New Lens

Looked at the available EF-M lenses to fit the Canon M5 and after reading reviews went for the EF-M 18-150mm. Here it is next to the Canon EF-S 17-85mm with adaptor which I used recently. Doesn't seem to be a lot of difference at first glance. The main one is the weight. The EF-S weighs in at 63g and the EF-M at 33g.



Also the weight balance is better when on the M5 body. The adaptor has no lenses in it so all the EF-S lens weight is moved further from the camera body. Much easier to handle the EF-M lens. In fact it felt very comfortable.



Within half an hour of it arriving we went on our usual mid afternoon walkabout.
The idea being to find a variety of subjects.
Nice and Sunny after a morning of heavy showers.

First a couple of 18mm / 150mm views









Seeing there were sheep about we wandered across for a closer look.



I though they would be ideal to try out the video. Wrong.
After looking us over they decided to move as far away as possible.



Oh well. There's always the Poplar trees ...



... and the new seating area in front of the cricket club.



Ash Tree from East and West views.

     

This crop looks about ready for harvesting.



Where do you park the heavy roller when not in use?
In the hedge of course.



The closest I could get to an Hibiscus flower.
A fairly good macro facility at 18mm.



A photo of Penny to finish off



All M5 photos taken in RAW, converted to virtually lossless jpgs.
No cropping or tweaking so this is how they came out of the camera.
Very pleased with everything so far.
There was a very strong, gusty wind blowing so some vegetation may be blurred.

Trees

First a close silhouette shot with the Sun hidden behind the trees:



This longer shot was processed in HDR Efex Pro 2
I really like the atmosphere it created:

Trees - Part Two

Still with the 1200D 'full spectrum' camera.
Hardly a leaf to be seen now:









Sunny but plenty of puddles left from overnight rain:

Trees - Part One

As it was nice and sunny yesterday I took the 1200D 'full spectrum' walkabout with us on our mid afternoon walkabout down the lane.

For these two shots I was shooting straight towards a somewhat hazy Sun but managed to obscure it behind a branch:





Must admit, I was quite pleased with the results.

Looking Up

I always seem to be looking at and photographing trees from a distance.  For a change today I decided to stand under them and point the camera up to the sky. I used the Nikon S9050 on its widest view. Some I couldn't get really close to as there were ditches in the way. No telling until I got home exactly how they would turn out as it wasn't possible to see the LCD screen while taking the shots.

Maybe I should call them a Squirrel's Eye View:

Colour shots:















B/W shots (taken by accident as the awkward way of holding the camera in one hand meant I kept catching the menu change by accident):

A Mild February Day

I spent the morning tidying up in the fruit cage. I might feed the birds and encourage them to visit the garden but they are not really welcome to help themselves to my blueberries and blackcurrants so I have those in a large walk-in caged area. While I was pottering about the garden I saw a Bumble Bee visiting a crocus flower. I think that was only the second one I have seen so far this year.

This afternoon as the Sun was shining for a change and the temperature had reached 11C I took the camera with me on our afternoon visit to the cricket field. In one distant field there were several horses; most standing so the cold wind was behind them.



In another field were a few sheep. Only one of the lambs was in view.



All the time Bobby and I were on the cricket field we saw little wild life. Just a couple of Rooks and the odd Rabbit.



I've always been fascinated by the contrast between these trees. The poplar being more pliable is able to bend with strong winds. The older tree has lost one of its twin trunks and the other has been shaped by the prevailing winds.



As we left the one thing which reminded me that Summer is a long way off yet was the sight of a magnificent Weeping Willow seen here as it is today and compared with last Summer.



Returning to the front garden I saw that there were more catkins and that the Mahonia was giving a good display of yellow flowers as were some crocuses.





Finally, just as we about to go back in the warmth, I spotted another Bumble Bee, well maybe the same one I saw this morning, visiting a heather plant.



So at least there are signs of Spring awakening even if I do have to wait a few months for Summer.