Thanks for the comments Hyram !

Haze : Yep. Warm but bright, though overcast, day and very humid. They were only in port for not much more than 24 hours so I was happy to get any shots at all.

I wasn't on a boat - these were all shot from the harbour wall.

Star - these shots are from Thomas Shahan. He is a very well known macro shooter and admired for his superb macro shots. To imitate these would take a lot of patience, skill and learning (including most importantly how to shoot using a snoot/diffusers and how control your flash, either on or off camera, for macro shots).

To shoot these you would need a dedicated macro lens (I forget what he uses - other than a Canon with their famous, US$1,000, MPE-65 macro lens) and either reverse another prime lens onto that or use extention tubes - for still life a focusing rail and then stacking multiple shots would drive you extreme detail.

To begin with I suggest buying a macro lens in the 90-105mm range (NOT in the 35-50 range) and get used to shooting that at 1:1 magnification first.

To get away from cold Shanghai my wife and I took a short break in Sanya, Hai Nan Island (the Chinese call it China's Hawaii - around the same latitude as Hawaii and Florida - it's hardly that to me but it does have great weather all year round, hundreds of miles of beaches and the interior is covered in mountains, it's also where they now hold the Miss World competition each year).

On our last day there the Round the World Yacht Race 2012 arrived in Sanya, China (Sanya having sponsored one of the yachts), giving us a unique opportunity to enjoy one of the few stops the yachts make around the world (they are off to Auckland next). This is Part 1 of what will be a two or three part series.

These shots were all taken with K5s mounted with a DA*300 (with and without an AFA x1.7 = 510mm) and a Sigma 50-150. There are some heavy crops (up to 100%) for the 'action' shots

The Teams:
Team Sanya (China), Groupama (France), Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), CAMPER (NZ), Telefónica (Spain) and PUMA Ocean Racing (USA/Aus/Germany ?), with crews from 15 different countries : -- New Zealand, Australia, France, Spain, United States, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Norway, Brazil, China and Belgium.

You can read more about the race here : link

Hope you enjoy these and thanks for looking / commenting. All C&C appreciated as this is something I've never shot before but after this event I'd like to shoot more of.

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I agree that #1 is best despite the softness and also agree with K10D on the shadows from the lighting. You didn't shoot with flash Gary ?

That's a really nice service. My daughter models (she's off to Cannes for a few days shooting in May !) and it is always a struggle to get any shots (which drives her mother & I nuts !) because the togs are naturally concerned with getting their shots to their clients and then it sometimes takes months before the shots are in print, as obviously the clients don't want the shots splashed over the little screen before they have been officially published. I'm certain the models all appreciate having your shots for their portfolios, which need to be kept current (nothing taken more than 6 months ago).

I love #3 ! And would like to have seen a) more shots and b) a close up of those birds on the dhows !

I suspect India is like China .... lots of accidents but generally they are at slow speeds.

QC - i believe you are becoming overwhelmed at the number of lenses because you have no specific purpose for your new lens in mind ... this phenomenon is called LBA

You have a good lens, the kit 18-55 is highly regarded as a starter kit lens and you have 150-500 covered with an excellent, if rather heavy, lens. You really should identify your specific need before plunging into the market again !

That said if you want a fantastic lens to fit into that 55-150 gap in your range then Mike P is selling the absolutely stellar Sigma HSM 50-150/2.8 but at £400 it may not be exactly what you were thinking, though it is rarely on the market and will last you for many years. Otherwise something like a MF macro lens in the 90-100mm range will broaden your range and your camera's capability, though an AF model, I'd suggest the superb value for money Tamron 90/2.8 Di, is an excellent medium range street lens (having superb bokeh and a focusing limiter) as well as a stunning macro lens.

My MF lenses tend to be of the rather more expensive Zeiss / Voigtlander ranges but I'd caution against going out an buying a ton of MF lenses that later will sit in the cupboard. Buy quality rather than quantity is an LBA junkie's advice !

If I didn't have one already I'd be in for this like a flash ... superb lens and IMHO superior to the 50-135 for the AF alone.

Have you tried shooting in Shutter priority mode rather than Focus priority mode when birding ? The focus lock will still beep when you hit focus, however if you have to take the shot before confirmation you will still get some sort of shot and it may well be in-focus, or at least near enough that with a little judicious PP and not printing above 8x10 you'd never know the difference.

Of course you will still need to MF a lot of the time but then you have to do that anyway when birding in wooded areas.