Profile

 

Marco was born in 1957 in Switzerland near the high Alps. At age 7, he suffered a poliomyelitis viral infectious disease (often called polio or infantile paralysis) which left him temporary paralyzed. Many years of physical therapy and orthopedic surgeries resulted in a recovery. During his recovery years, he got his drive and determination from painting and being close to the outdoors and nature.

In 1977 he started to take black and white landscape pictures using a Nikon FM SLR with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. In those days, his goal was to attend an art school. But after a distance vision he choose a more secure traditional education. He earned several diplomas in design engineering, computer science and psychology. He also participated in photography seminars and workshops led by several renowned photographers and the Nikon Corporation.

In 1992 Marco switched to Minolta with the professional level 9xi SLR featuring an excellent auto-focus system. Eight years later he purchased a Nikon Coolpix 990 digital camera and shortly afterwards the Coolpix 5700, which he quickly found both to be way too limiting so he started over in 2005 using the Canon digital camera system.

At age 45, years after recovery from the initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus, Marco was faced with their late effects called post-polio syndrome (PPS). As there is no cure for PPS, he was forced to change his entire livestyle by limiting all activities, simplifying tasks as much as possible and avoiding overexertion of mind and body. He found nature and wildlife photography to be ideal managing his activities and combining it with frequent rest periods.

Marco's photographs have been published in several travel, photography and paragliding magazines.

Current Equipment

 

Canon EOS 5D and EOS 1D Mk2N,
Sigma AF 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM,
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM,
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM,
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM,
Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM,
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS USM,
Canon Extender EF 1.4x II,
Kenko Converter DGX MC4 1.4x,
Soligor Converter AF/CD 1.7x,
Carbon Tripod Gitzo G1325 Mk2 and Wimberley WH-200,
Carbon Tripod Gitzo GT0530 and Markins Q3 Emille,
Hoya Cir-Polfilter SQ Pro 1,
Leica Binocular Trinovid 8x20 BC,
Capture One Express 6, Photoline 17 (XiDenoiser, PTLens), PTGui 8,
HP 8760w Dreamcolor, Windows 7, Xubuntu, Eizo SX2462W and X-Rite i1 Display Pro.

Former Equipment

 

1977 : Nikon FM and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4,
1992 : Minolta 9xi and AF 28-80mm f/4-5.6,
2000 : Nikon Coolpix 990 and Coolpix 5700,
2005 : Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 and EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO,
2006 : EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM and EF 300mm f4 L IS USM,
2007 : Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM,
2009 : Sigma AF 150mm f/2.8 EX Macro DG APO HSM IF,
2010 : Apple MacBook Pro 17'', Windows XP and OS X,
2011 : Adobe Lightroom 2 and Lightcrafts Lightzone 3.