02 January, 2010

New Year, New Lens

New Year, New Lens...

Went into town yesterday to buy a new lens for my D60 after a very long time of saving up. In the end, I went for the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-f/5.6, which was the cheapest and, in my mind, the best value for money.

Where better place to start practising with the lens than with the 20 or so Redwings that are currently feeding on the berries in our garden...



No sooner had I started when I heard a crash and the noise of wingbeats. My subject Redwing flew off as did the rest of the flock. I panned around to find a Sparrowhawk down by the feeding station with something in its talons. What a way to start the New Year!





I decided to take the lens on its first proper outing to the Rick's Pond in Home Park; where 2 years ago a Grey Phalarope turned up. No Phalarope today, but its was brilliant evening light for photography...





This Grey Heron was cleaning itself, each individual toe at a time...



... And then went back to fishing...



So far so good. I had VR turned on as the light was fading and shots were handheld, and the results are very sharp even though I was shaking it was so cold. Lets see how we get on tommorow, as I've got plans to go to the London Wetland Centre.

3 comments:

NicoleB Egypt said...

Those shots are beautiful!
Lovely results with that new Babe!
Lucky you to get the Sparrowhawk with his prey right when you did your test shots :D!

Anonymous said...

Cracking photos, Billy.
Good luck at the LWT.

Phil Wallace said...

You're certainly making good use of the new lens. What luck to find a sparrowhawk with its prey just at that moment. Wonderful.
Phil.