Sorry I've not been very active this week. Been up in the great outdoor country up north on business.

Made a short visit (on both sides of the border) to one of earth's most photographed natural landmarks to try to get some different angles. Sorry if you've had enough Niagara Falls pictures for a lifetime :)

Used both high (1/4000) and low (1/4) speed to capture different emotions of the water. Difficult at times as I had no tripod nor monopod. All with the 17-40mm.

Water on the lens? Tons - and I didn't have any filters with me. Used my shirt to wipe off the lens, stuffed the camera in my jacket, pulled it out when the winds shifted, got off one spot-free image, repeat :p

Loupey, those images are absolutely stunning! Next to nature and wildlife I love landscape photography, I was considering the 17-40mm for my next lens... my mind is made up now :)

I can't wait to get enough experience to get images like those!

Is that gull really taken with a 17-40? I have gotten images of them at 28mm that close, but it's not easy!

Nice images of the falls too!

All great shots Loupy. Very nice!

Yep, i think everyone has said what i feel about these shots they are great!
Never really had a go at water shots, but knowing the techniques you need, it dont look easy, oh, and the places look awesome.

Loupey.......been to NF a couple of times, but I think it's time to go back again--this time with my D70. Great shots.
John

Thanks everyone.

Paulnj: most definitely with the 17-40 as that was all I had with me :) This one was very docile and I have others angles of it. This image was at the 40mm setting (as you can see by the angle of view of the falls in the background). I was probably 2' ~ 3' away from it.

John: Up until very recently, I used to go through this border 3~5 times a year - sometimes with camera, others not. After a while of getting the same stuff, I stopped shooting and usually just walked among the crowd to stretch my legs and get some good food (making some donations to the casino as well :p ). But since I hadn't been back recently, I was eager to look for something new. Thanks for looking!

Copy: I've had this zoom for over a year now and I still have mixed feelings about it. The 17mm to 40mm is a great range for a general "walk-about" lens especially with the 1.6x crop factor. As expected, the f/4 is a bit slow especially if you like to shoot existing light images. The level of resolution is not as high as I would like. I'm considering making a light weight "travel pack" consisting of a 28mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.8 that I can keep in a backpack or car. The 28mm is not really a wide angle - more like a standard lens. But having faster lenses would be ideal in many situations. On top of that, I could then use my gel filters with the smaller filter thread diameters.

I used the 17-40 at an International Festival as well yesterday. Images from those can be viewed in the View Finder forum.

Bev: I would have liked to go slower on the falls shots. Even at ISO 100 and f/22, I could only get my shutter down to 1/125s. If I had my polarizer or neutral density filters, I could have gotten 1/30 which would have given it a completely different look. The closeup of the falls is at 1/4000 (from 1/1000 to 1/4000 there is no difference at this distance). In this case, I like the freeze action over the often overused smooth-water-falls look. I think it gives the falls more power.

Very good series Loupey , Like them all :)

That last shot is incredible Loupey. I have been to the falls about a gajillion times and never seen it from that angle. I lived in St Catharines on the Canadian side of the border for nearly 3 years and was a regular visiter to the falls since there's so many walking/bike paths there but I have never visited the US side for a tour.

Thanks, Knight :)

Jaedon, I passed through your old neighborhood dozens of times then :D I frequent Thorold, Hamilton, Burlington, Toronto, Barrie, Quebec to name a few. Love the people, food, and wildlife you've got up there. Would love to get a summer cabin up there some day.

I was trying to get on the paths that take people right up next to the American and Horseshoe Falls. But the day was cold and the paths were frozen and closed (probably for the season now). I usually don't visit the US side either - kinda anticlimatic compared to the Canadian side :p

Thanks for looking guys!

Ok, processed the last of the night. These are from later just as the sun disappeared behind the buildings.

Mind you, I paid the price for my detour. I rolled home at about 1:00am and had some nasty snowfall in between on I-90. At one point, we dropped down to about 20 mph.

i grew up in nf and your photos brought back fond memories. dates i've taken to the seagram's and skylon towers and the romantic dinners in the revolving resturants, fun times skipping school and sneaking over to "another country" for a few hours, getting pulled over by the rcmp when we weren't supposed to be there to begin with and thinking our parents would kill us getting arrested and put in jail in a foriegn country(didn't happen). :D :D :D

and then you mentioned the reason i left and it all came back to me too. new york state thruway closed because of snow, the storms off lake erie, the whiteouts, getting stuck at a bar all night long, etc. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:


don't miss it a bit!:thumbsup:

great pics though !

and then you mentioned the reason i left and it all came back to me too. new york state thruway closed because of snow, the storms off lake erie, the whiteouts, getting stuck at a bar all night long, etc. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:


Yeah, one has got to love snow to live on the lake-effect side of the Great Lakes :p Having snow on the ground until (late April?) is a bit too long for my tastes!

Thanks for looking!

OK, Loupey, Everyones had their say,"great shots Loupey" wonderful memories Loupey, "WoW" Loupey, "unbelievable", and you know what, I could not agree more, thanks for your effort and skill.
And be careful driving!
Steve Buckley

Thanks, Steve! And welcome to PR :thumbsup: I made it home in one piece - but I did see several stuck in the median.

Thanks again, everyone. I've only been on the NY side of Niagara only twice before that I can remember. Like everyone else, I suppose, the Canadian side has always been the "side from which to shoot". I think the ratio of visitors between Canada and NY views must be on the order of at least 100:1 or even 250:1. Just forced myself to try a different angle this time. Glad it worked out :)