Matt Holzhauer Photography

This photo was a fluke, in that I wasn’t supposed to be where I was at the time that I was there. Nevertheless, on Hwy. 1 right around Mile Post Marker 85.00, I realized the sun would be setting soon and I had a great photo opportunity. The wind was mild, the temperatures were just about perfect and I snapped this photo.

As the sun rises, this horse awakens to greet a changed landscape and forage for food.

Jackson, WY, is probably my favorite place on Earth. I lived here for a year while I traveled across the United States in my 20’s. The winters are torturous, but the remaining three seasons make up for it. The views, the wildlife, the freshest smelling air you’ve ever experienced, all make this place magical. And the weather is always changing. The expression, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” was probably invented here.

Another of my favorite places is Costa Rica. This photo was taken from the patio of my bungalow while staying at Lapa Rios resort, one of the premiere eco-lodges in the entire country. At four or five each morning, the howler monkeys would scream across the jungle canopy, claiming their territory for the day. Coffee is delivered to your door so that you can enjoy it while watching the sun rise along the Golfo Dulce. Coatis run underneath the raised deck, searching for breakfast while scarlet macaws fly overhead. If you’ve never visited this place then you’ve never seen anything quite like it.

In West Sacramento you will find the California Highway Patrol Academy. It sits on 457 acres and was opened on September 17, 1974. It replaced the former academy which had been located in South Sacramento.

Cadets experience 1,100 training hours in 27 weeks. They become certified Emergency Medical Responders, must master the Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC), receive training in firearms, accident investigation, DUI investigation, penal and vehicle code, arrest techniques, and endure a brutal regimen of physical fitness.

The Point Arena Light Station is located in Mendocino, CA. The location includes the lighthouse, which is an active duty Aid to Navigation, containing the original Chance Brothers classic 3rd order Fresnel lens, three restored Lightkeeper homes, the restored blacksmith and carpentry shop and three restored storage buildings (two of which have been converted to vacation rental cottages).

A smoldering horizon announces the devastation ahead in Lake County, July 31st, 2018.

In November there’s a lot more moisture in the air. In the early morning, the sun pierces the fog and provides some dramatic shadows and beams of light.

In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of sunrises and sunsets. Not only do they provide the perfect “golden hour” lighting for people and landscapes but these times of day are very symbolic. They can signify the beginning of a new day with all its’ potential and wonder. Or, they can represent and end of things. Closure. Retreat. Finality.

By August 3rd, 2018, the River Fire and the Carr Fire were still blazing. Every time it seemed firefighters were making progress, strong winds, difficult terrain and dry conditions contributed to the devastation the fires were bringing upon Lake and Mendocino Counties.

Some parts of Costa Rica feel ancient, primordial, untouched. Here in the Golfo Dulce, you can enjoy an entire beach to yourself and truly escape from the rest of the world.

I found myself longing for travel and some of my favorite places when I came upon this photo in my files. The Chapel of the Transfiguration is located inside Grand Teton National Park and was built in 1925. It is owned and operated by St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson, Wyoming.

This is a road commonly traveled in Northern California that connects inland Mendocino County to the coast. As you approach the inland town of Willits in the Spring, you are occasionally surrounded by low lying fog.

I was inspired to take this photo by the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” It was one of the first movies I ever saw as a child. The early promotion for the film included a straight, desolate highway that leads the eye to a mysterious glow behind the horizon.

With the sun rising through the fog and just above the tree tops, I didn’t copy the Close Encounters look exactly, but I did take that little bit of inspiration and made it my own.

How you choose to demonstrate your devotion to each other.

“The general rule is that people who enjoy life also enjoy marriage.” - Phyllis Battelle.

You are each other’s favorite person.

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” - Mignon McLaughlin

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because your reality is better than your dreams.” - Dr. Suess

“Marriage: Love is the reason. Lifelong friendship is the gift. Kindness is the cause. Til’ death do us part is the length.”. – Fawn Weaver.

Making the ordinary extraordinary. Taking the smallest details and making them shine.

95% of the work happens before the music plays and the guests arrive. Documenting those last few minutes before you give yourself to the event and your life changes forever.

