanted it over the Grand Canyon), I was able to create a striking photo of it as it arched over some live and dead pinon pines.

A little while later we met Guido Tocci, from Montreal, Canada. Guido was after his own perfect photo: a photo of John at work with the Canyon in the background as seen in this photo taken with my cell phone.



The most striking photos of sunset came some 30 minutes before, when the sun was again behind some clouds, causing beautiful rays to shine down on spots in the Canyon.

This morning the alarm again went off at 3:45 am, and I was headed again to Yaki Point. John didn’t go with me this morning, as the knee he is rehabbing was a bit sore. No company made waiting for the bus this morning rather boring.



Not much came from photographing sunrise this morning, yet I was able to create some great photos from another side of Yaki Point - one John and I scouted a couple days ago and the main reason why I was back at Yaki Point again. The photo below is a photo I took of myself at that location.



This will be my last blog post until Tuesday evening when I return and am back in Phoenix. Tomorrow we will be without internet access as we are heading to the western part of the park. We will be parking my truck at the bus stop at 4:00 am and returning around 8:30 pm. Gonna be a long, fun day.

Grand Canyon Day 3

We are starting to fall into a routine after being here at the Grand Canyon for a few days - awake a couple hours before sunrise, photograph sunrise for a few hours, get back to the RV and cook breakfast, then edit photos, take a nap then shower, and have lunch. Afternoons are for scouting - then we get to our sunset location a few hours before sunset, come back to the RV in the dark, cook supper, sleep, then start it all over again.

I am writing now just after this morning’s nap. The alarm woke us at 3:45 am and an hour later we were on a 15 minute bus ride to Yaki Point. As you can see in the photo below, when your days are as long as ours are you try to catch some rest whenever the opportunity allows - John wasted no time to rest his eyes on our short bus trip.



We scouted Yaki Point yesterday and as such we each knew exactly where we wanted to set up this morning. Yesterday afternoon and evening the weather did not cooperate with us - heavy afternoon rain storm with light rain most of the afternoon leading up to a cloud-blocking sunset. When you are not able to photograph due to unfavorable weather, the next best thing is to scout a location to be ready the next time the weather allows. The photos of John and I and the one of myself below were taken during our scouting at the spot I returned to this morning.





Sunrise yielded a nice 180 degree panoramic photo for me. I had just a touch of cloud cover above the rising sun - the clouds glowing in a brilliant orange/red color.

This afternoon we plan on scouting another location that we are considering for sunset tonight. We are still waiting for conditions to provide us with that jaw-dropping sunset - maybe it will happen tonight.

Things that have surprised us so far: the many available spaces in the campground, the amount of car alarms that go off throughout the day (9 yesterday, 3 so far today), no cell phone coverage anywhere causing us to purchase phone cards yesterday, and shortly after buying said phone cards finding a cell phone signal in the middle of nowhere at Yaki Point just strong enough to enable us to make a couple quick calls.

Things we have enjoyed so far: the quite at the campground, the couple hours sleep we get, yesterday’s bus driver who recently moved here from Dallas, finding that cell signal, and the many people who come to chat with us while we are photographing or moving form location to location.

Grand Canyon Day 2

It's 2:00 Friday afternoon here at the Grand Canyon. I finally found a wireless internet sight (a very slow one) after searching a bit yesterday and today. I didn't think I was going to be able to have an update until we got back...


We arrived yesterday afternoon in the middle of a few rain showers, got to camp and set the rv up, and headed out to Yavapai Point to catch the sunset. This was a location I was familiar with, having photographed here last year, and John and I hiked down to a ledge I knew of. One definitely can't be afraid of heights here, as the drop-off is some 3000 feet.


Sunset wasn't spectacular - yet it wasn't disappointing either. We got some 5 1/2 hours of sleep last night, getting up at 4:30 to catch the snrise at Mather Point. As you can see, we were not alone this morning:


After a few hours photographing we went back to the rv to edit some photos and catch up on some sleep.



Off to catch another sunset... will try to post more tomorrow.

Off to the Grand Canyon

It was perfect timing to start this blog, as I am heading out on a photo trip to the Grand Canyon tomorrow with friend and fellow photographer John Villinski of AbstractSouthwest.com. We will be taking my RV and camping at the South Rim for 5 nights.

This will only be my second trip to the Grand Canyon. My first was with my wife Marci some 18 months ago. We only spent 3 hours there that time, leaving Flagstaff at 5am to get there before sunrise. This is what greeted us when the sun rose that day:

Thursday John and I expect to be arriving in the afternoon and will begin photographing as the sun sets. I planned this trip a couple months ago, scheduling it right in the middle of monsoon season, hoping that we get some real dramatic skies to work with. I do have a couple photos in mind that I would like to find there - a late afternoon rainbow, and a striking scene for a 180 degree panoramic. Other than that I will be keeping my eyes open and camera ready.

Off to pack now. I think I will have internet access at the campground - if so I will be posting to this blog as the trip unfolds.

Hello World :-)

Well, I have finally decided to start a blog.

Why?

I feel this is going to be the best way to keep everyone updated with what is happening with both my photography and my website. With blogging I will be able to show you more of what goes on in the life of a full-time landscape photographer. I plan on writing about photo trips and will be including photos and even some video from those trips. Other topics may include photo tips, tips on printing, equipment reviews, selling work at art shows, and other things related to photography. And best of all, you can interact with this blog by leaving comments!!

I plan on making this a fun and informative place to visit - whether you are an art collector, a hobby or professional photographer, a lover of nature or simply a fan of fine photography. Make sure you click on the link on the right that says "Click to Subscribe" and tell your friends, family, and anyone else who may enjoy this new "behind the scenes" approach to my work.

Matt Suess