Blog Archives
Reflections – Bird pictures with Tamron150-600mm
I was walking in the park and I sat down at a bench to just enjoy the sunny weather and to have a bit of break. I turned around to check out the little lake that was behind me. There I saw a little bird that came very close to where I was sitting.
I took up my camera and aimed. I was using Canon 70D and the lens was a Tamron 150-600 mm version 1. I got the following pics of the bird called Wagtail.
As I continued sitting on the bench and relaxing there came other birds that wanted to drink the water. So I felt I was lucky that the birds were coming to my spot instead of me trying to come to theirs.
I call this segment reflections since all the birds have a reflection in the water.
This bird is called a Fieldfare
A pigeon also need some water
All of the pictures above are taken at 600 mm with a aperture of f8. The picture below is taken at 350 mm with a aperture of 7.1. The reson I mostly take at f8 is because in order to get pretty sharp pictures with Tamron 150-600 you need to be at this aperture.
Crow and its reflection
2017©Expressive Photos
Gimbal for bird photography – Beike-45
If you like wildlife photography and especially bird photography then eventually you might need a gimbal on your tripod.
The gimbal makes it easy to follow the bird when it flies by you. It is easy to use, it rotates the way I want it to. I can easily follow fast moving objects with this gimbal.
I can recommend Beike-45. Why?
Because it is great! It is also good value for your money. It only cost 70 US dollars nowadays. Normally similar kind of gimbals cost around 300-450 US dollars. I bought mine in 2015 at Aliexpress from China, then it cost me 78 US dollars. I got it delivered in 3 weeks. So if you are planning to go somewhere for wildlife photography order it in time for it to be delivered before you go on a trip.
I used to always have this Gimbal ready on my tripod when I was going somewhere for bird photography and I knew I would be there for a while. It is not that heavy to carry. It weighs around 1 kilo. On the above picture I have a Canon 70D and Tamron 150-600mm attached to the Gimbal. I dont have to worry that it might tip over, it is very stable and it is easy to rotate.
When you use a gimbal make sure that you have the level meter on your camera. Usually it will look like a red/green line that gives you direction on which way to turn to make the camera straight.
2017©Expressive Photos
Looking for a budget lens with great sharpness?
Then the Tamron 70-300mm is the answer
I wanted a camera that I could use during a Europe tour. I was not looking for a fancy lens, I just wanted a simple easy to use lens. I found Tamron 70-300mm. This lens is called Tamron AF SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 DI VC USD, but who can remember to say all of that?
I combined this lens with my full format camera Canon 6D. It was performing great. The auto focus on this lens is outstanding. It is absolutely steady when you want to take the picture when the auto focus is on. That is a big plus for this budget lens. The price is in favor for this Tamron lens, only 3000 SEK (350 US Dollar).
At 300mm
I combined this lens with my full format camera Canon 6D. It was performing great.
These pictures are taken at a folk dance event called europeade in Sweden with the combo Canon 6D and Tamron 70-300mm. The lens give sharp pictures, even when objects are moving.
This picture is taken with the combo Canon 70D and Tamron 70-300mm
I have noticed a little vignetting when I took some pictures at a airshow with the combo Canon 6D and Tamron 70-300mm. This happen when it was very bright sunshine that made everything look dark in the viewfinder. It can be that the sun was very bright and made the picture little darker sometimes and I had to put up the brightness in the camera. Otherwise the lens have really performed great all the time when I have used it. This picture is taken at 300mm. See example below:
The aperture starts at f4. This means the background might not be as blurry as you might wish for, but this can be done in Photoshop or Lightroom in post-production. So it is not a big deal.
The lens might be little heavy but if you are used to a lens like the big zoom lens Tamron 150-600mm. Then Tamron 70-300mm is not heavy at all.
It fits nicely into my small camera bag where I have a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens and Canon 24-105mm lens. Together all the three lenses will cover all your need when its comes to street photography, travels, dance events and even bird photography.
Want to know more about Tamron lenses? Click here for more info about Tamron 150-600mm. Maybe you are more into macro photography? Then Tamron 90mm is the lens for you
2015©Expressive Photos
Eurasian Curlew with Tamron 150-600mm
Do I have something on my beak?
