I'll start off with saying that my name is Chris and I live about an hour north of Chicago. I've been taking pictures since I was about 8 years old when my dad handed down a twenty year old Pentax ME Super and have done serious photography for the past couple years. I've currently upgraded to a new camera, a great camera, a competition beater; the Pentax K10D. In the last 3 months I've unloaded over 17000 shots and most of them are keepers, while others are just to teach me what not to do next time I go out in the same situation. Most of my pictures are of plants, animals and other nature associated items because they tend to not run away and cower when I bring out my camera. I've recently done some photoshoots with real people and have had great success with it and hopefully learn more and get good enough to start charging for my services.
Why not Canon or Nikon? I've been asked that a lot and had my share of arguments over the past 2 or 3 months and it comes down to a few things that makes Pentax a better system for me. First is price... yes price! The K10D with kit lens sells for under $1000 and takes pictures of equal or greater quality than a 1200 or 1300 dollar Canon or Nikon period. The other reason is that Pentax glass in unrivaled in the prosumer market (I know a few people are now hating me already, but it's the truth people). The Pentax "limited" line of lenses are sharper than most anything Canon or Nikon produce and are of higher build quality and much smaller in size. The last reason for the Pentax gear... technology! The K10D has the longest list of features in the price range and so the techno-savvy me just had to pick it up for that reason. I have a weather sealed, shake reduction, built in wireless flash support, sonic drive motor supporting thoroughbred. Anyone that wants to argue the point will not win me over so let's not start anything.
The most important part about having such a great photographic tool is that it takes great pictures and can take my abuse day in and day out. So to start off this blog I've recently uploaded some photos taken today that I thought I'd share and hopefully show the quality of the photographer as well as the quality of the tool.
This picture was taken with a Sigma 105mm Macro lens with the K10D today. This long gone flower is a Japanese Poppy that takes about 3 years to get it's first bloom from the seed and this was the year, but now it's paper like petals have fallen and all thats left is this wonderful little remnant. The Bokeh of this lens is wonderful as you can see and the crispness is of a very high standard for such a low cost macro lens. The Pentax DFA 100mm macro is just as sharp, but unquestionably more contrasty and the SMC coating on all Pentax lenses is unmatched in the lens industry.
This little guy was also taken with the Sigma 105mm Macro and K10D. Now I know its not super sharp, but for a hand held image taken in the breeze with manual focus I think it's darn good, but the reason I post this is not for the quality but the sad factor. You see the little leaf that looks to bee in his jaw? That is actually stuck to his body and you want to know why? Darned plant chemicals! Those sprays that make your plants look nice also make them dangerous to insects because particles end up getting attached to them not too mention that it's poisonous. I guess if you like the artificial look in your plants then keep spraying, but if you'd like your plants to be pollinated and have honey then please stop your silly spraying and let mother nature do what she is supposed to do. America seems destined to take their destiny in hand and do what they want with it instead of letting things go on as intended. Can't wait for countless lawsuits from over processed foods, miracle diets, vitamin overload and of course energy drinks. I think everyone that drinks more than one energy drink a week needs to relax for a moment, pick up a camera and go outside and take a nice picture instead of taking a couple years off their lives to keep up with the hussle and bussle of society.Well I think I'm done ranting and raving, but hopefully you've all enjoyed the couple of pictures here and I'll leave you all with one more shot from earlier this week that will hopefully leave you with a smile! Have a great day and I'll be back with more soon.
Chico eating foot... looks delicious puppy!Check out my other pictures here... My flickr Account
Check out the best Pentax forum on earth here... PentaxForums
