New Toy!

The new 150-600mm lens arrived last Friday, and it was all I could do to wait until today to be able to get out and give it a try!  But the wait was well worth it because not only did I have the entire day to "play", but the weather could not have been better.  Sunny and mid 40s and a perfect day for a road trip.  I headed down to Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge to try this baby out on some waterfowl.  Most of the birds at the refuge migrate south for the winter but there are always a reliable few that tough out the cold weather and ice, and those were the ones I was after for my lens' maiden voyage.  I was not disappointed.

Nine swans wintered over this year, more than ever before and even though they stay toward the middle of the open water, my lens pulled them in close enough for some nice photos.  Mallards galore, Gadwals, Teals, a few Hooded Mergansers and a nice number of Northern Pintails.  

I spent a few hours taking photos and just watching the birds, and enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine. But as often happens here in Montana, the afternoons can be breezy, and true to nature, the warm temps were overshadowed by a cold breeze and I packed up my gear.  

I cannot wait until the migrants return - bring on those tiny little Marsh Wrens and see what kind of shots I can get.  As I sat in my truck viewing photos on the LED screen, I was not only very pleased but ecstatic with the results of this lens.  Was it worth the price?  Oh yeah!!

From top to bottom:  Northern Pintails, Hooded Merganser,  Swans (sorry, can't tell if they are Trumpeter or Tundra, we have both here), Northern Pintail, Bald Eagle.

New Addition

When I purchased my digital SLR six years ago, I opted for an 18-135 zoom lens, and a 75-300 zoom; figuring that at the time these would be sufficient for general shooting and learning just what this camera would do.  And it did - until I decided that I needed something more for shooting birds and other wildlife.  

Between my photo note cards and selling photos I've shot at dog and horse events, I squirreled away every dime to get just the lens I wanted and today I ordered a Sigma 100-600 zoom lens from Adorama Camera in New York City.  Ok, so the Sigma wasn't exactly the lens I wanted - what I really wanted was a Canon professional 100-600 zoom, but that was just a little out of my budget, costing almost twice as much as my (used) SUV...  But Sigma has been around the photography world for quite a long time, and this particular lens had great revues.  I've also purchased a couple of smaller lenses from Adorama and have received not only good quality products, but great customer service. 

I held my breath as I clicked on the "check out" button on Adorama's website - that was a lot of money to drop down all at once, but it's what I've wanted and what I've been saving for, so - click away!   I should have it within the week and even though it's the dead of winter, there just may be a day long road trip in my very near future to try this baby out!

February Featured Photo

This month's featured photo is "Strike", a handsome 16 hand black Percheron I had the pleasure to work with at a guest ranch last summer. Horses have such beautiful liquid eyes, and I found myself taking many close-up photos of him, along with his half brother "Lightning", and a pair of Percheron/Fjord crosses named "Pete" and "Repete" (not a misspelling, he's a full brother to Pete and born one year to the day later).  

Once I get photos edited, I usually take the ones that really need to be deleted (for any number of reasons), and play with the filters on Photoshop.  As I'd stated in an earlier post, this almost always gives me something so off the wall that I really like it, as was the case here. I used the "stylize" link from the drop down menu, and then "solarize".  I love the neon blue highlights, along with the fact that his eye stayed its original soft brown, so that he still looks like a horse and not an alien zombie.  

Don't delete "bad" photos until you've tried this.  Oh, and just one warning - it's addicting!