Hello all. I've been processing some more of yesterday's pics, and here are some of the bird shots I got... Hope you like them. If you don't like birds (esp. ducks), look away now... All taken with the Sigma 70-300 on my K-7... mostly just portraits... the birds were not up to too much excitement yesterday morning (well not when I was there anyway)

First up, a Jackdaw looking (I think) for twigs for a nest :. Certainly I saw plenty flying around with mouthful of sticks...



A very inquisitive (and friendly) Canada Goose:



A narcissistic Mandarin (is that me...?):



...and another in a bit of a flap (I had to clone quite a few other bits of ducks out of this shot and may need a little more work(?)):



For anyone wondering what a lady Mandarin duck looks like, here's one (I think) - not quite so colourful as the male but very nice nonetheless:



Finally, I was hoping someone here might help me out with the identity of this duck - I think it's a red breasted Pochard but if anyone knows, grateful for any info



As ever, C&C welcome.

Regards

Mat W

Thanks folks

Mat

Wow! I like them all but think the first is the peach (IMO). They're great - really sharp - what kit were you using?

Mat

Nice one - it is a fantastic lens. Absolute quality

Regards

Mat W

Having a day off today, with a little sun in the morning, I headed out armed with my old and beaten Sigma 70-300 on the camera. Took a load of shots (plenty of processing to do!)... here are a few flowers. Hope you like them:

These small blue flowers are cropping up all over the place - really rather nice they are:




Pink wedge:




Primrose stares down the lens...




Daffy's (ahem) behind...




and a splodge of blossom:




I am always quite impressed by the sigma 70-300. It's certainly not as sharp as my Pentax lenses but considering how cheap it was I think it performs pretty passably. Any C&C welcome

Regards

Mat W

Gosh Andrew - I really like number 1 - fantastic. Another great set!

It's becoming a habit

Mat W

I agree with Cliff - a great set and I'm certainly not fed up seeing this stuff

Regards

Mat W

Looks good to me. I covet one of these lenses myself; and agree with Andrew that I reckon it'll get a great deal of use

Mat W

Nice set Andrew - I actually like the first with its desaturated tones - I think it's my fave. Somehow it looks 'right' to me. Maybe it stirs reminiscences from having seen similar scenes in the past...:

Regards

Mat

Nice shots Mike

Matt - there is a very brief discussion of this on flickr:
link
which (unsurprisingly) coincides with Mike's 1/125th shutter speed. There are also a LOT of helo pics on flickr with frozen blades

Regards

Mat W