[v5planet]

Phew. Foolishly I thought you might be losing the faith! (imagine that)

[Mike Cash]

Phew. Foolishly I thought you might be losing the faith! (imagine that)

You doubted my faith? I am crushed.

Pentax K20D
S-M-C Takumar 135/3.5

[Mike Cash]

Taking the liberty of placing here a duplicate of a post I made in the "Post Your Photos" section as I figure there might be some others who like myself always look here and seldom look there:

Pentax K20D
S-M-C Takumar 35/2

At our annual photo exhibition earlier this month one of the members, the gentleman in the photo, said to me, "I want you to take my funeral portrait." In Japan it is the custom at funerals to have a good-sized portrait of the deceased at the ceremony and for it to be carried along in the procession by a close family member. Afterward, a smaller print may be placed in the 仏壇 (butsudan), a Buddhist altar kept in the home and at which incense in burned, food/drink offerings are placed, and prayers offered up for the deceased of the family.

What frequently happens is that families get caught unprepared and upon the death of a loved one have to rush around trying to find a photo that can be sent out for a rapid run through photoshop and printing. Some few, though, apparently have the foresight to have their photo taken for just this purpose every few years. This man is 79 years old and I guess he figured it was about time to have a fresh one done. So the next day I brought my camera and simple lighting gear along to take a portrait for the specific purpose of being brought out when he dies. It's very sobering being asked to take such a portrait knowing full-well its intended purpose....looking through the viewfinder knowing you're taking what is meant to be the last expression he will be known and remembered by.

[Ira]

Mike--wow! What a story! And what a photo! (But after your photo above, your sense of timing has to be questioned. HAH!)

His wonderful expression doesn't hurt either. There's such a sense of contentment and happiness in having lived a good life shown in that photo, as opposed to some frowning old fart.

Did you coach him in any strange way?

[Mike Cash]

Given the purpose of the photo I thought it best not to make any suggestions whatsoever. He wanted one with his glasses on and one with them off, so we did that. He was concerned about reflection from the flash in his glasses but due to the way the flash was set up there was nothing on the lenses and only a tiny glint on the frame.

[dude163]

Mike , nice background info on that shot, very touching that he asked you for something so important!

[cardinal43]

I would also like to add a "congratulations, well done" to this photo. It is (IMHO), impressive and the gentleman looks like he is a very intersting individual.

[stash]

Mike thanks for your answers and as others have mentioned the photo and the story about funeral photos is just amazing.

My oldest doing Judo:


and youngest watching from the seats:


both taken with ST 85mm f1.9

[erkie]

Congratulations on a job well done Mike ! It must have been a very sobering experience. I know you don't like to admit it but You do exceedingly well at preserving glimpses of life around you in artfully composed ways. Each glimpse you give the world building a clearer picture of the whole.
If you don't believe me , just google "takumar 35/2" and see if you're not pretty well represented.

Eric

[tackyat.2]

The Super Takumar 200mm f4 is pretty good on extension tubes. This photo used just the #3 extension tube.

[Mike Cash]

Congratulations on a job well done Mike ! It must have been a very sobering experience. I know you don't like to admit it but You do exceedingly well at preserving glimpses of life around you in artfully composed ways. Each glimpse you give the world building a clearer picture of the whole.

It's not a matter of modesty, either false or genuine. I just know stuff isn't art when it leaves my hands, nor is it intended to be. If somebody looks at something I did and can find artistic merit in it, that's just an extra added bonus.

Like all of us, I try to do each shot the best I can. What can be exasperating, though, is when people assume that there was artistic intent on each photo and critique them accordingly. In my case it is usually comments on my ship photos, which are intended solely for the eyes of a very few people who like ships and for the most part don't give a damn about photography.

If you don't believe me , just google "takumar 35/2" and see if you're not pretty well represented.

Eric

I'll let you in on a little secret.

The reason I'm pretty well represented is because I am very diligent about tagging my photos, including lens information. Plus I use Takumars as my daily gear so what usually makes up a small portion of other people's online photos constitutes the bulk of my online photos. I come up due to tags and sheer number of photos.

Standard tags on my Takumar photos go something like this:

Pentax, Takumar, M42, screwmount, manual focus, ペンタックス, タクマー, ねじ込み......plus lens specific tags......S-M-C Takumar 35/2, 35mm

Then, of course, I will have lots of other tags depending the nature of the individual photo. You don't have to be good to show up in Google searches....you just have to make sure your photos are search engine friendly.

Pentax K20D
Takumar 105/2.8 (Preset)

Love is taking an umbrella and meeting your wife at the bus stop on a rainy day....and hanging around until she gets there even though the rain has stopped.

[Ira]

Love is taking an umbrella and meeting your wife at the bus stop on a rainy day....and hanging around until she gets there even though the rain has stopped.

Are you sure?

Looks like his daughter.

[KFrog]

Are you sure?

Looks like his daughter.

No I'd say it's his wife. Check the hands, sure giveaway.

[CarbonR]

I'm not often here, but I'm working on my site about Takumars... Here are today's shots with the Takumar 58/2 on the 5D

#1


#2


#3

[Fixcinater]

Super Tak 50mm f/1.4:





TTV (Argus Super Seventy Five) with Super Tak 50mm f/1.4 on #2 extension tube: