About:

Before I ever realized it, my passion for photography has long been developed by where I live and where I spent most of my weekends growing up. I live in a village high up on a hill looking over what once was an empty mountain and is now occupied by a church and other several structures. On weekends I'd be up in the mountains in my family's farm, enjoying the beautiful view and cool mountain air. I've sat around and watched the day unfold and settle again in the evening, I've seen the moon so big that I thought at one point was reachable if I just climbed the hill that it appeared to be sitting on.

My childhood was filled with life in the great outdoors and I am very pleased and fortunate to have had that kind of exposure as I was growing up. I then realized after a few years that the world was changing; changing in a detrimental way. The climate was getting warmer, but the sky's color was getting more vivid and magical. All the while I thought this was a good thing. I would see the sky and it would be more beautiful because the colors would appear so rich and bold. To my utter dismay, the bold colors that I loved so much was inevitably caused, unfortunately, by the irresponsible, simpleminded and inconsiderate actions of those who didn't care about how their lifestyles were negatively affecting the world. Then, I had a realization, an epiphany if you will, that I could probably show how beautiful the world is, by means of photography. To promote environmental awareness and to make people realize that this beautiful place we live in, probably won't be as beautiful if we don't change the way we live.

I hope to achieve with my photography, a doorway for people, a doorway to show and to make people realize that if we want to revel in the wonderful vistas and views we have here on this planet, we have to do our part in maintaining it. I hope to show people the beauty of the vast landscapes and hope that they realize that it will all be gone if none of us do our part to save it.

What I Live By:

"Photography, like any other form of art, has a certain discipline. On a guitar, you can play more or less 132 different notes, either octaves, flats, sharps, or whole notes. To be able to play beautiful melodies you must be able to use and play all 132 notes. Like in photography, to be a great photographer you need to be able to capture all the tones from black to white; meaning you must achieve a beautiful dynamic range in one shot." -Matt Garcia

"I am but a humble lensman who perquisites the beautiful landscape He paints on this canvas of a planet we call home." -Matt Garcia

"If you ask me what I think the greatest show in the universe is, I would simply answer: the universe itself. There is nothing like watching the sun rise and set, watching the stars at night and capturing the moments that take my breath away." -Matt Garcia

Technical:

Equipment are all Nikon. (I swear by them)

Current Set Up:

Nikon D700

Nikon D60 (simple and yet gets the job done)

AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G II ED

AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

LowePro Computrekker AW

LensPen

Giottos Rocket Blower

Phottix TR-90 N10 Cable Shutter Release

ML-L3 Wireless Shutter Release (probably be lost without it)

Spirit Level (very useful little thing)

Spare EL-EN9 Battery (life saver)

Hoya CPL (52mm) [FOR SALE]

Hoya ND8 (52mm) [FOR SALE]

Sandisk Extreme 8GB CF

Sandisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC

Sandisk Ultra II 4GB SDHC

Velbon Tripod & Head

Cokin Filter System

0.9 ND hard grad

0.9 ND soft grad

0.9 ND

0.6 ND grad

Standard Filter Holder

Ultra Wide Angle Holder

77mm filter ring

52mm filter ring