We have three strains of this giant poppy in our garden, a strong red, an orange and a softer, pinker red. They appear without fail each summer and I photograph them without fail each summer. Last year I actually remembered to collect seed heads in the autumn and hope to propagate this beautiful bloom to other parts of the garden (and probably those of our neighbours…inadvertently).
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago at 5:00 pm. Add a comment
Rather pleased with the autofocusing speed, crispness and image clarity of this new lens now proudly sitting flush on my Canon 20D. It replaced a Canon EFS IS lens 17-85mm that I bashed in Barcelona and that finally died a couple of weeks ago.
The Sigma has a much wider range of focal lengths and I’m sure I won’t miss that 1mm at the wide angle. It also means that for the most part I can avoid carrying my much bulkier Canon 75-300mm lens.
This male mute swan was shot on the river Alde on a recent visit to Aldeburgh in Suffolk. The image was snapped at full zoom with the Sigma lens (i.e. 200mm), 1/500s shutter speed, aperture f 8.0, and “film speed” ISO 100, the image fairly tightly cropped around the swan.
What made the Sigma lens particularly attractive aside from its compact size is that it was half list price on Amazon UK and was a less expensive investment than paying to have the Canon lens it replaced fixed.
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago at 4:00 pm. Add a comment
