Hello, My name is Marcus and I am a photographer based in Southwest Virginia trying to launch my Photography business. I am completely self-taught in photography with some knowledge from my mother who majored in Business. I started out with an iPhone 4 and now have worked up to a Canon EOS 5D Mark III that required a loan that I am still paying off. I have been working at a local Wal-Mart, unloading trucks for the past couple of years now to pay the bills. At first, I was planning on getting out to either go back to college to further my education or try to start my own business. Right now, I have decided to try to start my business, in turn allowing me the time to attend college to major in photography. Unfortunately, I have had some set backs financially, bills from vets, doctors, and car maintenance do not wait for anybody nor do they care about your income as long as they get their money. I still have a car payment, loan payment, insurance, cell phone, and medical bills for both animal and family. Now recently, if you know me in person or Facebook, you would know that we welcomed a new member of our family into our lives last month, our first baby boy! This is one of the big reasons I am wanting to get out of the backroom at Wal-Mart, once I go back, the time I have spent photographing games, promoting the site, spreading the word will slowly start to diminish when I can not attend the sporting events frequently, especially Winter and Spring sports. The only sport Wal-Mart has allowed me off to photograph was Football; all other sports have gotten denied for they “need” me at work. I fear if I don’t get out now and try to start my photography business soon that I will never get this chance again. Though to start my business, it is going it require equipment and roughly a few months worth of money to allow the client base to build and allow Southwest Virginia Photography to gain exposure while being able to comfortably pay bills, including a self-employed family insurance plan, which I have calculated to be a minimum total of Twelve hundred dollars a month to cover all bills. This will also help me get the essential equipment and a physical business location for a studio/gallery. It sounds like a tall order but that would cover everything that we need, I don’t want to become rich, I just want to be able to put my time into my photography to pay the bills and spend the rest of my time spending it with my family. I’ve read articles of men who lie upon their deathbeds and regret never taking a chance for something they loved; regret working their life away and missing time with their family letting life pass them by. I want to take that chance even though I have had managers say I can’t do it, I want to do something that I love everyday and I’m asking for your support to accomplish this dream. Please donate or at least share this page. Thank you!
To see some of my work, check out my website at www.swvaphotography.net or www.facebook.com/SwvaPhotography
For more Landscape photos from my earlier days, check out www.swvaphotography.com
Tripod For Landscapes
Also I need to replace my tripod, it’s slowly starting to fall apart, the handle has already broken off, the legs are starting to fail, and screws are constantly falling out. My lovely wife got it for me for a Christmas present a few years back and it has served me well. I have recently started doing panoramas and a new tripod that allows me to shoot both portrait and landscape would help greatly.
Lens For Sports/Wildlife
The Sports Lens I have been fortunate enough to shoot with the 70-200mm f/2.8L II lens and it is an awesome piece of glass that is crucial for sports photography in my opinion, especially for low light conditions. A local photographer, the photographer who actually shot my wedding, loaned me the lens for she has seen my work, she believes in me. I know though when the warm weather returns, she will need it for her business when it’s in full swing again. I do not want to have to ask her to use her lens for every sporting event; I would love to be able to have one for my business.