[Prohibitiory]

Okay, Hello fellow Pentaxians!

I currently own Pentax KP and since yesterday K-1 (haven't tried it properly yet)

I'm very much into Fine Art photography, portraits, family portraits, maternity photoshoots.

I do not see many Pentaxians out there in my field, other then Gosia Jurasz - Polish Pentax Ambasador, she's doing amazing job with mostly children portraits with Pentax.

My question is - is there anyone here who is interested or working on Fine Art photography with Pentax?

Or do you know someone you can recommend for me to follow?

I see all your amazing nature and landscape photos here, but sometimes I feel lonely in what truly interests me and makes me passionate about photography.

I would very much appreciate any advise,

Thank you.

[ChristianRock]

Fine Art Photography is a very diverse category... William Eggleston's work, for example is considered fine art photography and I can't think of anything more different from Gosia's work

I'll be very interesting to know, by the way, how she does her post processing, and would love to try something like this when taking pictures of my family. But once you process your pictures that much, the gear becomes completely irrelevant. She could have used a nice point and shoot and gotten the same results. Or an iPhone.

I think anything that you print and put on a frame for sale might be considered fine art photography... though nowadays people might call themselves fine art photographers without even printing anything.

Fine Art is something I aspire to do when I have more time in my hands (i.e. when I'm retired perhaps, or maybe after all my kids are off on their journey...) but for now I'm just an enthusiast that's trying to learn and have fun in my spare time

[5ks]

Okay, Hello fellow Pentaxians!

I currently own Pentax KP and since yesterday K-1 (haven't tried it properly yet)

I'm very much into Fine Art photography, portraits, family portraits, maternity photoshoots.

I do not see many Pentaxians out there in my field, other then Gosia Jurasz - Polish Pentax Ambasador, she's doing amazing job with mostly children portraits with Pentax.

My question is - is there anyone here who is interested or working on Fine Art photography with Pentax?

Or do you know someone you can recommend for me to follow?

I see all your amazing nature and landscape photos here, but sometimes I feel lonely in what truly interests me and makes me passionate about photography.

I would very much appreciate any advise,

Thank you.

Hi! Sorry to say I cannot give you the advice but, instead, just want to share the same kind of interest in fine art photography. I'll have a whole lot to learn still... but I think that K-1 is a very good tool for this ... with proper lenses, of course.

[othar]

I think it's best for you to look for photographers that are working in the areas you are interested in, independent from the gear they use, because there are more professionals working with other brands than Pentax (because they offer more local suppliers to get fast replacements when necessary).

If you are inspired / or try to recreate something you see you will be able to do so even without a matching camera system.

[EssJayEff]

Pre-pandemic I was shooting regularly, primarily with artistic intent. I've exhibited in galleries (one-person and group shows), and used a PENTAX 645D for one year to produce many of the images for a show titled "Some Semblance." I now shoot with the K-1, and I am eager to begin photographing again once the pandemic conditions allow. And now I am very glad to find a kindred spirit here at Pentax Forums!

[Prohibitiory]

Okay, I hear you about shooting vs. post processing.

I do not agree in full about the fact that if you heavily edit photos gear doesn't matter. Or that you can shoot photo with Iphone and edit it to an amazing high end portrait.

More on that, I switched to mirrorless Sony under pressure and impression that all amazing portrait photographers are shooting with everything - but Pentax. And I did not liked it better then Pentax! I apologised to my Pentax KP and shooting mainly this still.

That's when I started asking myself this question, Pentax seems to be far behind on this market. Released amazing 85mm 1.4 portrait lens, where are all the amazing portraits shoot with this lens?

I checked statistics on Instagram, you can check hashtags for Sony, Canon, Nikon 85mm with thousands of finds, pentax85mm1.4? Far behind. This is not due to Lens capabilities but the fact it's rare to find someone to use this system.

Attached 3 photos of mine which I consider fine art portraits, are they heavy edited - yes, but I do consider to create even painterly style you have to have a proper canvas. I did noticed difference between doing same style on Pentax raw photos vs. Sony.

Guess I'm just kinda upset not to see more people giving Pentax a chance in this field. I'm in many Facebook groups and whenever someone asks for advise which camera to get to shoot portraits/family NO ONE EVER mention Pentax..

