Winter is upon us and goose is getting fat

Female Goldeneye, originally uploaded by andyskelton.

.. well, it’s a duck actually, a female Golden Eye – no guesses why it’s called that! Armed with the 600mm, extenders and 1D we ventured out to the Wetlands Trust at Barnes, London where despite a small misshap, more of which later, I managed to take some photos despite the low light levels.

Mostly using the tripod with the 600mm lens, this shot was an exception taken using a fence post to rest on as I wanted to get down as low as possible to get, well, a birds eye view of the bird. It was this situation where I had my misshap. Nope I didn’t drop the lens and camera into the water but having received a phone call I place, or thought I’d place my camera on the floor. It rocked slightly and when I picked it up, the lens lock and the baffle of the 2x extender I use came away in my hands. Looking at the lens, which was of more concern, the metal ring of the extender was still connected. Luckily it was easily removed – and the 600mm went on to perform faultlessly for the rest of the afternoon.

So I now have a defunct Sigma 80-400mm and a Sigma 2x extender on my hands – looks like I need to make a trip over to Welwyn Garden City where Sigma have their offices and see what they can make of them (a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl… )

Advertisement