Growing up a small town in Northern California I was fortunate to grow up exploring the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We had our own lake and three acres of land in which I spent countless hours playing in. Our family would take trips over the weekends to the surrounding regions of Tahoe or neighboring national parks where I gained an appreciation of the outdoors. Early on I bought my first camera. I was fortunate to grow up so close to the Sierra Nevada mountains and the beauty of Northern California. Currently I work in the travel industry in Los Angeles, California. I love spending time with the Divine Designer and His masterpieces, slowing down enough to see them as an expression of the Creators glory and divine nature, then reproducing them with the camera. My photographic vision of nature is only an attempt to see God and His art more clearly as I browse the one man show in nature’s gallery.

I have to thank you, the people on Flickr for giving me inspiration and helping me push myself as a photographer. There is always something to learn technically or visually and this online community is a big part of it. Digital photography has really grown leaps and bounds in recent years and it's pretty amazing to see the craft evolve. With failures and successes it's all a part of the process.

Thank you for help as we learn from each other and pushing each other into becoming better photographers. And I look forward to making you a new contact.

© Please do not use my images without my consent. ©

If you would like to purchase one of my images please visit my website: www.mattpurciel.com

was fortunate to grow up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We had our own lake and three acres of land in which me and my brothers spent countless hours exploring. Our family would take weekend trips to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and Point Reyes where I gained an appreciation of the outdoors. Soon I bought my first camera experimenting with exposures and documenting the experiences. The film changed along with the technology, but I never stopped taking pictures.

In college I pursued a career in graphic design, learning the fundamentals; Color theory, perspective, layouts, lines, shapes and space that helped train my eye. I was fascinated with the rules and structure when designing. Some of the elements including focus, directing the eye with leading lines, using scale and hierarchy, balance, complementary elements, contrast, repetition, white space, alignment and the rule of thirds. I delved into some painting and art history classes as well. The painters that captured my imagination were from the 19-th Century American landscape Art and specifically from the Hudson River School. Artists like Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt were my favorites. They Romanized the American wilderness with their paintings of lofty mountains, crystal clear lakes, towering waterfalls complete with wild animals using dramatic light and stormy weather. This really impacted my love for photography.

I spend as much of my time outdoors wherever that may be in search of that amazing light and beauty. In pursuit of that brief fleeting moment when the glory of the heavens lights up.

California has some of the most photogenic seascapes and coastline in the all the world. It is defined by its beach culture, seascapes and classic sunsets. With the topography of the rugged coast along with upwelling of the cool waters of Pacific Ocean it creates an amazing diversity of life along with great conditions for weather. In the winter and early spring, the jet stream brings an ample supply of Pacific storms that allow for ample opportunities for incredible light and colorful burners that can last for over twenty minutes if you’re lucky. Some of my favorite seascapes to photograph are local areas around Malibu and Los Angeles. One of the challenges of shooting seascapes are timing of the tides and can determine your composition. Sea caves and sea stacks have a lot of offer but can make for some incredible photos.