Rose Buds.....

While I was working on this little image tonight, my in house person who passes judgement on my images gave the one on the right a thumbs down...big time. She prefers the unadulterated, original version of any image I might happen to shoot. As a result, I decided to post both versions tonight, for those who might happen upon my little blog. In case you are wondering why I haven't been posting much lately, it is because I have been busy constructing a little studio of sorts, out in my garage. It is the sort of project that is not for the faint of heart. At my age, I must be nuts eh? 

Anyway, this image is the first ones taken with my "new to me" Minolta 500mm f8 AF lens that I picked up last week for a very reasonable price from B&H in New York. It is an item that I did not really need, but always wanted. There have been a lot of discussion and controversy about a mirror lens VS an optics lens. If I were to buy a 500 mm optical lens, it would cost me North of $5000.00 for a good used one. However this mirror lens set me back less than $300.00 and while it is a used lens, it is in pristine condition. But, but but, it gives ugly donut shaped rings in the out of focus areas of the background....well true, but that all depends on what you are aiming it at. It takes a bit of getting used to, and at a fixed aperture of f8, a tripod is a very useful tool indeed. To me, there are a lot of folks who are somewhat neurotic when it comes to grain, noise, or donut rings in the "bokeh" area of an image. To my feeble mind, there is no such thing as perfection, and it is more important to just enjoy an image, warts and all. Sometimes, when confronted with some undesirable element that might crop up in an image, it for me, is an opportunity to try to arrive at something different, unusual and satisfying. It is an enjoyable way to pass a little time, to work on an image, and see what can be made of it, that might be a bit unusual, or even beautiful....to some viewers eyes at least. Whew! A bit long winded tonight eh? Cheers folks! 

Camera: SONY a77ll

Lens: Minolta 500mm f8 AF mirror lens

Specs: 1/360 sec. @ f8 hand held