This is your day!

Few moments in life demand as much attention as the bride making her entrance at the ceremony. This is the defining moment that your guests will take with them long after the festivities are over.

Blending in amongst your friends and family with the goal of catching them in the act of being themselves.

The little things that add charm and accentuate the brides unique sense of style.

You are both the stars of your show but the bride receives top billing!

Every journey begins with a first step.

Ridgwood Ranch in Willits, CA, is one of the few places in the United States where you will find these deer. A gift from William Randolph Hearst to Charles Howard, a herd of these beautiful animals have called Ridgewood Ranch their home for generations.

In recent years, the herd has been steadily declining in size and it is conceivable that one day soon, the property will have seen its’ last free-roaming fallow deer.

This antisocial buck was photographed giving me the Archie Bunker salute. Who says animals don’t have a sense of humor?

It’s easy to dismiss the most common of our backyard neighbors until you begin to master macro photography. Through this technique, the smallest of details reveal amazing body colors, streaks and highlights not apparent to the naked eye. When you finally learn to appreciate the beauty of creatures like this, it becomes easier to empathize with them and their role in the web of life we’re all attached to.

The gray fox was once the most common fox in the eastern United States until human advancement and deforestation allowed the red fox to become more dominant. In the Pacific States, however, the gray fox is still dominant. It is the only American canid that can climb trees!

While gray foxes are primarily nocturnal, this young kit was found waiting for its’ mother next to a pipe it had been using as a hiding space. By the time they are four months old, gray foxes can easily forage on their own. In California, gray foxes primarily eat rodents and rabbits, making them an ally in minimizing rat and mice populations.

While not technically “wildlife”, I still love this photo!

I was driving down a dirt road, looking for things of interest, when this cat caught my attention. He was the ruler of his domain, sitting patiently on top of a rock like a meditating Jedi. His alert eyes and lush coat spoke to me and told me that he was an animal in the prime of his life.

I took the picture and considered myself lucky to have been able to enjoy the moment.

Originally from Northern Madagascar, the gold dust day gecko was later introduced to Hawaii and other Pacific islands. The males are extremely territorial and reach a length of six to nine inches.

When not fighting over territory, they live in trees and various types of houses. They also make good spokesmen for local insurance companies.

I know, another fallow deer photo!

But this represents one of those “great white whale” photos for me in that the local population of fallow deer is so small the opportunities to photograph the fawns has also been greatly diminishing. So any chance to snap a photo like this, in the wild, is a big deal for me.

This summer, a group of bees swarmed inside a blackberry bush near where I live. Thousands of bees gathered peacefully together to protect their queen as part of their journey to relocate the hive. While I kept a respectful distance, I was still able to get quite close and get some beautiful photos.

While some of the bees flew around me, none landed or tried to sting me. Some fun facts about bees: they’ve been around for millions of years, they are the only insect that produces food eaten by man and a colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honeybees and one queen. Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work!

One Thanksgiving I was on my way to a wonderful dinner when I spotted a massive golden eagle feasting on some roadkill that had been on the roadway shoulder.

I parked my car away from it and walked to its’ location. She spotted me and flew into the trees. She then began screeching at me in protest for interrupting her Thanksgiving dinner. Then, she did the oddest thing and swooped across the highway, directly over my head, where I was holding my camera ready.

The color shots I took of her were good but this black and white image spoke to my artistic senses.

One of my favorite photos. Sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time. Here, a heavy fog was in the background with the sun fighting to shine through. The buck was perfectly silhouetted and some of the herd mingled behind him to give the shot some sense of scale.

This handsome buck was spotted in the valley during the September fires that made the rest of the park toxic to breath in. He had a younger buck to keep him company while they grazed. I sat down on a log and the deer didn’t even seem to mind me. As the minutes ticked by, they slowly closed the distance with me and after capturing a couple of shots like this, I just put the camera down and enjoyed their company.

This is one of the many cardinals that visit my mothers’ house in Virginia.

I came across this beauty and noticed he was having a squirrel for lunch.

