December Wintry Sun at Brogborough Lake

  

  

  

There was a slight breeze in Marston Moretaine, but that was no definite indication it would be equally windy at Brogborough Lake, but no wind here definitely meant No Wind at the lake, so it was worth a trip to see whether any windsurfers had turned up.

I packed both cameras and set off in hope, and was rewarded; as I turned into the entrance, I spotted two sails out on the lake, though there were not too many vehicles parked, but with the anemometer spinning the omens were good, but, until I was sure, I did not tempt fate by unloading the boot so locked the car and wandered to see who was around and Sam was togged up, so I chatted to another windsurfer and it seemed I was in luck, so returned to the car and started to set up the tripod. On this occasion I was going to use the 5D MkIII rather than the 7D MKII body, and the Sigma 150-600mm lens to see how I fared with this combination as at least I then had the full frame even though not the fast burst rate.

Sam decided he would risk a run with the hydrofoil despite the gustiness of the wind, so initially I concentrated on that, but it was apparent the wind was too gusty and although he did get it up, it was not sustained, so he came back out with a conventional board, so I then took shot of the others on the lake, the wind dropped after a short spell, and came came back in for another attempt and on this occasion at least for a short spell he was airborne, so I managed a few shots, before he returned to swap again to a conventional board.

I was also lucky as I was treated to a couple of jumps, even though I gathered the wind direction was less than ideal, I also managed some shots of three sailors in a group which is always handy.

I stayed as long as I could, as standing at the water’s edge in a high cold wind the windchill soon began to get though my light clothes as I held onto a cold camera and lens, with only minimal movement unlike those on the water who by expending much more energy were able to keep reasonably warm.

I did notice that using the full frame body the distant images seem small, but upon examination were just fine, but when close to, it was noticeably easier to frame, knowing that the quality was there. In the past I was always more concerned with the burst rate, but in the situation here this was far less of an issue compared to trying to capture birds and insects in flight, where the speed of the cropped frame sensor body was a definite benefit. I shall use this body slightly more often in the future.

Sigma 60-600mm Lens Test II – Harold-Odell Country Park

  Having lost the Good Weather and the lens due back to Sigma, I paid a visit to the Harrold-Odell Country Park a bit north of me in Bedfordshire. What sunshine there was was on the milky side, and although Gulls and Ducks were the most prolific of the birds on the lake close to the restaurant, I started shooting from there but my first subject was a raven strutting its stuff and occasionally sounding off as if it was annoyed.

There were numerous gulls just moving lazily on the water, and occasionally diving, presumably for small fish, every so often taking to the air briefly before landing back again nearby. In the distance but on the bank on my side of the lake a heron was on the foreshore, so whilst moving past some of the grazing cattle, I gingerly made my way closer to it, and taking a shot or two before moving again – all the while it had its beady eye on me, obviously fairly cognisant of the focal length of my lens, because just before I came into a decent distance from it, off it flew to the far shore, but I had been going for quality so was using a low ISO, so once in flight it was not possible for me to continue shooting, bearing in mind it was increasing that distance with each flap of its efficient wings! – I was already at 600mm and also because it was the 7D MkII, was cropped too!

The cattle also seemed to be moving towards me all the time, and they had weight and numbers to their advantage, and discretion, a long lens that was not mine and the heavy tripod meant the decision was taken from my hands and was replaced by my gear! Also the clouds began to look more threatening and was definitely suggesting that I should continue in the direction I was now heading which was leading me back to my car, but nevertheless I still took a few more shots at the shorter focal lengths of the lens of the distant church and swans in the foreground – these two swans were also very much keener to preen than pose elegantly for me, so valuable time was lost by my waiting for the heads to be above water and hopefully displaying their elegant necks.

In both these recent Lens Test galleries I have therefore ensured that I use the full range of this lens in fairly real world scenarios, and though I had been warned that at the wider end there might be some slight Chromatic Aberrations, what I encountered was subtly different, and was not directly correctible – a shot of some branchless trees at a distance against the brighter side of light from the occluded sun exhibited a red edging either side of the silhouetted branch, hence being uncorrectable using the edge-shifting of the individual channels within Adobe Camera Raw. I do not think this is actually Chromatic Aberration, I think it more likely that the sensor is swamped and is overloading nearby Red photosites. However, it would be very wrong of me to highlight this issue as overall, I did not find any other major issues at the 60mm end throughout all the shooting I did with this impressive lens. Also, this is not attributable to the Sigma lens but the camera.

I would have no insurmountable problems at all in the envisaged situations where I might encounter the need to be able to frame my windsurfing shots when the sailors approached closer, or racing cars and powerboats similarly forced me to widen my framing of the subjects.

By way of describing a typical situation I have on numerous occasions faced, has been that a Windsurfer has gybed coming towards me, the beginning and end of the manoeuvre are uncropped in relation to the full sail, but at their closest point midway through, the crop is severe both on the hull and the sail, because the subject is way too close at a focal length of 150mm, however with is extended range dropping to 60mm we are almost the equivalent of a Normal, Standard focal length lens.

Currently there is not a specific Lens Profile for this lens, but as a start point, I chose the Sigma Sports 150-600 profile without a major issue ensuing, except in the single somewhat ‘centre-jour’ situation mentioned in this narrative

Once Sigma Stock levels return to being available, I shall be making a purchase!

This is a full-width section of the 7D MkII file at 1024px wide. Note the red fringing of the two major  skeletal trees, it does not appear in the gallery, just here as a postscript to show the only issue I encountered, and one that is down to the camera's sensor, not the Sigma lens.

Late Autumn at Woburn Park

The warm sunshine at this time of year is very tempting, as soon this warm spell will  give way to high winds and rain and we will be seeing the portents of Winter, so it is not a difficult decision to make and grab camera gear and head off out — on this occasion to head over to Woburn and the Deer Park. Since I had the Benbo with the 7D Mk II, I was hoping the Staff might let me have some grace over parking, and I was offered an hour’s grace.
            The only disappointment was the deer had had very different plans and did not oblige with a trip to the pond at the entrance, so when my time was up, I drove back to the Car Park, where I chose to pick up the 150-400mm, which I knew I could use handheld, I also had the 24-70mm with its macro option, and now, whereas the 7D MkII was the body which gave me the 1.4 times advantage on the longer lens, I was now using the 5D Mk III so the throw was far less.

My knees at present are weak, so there was no way I was trudging through the woods with a heavy tripod, and I even forsook the monopod in favour of setting higher ISOs on the full frame body, which did give me the option of having more than the long lens in the camera bag.

On my return to the pond I spotted a black swan on the lake near the entrance gate. I did capture some of one’s display of its very striking white wing feathers. What I found rather surprising was how tolerant were the normal white swans were, even when at close quarters. I have often found swans to be quite aggressive towards other birds on the water.

At the pond by the Entrance kiosks there were a pair of Egyptian Geese. This pair were quietly munching at the grass, the female resting rather more than the male, only following when he had moved several goose-lengths distant — not exactly the most energetic of birds!

Upon my second arrival at the pond by the entrance kiosks, The deer had come closer to the pond and soon came to the edge and stepping tentatively into the shallow water. It was almost as if one deer had to go first before others followed.

            I stayed awhile taking shots before the fairly long walk through the woods where I took a few more pictures of some of the leaves and berries that heralded the beginning of the autumn season, and from the profusion of berries, I did wonder whether this year’s Winter was to be harsher than last’s. This afternoon had been very warm, but with a cloudless sky, the evening cooled swiftly and the night was a lot colder.

Tranquil Brogborough – Flora & Fauna

The idea of the afternoon visit to the woods beyond the Windsurfers’ enclave was to try to get some better shots of the native hoverflies, but this proved a failure, partly because the sun chose to hide behind increasing clouds, and partly because when the single hoverfly I attempted to photograph was only hovering for nanoseconds, and also because I was way too slow trying to focus on it.

But in walking past some hawthorn bushes by the lakeside before I entered the woods I spotted a damselfly that became entangled in the fine filaments spun by an absent spider, it crossed my mind to attempt its rescue, but felt this intervention was not ethical; and I feel the outcome I subsequently witnessed validated my decision, he managed to extricate himself and I witnessed him flying off to a nearby reed, and I rationalised that he now had gained valuable experience which might well serve him well in the future. I have the record of his success and I was pleased for him.

I did attempt to seek out other hoverflies but with no success, but I did capture a large fly searching in amongst the dead leaves from last autumn, and some of the varied colours of lichen on a branch and a minuscule single flower on a dead twig on the sunlit outer reach of the woods. All the shots were taken with the 100mm Canon Macro with a 1.4 Converter on the EOS 7D MkII, some with flash assistance where I changed from Aperture to Shutter Priority to limit the effect of a slow shutter speed blurring the ambient light with the flash exposure.

When looking out over the lake I don’t think I have ever seen the water so calm, and in the distance I did spot a couple lazily enjoying the warmth on a paddle board.

Autumn Sun in Priory Park Bedford

Last time I attempted to capture the colours of Autumn, I was thwarted by the ever-shy English Sun – however when an opportunity arose again, I made my way to Priory park in Bedford; the only adversary on this occasion was my intransigent SatNav, which would bow out when I needed it most which involved me in more than one loop back to take the correct direction at a junction. Even when nearing the Car Park, it was insisting it would appear on my right, but fortunately I spotted it myself on my left, albeit too late resulting in a U-turn at a nearby junction.

I was greeted by a very milky sun, but as forecast, it slowly cleared and was pleasantly warm with not a breath of breeze to ripple the water on the lakes. After a brief conversation wit a couple of ladies by the map, I set off for a walk around the lake with just the 5D MKIII and the 35mm f/1.4 lens. I headed for the water's edge before crossing the green sward to a stand of multicoloured trees in the near distance. After a few brief glimpses beyond the frontage of cover, I headed back to the path that ran around the lake's edge, taking every opportunity that was offered for further trips down pathways into the woods to my left, which resulted in other small pools under heavy tree cover, and small bridges over streams or gullies.

I continued these forays throughout my trip around the lake before returning to my start and changing cameras and lenses at the car after taking the opportunity to eat a Scotch egg and a packet of crisps. I would have liked to have used my monopod with my long lens, but sadly, the 3/8th to 1/4 screw adaptor was stuck firmly and I had no tools to extricate it to attach it to the lens foot. I also swapped the 35mm lens for the Tamron 90mm Macro and took the anti-clockwise trip and returned the way from which I had just emerged with the 5D MkIII and now the 150-600mm around my neck. This time only retracing a third of that side of the lake before making a different route back to the car.

I had covered quite a lot of ground and had found the Canoe Slalom Course, but without its teams of canoeists and met numerous dog walkers and mothers and grandmothers of very young children with a mere handful of fathers, and countless joggers and strollers with earphones firmly excluding the sounds of the wildlife from their hearing. There were also the occasional young businessmen discussing their day's business meetings as they made their way around the lake as well as a few small family groups at the water's edge feeding the ducks and gulls, or using plastic ball throwers to keep their dogs exercised. It was only towards the end of my trip did I spot any birds that my camera could consider capturing.

It was a very relaxed interlude with several tunnels of trees to capture bathed in warm autumnal hues and casting long shadows through the branches of trees still fairly-well covered in their foliage, but as I walked I witnessed numerous flutterings of leaves falling to form the golden carpet that covered the paths I was following, every so often I would turn around and take shots from the opposing direction when I spotted the new view from the other side.

I wondered just how long before the wind and rains of the oncoming winter would be upon us. 

An Early Start for Marsworth Reservoir

Checking the weather forecast suggested a bright day, but either I did not see a mention of heavy mist, or there was not one, for I set off in a very thick mist that in parts was better described as fog, making winding country roads without white edge lines particularly hazardous in the early hours, and having had to scrape my windscreen of frost, my dashboard reminded me unnecessarily the potential for ice!

