Ray Matthews Photography

Name: Ray Matthews Photography
Address: Nags Head, NC, 27959, US
Telephone: +12524417941

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Nags Head, NC
Ray Matthews Photography

I have a desire to make tangible images from the endless, fleeting possibilities, and to share these small revelations with anyone who cares to look.

08/24/2026

"Snowy Egret in Breeding Plumage"

A snowy egret pauses on a sunlit branch, its delicate plumage catching the soft glow of the day's gentlest light.

There's a quiet confidence in the way it holds itself — feathers lifted, beak tilted skyward, fully adorned in the wispy, elegant plumes of breeding season. The lush green canopy behind it frames the moment like a portrait the bird didn't know it was sitting for. In the stillness of the coastal marsh, everything seems to slow down just enough to notice.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/snowy-egret-in-breeding-plumage-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

07/27/2026

"Cottage & Sunrise #2"

A weathered cottage stands in silhouette as the first light of morning spills across the Outer Banks.

The sun, still low on the horizon, finds its way through the railings of the raised deck — filling the space with a quiet, golden warmth. Fence posts trace a line across the dune grass, marking the edge of land and sky. It's that fleeting moment before the world fully wakes, when the coast belongs only to the light.

Ray had a way of finding these unhurried scenes — the kind that remind you why the barrier islands stay with you long after you leave.

Purchase this print here:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/cottage-and-sunrise-2-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

07/06/2026

"Hatteras Light and Flag #2"

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands in silhouette as the last light of day sets the sky on fire.

There’s a stillness to a moment like this, the sun slipping below the horizon, the clouds catching every shade of gold and amber. And then there’s the American flag, snapping in the coastal wind, bold against the evening sky, refusing to be still.

The image invokes a feeling: a lighthouse that has guided generations, a flag that carries its own history, and a shoreline that reminds us how much beauty there is in the places we call home. The lighthouse holds its ground the way it always has, steady against the fading light.

Ray’s eye was drawn to these quietly powerful Outer Banks scenes, the kind that feel suspended between permanence and passing light.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/hatteras-light-and-flag-2-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

06/22/2026

"Bodie Island Light & Blue Window"

A spiral staircase winds upward through the heart of Bodie Island Lighthouse, drawn toward a window of quiet blue light.

There's something meditative about the climb inside a lighthouse — the way each iron step narrows overhead, the white walls curving ever inward, and the stillness that somehow deepens the higher you go. That single pane of blue glass transforms the space into something almost sacred, filtering the Carolina daylight into a cool, gentle glow. It's a view most visitors never pause long enough to truly see.

Ray often found beauty in the details others walked past — the interior architecture, the play of light, the hidden poetry of these coastal landmarks.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/bodie-island-light-and-blue-window-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

06/08/2026

"Shore Break in Offshore Wind"

A single wave curls and catches the light, its crest blown back by offshore wind in a fleeting moment of raw beauty.

There's a kind of magic in the space between rise and collapse — where blue and green swirl together inside the barrel, and sunlight turns the spray to gold. You can almost hear the roar, almost feel the salt mist on your skin. This is the Atlantic at its most alive, sculpted by wind and gravity into something that exists for only a second before it's gone.

Ray had an eye for these moments — the ones most of us experience and forget, but that he somehow held still long enough for the rest of us to really see.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/shore-break-in-offshore-wind-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

05/12/2026

"Cape Lookout Beach & Umbrella"

Sun-washed sand mirrors the sky where the tide has just pulled away.

There’s a certain feeling that arrives this time of year — when spring begins loosening its grip and summer starts gathering at the edges of the day. On a nearly empty stretch of barrier island beach, the season feels close enough to touch. A bright umbrella catches the light, seagulls trace lazy arcs above the surf, and the Atlantic shimmers in impossible shades of turquoise beneath a widening sky. It’s the kind of moment that quietly reminds you what’s waiting just ahead: longer days, salt in the air, and afternoons that seem to drift on forever.

Ray had a gift for capturing these quiet coastal moments — the ones that feel effortless but stay with you long after you've left the shore.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/cape-lookout-beach-and-umbrella-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

05/04/2026

"Sunrise in Nags Head #3"

The sky ignites over the Atlantic as morning breaks through a canopy of seaalong the Outer Banks shore.

There's a stillness to those first moments of daylight — when deep purples surrender to fire and the horizon glows with a warmth you can almost feel through the frame. The silhouetted fronds frame the scene like a quiet curtain parting, inviting you to pause and witness something unhurried. It's the kind of morning that reminds you why the coast holds such a pull.

Ray had a way of capturing these fleeting transitions — the in-between moments when light reshapes the entire landscape.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/sunrise-in-nags-head-3-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

04/27/2026

"Roanoke Island Marsh and Fog #3"

Golden light pours through the cypress canopy, meeting the fog halfway across the still marsh waters.

There's a quiet patience to a morning like this — the kind where the world seems held in place, suspended between night and day. The mist drifts slowly through the trees, softening every edge, every shadow, until the distant shoreline dissolves into something dreamlike. You don't so much see a scene like this as feel it settle around you.

Ray had a way of finding these unhurried moments along the Outer Banks and letting them speak for themselves.

Purchase this print:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/roanoke-island-marsh-and-fog-3-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

04/20/2026

Shipwreck Under The Stars #2

A weathered hull rests on the sand as the Milky Way unfolds above it in quiet ceremony.

There's something about a shipwreck at night that shifts the sense of time altogether — the stars wheeling overhead, the soft glow along the horizon, and the old bones of a vessel slowly returning to the earth. It's a scene that feels both ancient and immediate, as if the sky is keeping watch over something it has always known. In the stillness, you can almost hear the tide breathing.

Ray had a way of finding these moments along the Outer Banks — where the landscape holds its own kind of memory, and the camera simply bears witness.

Print available at:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/shipwreck-under-the-stars-2-ray-matthews.html

Browse many more photos from Ray at:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/3-ray-matthews

04/01/2026

"Tulips #2"

A burst of red and yellow tulips reaches toward a flawless blue sky, alive with color and light.

There's a quiet joy in this scene—the kind found in a garden at the height of spring, when every petal seems to hold the warmth of the sun. The blooms stand bold and unguarded, their colors almost luminous against the open sky. It's a moment that asks for nothing more than a pause and a long, unhurried look.

Ray was best known for his iconic coastal landscapes, but his eye for light and color brought the same sense of wonder to every subject he turned his lens toward.

This photo and hundreds more prints are available at:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/tulips-2-ray-matthews.html

Address

Nags Head, NC
27959

Telephone

+12524417941

Website

http://www.raymatthews.com/

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