Eurasian Curlew
On a sunny day I took this picture of a Eurasian Curlew. Its a mid sized bird that looks very interesting with the long beak. It is taken at 600 mm with Tamron 150-600mm lens and with Canon 70D. Even if this picture is taken at the maximum length of 600 mm it still turned out sharp. Tamron perform great when it is sunny weather. All the details will be seen and it nicely blurred out the background. The aperture is at f7.1 in this picture.
2015©Expressive Photos
Crested Hawk Eagle – Tamron 150-600mm
Close up of a crested Hawk Eagle from India
The pictures below is Taken with a Canon 70D and Tamron 150-600mm. I took this picture in south of India. The Crested Hawk Eagle blend in with the environment so they can sometimes be hard to see. I was lucky enough to see this kind of bird twice.
2015©ExpressivePhotos
GorillaPod – a item you might need
If you need a tripod but do not want to carry a huge and heavy one. I have a solution for you. A JOBY GorillaPod. It is a small and flexible tripod that can grip on to anything. You can for example tie it around a tree branch or a chair. I bought one because I like to take things that might be on the ground or near the ground. Then this tripod is the perfect choice. There are many versions of this tripod. The one on the picture is for a DSLR camera with a big lens. Even though it might look small, it is strong and stable to put the camera or the lens on.
I used it to take long exposures of this small waterfall. It worked fine and the result can be seen below:
This tripod is also good for macro. If you see a insect on the ground or on a leaf then this will be helpful. I usually take those pictures without a tripod but after awhile you will get pain in your knees and in your hand/wrist. This tripod will take care of that problem. The best part is that it can fit in any camera bag. It weighs around 0.5 kg (11 pounds). It is 29 cm long (11.4 inch) and can hold up to 3 kg. It cost from 18$.
2014©Expressive photos
Autumn is here
I took a stroll in the forest since the color on the leaves are amazing this time of the year. I took some shoots with Canon 70D and Canon 24-105mm L lens.
To follow my blog and get more lovely updates click the “Follow” button.
2014©Expressive photos
Pink explosion of flowers
Taken with Canon 70D and Tamron 90mm macro lens, handheld and in windy conditions.
2014©Expressive Photos
My new lens – Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x macro
Taking macro photography to the next level
I got a recommendation about a lens for macro photography. So of course I had to have it and here it is! It is the Canon 65mm f/2.8 1-5x macro lens. Forget about extension tubes or close-up filters, because you only need this lens to take great macro pictures. This lens is not for amateurs, then I would suggest you first start with Tamron 90mm f/2.8 or Canon 100mm f/2.8. The Canon MP-E 65mm do not have image stabilizer and no auto focus. So what is the advantage with this lens then? Answer is 5:1 macro, it is hard to beat that with any other lens. The Tamron 90mm and Canon 100mm only have 1:1 macro.
In the box there is only the lens and a CD and warranty papers. It did not come with a bag or a lens hood, that you have to buy seperatly.
I haven’t been able to try it out yet. Pictures of what this little lens can do will come soon. For now I will just show you some picture of the lens itself.
The lens comes with the front- and back lid and a removable tripod collar. It is a pricey lens for about 1049 US dollar.
This lens needs a flash of some kind, for example a ring flash is good when you take on insects and flowers. This is because when you zoom in it will get darker then you need light to brighten the picture up. The aperture range is from f2.8 to f16. It is also possible to use Canon extender 2x to get a even larger magnification. Stacking is a good way to get sharp images from this kind of lens. It is almost necessary in order to get a whole insects face sharp using stacking. I will try stacking and then post some pictures to show the results in another article here on Expressive Photos website.
Click on the “follow” button on the right sidebar to get more news.
Copyright©2014 Expressive Photos
I got an eye on you…literally
Canon 70D+Tamron 90mm f2.8. “I got an eye on you!”
This chameleon is king of his branch and in full control. It is blending in nicely with the green background. With the Tamron 90mm lens you get a nice blur or bokeh in the background when you use aperture 2.8. It was kind of dark where the chameleon were but with some glimpse of light coming through it makes it a mystical picture.
Copyright©2014 Expressive Photos
Expressive photos 