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Pentax – In Praise of Usability of Cameras and Lenses
The Internet is full of columns and videos about why ‘I left brand X for brand Y’, magnifiying this or that ‘new feature’ that forced a photographer to ditch his previous setup in favour of a brand new one. Sometimes there is a genuine motivation behind such a choice, sometimes – often – it is just a clickbait set up by the need (or hope) to monetise a piece of content published on a social network. This long introduction violates the golden rule of journalistic writing – tell the reader what’s the matter in the first paragraph or so – but it was necessary because this article is exactly that:…
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A few test shots with an MC Cosinon T200/4
This lens has several shortcomings. It has a pronounced coma and the focus barrel requires a considerable amount of turning to get it right, thus making it challenging to fast focus when you need to. Camera sensor clearly influences colours’ rendition. Despite the ‘personality’ of this lens, the overall picture’s feel is clearly (to me, at least) that of the classic ‘cold’, slightly bluish Pentax (or, should I say, Sony) sensor. At f4 (all the images published here were taken at this aperture), the bokeh is pleasant. Nothing exceptional, but for a lens that sells for around 15 euros, the results are good enough. That said, a core question, asked…
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Questioning the Referee
Sports photography is all about the moment. Freezing the moments of success – a win, a comeback or a try – as well as failure – a miss, a fall or an injury – is what usually attracts photographers’ attention. But there are many other stories to be told during a competition, and the complex relationship between coaches and referees is one of the most interesting – and overlooked. In this picture, taken during a national judo tournament, I captured the moment when a referee decided to stop talking to a complaining coach. Technical note: I took this picture with a Pentax K-3 II and a Pentax DA* 80-200/2.8. Maybe…
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Hidden in Plain Sight. A Japanese Journey
Although I have a lot of pictures from my various trips to Japan, organising them into a book is a challenge. The photos themselves are good enough to deserve publication. However, most of them are affected by a ‘déjà-vu’ effect. People on the subway, crowded crossroads, striking contrasts between modernity and the past, or between rural areas and highly urbanised ones, pop culture vs. business culture… no matter how hard I try, every single photo gives the feeling that someone has already done it. I am neither an anthropologist nor an expert on Japanese society, so I have no reasonable explanation for this feeling. Perhaps it is simply a matter…
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The Compelling Power of Photography
The sandstorm came fast — the kind that scours your skin raw, leaves grit between your teeth, and makes you regret every bit of exposed flesh. I had the Pentax K-3 II with the DA* 50–135mm f/2.8 mounted and ready, but even the gear felt fragile in that wind. Eighty kilometres per hour doesn’t sound like much until it becomes horizontal. In the middle of that chaos, he walked in. No jacket, no hood, no camera gear — just shorts, sunglasses, and a phone. He stopped, planted his feet in the shifting sand, and took a photo. Not staged, not dramatic. Just a gesture. In the middle of discomfort, maybe…
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Three Lamps
I made this photograph on a breezy afternoon, when the light fell just right across the row of straw-shaded lamps. The alignment was irresistible — three distinct forms in sequence, receding gently into the frame. I wanted the rhythm to pull the viewer’s eye through the image, from the sharp texture of the foreground shade to the softly blurred suggestion of the background structure. The Pentax K-3 II paired with the DA* 50-135 rendered the detail crisply; every strand of straw stands out against the muted backdrop. The lens’s rendering at f/2.8 helped create a shallow depth of field without obliterating context. The light bulbs, faintly glowing even in daylight,…
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Not AI-made…
The colour rendition of a photo taken with a Pentax (camera and lens) is unique. Taste is personal, and so is this opinion. One thing, however, is sure: the pictorial look of this photography is not made by an ‘AI’.
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A Gull, Posing
A gull sits perched on a bollard by the water, its body angled just enough to suggest awareness of being seen. The rust-stained base, heavy and industrial, contrasts sharply with the lightness of the bird resting on top. It is a moment where function and chance converge, turning a docking post into a stage. Composition is centred and deliberate. The bollard fills the frame vertically, anchoring the image, while the gull becomes both subject and ornament. The blurred surface of the water behind isolates the scene, stripping away distraction so the viewer confronts the simple pairing of steel and feathers. Technically, exposure is well handled. The whites of the gull’s…
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Beach Party
Shot just after dawn, this image came together in seconds but tells a layered story of rivalry and instinct. The beach, in its usual emptiness, became a stage for the coarsely choreographed interaction between gulls and crows. I didn’t plan for a composition — I reacted to it. And yet, the result balances tension, motion, and rhythm better than many calculated frames. Technically, I leaned into softness rather than clarity. The overcast light pushed the colours into a muted palette, verging on monochrome. I let the flatness be, resisting contrast boosts in post, allowing the wet sand to mirror just enough detail without pulling the eye from the birds. Their…
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Sun Worshipers
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Dark Omen
I photographed this scene in late winter, when the bare trees carried no leaves and the sky pressed low with heavy clouds. The flock of birds, startled into flight, scattered across the frame in uneven patterns. Their silhouettes against the pale backdrop gave the scene a sense of unease, as though the moment was charged with something more than simple movement. Compositionally, I placed the trees as anchors, their skeletal branches reaching upward and outward, filling much of the lower frame. They serve as both structure and stage, while the birds provide rhythm and unpredictability. The flock is not evenly distributed—clusters form and break apart, guiding the eye from one…
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Gliding Away
I caught this shot as the gull moved past me, wings stretched in an elegant curve, pulling away from the frame almost as quickly as I brought the camera to my eye. Tracking birds in flight with the DA* 50-135 on the K-3 II is always a test of reflexes and technique, especially when the background is a shifting plane of textured water. The lens handled the contrast well, keeping the bird distinct enough from the muted greens and greys of the sea, though the fine detail in the wingtips fell just short of crisp — a reminder that a fractionally faster shutter speed might have been the better choice.…
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Waiting for the Fish
There’s a particular kind of pleasure in using the Pentax K-3 II paired with the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8—a combination that rewards patience much like the fisherman in this frame. The lens’s rendering and microcontrast gave me exactly what I wanted here: a clean separation between subject and background without the look feeling forced. The weather was brooding, the horizon hazy, and the colours naturally muted, so the camera’s sensor, with its well-known dynamic range, had plenty of tonal nuance to work with. The man in the red hoodie became my obvious focal point—a striking colour contrast against the cooler palette of sea and sky. His posture, hands clasped behind his…
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Should I Seat?
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Landing
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Man in Trenchcoat
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After Heat, Structure
I made this photograph handheld, late afternoon. The car was still warm. Fire had done what fire does: reduced all function to form, all value to surface. What remained was metal, glass, ash—and light. I chose a shallow angle, head-on through the front windscreen, to confront the wreckage as directly as possible. The lens was at roughly 60mm, allowing a slight compression of space. I focused on the mid-depth—the charred dashboard—so the frame reads in layers: foreground (rust and blistered bonnet), middle (molten plastic and exposed seat frames), background (burned upholstery, collapsed interior geometry). Each plane tells a different part of the story. The light was flat, which helped. No…
