Pentaxian Profile: Thomas Ohlsson

Portrait Photographer, Pentaxian

By DonThomaso in Pentaxian Profiles on May 11, 2015

I am a photographer specializing in portraiture or model shots. I have a master’s degree in economics and am currently studying in the field of informatics, when I am not taking photos that is.

I’ve always been interested in technology and gadget, and even though I owned simple P&S film cameras in the 90’s as a child, I saved up for a 1.3 megapixel Olympus while working during summer break as a teenager. I had enjoyed taking photos for a long time, but I never really put any thought into them. It was more a way of documenting my own experiences and using the pictures as a way of remembering. This kind of photography may be sufficient for personal use, but it didn’t communicate very many feelings to people that weren’t there at the moment of each capture.

Pentaxian Profile: Mike Oria

Landscape Photographer and 645 System User

By EarlVonTapia in Pentaxian Profiles on Jul 7, 2014

Mike Oria is a long-time member of PentaxForums (posting as mikeSF) based in the San Francisco bay area. During the day he works as a sales director for a medical lab. On weekends and his spare time, he is an avid photographer. His first digital SLR, a Pentax *ist DL, came from a garage sale. Now he shoots with a K5 and a 645D. Mike specializes in landscapes and seascapes.

In this interview we asked Mike about how he got into photography, what made him get into the Pentax 645 system, as well as some tips and tricks for how a budding photographer can take their skills to the next level.

Read on to find out his answers!

Pentaxian Profile: Michele Cati

Night photography with the 645Z

By PF Staff in Pentaxian Profiles on Aug 6, 2016

Michele Cati (Teknuccio) was born in 1982 in Bologna, Italy. He began his photographic activity back in 1997, pointing his Fujica AX-3 first at the Hale-Bopp comet and later at the total solar eclipse in 1999.

In the digital era Michele switched to the Pentax brand with a K-5, a camera which was able to satisfy the requirements of Michele’s favorite shoots. He works with natural light, mostly in low light conditions and at night pointing the lens at the billions lights dotting the night. He tries to keep the postproduction as low as possible to maintain a genuine atmosphere in the images. Michele loves travelling in dark skies locations, such as Ireland or Iceland, as well as exploring his own territory, the Italian Apennines. Michele is Pentax brand Ambassador in Italy from 2014 and is now working on a project of time lapse photography using different Pentax cameras. In this article Michele presents some of his work with the Pentax 645Z.

Alex Munoz: Medium Format Pentaxian

By PF Staff in Pentaxian Profiles on Dec 12, 2014

Today we're happy to present a brief biography of Alex Munoz, an American professional photographer who shoots with the Pentax 645Z medium format system.  He is currently sponsored by Ricoh Imaging. 

I am a lifestyle/fashion advertising photographer based in Los Angeles, California, USA. I have been taking images since I was 6 years old. What started out as a hobby became a profession in later life. Today, I am a PPA Certified Professional Photographer, and I occasionally teach photography classes in between commercial assignments (e.g. meet me at WCS2015 for a weeklong masterclass).

I learned by taking pictures with cameras which barely had an exposure indicator in them. It was all film, and all manual. I have been shooting digital since 2008, and today I work exclusively with Ricoh/Pentax equipment for all my still image needs. I also create commercials and infomercials as a DP, as Director, Creative Director, or any combination thereof. What can I say is that I just love creating visuals, both moving and still.

I used to shoot pretty much with anything out there throughout the years, but today I find it important in my area of work to shoot with medium format type sensors. It's the added resolution, different perspective, and per pixel sharpness that makes a huge difference. The 645Z, as an overall package, is clearly leading the way in that regard. While I have often used Hasselblad or Phase One cameras before, the speed at which I am able to work on set with the 645Z is just much closer to a DSLR than anything else out there.

Pentaxian Profile: Chris Willson

Medium format photography with the Pentax 67II and 645D

By PF Staff in Pentaxian Profiles on Apr 13, 2014

I'm a British ex-pat based in Okinawa. I specialize in shooting travel images of Japan for publication in magazines, newspapers and guidebooks.

In 2002, I started using the Pentax 67II. It’s a big, heavy, beast of a camera, but I was hooked by the beautiful transparencies it produced.  In Japan, the 67 is nicknamed Gulliver, and for nearly a decade it was my faithful travel companion. After escapades with ninja, yakuza and geisha I named my website TRAVEL67.com. 

In 2010, the arrival of the 645D meant I could have the quality of medium format with the faster workflow of digital. Along with travel imagery, I started working in the studio, shooting model portfolios, products, headshots, and the occasional dog. My travel and studio photography converged with the Karate Masters Portrait Project in which I bring a studio flash to the dojos of Okinawa's martial arts icons.