The Pentax 6x7 at Work

The Landmark Diner. Buckhead,Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1998 I received a commission from Fortune-Johnson Construction Company of Atlanta to photograph some of their projects, including a large condominium complex still under construction and one of their smaller projects, the Landmark Diner in Buckhead.

I used several different cameras for the project, including my Calumet-Cambo 4x5 view camera and a Hasselblad. My workhorse for architectural photography, however, was my Pentax 6x7, which, paired with the great 45mm Takumar wide-angle lens, was used for the above photo of the diner.

Big and heavy, the Pentax was nonetheless a great camera for travel and location work. I have always believed the 6x7 gave me the highest percentage of "keepers" of any camera I have ever owned. That doesn't seem important in this era of digital photography, when we often fire off a barrage at every subject because "it doesn't cost anything."

Actually, it does cost something. It costs the careful look, the study of your subject to determine the best, most expressive way to render the subject. When your camera only holds ten exposures, each one costing well more than a dollar for film and processing, one becomes very careful indeed before pressing the shutter button.

Of course, one can work carefully with a digital camera. But the temptation is always to "spray and pray." Digital photography has fulfilled George Bernard Shaw's dictum: "A photographer is like a codfish, which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity."

 The clubhouse at the condo complex. Another Pentax 6x7/45mm lens shot. This scene was lit with three commercial-size flash units.

 If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2026 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography      architectural photography   Pentax 6x7 camera      PentaxTakumar 45mmlens     film photography   Georgia     Atlanta    Buckhead     4x5 Calumet-Cambo view camera    Hasselblad camera

The Old Mill at Stone Mountain Park

Surely the most visited old mill in Georgia is the mill at Stone Mountain Park. It was built near Ellijay in Fannin County in 1869 and moved to its present location and carefully reconstructed in 1965. 

The overshot wheel is 13 feet, 8 inches in diameter and is an exact copy of the original. Water to power the wheel comes from a dam on a small creek on the hillside above the mill.The water is carried to the wheel by a wooden flume. Inside the mill building two large millstones do the grinding and can be adjusted to regulate the speed of the millstones and the texture of the meal. 

Stone Mountain Park is a beautiful place. In addition to the spectacular mountain itself, there are many varieties of plants and flowers and also an historic, 151-foot-long covered bridge on the property. Built by legendary covered bridge master Washington W. King over the Oconee River in Clarke County, it was purchased for one dollar and moved to Stone Mountain Park in 1965.

About the photo: Made on Kodachrome film in the early 1970s. I don't remember what camera I used, but I didn't have much money in those days, so all I had were a few small (and cheap) fixed-lens rangefinder cameras. 

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2026 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography      travel photography   Stone Mountain Park      Old grist mills    Kodachrome film   Georgia     covered bridges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Elisha Winn House

The Elisha Winn House, Gwinett County, Georgia

The Elisha Winn House at 908 Dacula Road, Dacula. Built circa 1812, it is the oldest surviving structure in Gwinnett County and very likely the oldest building in metro Atlanta. The first Gwinnett County elections were held at this house, and for a time in the early days it served as the county courthouse. An 1820s log jail and several outbuildings are also on the property. 

The house was built in what was then Jackson County. Six years later, when Gwinett County was formed, much of the planning took place in the Winn house.

Elisha Winn was an interesting man. He and his wife Ivy had 13 children, so he obviously needed a large house. He was a leader in the early years of Gwinnett County, a Justice of the Peace, an Inferior Court judge, and later, a State Representative and State Senator.

Although larger than most of its kind, the Winn House is an outstanding example of the "Plantation Plain" style, with two rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs. Constructed of heart pine, the house has a gable roof and a chimney at each end. A kitchen attached to the rear was removed in 1860.

The Elisha Winn House is managed by the Gwinnett County Historical Society, and is open for tours from March to September on the third Saturday of the month from noon to 4:00 p.m. The Elisha Winn Fair is held on the first weekend of October, with the house and all the out-buildings open. 

    The Benjamin Gachet House, built in 1828 near Barnesville, is another beautiful example  of Plantation Plain design.

This post was adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. A Canon EOS 6D with the EF 28-105mm lens was used for both photos.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2026 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography      travel photography   Canon EOS 6D camera      Canon EF 28-105mm lens    digital photography   Georgia    Dacula, Georgia    Gwinett County, Georgia    Elisha Winn    Elisha Winn House    Plantation Plain houses    Benjamin Gachet house