This is one of my favorite birds. The crest is very aggressive and striking. The head is a dark black and the body is a deep blue that gives amazing contrast. They move so fast it’s hard to get a good photo of one. By the time you lift your camera, they’ve moved on to the next best thing!

Yes, the mother in this photo is my beautiful wife, Erin. And yes, the baby is my amazing daughter, Kathryne.

The story of this photo involves me getting a new camera about a month after Kathryne was born. I woke up one day, grabbed the camera and walked into the living room looking to test it on anything I could find. Erin had just taken Kathryne out of her bassinet (in the background) and was holding her while sitting on our couch.

As I put the camera to my eye, Kathryne and Erin shared a beautiful smile together that to this day symbolizes their relationship and personal connection.

I submitted the photo to the Redwood Empire Fair the following Summer. Somebody must have seen what I saw in that moment because the photo won best of the entire division that year. The lesson I learned is that you don’t need fancy gimmicks, mad Photoshop skills or outrageous content to make a great photograph. Sometimes, just capturing something as common yet eternal as the bond between parent and child can be enough to produce something that resonates with people.

Bernie Sanders was the only Presidential candidate in 2016 to visit Northern California. On an extremely hot June day, Sanders visited the town of Cloverdale, CA, to hold a rally. At this time in history, it was starting to be accepted that Sanders was not going to be the Democratic nominee, yet 6,000 people attracted to his message showed up to listen to him make his pitch.

When I look back at this photo, with his arms held high in a victorious gesture, I can’t help but wonder what might have been if he had won that nomination and faced off against the Republican candidate in the general election. How would the United States be different? How would he have tackled the problems of health care, education, the environment, immigration or foreign policy? We may never know.

2015 was a devastating year if you lived in Lake County, CA. The Valley Fire started shortly after 1:00 PM on September 12 near Cobb and by 6:30 PM had burned more than 10,000 acres. The fire would go on to destroy much of Cobb, Middletown, Whispering Pines and parts of the south end of Hidden Valley Lake.

Ultimately, the fire spread to 76,067 acres, killed four people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings. At the time, the fire was the third worst fire in California history based upon the total number of structures burned. Faulty wiring of a hot tub installation was cited as the cause of the fire.

In this photo, I observed a man (who will be forever anonymous to me) return to his home, probably for the first time since evacuees were allowed to come back to the area. His stunned silence, standing perfectly still in the center of what had been four walls and a roof spoke to me about the great loss endured by many during this tragedy.

There’s a lot of pressure on professional photographers who compete against one another to capture that once-in-a-lifetime moment. The challenge is always being ready. Always having some equipment near bye. So when that moment comes, you are ready.

I always travel with a good camera. It may not be the best in my arsenal, but good enough so that if random chance serves me up an opportunity, I’m able to seize it. So it was driving down Hwy. 101 one lazy afternoon. I looked to my left and saw that the cloud formations were positioned just perfectly to form a giant zero in the sky. I pulled over, snapped this photo and smiled knowing that in a few minutes, this cloud formation was going to disappear and nobody was ever going to know it existed.

Except that I had the proof in my memory card…

For fifty years, the people of Mendocino County patiently waited for construction of a bypass that would take US-101 traffic and divert it around the town of Willits, CA. The project was supposed to enhance the flow of traffic though this area and reduce travel time between the Bay Area and Northern California locations.

In March of 2013, construction of the project started in earnest. Environmental types lamented the destruction of trees and the perceived loss of wetlands that the project would require. Business owners in Willits feared that the project would divert traffic around their livelihoods. Nevertheless, Caltrans proceeded with the project and the California Highway Patrol was designated as the law enforcement presence meant to maintain order.

Environmental groups with names like SOLLV (Save Our Little Lake Valley) and Earth First! attempted to make an early stand against the construction, finding a small group of protesters and tree sitters to inconvenience crews and obstruct law enforcement efforts. None of the protest efforts met with much success and the project was officially opened in November, 2016.

