Still long way to go. Wife has given me a huge list of stuff I had to accomplish before she authorises payment for the DA*300

So all the help I can get from you all to improve and get better shots are greatly welcome

Cant wait for that lovely DA*300

Stefan

What gave you the idea that I like to walk? Trust me, if I could get away with calling the taxi to just walk 100 yards I definitely would. Let alone carrying all the lenses with me.
Just joking

But now on the serious side, I am still gathering experience so caution with what I am going to say here. The likes of Mike and Richard etc are the experienced ones here, and I really value their opinion.

Yesterday for the first time I felt that if I was carrying only a prime 300 I would be stuck. No way I could have taken those shots of the peacock or the mandarin ducks. In fact I went with two lenses, the 100 macro and the 55-300 to the place and the 55-300 was the one in the camera, but immediately I had to change it and the macro was the one I spent most time stuck in with. Actually now I regret not having the macro on the camera when I took the picture of the peacock with the feathers dancing. I was so bleeming close to it that even at 50mm set on my 55-300 was too long and I had to cut off top parts of the feather, otherwise I could have got a shot that I truly desired, with the whole circular feather structures. And before you all say that I should have moved back, that was not an option as the bird was behind a gate and I had to squat and put my lens through the narrow aperture of the lock and focus. If I moved back then I would have all the grills inbetween.

But returning to the issue of carrying lenses, I am starting to come to the conclusion just like one of the experienced members, Richard Day mentioned in one of the threads that when he goes to a place where the wildlife are tame and he can get pretty close thats when he misses the zoom the most, and I think he is looking to acquire the 60-250. I now fully understand that aspect after yesterday's experience.

But on the other hand, if you are going into a wild and you know pretty sure that everything will be at the long end, then the prime for me is the best. So, again it all depends upon what you are aiming to photograph.

What I love most is being in the wild where the wildlife are really far away and in order even to get to a proper distance one has to be exceptionally quiet and approach at an angle with silence. I get a huge buzz out of it. So if I know I am going to such a place I would carry the prime, but then again I would have my 55-300 along with me, just in case. With the budget price that the 55-300 came along, after yesterday's experience my views are totally changed. I would definitely keep it even if I had the luck (depending on wife )of having a 300 prime. I just love the images that I have seen so far come off it, and also I have had first hand experience,

EDITED: found that the name of the member was Richard Day I meant to say in the earlier paragraph

Richard

You better stop tempting me and get your bike on to the fields today. Its a lovely day and I bet the sun is shining there as bright as in London. You have no excuses now not to let us see some great shots taken with that lovely Sigma you just got.

And stop giving excuses because I know your wife must pack some nice sandwiches and goodies for you to take and spend the day out. That lovely new car you bought for her at Christmas must be working wonders

I was drooling when I saw it at SRS the day they were shipping it to you . If you notice some saliva spots on the lens that might have been me I am afraid .

Rcihard

That would be grounds for divorce from the wife .

She has already been threatening to ship me back to Africa or take some drastic measures. Besides I personally am pennyless, just work hard to feed the taxman, the one with all the money is the wife .

So if the mega bucks lens comes it will only be through a birthday gift. I have already blown all my allowance for the next ten years that was given by the wife.

And you complain about the dog house? . I would be happy with a dog house if I get on to her bad side .

RR

Thanks for telling me that. I really was afraid even to get close to the bumble. I was so keen in moving it around or making it fly and perch somewhere else where I could get a better shot but thought I better not tempt it .

Next time I see one I will follow it and see if I can get a better shot. I find their colours and the whole body structures fascinating

Thanks

Amin

Oggy,

No problem about hijacking the thread. I am always keen in learning something new and what you just ask is something that deeply interests me. Been doing some research in that but its always nice to hear some more opinions and recommendations.

I too like the DA*300 and just like you was truly impressed with it

Amin

Cliff

thanks for the vote of confidence . It works wonders for my motivation.

the number 6 was the Pentax 55-300, and all the rest used the Pentax 100mm Macro.

Thanks for the comments, I really take on board a lot when you suggest or point me to the right direction.

RR,

The queen bee is not dead (I won't even use the past tense) because after snapping it and while editing I noticed I could do with a better angle ran out again to see if I could spot it where it was (on a vertical wall, yup, it was perched totally vertically, that white background is the vertical wall) and it was gone.

Another thing regarding the missing leg, that's what I thought at first, but when I looked closely I noticed it had the leg but it was just folded under its body ha. If you look closely you will notice the protrusion of its fold sticking out slightly where the yellow bright colour joins the black fur on the left .

But I fully agree with the fact that it would have been nicer to get a shot from the front, but that meant that I would have to go on my roof and perch with my K20 half sticking out with my body and aim at the little fellow . The bee was stuck on a vertical wall at about 6ft height, and with its front part looking up. I had to take the shot as it was. But I am keen on catching one of those in a better position and ideally with all its legs sticking out ,

Thanks very much for all your helpful comments.

Amin

This is my new attempt after a disappointing first few ones. With the chance of some close ups I managed to drag along my 100 macro and was lucky to be able to use for some of the images. Unfortunately there was no way I could use the tripod for various reasons, kids dragged along one of them. So all the shots were handheld.

Any comments, criticisms and advice highly welcome. After the discussion and a bit of controversy that was brought up recently on one of the threads regarding uploading photos on the gallery I prefer not to upload my pics based on the fact that I am quite a newbie and I am the first one to admit that I have a lot to learn and achieve before I take the initiative of uploading my images in the gallery. So all your comments and criticisms are highly appreciated.

Thank you

Will upload some more tomorrow.

Thanks