Escaping from Candyland

[Andrea B.]

Pentax K5-broadband + Asahi 85/4.5 Ultra-Achromatic-Takumar
Unfiltered, f/11 for 1/1000" @ ISO-160
Right click to view at 1200 pixels width.
EDIT:  Corrected lens speed from 4.0 to 4.5

[Erik Lund]

Very crisp colourful rendering wow

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I'm overwhelmed by all the eye candy myself. Perhaps pull back the pink hues ever so slightly? The houses ought to be whiter in my humble opinion.

Apparently you have got yourself another, nice gear combination there. The UAT 85/4 (or is it 4.5?) is very uncommon and few shots taken with it are available.

[stenrasmussen]

Lovely good one Andrea!
...and, I like pink 🙄

[Akira]

Amazing color!

What is the reason for you choice of K5?  In order to hand-hold the camera?

[Andrea B.]

Yes, this is a bit of a wild image. I'm still not sure where I want it to go. The less pink suggestion seems a good one. "-)

Akira, the UAT is an old M42 Pentax lens with a flange focal distance of 45.46mm. So it seemed nice to be able to use this interesting lens on a Pentax body and maintain the infinity focus. The K5 is an excellent camera. Also I like shooting broadband ("full spectrum") cameras with no filters. There is a particular non-green look that results from the Visible + IR mix which is conducive to my Candyland series. Hence the use of the K5 for this photograph.

Now that I have the converted Sony A7R, I can also use the UAT on that body with my Fotodiox E/M42 adapter.

I was intrigued by two elements in this shot:  the black wires and the sole of the runner's raised foot.

Bjørn, yes the lens is an 85/4.5. I never remember these details about a lens. Just shoot with 'em. 

[Anirban Halder]

Different and very interesting. I would never thought of taking a picture of this scene due to the electric (or telephone) wires. Urban India is full of wires and they create obstruction to many good frames otherwise. Naturally, I (and many others I know of) try to avoid wires while shooting. So when I see a photo with those wires and the outcome is so nice, it particularly strikes me.
Thanks for sharing! :)

[Bjørn Rørslett]

When something is virtually unavoidable, include it in the composition in the best possible way

I try to follow this advice most of the time myself. Re-directing a camera so as not to show power pylons, roads, regulated lakes etc. implies we are falsifying the impressions Nature presents us.

[Andrea B.]

The wires carry telephone, cable TV, electricity and internet to the homes. The inclusion of the wires was deliberate. The wires and the leaning pole are part of the compositional design. The 85mm lens jams wires, houses, trees, and runner all smack up against each other. This makes an important point about the suburban-American complexity of Candyland. 

[Akira]

Andrea, thanks for the details.  Yup, 42mm mount!  I've forgot about that!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The public attitude towards all these overhead cables changes over time. I think it's getting pretty hard these days to find anything similar in my country, as most housing projects the last 40-50 years have relied on cables of all kinds be put underground. This makes cable maintenance much easier and less expensive as winds, winter and snow no longer can wreak havoc on the support structures and cables.

[Anirban Halder]

When something is virtually unavoidable, include it in the composition in the best possible way

Point taken, Bjørn. 

[Andrea B.]

Yes, I wish this stuff would go underground here.
New areas have underground wiring in the US. But in older areas, the expense prevents retrofitting to place wires underground.

Also, it is not always feasible in many areas near the shore (around where I live) because stuff too easily gets flooded out. Maintenance is more difficult underground in such areas.

When you are out walking around in my neighborhood, the wiring is not nearly so obvious as it is in the posted photo.
Because I shot it to be that way. 
It was just pure luck that the runner happened by when I was all set up. 

You have to grab hold of art when it is zipping past you.
 
*****

Akira, Pentax makes a beautiful M42 mount adapter which sits just inside the K-mount on the body. Pentax did not change the flange focal distance when moving from M42 screw-mount to bayonet K-mount. So there is a whole lovely host of old M42 and Asahi lenses to enjoy on the K5 (or other Pentax bodies.) I really like Pentax.