Early one morning, a protestor trespassed onto the construction area and scaled a large, crane-like structure known as a wick drain stitcher. He set up a platform in the middle of the stitcher and proceeded to hang a giant banner which read, “NO BYPASS”. During the hanging of the banner, he was rushed because he feared construction crews were going to attempt to remove him from the equipment. They made no attempt and the protester celebrated by taking a nap on the platform he had built for himself.

Soon after he fell asleep, the top ropes of his banner loosened, causing most of the banner to collapse on top of itself. For hours, as he slept, his banner simply read, “ASS”.

The photo won the comic photo prize at the Mendocino County Fair the following year.

The wife and I took our daughter out on a hike one day. Her outfit was inspired and had that chaotic look that comes from whimsy and imagination. In black and white, she created her own fantasy scene and I was around to capture the moment.

This photo won BEST OF SHOW in the Professional Photo/Black and White Division at the Redwood Empire Fair in 2022.

One of my favorite birds, the Steller’s Jay is a challenge to photography. It is a high-energy creature that darts and flies among the trees, scouting for an easy snack. This fellow was hanging out at our campsite at Hidden Springs Campground, near the Avenue of the Giants, in Weeott, CA. I love his deep, blue plumage and think it rivals the Cardinal for dramatic appearance.

This photo won first place in the Professional/Bird division at the Redwood Empire Fair, 2022.

There’s a place on Mountain House Rd. in Hopland, CA, where I sometimes drive to check out the wide open night skies. This particular night, I set my camera up on a tripod, entered the appropriate settings into my camera and set the photo timer. I then ran to my parked truck, jumped on the tail gate and listened for the click as the camera took this picture.

One of the biggest enemies of night photographers is light pollution. The golden glow you see on the horizon are the city lights from the town of Santa Rosa, CA. The straight red line you see in the upper left hand corner are the lights from an airplane traveling from the 4 o’clock to 10 o’clock position during the long exposure.

I have waited all my adult life for this moment!

In 1986, Halley’s Comet was built up to be something spectacular. Then, because of its’ orbit that year, it turned out to be a major disappointment.

In the 90’s, we had two spectacular comets in the northern hemisphere: Hyakutake and Hale Bopp. I was living in Arizona at the time and had neither the equipment or the skill to photograph those amazing cosmic visitors.

This Summer, astronomers promised us an amazing comet named Atlas that was supposed to be so bright it would be visible during the daytime. Atlas broke into pieces just when it was getting close to Earth. Then, comet Swan came an went and another opportunity for a spectacular view in the night sky fizzled out.

Then, out of nowhere, came comet Neowise. Discovered by the Neowise satellite meant to detect near Earth objects (NEO), this comet came rocketing towards us at 40 miles per second. It made its’ approach around the sun and held together. As it approached Earth in mid-July, the promise of an amazing comet finally came to pass. On the 23rd, comet Neowise passed the Earth to continue its’ orbit, not to visit us again for another 6,800 years. This is part of my record of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

The photo was taken July 18th, 2020, at 11:08 PM, on School Way in Redwood Valley, CA.

This is one of my personal favorite photos. The lack of light pollution added to the ample highlights of white, red and green in the Milky Way.

The one mistake I see a lot of photographers make when taking night sky photos is that they fail to include anything of interest in the foreground of their photos. By including this old barn in the shot, I give a visual anchor to the night sky that ties it to my location and gives the photo context.

2018 gave us an early Christmas present in the form of this comet, 46P/Wirtanen, which became visible in early December.

This comet is one of three discovered by Carl Wirtanen at Lick Observatory in 1948. It is a member of the Jupiter “family” of comets with their orbits between the sun and Jupiter. While this photo was taken on December 7th, on December 16th the comet will pass very close to earth- only 7,199,427 miles away. That’s among the 10 closest comet approaches that have occurred since 1950 and the 20th closest approach of a comet dating back as far as 9th Century A.D.!

Because it’s so small (only .7 of a mile wide), 46P won’t make for a major show in the sky. But it should be a naked eye object at its’ closest point.

We return to Ridgewood Ranch to catch the famous statue with the Milky Way behind it.

