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ABOUT ME

My aim in taking pictures is to capture what GOD has given us for free. I try to bring to those who enjoy my photos, life that is outside the concrete jungles. Nature and wildlife.

As I begin my small adventures to world wonders and nationally preserved parks, I capture them in my camera. I try to make you see things that I do. I allow you to follow my eyes, and see the perspective I take my photos. This is why I Mike D’Antignac invited you to my home on the web.

Starting out going to school at Mt San Antonio College, I was trained in Desktop Publishing. There I learned how to use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and QuarkXpress. As my love for graphic design grew, I picked up my first digital camera in September 2002. Snapping away to incorporate my photographs into my desktop publishing work, friends and family realized that I had talent. I had an eye for framing and composition. Then the adventures began!

Almost 2 years later, I purchased my first Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR). That marked a major turning point in my creative works. I began to visit National Parks, State Parks, and other random destinations to photograph. This I found very rewarding, as I felt my creative ability unlimited in these beautiful places. Finally in October 2004, I visited Yosemite National Park. I was amazed at the beauty and photographic opportunity I had there. Upon rendering my visit to the park a finished for the trip, I promised to myself I would visit every National Park in the US and around the world. So as the years and decades pass, I plan to share with you my adventures and treks to the most beautiful places on earth.

Yes, this is a photography website, and yes I'm mentioning my wife. She's ever the more so worthy of being mentioned on this site. She's helped me expand and has given me creative and challenging ideas to produce. She's collaborated with me in adventures and pushing me to excel. When I was first starting out to pursue photography more wholeheartedly and professionally she always told me. “You never know what picture will make you; take your time and take the picture.”

Though Kim may come on these treks with me, she doesn't just run trails and sit around bored. She shoots pictures with me. We shoot opposing formats. I'm a pure digital person. She's a film person! We ended up purchasing a Nikon N65 for the fact it had a simple learning curve, and she could use my wide range of lenses. The film she uses is Fuji Reala. Simply the best prosumer film out there!

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SITE INFORMATION

This site was 100% coded and developed by me on my development server before public release. The only resources I used were books by Sitepoint Publishing and various web development forums.

Web Host:
MediaTemple (mt)
Site Code: PHP and XHTML
Database: MySQL

Editors: Crimson Editor
WYSIWYG: Dreamweaver 8
Graphics: Adobe Photoshop CS2

Chuckdev.com Development Server: Chuckdev.com, Windows 2003 R2 Server, ASP.NET 2.0, PHP 5.2.0, MySQL 5.2 Community Release, Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005
Camera Gear

The Bag
Tamrac Expedition 8

Cameras
Nikon D2H
Nikon D70

Lenses
Nikkor 18-70MM DX
Nikkor 50MM 1.8F
Nikkor 60MM Micro 2.8F
Sigma 15-30MM
Sigma 50-500MM

Media/Film
SanDisk 2GB Extreme II CF
IBM 2GB MD
PQI 2GB CF

Accessories
Kenko 2X Teleconverter
Nikon SB-600 Flash
Cokin P Filter Holder
Cokin Graduated ND .2, .4, .8
Cokin Full .8
Sunpak 81A
Sunpak UV/Protection
Hoya Neutral Density .4 & .8
Hoya Circular Polarizer

Wishlist
Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Canon 10-22mm
Canon 85mm 1.8f
Canon 500mm F4

Nikon 12-24mm
Nikon 80-200mm
Nikon 500mm

RECENT PHOTOS
Feature Galleries: Yosemite National Park - Death Valley National Park - Los Angeles, California - Los Angeles Beaches
© 2003-2007 Michael D'Antignac. All rights reserved. All images on this site are protected by U.S. Copyright Law.
All location facts are taken from Wikipedia under GNU Free Documentation License
Resources
Ken Rockwell's Canon 5D vs. Nikon D200 Review. - Link
DPReview's Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0. - Link
Understanding Aspect Ratios and Cropping. - Link
D100 and D70 Custom Tone Curves - Link
Using Photoshop Curves Tutorial. - Link
DPreview Learn Digital Photography Glossary. - Link
Great photographic spots in San Francisco. - Link
Basic Travel Photography Laws. - Link