wanted to introduce myself :)

[Fidel Marcus]

hello everyone, I'm brand new to the forum and for 2 days now I can't get myself to navigate away from this wonderful community everyone is very nice and very talented.
I currently live in California & I've been shooting for the past 15 years for fun & for a living, I tend to sway from one style to another every few years always learning something new from someone or from a new experience. I love photography it is my best talent (I'm sort of a jack of all trades) so I suspect I will be in here quite often sharing my digital treasures & discussing all things beautiful and interesting
I'm a die hard Canon SLR (Film & digital) photographer, but I also want to get into MF film in the near future if I can get my hands on a Hasselblad or a Mamiya but the future will only tell.

I'd like to share a couple of shots from my most recent work, I hope you will enjoy them.

 

[Davie Hudson]

welcome to the forum Fidel, you'll have fun here ... everyone is really friendly

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Welcome Fidel

 

[Fidel Marcus]

thank you gentlemen for the welcome
Dan I love your gas mask photos I glanced over your thread last night when I was looking through the forum...

 

[adrian jordin]

I like the stained glass, Fidel...I must get around to looking at my efforts again...

 

[Hamish Gill]

Welcome to the forum Fidel!
Really happy to hear how much of a good impression we make in such a short amount of time!
Like the few first photos, is churches/religious things a current theme?

Welcome again!
hope you continue to enjoy the place

 

[Fidel Marcus]

it's funny that you mentioned how quickly this forum made an impression on me, my whole life I've been sort of shooting & critiquing myself without any outside opinion other than my clients, so lately I've had the itch to find like minded artists who are willing to openly discuss their ideas and techniques as I am so I began my hunt; first it started on facebook where I found nothing, then on to google hunting for a reputable mature community and ended up on dpreview's forum which was absolute crap (a bunch of kids with gadgets) but in one of the threads as I was reading the bashing and disrespect everyone was spewing on everyone one gentleman said that the thread he posted in was the reason he moved on to RPF and that's all that I needed, a few glances at the wonderful photography and a few sentences later I was sold, I wanted to be part of this community.

as far as the images go, I have a profound obsession with "Old World" styling whether it's a church or a cemetery I love capturing images in old catholic cathedrals (I am sure largely because I've grown up catholic) but like I mentioned earlier I bounce from one style of photography to another, over the past few years I've mostly dabbled with architectural, landscape, product & macro. These images were from my last job, where I photographed a ceremony for a 1,000 year old chivalry order in a super traditional fashion where the members were being knighted (quite an experience for me)

I can post more soon if there is interest...

 

[Fidel Marcus]

thanks adrian, I love shooting stained glass, the photos almost don't look like photos as they look more like paintings...
I could be slightly off (i am not near my desktop right now) but that shot was f2.8, 80 shutter & 800iso

 

[Kev Pugh]

Just adding my welcome to you Fidel. Welcome enjoy the forum and the new friends you will make

 

[Fidel Marcus]

thanks kev

my second thread with some landscape & architectual;

http://www.realphotographersforum.c...ure/2884-my-favorite-creations.html#post24083

 

[Allan Batchelor]

hello to you Fidel and hope you continue to have lots of enjoyment here

 

[Brian Moore]

Greetings from Sunny California, Fidel. You're the 4th I know of (including myself) who live in The Golden State. I like your churche images and the stained glass. Very nice indeed. Where are you located?

 

[Tim Pindar]

Welcome Fidel!

Really like the stained glass photo. I've tried this myself and know how tricky it is!

 

[Hamish Gill]

There's always interest Fidel!

And yeah, I sort of take pride in what I like to concider a forum with almost a polar opposite feel to DPR
They like moaning and kit
We like keeping it good natured and photos

 

[Darren Turner]

welcome to RPF i am sure you will enjoy and get as addicted to this forum as the rest of us very soon..........!!

 

[Fidel Marcus]

In regards to most other communities, I just think it's funny that any curious george who can simply afford a few "gadgets" and some free time is quickly on the market as a professional photographer armed with arrogance and ready for hire with absolutely no real background on photography, I may sound like an elitist here but I have seen photography under a different light than most;

I was born in a third world country, opened my eyes up in a dark room reeking of chemical smell & grew up with a canon FTb sitting in my lap with no battery for the built in meter simply because you couldn't find them in that country, that's how I learned to appreciate this gift, this art form that many today don't have a respect for.

Enough of my ranting lol you guys are making me love this forum more & more with every reply I'm reading, pardon my arrogant tone (it comes with the years and from bad experiences from the past) but I am a humble artist who has a lot of philosophy but far more respect for everyone else who can share the same passions as I.

to answer a question from earlier, I currently live in San Francisco & I bounce back & forth between here & San Diego

now I must go into my hard drives & dig up all the photos that I think are worthy of sharing, this is the most fun I've had on an e-community in a long while.

Love you guys

 

[Hamish Gill]

So where do you originate from Fidel? If you don't mind me asking?
That's a wonderful thing to know about a member!
there is a wonderful film called City of God about a photographer growing up in the slums of rio ... well worth a watch if you haven't seen it! your snippet of your past made me think about it!

I didnt grow up in a third world country, in fact my background is one of relative wealth ...
I just see the folly of these people through the eyes of a human being wanting to share things with other human beings!

I cant understand the motives behind going on the internet to ***** and moan at people ... It just doesnt fit into my nature ...
It is a worry, i think, for the human race at large that there are so many people from all over the world interested in bahaving in the way these people do!

and you are right, it is a lack of respect for this passion of ours ... it cheapens it doesnt it!?!

Anyway, im so pleased to be a part of something that others, like your good self, feel so positively about!

 

[Fidel Marcus]

I am a bit of a shocker to most people, I'm blue eyed & nearly blonde, I live in the states and I'm an american citizen. Most of the time I blend in quite easily until I begin to talk about history & politics and that's where my perspectives catch attention and I'm asked the golden question; where are you from? and it's funny to see the surprise on people's faces when I say I was born in Baghdad, Iraq.
I was actually in Iraq during the gulf war (obviously on the receiving end) and being catholic wasn't helping the situation either so myself & my family traveled through europe & ended up here.

I tried to simplify the answer as much as possible haha

oh & Hamish bare with me please until I get all my replies in on the other topics, I'm having a bit of a sideways day so far..

 

[Paul Lange]

Sorry a bit late I know but a warm welcome Fidel. The stained glass shot is quite striking isn't it? My mother is religious and I took a photo of a church window and printed it for her. I was amazed how vibrant the print cane out.

 

[Hamish Gill]

You have been there for a while then! How old we're you when you left Iraq then?
Do you speak with an American accent?
You don't come across like an American somehow, but that maybe just through a presumed ethnicity on my part ... Really just from your name (that's bad isn't it ) ... I'm sure you do come accross with more of a passion than the average westerner though