Moody BW Portraiture of an Artist
Congratulations Nick Kreider, Opera Colorado’s 2019 Norblom Award winner. Receiving this award prompted Nick and I to collaborate on a portrait session. We created a few more traditional, conservative head-shots and some beautiful color portraits from this setting, of course. But what I enjoy most are these black and white portraits we created both in the studio and outside.
Portrait of an Author
Portraits of authors and artists are among my favorite to create. In these situations I often find myself asking and listening, thinking and adjusting my visual efforts to better capture the artist before me. Photographing Denver based author, Bart Schaneman, to coincide with the release of his short novel, The Silence is the Noise, was one of these wonderful collaborations. I had known and worked with Bart before, but not until our portrait session did we ever chat about art, inspiration or life on a farm. His book is wonderful, and here are a few portraits of the author from that evening.
New gallery of portraits on my website!
It’s been a long time since I did a major website overhaul. Always overdue, actually because a good portfolio is a constantly morphing, changing entity. However – I did recently add a new gallery of portraiture that I’m proud of. Mostly recent work for magazine and commercial clients. Take a look, let me know what you think!
http://www.matthewstaver.com/#/portraits-1/
July Guideposts Magazine cover is out!
Happy to share my July Guideposts cover story with Kirstie Ennis. She is a wonderful person with an amazing story/attitude. Check it out in print if you can! (their online version is here)
New Portraits of an Opera Singer
Congratulations to Bass baritone Andrew Hiers, recently awarded the annual Norblom Award by Opera Colorado. Because of his selection for the award we did a portrait session. Andrew is a great human, and a pleasure to photograph. I hope you get the opportunity to hear him sing some day.
Magazine Cover from a Photography shoot in Denver
I had the pleasure of collaborating with Marijuana Business Magazine for their current cover. As a photographer living here in Denver, I always enjoy this type of on-location executive portrait commission. The light, weather and backdrop are always changing but the thing that remains a constant is my goal to create a photograph that my client, subject and myself are all happy with.
New Portraits from a ranch in Colorado
The magazine finally came out, the embargo passed, and I’m eager to share these portraits I shot in rural Colorado. Glenda is a pleasure to spend time with, and I believe she raises some of the best cared-for cattle in the country.
Empowering Portrait in Colorado
I was hired to photograph Julinda for a health care publication at her home in the Front Range here in Colorado. I always enjoy meeting and photographing real people (a much more authentic and engaging experience and portrait than a model portraying some character) and Julinda was a pleasure to meet and work with.
Moody, Powerful Athlete Portraits
Troy Isley just won a bronze medal at the AIBA world championships in Hamburg. I was commissioned to photograph him before he left Colorado. He is a great human; someone to watch and root for all the way (think Tokyo 2020). Congratulations Troy!
Portraits of an Olympic Silver Medalist
I had a fantastic assignment recently to spend the day with Ethiopian marathoner and Olympic silver medalist, Feyisa Lilesa. He now lives in Arizona, not returning to his homeland after finishing second in Rio and displaying a protest gesture as he crossed the finish line, for fear of what might happen to him upon his return.
New business portraits
I had a wonderful time meeting and photographing the team at Flitch Studios the other day here in the Denver area. We made some environmental portraits and captured some documentary photography as they worked. Their craftsmanship is amazing, and I’d LOVE to just sit in the chair they were working on at the time.
New Photography @ The Denver Puppet Theater
I was finally able to photograph Annie at The Denver Puppet Theater the other day. She is always amazingly busy, I found. That makes sense because Annie is not only a wonderful puppeteer putting on a variety of fantastic shows. She also creates all of the puppets, is a kind human being and provides a wonderful service to all of the children who attend. I believe that her method of helping people think creatively and open their mind is treasure to all those who attend.
Black and White executive portraits in Denver
3 black and white portraits from an executive portrait shoot here in Denver recently. We wanted the portraits to convey his personality, style and commanding presence while still being approachable.
©2015 Matthew Staver all rights reserved
Denver, CO September 15, 2015
Ari Pelto stands for a photograph near The Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado, U.S., on Tuesday, September 15, 2015.
Photograph by: Matthew Staver
http://www.matthewstaver.com
©2015 Matthew Staver all rights reserved
Denver, CO September 15, 2015
Ari Pelto stands for a photograph near The Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado, U.S., on Tuesday, September 15, 2015.
Photograph by: Matthew Staver
http://www.matthewstaver.com
©2015 Matthew Staver all rights reserved
Denver, CO September 15, 2015
Ari Pelto stands for a photograph near The Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado, U.S., on Tuesday, September 15, 2015.
Photograph by: Matthew Staver
http://www.matthewstaver.com
Portrait of Olympic figure skater, Jason Brown
After a full day of training and just days before he left Colorado for his Olympic debut in Sochi, U.S. figure skater Jason Brown agreed to go outside in below freezing temperatures and some serious snow to pose for a few portraits for me. We made a several wonderful photographs, the best two are below, and through the entire day of training and freezing outside Jason was generous with his time and energy, friendly and helpful, and a true pleasure to meet and work with.
A cute shark photograph
To ease into the weekend I thought I’d post 2 cute portraits I shot last week. 
New Portrait Commission: DAM Director
A wonderful recent commission to photograph the Denver Art Museum (DAM) Director, Christoph Heinrich, allowed for creative composition, less conservative lighting and the opportunity to craft some visually interesting portraits of an executive in one of my favorite buildings in Denver. The biggest challenge during this shoot ended up a tie between the snow that began falling the moment we went outside for that portion of the shoot and the difficulty distilling such a complex and striking building into one or two portrait locations.
A Portrait of Entrepreneurship
I am drawn to entrepreneurship. Being present at the start or early stages of a new venture is exhilarating. The air is so thick with excitement, possibility and mission that the atmosphere changes, thickens almost, and can permeate anyone who pushes into its sphere.
Ryan DiFranco conjured this sort of atmosphere as he created his new restaurant, DiFranco’s. He was gracious and generous and allowed me to be a part of his process, inside the sphere of entrepreneurship. While inside, I made a documentary style picture story that begins to capture and convey this spirit and process of entrepreneurship through the undertaking of opening a small restaurant.
As an introduction to Ryan and this unpublished picture story, here are two portraits of the entrepreneur himself.
matthew staver 