I've spent most of my life outside — climbing, backpacking, paddling, and wandering through wild places from the Sierra Nevada to the Himalaya. The outdoors has shaped who I am, and it's the foundation of everything I photograph.

I'm Matthew Duncan, a Bay Area adventure photographer based in Mountain View, California. I create outdoor portraits for people who feel most themselves outside — on trails, coastlines, ridgelines, and in the wild places that matter to them. Natural light, real landscapes, and honest moments are at the center of my work. I'm not interested in perfect poses or studio setups. I'm interested in the way people soften outdoors — the way they breathe differently, move differently, and connect differently when they're surrounded by real places and real light.

Before photography became my profession, I lived and worked around the world — Australia, Nepal, Vietnam, Eritrea, and London. Those experiences taught me to slow down, pay attention, and look for the moments that feel true. I brought that approach back to California, and it's shaped how I work with every client I photograph across the Bay Area.

I work outside, where weather, terrain, and spontaneity shape the moment. Whether it's a family hiking through fall colors in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a couple exploring a trail they love in Marin County, someone wanting personal lifestyle portraits on the Peninsula, or an athlete pushing limits at Castle Rock or Mickey's Beach — my goal is the same: to create images that feel real, grounded, and connected to the landscape.

From Rancho San Antonio to Point Reyes, from Wilder Ranch to Zion, I photograph people in the places that feel like home to them — because that's where the real moments happen.

Let me capture the moments that happen when you step outside and truly live.