Awesomeness and a Beercan (lens)

Shootin' the Rapids with a Beercan
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Recently we made our first ever visit to Niagara Falls, a truly awesome site. But equally amazing were the rapids of the Niagara River leading right into the Falls. I wanted to capture this incredible sight with an image that deserved to be something more than a touristy looking point-n-shoot photo. That's where my trusty Beercan came in. :-)

What's a Beercan? That is the affectionate name of a classic Minolta zoom lens. (it's appearance is similar to a tall beercan) This lens is quite old now. A legacy lens to be sure, that harkens to the old 35mm film camera days. But it still produces stellar images. The sharpness, the color and the continuous f4 aperture across the zoom is what made this lens a legend. And it still works with Minolta and Sony-Alpha digital bodies!

But another feature of this lens that enabled me to produce this image is that you can stop down the aperture to an impressive f32! This super small aperture, together with a polarizing lens filter is how I was able to capture the unique look of the rapids themselves.
Too see other Niagara Falls images, type NIAGARA in the "search my photos" box.

Enjoy!
www.martinboling.photoshelter.com

Sarah's Zinnia
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Never put images of a butterfly or flowers in your Portfolio. More on that later . . . . 

So why am I featuring them on my blog? They're gorgeous! But wait, there's another reason also. These beautiful Zinnia's are from the gardens of Sarah McGee. Sarah has raised an awesome floral garden in Lawrence County Indiana and shares them at the Farmers Market in Bloomington Indiana each Saturday. Yes, you can buy fresh cut bouquets of flowers from Sarah on most Saturdays, as well as fresh produce.

But why no flowers or butterflies in your portfolio? Because both are naturally beautiful no matter who the photographer is. So it doesn't really showcase your talent.