Thanks Emma and Kris. I know what you mean about the converging verticals... sometimes I love them and sometimes not... I have noticed that I tend to use the 10-20 more at the 20mm end I think than the 10, which I guess looks less radical (although obviously not for these shots). I've been trying more and more B/W conversions and they can be quite rewarding I think when I get them right. I like the idea for the picture in Hayes Galleria - I'm sure I'll be back in that neck of the woods soon... It's great to be able to wander through london on a beautiful morning with a camera and find it mostly deserted...

Regards

Mat W

Gosh they're a couple of beauties - well taken. The heron in particular is nice and sharp.

Regards

Mat W

Hello again all. Another lovely day here in London (although COLD) so I got out early and headed into town to see what I could get with a wide-angle lens. Not quite my natural habitat but I thought I would post a handful and see what you thought. I must confess being in town and having read so much recently I was concerned that I might get approached by a policeman or similar but all was quiet from that point of view.

All shots were taken with the Sigma 10-20mm

First up, a view I get every day on my way to work - One of the King's College buildings from the concrete underpass by the IMAX in Waterloo. I often think about the mixture of stark new(ish) concrete and the older building above. Not sure this has quite worked with the big black areas but there we go - I rather like it. It was very dark and maybe an HDR approach may have been better (if only i'd had a tripod...):



St Pauls and the Millenium Bridge from Bankside:



The London Eye - a real magnet for tourists (understandably):



The Tate Modern at Bankside:



and finally... Hayes Galleria on the South Bank of the Thames at London Bridge:



Hope you like them:. Grateful for any thoughts on these

Best Regards

Mat W

I agree - top stuff. I like the third one best with the wasp head-on. Good focus on the head and he looks as if he's going to bite off his leg, but I guess he's getting on with cleaning himself...

Regards

Mat W

I agree - a good set I think. Makes such a difference to have nice weather. Last one is my favourite I think. Must be the symmetry, although I like the second as well.

Regards

Mat W

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

If you look Nick Brandt up on the Wikipedia, it states that he uses a Pentax 67 and two fixed lenses...

Mat W

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

Mat

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

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