Yesterday I took my new lens the Nikkor 70-200mm for a walk in the bush with some good friends. The bush is on and adjacent to their land in the Hawkesbury area. It is typical Hawkesbury sandstone bushland and largely untouched with the back of the land leading down into a deep gully. I have a Nikon D7100 camera body so the zoom effect of the lens on my camera is actually equivalent to 105-300mm.
This zoom enhancement works very nicely for producing the bokeh effect in some of the closeups I took of the wildflowers, portraits and snake shots during the day. It didn’t work so well for capturing the beautiful rock shelves and caves as I couldn’t get far enough away to get a wide enough shot. It is not what the lens is designed for but it was the only one I took as I wanted to learn how to use it and start to get comfortable with it.
My good friend’s husband Brad is also a keen photographer and joined us on the walk. He provided the expertise of which paths to take as well as educating us on the local fauna. Corina is also an educator and had recently completed a course on bush tucker and had some very interesting facts about all the edibles and other useful plants in their backyard.
She was also kind enough to pose for a few portraits while Brad and I photographed the surrounding bushland. I also captured a few shots of Brad in action.
On the back of their land that joins onto a deep gully is a section of sandstone. There are small caves and overhanging rocks and rock walls. The sandstone is beautiful with nature provided so many different colours. On the roof of the cave is a honeycomb effect which is where the antechinus like to nest. It is hard to image but this was once an inland sea.
When we got back the dogs were keen for a run and their crazy girl Lucy gave me a chance to try out the speed of the lens and camera as well as testing my reaction time.
Lastly as an added treat Brad got out one of his diamond pythons to let me try out some snake portraits with the lens. Once again it produced a beautiful bokeh effect with the ability to zoom and remain at F2.8. It also meant I could get up really close and personal with the snake without actually being too close for comfort. I was even lucky enough to catch a couple of shots with his tongue out.
Fantastic photos Liz, it was a wonderful morning out in the bush.
Thanks Corina.
Goodness those are some great photos. Love them. You are doing such a wonderful job with your new lense. Love Brad and Corinas property and critters. The photos of Lucy are my favorite. Need you here to photograph my furry kids.
I enjoy the way you have blurred the background in the wildflowers and snake photos allowing for focus on the main image. Very nice work.
Thanks. I used a wide aperture