....Unnecessarily beautiful?

My name is John Niehaus and I am an amateur photographer. I enjoy taking photos of sunsets, scenery, and nature. I created this gallery to share my photos and love of natural beauty with friends and visitors online.
Why did I choose the name "Unnecessary Beauty?" It was inspired by the following quote-

"It is difficult, when looking at such extravagant inventiveness, to avoid the question: why is so much of nature so unnecessarily beautiful?" -Gordon Stainforth ("Eyes to the Hills", p.51.)

I found that to be an interesting idea, and the words "unnecessarily beautiful" stayed in my memory. Several names were considered for this site, but the words "Unnecessary Beauty" kept coming back. All of these photos were taken by me, but God made them possible. I hope you enjoy them.
My photography has been inspired by John MacMurray (book- "By Chance?"), Ken Duncan (book-"America Wide"), Gordon Stainforth, and John Moran (book- "Journal of Light").
Most of the photos on this gallery were taken with digital cameras. I have used film cameras, including Minolta Vectis S-100 SLR, Minolta Vectis 20 and 40. Here is a list of the equipment used for the photos in the gallery-

• Canon 5D, 20D.
  EF 17-40mm f4L USM.
  EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM.
  EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM.
  EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM.
  EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM.
  EF 50mm f1.4 USM.
• Canon PowerShot G9.
• Panasonic FZ30.
• Panasonic FZ20.
• Olympus C770.
• Olympus 2100.
• Various APS film cameras.

In the blog I hope to share some of my experiences and techniques for taking photos, but I am still learning. Hopefully it will be helpful to fellow amateur photographers.
In the gallery you will find some of my favorite photos and paintings. I haven't painted in many years since I became more active with photography, but I include them here simply because I like them. I have also included some photos made using film. I may use different gallery software at some point, but for now the one I'm using seems to be adequate.

You can e-mail me at webmaster at unnecessarybeauty.com or use the form below.

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