Choice Photography

Pentax K10D takes time trip

taken with a Pentax K10D and a Pentax FA 28-80 3.5-4.5 lens

wood worker's foot vise bench for use in holding wood piece for shaving with a draw knife at the Royal Naval and MIlitary Establsihments historic site at Discovery Harbour, Penetanguishene, Ontario

grind stone wheel with wet trough for sharpening tools

Wharf at Discovery Harbour

Saul Panzer (returned from reality alive) People In B&W - The Faroe Islands 2005-2006

If you would like to see some fine photographs of people from the Faroe Islands, check out this slide show on flickr by Saul Panzer, his assumed name from the dectective fiction of Rex Stout. Fresh, relaxed, direct, empathetic portraits of Faroe Islanders. Panzer shows great skill and sensitivity in his work. Born in 1954. A real pleasure to view.

the long view

taken at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre near Midland, Ontario, Canada with a Pentax K10D, image altered in Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 using the clarify function.

Althought part of my reason for buying the Pentax was its ability to use old manual focus lenses I have found myself using almost exclusively the FA 28-80 f3.5/4.5 lens. Not terribly wide but very useful for general purpose photography. Some days it does seem a heavy rig to tote, in which case I will take my tiny Sony or my Nikon Coolpix, especially if I have no specific plans to shoot and am just taking a camera along in case a UFO lands beside my car.

old print scan of a long gone bridge

1975 I took this photograph and the other day found the old print and scanned it. The Hog Bay CPR Trestle bridge was built in 1908 and torn down in 1978. On Georgian Bay near Port McNicholl, Ontario. Over 2000 feet long.

Lauren Bentley - magical

magical photos by Lauren Bentley - found her work on flickr and then found her website, dreamy, surreal, vivid, splendid....

Second Life photographer PJ Trenton - an original eye

Second Life is a virtual world with a full economy. Part of the economy is art and culture, many art galleries. At the Exposure Fine Art Gallery, real world and Second Life (SL) photographer PJ Trenton is showing for sale photos he has taken in SL and Real Life (RL). One interesting function in SL is the ability to take snapshots. Trenton's work is not snapshot quality. He is a fine artist. He has taken an original approach: instead of photographing the beautiful simulations of Second Life, and there are many, he has found the simulations of urban decay, the mean streets. He has a good eye for composition and he has converted his colour photos to black and white which admirably suits the gritty city subjects he has found. Trenton is a Canadian photographer living in eastern Ontario.

Part of the show is a group of fine colour portraits made in SL.

Highly recommended.

To access you will need a fast PC, download the second life software to your computer and set up a free account.

The location in Second Life is at Exposure Fine Art Gallery, Bluehound (158, 18, 115)

the website for Second Life is the link below:

10 things I think about photography - some responses

Ten things I think I think about photography and photo.net : (apologies to Peter King)

1. I think I should spend less time on PN and more taking photographs.

2. I think that it is all about the light.

3. I think that I should have stuck with my first SLR, a Pentax SP 1000 and bought a couple more lenses and stopped right there.

4. I think digital is too easy but I am too lazy.

5. I think that some days I really have no idea what I am doing with my camera and other days when that is perfectly all right.

6. I think the internet is a great place for people to be less polite than they would be if standing within slapping distance.

7. I think photography is a beautiful thing.

8. I think looking and seeing are two different things.

9. I think I should sell all my cameras and all my lenses and keep just one body and one lens.

10. I think that one day I will figure out which camera is the one and which lens is the one. It won't be the Soligor non-AI 400mm f6.5 telephone pole disguised as a telephoto lens.

I posted this as a question on the Classic Cameras Forum on photo.net. To see what other photo.net users thought use the link below.

bird photography - expert

see the work of David Hemmings

sunrise shots, some variations

I am lucky where I live, on the shores of Georgian Bay. These were all taken at dawn very close to my home. I post them to show some variations on the pretty standard and hackneyed subject of dawn.

This last black and white shot was taken on Sept. 9, 2007 - Nikon 5700 on a tripod with ball head.

green dragon and other shots - Canon G2

I bought a Canon G2 several years ago. I still use it and find it capable of making excellent photographs. It is a 4 megapixel camera. Two features I like especially are the f2.0 lens (can help make a shallower DOF photo possible) and the low ISO setting possible (50 ISO).

small green dragon dog toy:

Saturation set to plus and exposure compensation set to -1/3 (I keep the exposure compensation for almost all shots to keep the colours rich and to avoid blowing out highlights).

Shakespeare the wonder dog on the back deck:

Shot in black and white in the camera --
glass left out before a thunderstorm:

close up of Crown Royal bottle: