A Nice Morning

Hello all,

I've been struggling recently with being away for a bit and having cold/flu which seemingly won't shift... However, I managed to get out with the camera this morning - nice to have a dry and mostly bright day on a weekend, and got a handful of shots. It was very therapeutic!. I thought I'd post a few. Hope you like them!

First up, a couple I took testing the DA 35 Macro I got from Greytop (many thanks) - very sharp and a thing of real beauty!

Freshly cut wood:



...and some not quite so fresh:



The rest were taken with the Sigma 70-300 DG AP0

There were some shenanigans in the pond with the Male Mallards fighting quite violently over one of the females (who they were dunking under the water) - I got a few shots but none I am quite happy with - need more work. However. They had a bit of an audience like this Jackdaw:



and this rather splendid looking pigeon (very common but with some rather lovely colours in the right light):



Just starting to see some flowers now, like these rather delicate purple blooms:



and this sprig:



I always seem to find myself accompanied by a Robin and here is this morning's, enjoying a sunbeam. The problem I have is that they get so close I can't zoom back enough (and when I move they get spooked)



Finally, a Mandarin duck, one of my all time favourite subjects; I like the colours in the water here as well as those on the duck:



Hope the weather stays for tomorrow as I could do with getting out again

Any C&C welcome

Best Regards

Mat W

I love the Robin and the Duck - what fabulous colours

I'm sure the Robin's talking to you - he has that sort of look in his beady little eye.

The Mandarin duck is just plain spectacular - he's so crisp and clear

Glad your enjoying the 35 Mat

Lovely shots, I especially like the fresh, not so fresh wood (nice textures) and the Mandarin duck.

Nice set, the duck is lovely.

The robin's wonderful. So is the lens!

Andrew

Nice set, love the robin and the duck also the pigeon

Thanks for the comments everyone. I am glad you like them. I must say I am very impressed with the DA 35 Ltd - it really is very sharp and feels good on the camera. I only had a small bag with me today so I snuck in my battered sigma 70-300 (I seem to take the DA* 300 with me instead more often than not) and I was really impressed with its performance as well - helped by the sunshine - I have used it a lot in the past and it's not let me down, so I am not sure why I should be so impressed now, but there we are. Of course it helps to have beautiful things to take pictures of as well

Regards

Mat W

Thanks Gareth - It's probably these towny Robins in London... altogether too familiar...

Mat

Well I think everyone has got it all wrong, the Duck and Robin are OK but the real gem here is the Jackdaw, the exposure is spot on and thats not easy with a subject like this, theres even some detail in the underside of the tail.

The only thing that spoils it is the out of focus Duck, I reckon the image is well worth the effort of cloning it out.

Love the duck and the robin. Lovely colour and sharpness in both of them.

Mat,

The wood and the ducks are great shots, as is the way you've filled the frame with the robin. The focus on its eye is superb.

Thanks again everyone - I too like the Jackdaw; they're always so funny to watch, and I think I shall have a crack at cloning out the duck...

Regards

Mat W