About
Hello, as you know by now, my name is Matthew Warren. This website is a place to show off some of the projects and photos that I had the most fun creating. Photography and engineering may seem like a weird combination, but both activities are based on a combination of creativity and technical skill to create something new.
Engineering
I have a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. I have always enjoyed tinkering and experimenting and started flying model RC airplanes when I was 12 years old. Unique airplanes and vehicles were always the most fun for me. Some of these strange aircraft are shown on this website. The Aerospace Design Build Fly Club at Georgia Tech was a great opportunity to fly crazy airplanes and win competitions. I have built and flown everything from autogyros, seaplanes, and rogallo wings to airboats and submarines.
VTOL airplanes have been a focus of my hobby and career. I have built and flown over a dozen independent VTOL plane designs including tilt motor, tailsitter, quadplane, and freewing designs. I have worked on every phase of drone development and have participated in almost every aspect. I have designed airplanes from requirements, manufactured carbon fiber wings, crimped and soldered wiring, programmed flight controllers, and tuned the final design.
Photography
I started to become interested in photography during my last few years in college. Once I graduated, two important things happened at the same time. I moved to the Mojave Desert in California and got my first real job. These changes provided me with the money I needed to buy a decent camera and some lenses. It also placed me within driving distance of some of the prettiest places in the USA. I started to quickly enjoy photography as a creative outlet.
Of course, I couldn’t just use a regular digital camera like a normal person. I quickly started experimenting with old and quirky mechanical cameras for my own amusement. These cameras have a charm, a look, a feel, and an unpredictability that a modern cell phone cannot replicate. I enjoy the process of taking a photo as much as looking at the result. Photography was a means to an end. It encouraged me to travel to pretty places, explore the scene to identify unique scenes, and sit there and admire that unique scene while I figure out how to photograph it with a 100 year old camera. Sometimes the photo looks amazing, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, I win.
