15mm Sigma F2.8 EX diagonal fisheye

Don't worry this isn't a technical blog post, but as a way of kick starting my blog again I thought I'd do a few blogs leading up to Christmas about what I've been up to since the last post.

I wanted a lens that would allow me to have the subject big in frame but also allow some of the environment in the picture as well. Having a close focusing distance of 15cm this lens allows you to have the subject almost touching the front of the lens while still in focus meaning that small subjects like dragonflies can almost fill the frame. It's all well and good getting up to cold insects first thing in the morning before they've had a chance to warm up (although you do have to be aware of your shadow with this lens), But for birds and mammals I've found it best to use either a remote control or an infra red camera trap to fire the camera. Heres a few shots taken with the lens this year. As you can hopefully see this lens had added something different to a bog standard wildlife picture.

 This is a Golden Ringed dragonfly resting early in the morning after a cold night, the dragonfly was almost touching the front of the lens enabling the subject to be large in frame and still show the environment. It isn't a wonky skyline our land does slope like this, the joys of North Wales.

The above 2 pictures show a Spotted flycatcher nesting in the side of our stables. I'd noticed them attempting to build a nest but the materials kept falling out due to the pipe sloping downwards. I wedged the piece of wood you can see under the nest to form a lip, replacing the fallen nest material. At the same time I positioned supports for the camera and a couple of flashes. I was delighted to see the flycatchers carry on with building the nest and only when the chicks were well developed did I take a few pictures, I'm pleased to say all 3 chicks fledged successfully. The camera was fired via a remote control while I hid behind the wood shed to the left of the picture.

Another picture fired by a remote control. I placed my camera inside a McDonalds bag and arranged the left overs from a breakfast meal for this urban fox. First attempt resulted in the fox running off with the bag and although I'd have liked the fox closer I'm quite fond of this picture.

This picture was taken with an infra red trip to fire the camera and flashes. My mum is lucky enough to have badgers visit her garden in Bedfordshire, while on a visit I decided to try and get a few pictures of them raiding the greenhouse for food. Using the 15mm lens allowed me to add some of the environment to the picture in a very cramped space.

Finally another hand held shot. We're luck enough to have a healthy population of hedgehogs around the property, when out foraging they tend not to be overly concerned by having their picture taken, especially when bribed with a few discrete meal worm.