Looking out of the window today, summer seems like so long ago. Yet only on Saturday the pool was open, the sun was out and summer was very much on the scene.

Was checking over the kit in the garden and ended up with another damn closeup of an insect……. No tubes, just me laid flat out in damp grass, waiting for it to stand still – f10, @200mm 1/400, handheld (again). No flash.

Really do need to get out and do something else…….

Hand-held, 200mm – What can I say. Definitely saving up for a 1.4 converter for this lens !!

Don’t think this was the same one from the weekend as that one never had the coloured armour behind it’s head. Somehow it seems that the garden at Canvey Castle here is becoming a bit of a nature reserve. If anyone could Identify what make and model of grasshopper this is I’d be quite interested to hear from you.

As this as supposed to be just a quick test shot, it was hand held, with the following settings. The ‘arrangement’ is on my dining room table, lit by the dull grey that is today through the patio doors.
Background is a brown sofa and the back ache from standing there trying to make sure the wallpaper, door and the other stuff in the vase didn’t creep into the shot is all mine.

Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 114 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

The River Blackwater is a river in England. It rises in the northwest of Essex as the River Pant and flows to Bocking, near Braintree, from where its name changes to the Blackwater. Its course takes it near Stisted, and then via Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall and near Witham where it is joined by the River Brain. Passing Maldon it reaches the North Sea at West Mersea. The River Chelmer (which is a canal at that point) meets the River Blackwater near Langford. Some of the water flows over Beeleigh weir and some flows down the canal. At Heybridge flood water from the canal flows over a weir at the site of the old Heybridge mill and down the original course of the Blackwater (now known as Heybridge Creek) before passing through a sluice gate into the tidal Blackwater Estuary at Maldon. One of the most famous Viking battles in Britain, the Battle of Maldon, took place directly beside the river in 991. The Vikings were successful in battle against the Anglo-Saxons, claiming victory in this Dark Age battle.

The Blackwater was a source of fish and oysters for the town of Maldon during the Roman occupation. The remains of Saxon fish traps were discovered in the river in the 1990s.
During the winter of 1776 the Blackwater froze from Maldon to Osea island, a distance of some four miles. The ice trapped fishing and cargo carrying vessels and blocked any imports of coal, oil, wool to Maldon.
In 1793 the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Company was formed by act of Parliament. Over the next four years, the company built a navigation from Chelmsford to meet the tidal estuary of the River Blackwater in Colliers Reach at the place that’s today called Heybridge Basin (after the canal basin there).
The burgers of the borough of Maldon refused to allow the canal to pass through their borough, so the company routed it just outside the borough boundary, which is why it ended up at Colliers Reach, rather than at Maldon. From Chelmsford, the navigation mainly followed the course of the River Chelmer until it reached Beeleigh, near Maldon. Then it followed the course of the River Blackwater to Heybridge, and from there via a canal to the sea lock at Colliers Reach.
A weir connected the navigation to the tidal river Blackwater at Heybridge, where it powered a water mill. Heybridge mill was demolished after severe flooding in this area in 1953, but the mill house still stands. The river itself (now known as Heybridge Creek here) was dammed between Heybridge Hall and Potman marsh in 1954 as part of a programme of flood defence improvements. Most of the water flowing down the River Blackwater nowadays flows over a weir at Beeleigh and along the tidal section of the Chelmer before rejoining the Blackwater just below the Hythe at Maldon.

If anyone is even remotely interested, this was taken through the glass windo of a conservatory, handheld at 300mm using a Sigma 70-300mm Telephoto Lens. Other details are as follows
Camera: Canon EOS 30D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Quite tricky to get a shot off as he moves about quickly – it’s also very gloomy out there at this time of the year.
Was pleased with this attempt, especially as the patio doors haven’t been cleaned for weeks. The Sigma 70-300 is definitelty out performing the old Tamron in pretty much every area at the moment.

Unfortunately, the skies have been perpetually grey.¬† That and the usual heavy work load has meant that although I’ve had this lens all week, I’ve yet to actually take any photos with it to see how it performs.¬† I did manage a couple of shots through the office window into the gloominess and have noted that the chromatic abberation (or lack of) with this lens is quite impressive.¬† It was always a bit of an issue with the Tamron.¬† Nothing too terrible but a nuisance to correct in post processing.¬† As for sharpness, I’ll have to wait for a better day.

Today’s shot is one of those test ones.¬† There’s a green washing line running diagonally across the frame (rendered almost invisible thanks to the far focus and Depth of Field), and it was hand held with a shutter speed of 1/200 @ f5.6 and focal length of 300mm.