My route had many junctions and I almost missed one as its landmark pub was obscured in the mist. I arrived at Tringford with darkness still prevailing, I parked up and put together my Giottos tripod and  Lensmaster gimbal head, and had already put the Canon 100-400mm lens with 1.4 converter, and slung my 5D MkIII with 35mm f/1.4 around my neck and set off along the path that lay between Startops End lake and Marsworth lake. The Canada Geese or Graylags were hooting and Gulls swooped in and out of the mist over the waters of Marsworth, as I headed along the Grand Union Canal towards the reed beds.

 I made my way carefully and quietly down the bank to avoid creating a disturbance and began setting up the tripod, I had nearly completed when a quiet voice behind me said he had waited for me to finish before alerting me to his presence in case in fright I was pitched into the water! I don't think he realised how true was his statement, for had he spoken at normal volume, I would have jumped clean out of my skin! He introduced himself as Andy, and much later as Andy Brown, and I learned we shared a mutual friend in Mervyn.

My eyes have started to degrade more rapidly of late and this has resulted in my having two very different prescriptions for distance and close work, and today for the first time since my latest glasses, I found that the pair I had chosen which allowed me to view the review screen well were very far from being useful in spotting kingfishers on the far bank, and on this occasion I was indebted to Andy who was clearly able to spot them. I think I am going to have to bring both pairs with me in future, which was not the case before.

As the light slowly improved we both began shooting at high ISO and fairly wide apertures, and it soon became apparent that my decision to check out using a converter on the 100-400mm lens was far less effective than using my 150-600mm lens on its own, so that experiment was a failure! The main reason being that in this low light auto focus was both very slow, and sometimes simply not happening. The advancing light certainly improved the quality of images I was able to get – I was bitterly disappointed with the vast majority of the early shots, and only rising to barely acceptable towards late morning. Another experiment was using the onboard flash of the 7D MkII, again way under-powered to work efficiently, but it did seem to have a beneficial side effect, in that it seemed to make the kingfisher show interest in us!

After Andy had headed off to work for a Conference call, a pair of wood pigeons began courting, and since I had built up an interesting sequence, I have put these in a separate gallery. (click the underlined text above to link to the gallery).

I stayed for an hour or so longer, because it became apparent that the kingfishers had had their fill for our neck of the woods, so I set off back to the car, but along the way I did stop occasionally to record a few landscape shots and also got involved in a few conversations with others walking the footpath.

Brogborough – Sunshine, Rain, and Weekend Wind at Last

I gathered my kit together and taking the car, drove just down the road to the lake at Brogborough, and from the full car park, it was obvious my hopes of a decent wind were mirrored by the throng of windsurfers putting their sails up in expectation.

I decided upon the heavy tripod and the long Tamron 150-600mm zoom, on the EOS 7D MkII, but soon realised it would be handy to have another camera with a shorter lens as the activity was close inshore, so I went back to the car and brought out a camera bag with the 5D MkIII and the 85mm f/1.4, for shots of anything happening close by me.

I had not been shooting that long when one of the windsurfers, Nick, came over and very generously gave me a couple of cans of lager, which was most appreciated, and despite the lack of an even surface, I managed to keep it propped up by one leg of the tripod, without losing a drop to any careless movement of my feet.

Rain threatened from time to time, but fortunately never became a downpour, and it did offer me some useful cloudscapes to add to my library – they are always handy for backgrounds to add drama to shots with bland blue sky, or for producing cards with backgrounds for text messages. I was visited by a Common Tern a few times as it fished for tiddlers along the shoreline and also a pair of swans and a family of Canada Geese; some of these were handy to try to retain various sequences within a specific gallery to help those sailors wishing to analyse their manoeuvres. In this respect I feel I often failed to cover a complete manoeuvre due to either another windsurfer crossing my path or my inability to keep my shutter pressed long enough, or simply because the final action came too fast for me to realise I needed to keep shooting rather than trying to use only short intermittent bursts to try to give myself less to process later!

However I came away feeling that I had covered the afternoon reasonably well.