---------- Post added 04-30-21 at 07:32 AM ----------

Like many pentaxians, I also like to shoot landscapes., but still sometimes I photograph people, although I am not at all the photographer from whom you need to take an example. I agree with you, we really need to photograph more people, people are actually an interesting subject... Your topic made me think ... I need to pay more attention to the photographers who do this.
I very rarely post photos of people (maybe because of some ethical considerations? But maybe I'm wrong)

once my friend asked me to take a photo of it... I tried to shoot it as best I could, I shot it with a pentax k-30 and a tamron 18-200 lens... could you criticize this photo of mine?
sorry if i'm off topic

I really like your portrait! I would probably make it bit lighter and try to straighten the upper line behind the subject. Bokeh behind looks nice If I would be in a mood for a longer edit I would try to use clone stamp tool in photoshop and clone out the cars behind to make sure my subject remains main focus of view instead of bright right part of the photo. Great job overall!

[othar]

I do not agree in full about the fact that if you heavily edit photos gear doesn't matter. Or that you can shoot photo with Iphone and edit it to an amazing high end portrait.

I didn't mean you can recreate any image with an iphone, my point beeing is that there are equivalent offerings available for all camera brands, so it doesn't really matter if you are using Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, ...

---

Last edited by othar; 04-30-2021 at 09:48 AM.

[Prohibitiory]

Hi! Sorry to say I cannot give you the advice but, instead, just want to share the same kind of interest in fine art photography. I'll have a whole lot to learn still... but I think that K-1 is a very good tool for this ... with proper lenses, of course.

Thank you for your comment and interest! Honestly I've spend most of my lockdown last year watching all possible tutorials on youtube and looking for valuable online workshops. This helped me a lot to develop my skill and style. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but that's what I'm passionate about and what's makes me happy

---------- Post added 04-30-21 at 07:44 AM ----------

I didn't mean you can recreate any image with an iphone, my point beeing is that there are equivalent offerings for all camera brands available, so it doesn't really matter if you are using Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, ...

Ok, my apologies if I misunderstood. It's just sad seeing on that market no one considers Pentax. Many vintage lenses for Pentax you can find very cheap in thrift stores or Ebay are creating amazing bokeh and look which is hard to copy.

[ChristianRock]

I'm the one who brought up the iPhone and I was specifically talking about Gosia Jorasz's style of post processing... and I did say it tongue in cheek but the fact is that technically you could achieve her look with an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy and a lot of post processing. Of course my personal opinion is that you would get better results in color, clarity, details and bokeh from an ILC (DSLR or MILC) but would most people notice the difference? Only in prints, I think (which takes me back to the point that fine art photography SHOULD mean printed pictures, a view that I hear from the people who do the galleries and work on the prints).

Great pictures by @Prohibitory by the way, I like them, especially the first one.

[jatrax]

More on that, I switched to mirrorless Sony under pressure and impression that all amazing portrait photographers are shooting with everything - but Pentax. And I did not liked it better then Pentax! I apologised to my Pentax KP and shooting mainly this still.

I believe that in the current market all of the gear is essentially equivalent. By that I mean there are no bad cameras at this time, any modern one is capable of producing outstanding images. The differences, to me, is the control interface, menus, how the camera feels in my hand, how easy it is to use. Pentax works for me but its not for everyone and worrying about how many shooters use my brand is not something I spend any time on. I am more interested in the images produced, not the gear used.

I like to think my work is "fine art" at least I tell my customers that but I don't shoot portraits or even people at all. So my work might not be of interest to you.

[Denver]

I have used Pentax cameras for 40 years, film(which I still use), and digital. For digital, I use a K S2 and 645z. I do post-shooting editing but keep that to a slight amount and sometimes none as I prefer to make the exposure with the results in mind. That comes from years of shooting film where you get it right in the camera. Art photography is a very broad subject. The detailed landscapes of Ansel Adams, the delicate colors of Porter to abstract images. If you read the 3 volumes of Ansel Adams you come away with his attention to details and visualizing what you want the end print to be. That process, part of the 64 club of photographers, changed photography. Doing fine art portrait photography is at its best when the photo is a beautiful picture and captures the personality of the person. There is much to learn from the great painters.
March on all you photographers and do not be dissuaded by people who do not share your passion and vision

[richard0170]

I'm very much into Fine Art photography, portraits, family portraits, maternity photoshoots.

Define Fine Art. I have been doing a lot of still lifes over the last year or two. A couple of examples of my humble efforts.....

[StiffLegged]

Would someone please explain what “Fine Art” is? It’s sometimes bandied around as if we all understand the label, but I frankly don’t, nor how it applies to photography. Eggleston’s photography, if an example of fine art photography, leaves me cold and bored and I’m sure that’s not a proper explanation.

[EssJayEff]

Would someone please explain what “Fine Art” is?

"Fine Art Photography" has been debated for decades or longer. Ask ten people for a definition and you'll get thirty definitions.

[DonV]

Thanks guys, someone finally asked about the "Fine Art" elephant in the room !

One man's Fine Art may be another man's photographic standard. JMHO.