Snow on The Cheviots

Travelling on the top deck of the X1 express bus to Newcastle through the heights of Gateshead, you get a fabulous view of the city of Newcastle with the Cheviot Hills in the background. This promoted me to set out to capture a view of the Cheviots with some aspect of the city in the foreground.

St James Park with snow covered Cheviot Hills

I took this shot using a Sony NEX 6 camera fitted with a 500 mm Tamron SP mirror lens, giving an angle of view equivalent to a 750 mm lens. This lens has a fixed aperture of f8. A tripod would have been a good idea, but, in its absence  I used shutter speed priority and chose 1/1000th second to reduce the effect of camera shake to a minimum. With auto ISO selected the camera decided upon ISO 250.

On the full size image you can read the writing above the entrance to the football stadium, Gallowgate Stand.

Photo available from Alamy stock number FK5871

Blue Tit arrives at nesting box

I made a new nesting box over the winter and have been rewarded by the appearance of a pair of blue tits who, by the evidence of the noise, have managed to start a family.

My aged Tamron SP 500mm mirror lens was used for these shots. The depth of field is about 2.5 inches at this subject distance, so accurate focus is essential.

I found that live view with 10 x magnification was better for focusing than the optical viewfinder with a Canon angle finder giving a 2.5 x magnification. This may be down to my eyesight, I can use my reading glasses with live view, but not with the optical viewfinder.

I may also try the Sigma 100-300 f4 with 1.4 converter and compare the results.

Canon 5D II.