Marco Antonio 1976's photostream  

Welcome to my Flickr site. My name is Marc, I live in Chicago, IL and I am a photographer only in the sense that I take pictures of things with cameras.

My plan for this Flickr site is not really to post my photographic successes for the world to see, but to post my failures. I expect there will be some successes along the way, but realistically most of my pictures will be garbage, even by MY standards. My hope is that with your critique and advice I can develop myself to the point where I can take decent pictures in any condition that will satisfy me, primarily, but perhaps someday get to the point where I can create art that other people may want to see. The latter part is not nearly as important as the first, and I’m not expecting to become great in a year or even 10, but we can all hope and dream, no?

While I’ve owned an SLR before (film), my level of expertise with it extended as far as being able to load film, select the desired aperture, auto-meter my subject with the built in meter, and shoot. Sometimes I prayed, too.* Most of the results have been satisfactory as far as what I was trying to achieve but I’m at the point now where I’d really like to learn how to use a camera to a higher degree.

So I recently made the leap and bought a DSLR, opting for a Nikon D60 to start me off. After some research, I decided that my kit would consist of 3 lenses as follows:

Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5 VR (included with camera)
Nikon 50mm f/1.8D (for low light, high speed)
Nikon 55-200mm f/4 (slow I guess, but I might need the zoom)

My reasoning behind these three lenses is that they cover a spectrum of distance and speed that are appropriate for an entry level somewhat-student of photography. If you disagree or have other recommendations, please share! Also, I haven’t decided whether to buy a flash or not. I’m leaning towards no for now since it’ll probably just add complication to the learning process. Again, if you disagree let me know and please share your opinion/reasoning. How else will I learn?

Now that I have a DSLR, I will be using it a LOT. I like to photograph people (familiar, mostly). I probably won’t be posting many nature pictures, since there’s not much around me and I’m not the photo trip-taking type yet. For the most part my shots will involve things I like to do such as shoot pool, visit neighborhood pubs, going to restaurants, and hanging out with family. I travel a moderate amount (2-3 times a year) so occasionally I’ll have something different to show, but for the most part this site will be a journal of my daily life, only with crappy pics!

In advance, I’d like to thank you all for your help in my quest to become a better photographer. Feel free to critique and/or advise, and if being harsh is your style – go for it. Given the industry I work in I’m pretty thick-skinned.

Happy Shooting!
Marc

*This is a lie and I’ll probably go to hell for it. C’est la vie.