Makes me want to get out of bed and over to Shenfield Common pond here in Brentwood Essex but I think I would not get those 'Prizewinning results' !

Very different and technically excellent !

Thanks Folks !! I do try !

I came across this Forest Monster when out Picture-Hunting in Weald Country Park -- it was 'dozing' -- I carefully fitted a 200mmf4 SMC Takumar to my trusty Pentax 6x7 Mk I loaded with Ilford Delta 100 and took it at 1/500 at f5.6 and backed away before it awoke !


Forest Monster by pentaxpete, on Flickr

Here is a photo I took today to use up a film I had in my PENTAX 6x7 Mk II since last NOVEMBER -- it is using the 45mm f4 SMC Takumar lens and I had a go at the 'Free Transform ' thingy in PhotoShop 7 to get the tower more vertical -- I was not sure how to 'pull out' the handles !
2002 outdated AGFA Ultra 50 120 rollfilm, auto exposure at f8.

Seen in our local Forest -- can you see the 'Face'? I think it looks a bit like Adolf Hitler--- Pentax 6x7 + 105mm f2.4 SMC Takumar lens, Ilford FP4 film . Print on Kentmere S/W Glossy Bromide.

YAY !!! Today I found THREE if these used in the 'Brentwood Gazette'. Nos. 1, 3 and 4 photos.

This and the 'K'were two Asahi Pentax Cameras brought back from Singapore by one of the partners of Breda Studios, Barking, Essex when I worked with them in the 1960's and it got me into 'PENTAX' photography -- had a Zeiss Contax III with un-coated 50mm f1.5 Sonnar I had bought in Germnay from a Camera dealer who used to visit us in BMH Berlin when I was there in 1956 in the British Army -- it cost me £ 38-00. When I got into local Press work with Breda Studios who had the contract to supply all the photos for the Barking Advertiser whose office was in the same building as Breda and their darkroom, I was given a few Press jobs and was often cutting off the top of the head of the Mayor and VIP's as the Contax viewfinder was so SMALL and the lens suffered from flare - so when Clive Simpson showed me these weird cameras called 'ASAHI PENTAX' made in Japan with weird-sounding lenses called 'TAKUMARS' I saw the results -- much sharper and NO PARALLAX I was astounded ! One day an ASAHI PENTAX S3 appeared in the window of a local Barking Camera Dealer with a small crowd of Camera-Starved Brits pressing their noses to the glass of the window in awe -- remember there was 60% Purchase Tax and 40% Import Duty on Cameras at the time and imported cameras were strictly rationed to 'Professional People' such as Doctors. WEll - I rushed in and he made me an offer for the Contax £35-00
and I paid the rest of the £85-00 for the S3 ( a HUGE amount ! ) and rushed out the proud owner of a PENTAX !!

Yes -- it;s the 'back focus' problem when I have the K10D on 'auto-focus' -- I tried good old 'Manual Focus' with some and they are the sharp ones !

Today I attended the annual Good Friday 'Walk of Witness' through Brentwood and took a few snaps for sending to local newspapers -- the light was variable but the COLD was not ! I decided to use my free Sunpak auto 36FD flash for fill-in as necessary -- I set 200 ASA in my K10D and the flash to half power on manual -- I did change to 400 ASA for a few shots. I used a 28-70mm f4 SMC Pentax-FA lens off my MZ-5 and a few with the 18-55mm Pentax-DA kit lens -- here are some results ---