To me, this is not a perfect photo. I really wish the yellow night lighting in the area had been turned off because it contaminated the natural colors of the statue and the structure behind it. Also, the power pole in the background and electric wires really detract from the scene (in my humble opinion).

But what saves the photo for me is the iconic nature of the stature with a very well captured night sky behind it. It may not be perfect but it is a true representation of that location on a clear, cool summer night.

This panoramic photo is actually a blend of four or five different photos, stitched together to create the panorama. I was a little bit bummed that the tree on the right obscured the meat of the Milky Way but the overall effect of the panorama is quite pleasing. If you look closely, you can see the Andromeda Galaxy on the far left of the photograph.

As a side note, I never encourage anyone to life and limb just to get the photograph. There are plenty of poor souls who aren’t with us any more because they were dangling off of a bridge, roof or cliff trying to get the perfect shot. It just ain’t worth it.

However, while taking this photo, I was alerted to the sound of a large animal in the grass on the hill behind me. When I shined my flashlight in that direction, I realized that a mountain lion was watching me curiously as I took my photos. He would have been perfectly camouflaged except that the flashlight made his eyes glow a brilliant emerald blue in the darkness!

Luckily, my truck was near bye if I needed to make a brake for it. I took the photos I needed and wasted no more time in the area.

December 14th, 2017 was the peak of the Gemenid Meteor Shower, which occurs at approximately the same time annually. Hoping to avoid the mountain lion escapades of my last photo shoot, I headed down to a goat barn to catch the show.

The Geminids are one of the best meteor showers to watch because the meteors are bright and average about 100 meteors an hour. The first recorded observation of the Geminids was from a riverboat on the Mississippi River back in 1833. This occurred because Jupiters’ gravity tugged a stream of particles from the showers’ source, the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, closer to Earth over the centuries.

Preparation for photographing a meteor shower includes knowing when the shower takes place, what the peak times are, getting to a location with minimal light pollution and making sure the moon is set prior to taking photos.

On January 31, 2018, this lunar eclipse was visible over the western United States. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon, causing a reddish hue to fall over the lonely satellite.

If I were a millionaire, I’d have a lot more money to spend on the type of equipment needed to get exquisite images of the moon during an eclipse, As such, I made due with what I had. But I was rather pleased by this image taken at the peak of the eclipse by a secondary camera (my main camera was being used as a time-lapse of the event).

This is the “Super Moon” from November 14th, 2016.

The perigee of that orbit, which is when the moon is at its nearest point to Earth, was about 30,000 miles closer to our planet than the apogee, the farthest point in the orbit.

This super moon was the closest full moon of the century so far. NASA calls it an "extra-super moon" and we won't get another one quite like it until 2034.

In California, you have to take your night-time long exposure photography in early summer. This greatly helps in getting clear skies which aren’t obscured by fire season smoke.

I found a local hilltop and attempted to get photos of a meteor shower. When that ended up unsuccessful, I turned my attention to the Milky Way, which was perfectly parallel to the landscape.

I’m posting both the photo with the planet names and the original photo. On 06-24-22, at approximately 4:00 AM, the planets aligned and appeared in a row in the night sky. Mercury, Uranus and Neptune are here but too faint to pick up in camera. The last time this alignment occurred was 1864. The next time it will occur will be in 2040.

Took the family to the hills west of the Willits Grade to watch the show.

Another shot from my favorite astrophotography location. The sky was shot using multiple images gathered with the assistance of a star tracker. The landscape was a single, 10 second image.

Unusually powerful solar storms made the Northern Lights visible to the citizens of Northern California. The first major display occurred on 5-10-24, but I couldn't image them because I was on a plane flight with my wife to Las Vegas to celebrate our Anniversary. But when the conditions returned in October, I made sure to get to my favorite photo spot to watch the big show.

This form of light painting requires a few safety precautions and a little patience to get the right effect.

All you need here is a camera capable of long exposures, a sturdy tripod and a decent flashlight. I created this image at my dad’s house in Virginia after he passed away.

The media has been hot and heavy lately with reports of UFO footage taken by military aircraft. This is my contribution to the perplexing conversation about what is real, what is hidden and what is mysterious in our universe.