Photographs Old Pentax Prime Lenses

[Barbarian]

I have started using more and more the old M42 screw mount lenses, with no zoom, no autofocus. My current favorite is an f1.8 85mm lens. I love the way it works, giving a beautiful look to out-of-focus areas. But even better is the sharpness.

Here's a slight crop of an indian paintbrush:

And a blow-up of the same image:

That's a sharp lens.

 

[AirDancer]

Brilliant!

Talk about details!

Have you ever thought about teaching a photography class? You definitely have talent, my friend!

 

[Barbarian]

I do. We have a digital photo club at school.

 

[AirDancer]

Excellent!

It would be nice if more schools had a photo club. Talk about the ability to change the lives of kids who might otherwise not have access to learning a particular skill like photography. Even if it only became a hobby, it would still provide a positive outlet for kids.

 

[Barbarian]

It would be nice if more schools had a photo club. Talk about the ability to change the lives of kids who might otherwise not have access to learning a particular skill like photography. Even if it only became a hobby, it would still provide a positive outlet for kids.

I've seen some pretty dark stuff from some of them. Each meeting, we do a digital gallery walk and we talk about what each image does for us. Sometimes, it's emotional, as though the camera were a means of working out pain. Other times, it's silly humorous. I think that like writing, it is a way to work out emotional issues for some kids.

Adolescence is a rough time for almost everyone, and I like to think photography can be a source of accomplishment and a way of dealing with some of that. There's this skinny little girl with big glasses, who normally is very quiet and reserved. But put her in front of the lights, and she's like a different person, laughing, arms moving everywhere, and a perfect sense of grace. Everyone's favorite model.

 

[AirDancer]

You are so right about adolescence, and having a means to express the myriad emotions that goes along with that age bracket is a very good thing.

Do you arrange for some of their photos to be shown somewhere, to provide an outlet for their work to be seen by others?

 

[jasonc]

Excellent!

It would be nice if more schools had a photo club. Talk about the ability to change the lives of kids who might otherwise not have access to learning a particular skill like photography. Even if it only became a hobby, it would still provide a positive outlet for kids.

They have them here.the time isn't doable for me

 

[Barbarian]

So far, we just share among ourselves. We all have laptops, so we do a digital gallery and everyone walks around and looks at each other's work. I'm building a website to make a more permanent gallery.

 

[AirDancer]

A website gallery is a great idea! That way, their classmates can view the pictures as well, along with other people.

 

[Barbarian]

One thing that annoys me is that there isn't a family-safe photo storage site on the web that's useful for a school club. Flickr is great, but if you happen to remove the filter, there's pornography available.