Golden Voyage, by Sam Matamua.

An old sailing ship on a golden voyage. This could be early morning or late afternoon, or if you prefer, maybe that's a yellow moon guiding their way.

Credit to Jed for a fantastic ship model.

Day at the Beach, by Sam Matamua.

Just another day at the beach.

Prints not for sale at the moment.

My Little Rock Garden, by Sam Matamua.

I built this entire scene solely around the mountain in the background because I liked its shape, I thought it had character. All the rocks sticking out of the lake are made up of the same material. A thin mist hovers over the water. That's it. Real simple. Just a pretty looking landscape picture. Everything nearer to the camera is slightly out of focus, lending some depth of field.

Island God, by Sam Matamua.

This stone statue has been in my family forever. Its about one foot tall and even now sits on my mom's coffee table. I had the funny idea of making it into a giant stone statue on some island in the pacific ocean.

My mom was many years younger when she found this stone head sitting in the trash outside a sculpting class. She always said it reminded her of George Bernard Shaw. And so she took it home. Its older than I am.

Coronado Bridge Black and White, by Sam Matamua.

This is the world famous Coronado Bridge, part of the San Diego skyline, seen here at night and in black and white, from the Coronado side of the bay. I was standing south of the bridge itself (I actually snuck onto a golf course in the middle of the night to get this shot).

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Broken World, by Sam Matamua.

I was inspired to make this rather desolate scene upon visiting the Salton Sea (the largest lake here in California) for the first time. I'm refering specifically to a little town along its shore known as Bombay Beach, in which half of the town appears to be either buried in mud or completely immersed in water. You can see part of the town in the lower half of this picture.

The rest of the image however, is my own creation. The story here is that this is supposed to be the last man on earth and he's setting sail in his row boat, leaving a broken world behind.

Up in the Air, by Sam Matamua.

In this picture you're looking straight down the side of a mountainous cliff. In my mind this is an island out in the pacific somewhere, but could just as easily be from somewhere along the cost of San Diego.

Sunset Cliffs, by Sam Matamua.

This is the view from Sunset Cliffs Park here in San Diego, one of the best places to catch the afternoon sun in California. This is my artistic interpretation of course, it doesn't really look this good :-)

Dark Trees Reflecting Darkly, by Sam Matamua.

Dark trees reflecting quietly.

Forbidden, by Sam Matamua.

Here's a very strange and creepy looking scene, with a scary moon and dark foreboding trees. You'd never guess it, but when I made this I was actually trying to create a bright and sunny 'beach' scene, with plam trees and blue skies. But after awhile trying to set up my scene, things just kept getting darker and darker. Before I knew it I was looking at a full moon and blood red skies. Good thing too, this has actually become one of my favorites.

The Way Back Home, by Sam Matamua.

The story here is that this is somebody who is leaving their home, leaving all that they know and are familiar with. At some point along the journey they stop and turn around, and for one brief moment, they consider turning back. You're looking through their eyes at this moment.

Papagos Islands, by Sam Matamua.

Some people have commented that these birds look like eagles. Sorry to disappoint you eagle lovers everywhere, but these are seagulls! Living here in San Diego I have access to thousands of them. I went down to the beach one day, set my camera up on a tripod and started throwing crackers in the air. Within moments I was surrounded by a flock of seagulls. Then I just started taking pictures. I suppose that's cheating a bit, but that's how I made these seagulls.

Islands in the Sun, by Sam Matamua.

Portrait view of a small island chain somewhere out there in the Pacific. You can tell these islands aren't very big because the trees are almost as tall as the island tops.

The Last Forest, by Sam Matamua.

This shot was taken from somewhere along Sunrise Highway, here in California. Sunrise Hwy is about an hour or so east of San Diego and runs through the Cleavland National Forest. As the name suggest, this is a killer area to take pictures of the sunrise ...although, in this particular shot what your looking at is the moon. This was after the big firestorm of 2003 devastated much of the area. I always imagine it is very quiet in the Last Forest

The Black Forest, by Sam Matamua.

I had this picture of some really tall and slender trees that were also kinda creepy looking. So I got the idea to make a haunted forest scene. I knew the format had to be a panorama in order to keep the trees looking tall. Making it black-and-white also was an obvious choice here. Nothing sets the mood like B&W. Then I added some scary looking fog and a mysterious lake of black water and PRESTO, instant haunted forest.

Actually, there was nothing instant about it; it took me a a few months to make this.

The Last Sunset, by Sam Matamua.

Well lets hope not.

Valley of the Sun, by Sam Matamua.

Looks like its very hot here, so pack lots of water! And it probably gets pretty creepy at night, what with all those dead trees. This is another picture where I thought I had this interesting mountain shape in the background and then proceeded to build the rest of the scene around it. Look close and see all the black birds flying around and sitting in the trees.

The Last Fishing Trip, by Sam Matamua.

I look at this picture and I can't help but think of fishing trips I took with my grandfather when I was a kid. I love how this terrain turned out, I think its a perfect fit for the boat. It really looks like there used to be a lake here where kids would spend the afternoons fishing with their grandfathers. All gone now.

Tomb of the King, by Sam Matamua.

Whoever he was, he must've been a great man to deserve such a grand burial site. Then again, he's awfully isolated out there. ...Maybe he was contagious.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Morning at Rock Beach, by Sam Matamua.

Just some weird rock formations in the water.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Search for a Better Tomorrow, by Sam Matamua.

Three birds go on a search for a better tomorrow. I love the shape of this valley and I love the warm colors.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Blue Lava Fields II, by Sam Matamua.

They're Back! More blue lava fields! Ummm, actually the same blue lava fields, just different angle.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Blue Lava Fields, by Sam Matamua.

Just a basic, basic, really basic landscape picture.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Misty Mountain Morning, by Sam Matamua.

Portrait of a mountain lake with a light mist rolling in and spooky trees sticking out of the water. I tried to recreate real life scenes just like this where the trees mysteriously stick up out of the middle of a lake.

The Two Towers, by Sam Matamua.

No relation to anything Lord of the Rings. I had the idea of a castle sitting way up high in the sky, like an ominous dark guard tower of ancient times, watching over the land. When I was nearing completion of this scene I added a second tower in the background, figuring two was better than one. And so the one tower became two.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Cool Blue Horizon, by Sam Matamua.

This is just a simple fantasy sunset picture. You have a strange looking landscape, some distant mountains and a little river running up the middle of the scene. And clear skies are forecast for the rest of the day.

Prints available in my ETSY store.

Sun Worship, by Sam Matamua.

The trees bow to the sun. Just a simple sunset picture.

Prints available in my ETSY store.