Photo of the week #27: Sunset

I’m currently sorting through my photos of 2013 when this photo fell into my hands. When I picked up my SIGMA 18-250mm lens for the lens test from my local post office last year it was almost time for the sun to set. So I hurried home, unpacked the lens and made a few trial shots out of my livingroom window. One of the results was the following photo:

Sunset April 2013. Canon EOS 450D with SIGMA 18-250m lens.
focal length: 128mm; f. 11; exposure: 1/400

I trimmed the photo to a 16:9 format with Adobe Photoshop Elements 12. Apart from that this photo hasn’t been edited in any other way (I’ve only just started working my way through Adobe PS Elements a few months ago, still down to basics). I love the reddish evening colors that you get at sunsets around April-Mai here in Germany. After the long and cold winter they feel kind of magical to me! And it’s almost that time of the year again. I’m looking forward to trying out some more sunset shots this year.

xx, D

Photo of the week #26: A laazy seal

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I was chosen to be one of 100 testers for Sigma’s revamped 18-250 mm, f 1:3.5-6.3 DC Macro HSM lens at the beginning of May. The test phase has  since finished, I handed in my 4 best photos, wrote a  review for SIGMA and received the message that I can keep the lens :-) The results of the lens test haven’t been published in the magazine yet so I can’t post my own review yet. But I can share some of the photos I since shot with this amazing lens!

I took the lens on a tour of Hagenbeck Zoo here in Hamburg during the test phase. It was my second trip to the zoo since I moved to Hamburg and the first time that I’ve seen the newly opened “Eismeer” exhibition. They’ve got polar bears, different types of penguins, walruses, seals etc. now and visitors can see them from the sides of the enclosures as well as from the lower ground via huge glass windows. There were quite a few curious seals diving up and down right in front of the visitors but one larger was just lazily laying in the back on his rock and snoozing. It was quite a distance to cover (8-10 m) but the lens easily managed it and I ended up with this lovely photo.

specifications: focal length 250mm, f 6.3, exposure 1/250, no cropping or editing

It didn’t make one my 4 best photos for the lens test as I had too many really good animal photos. But it is a good photo of the week to share with you guys. Hope you like it!

xx, D