Hi all, I guess I should introduce myself. I am having a ball with photography. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic, back in the early 70s. My first "real" camera was an Exakta Exa 1a when I was a junior in High School in northern NY. Over the years, I had taken a lot of photos, mostly with a Pentax SLR, but in 1999 I decided that I needed to really learn the craft, as I wanted to do macrophotography. My real job is with the University of Michigan as an Entomologist in the Musem of Zoology, where I manage of enormous insect collection. Of course, macro photography and bugs go together like Holgas and Tri-X...
So, I eventually graduated to using Nikon equipment, and along the way, became interested in collecting old cameras...especially Argus and TLRs.
I also had a lot of help from an old friend that gave me a lot of equipment, and when he and his wife moved to a retirement community, we bought their house, which included a fully-furnished darkroom...house of my dreams!
Right now, I am shooting lots of things, with a variety of cameras. I love the essence of silver-based photography, and the fact that sometimes, mistakes may bring pleasant surprises. Using older cameras is a lot of fun for me, and I like seeing what kind of quality I can coax from them with modern films. I guess my most advanced camera is a Contax G1 -- which was a gift, and I in all honesty, I'd swap it in a second for a Voigtlander Bessa R and a 50 mm lens....My Nikon F4S needs to be sent in for repair as the film is being pulled through -- for every exposure I make, it pulls 3 frames through...so I'm using my Nikon FA and F2 for a lot of my 35mm work, tho I recently acquired an FM for b&w, too. The only digital camera I own is a cheapo 2.1 mp that I use for ebay, snapshots, and the like.
My 16-year old daughter also competes with me in collecting Argus cameras, and she also loves Art Deco-themed cameras. She is also a damn good photographer, and seems know light very well, as she has dome some great work without a meter in her Kiev 88 and Nikon F.
I guess the best way to see what I do is to go to my sites:
http://www.geocities.com/argusmaniac
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/~mfobrien/photography.html
My goal is to sometime have an exhibit inAnn Arbor, but deciding what to show is a big question. Maybe just one devoted to Toy Cameras?
Mark
So, I eventually graduated to using Nikon equipment, and along the way, became interested in collecting old cameras...especially Argus and TLRs.
I also had a lot of help from an old friend that gave me a lot of equipment, and when he and his wife moved to a retirement community, we bought their house, which included a fully-furnished darkroom...house of my dreams!
Right now, I am shooting lots of things, with a variety of cameras. I love the essence of silver-based photography, and the fact that sometimes, mistakes may bring pleasant surprises. Using older cameras is a lot of fun for me, and I like seeing what kind of quality I can coax from them with modern films. I guess my most advanced camera is a Contax G1 -- which was a gift, and I in all honesty, I'd swap it in a second for a Voigtlander Bessa R and a 50 mm lens....My Nikon F4S needs to be sent in for repair as the film is being pulled through -- for every exposure I make, it pulls 3 frames through...so I'm using my Nikon FA and F2 for a lot of my 35mm work, tho I recently acquired an FM for b&w, too. The only digital camera I own is a cheapo 2.1 mp that I use for ebay, snapshots, and the like.
My 16-year old daughter also competes with me in collecting Argus cameras, and she also loves Art Deco-themed cameras. She is also a damn good photographer, and seems know light very well, as she has dome some great work without a meter in her Kiev 88 and Nikon F.
I guess the best way to see what I do is to go to my sites:
http://www.geocities.com/argusmaniac
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/~mfobrien/photography.html
My goal is to sometime have an exhibit inAnn Arbor, but deciding what to show is a big question. Maybe just one devoted to Toy Cameras?
Mark
(but snakes are bad) 
haha I used to live in the Kalamazoo area...still have family in MI! Good to have you here! Your daughter, too!
