I think it's almost autumn

What a lovely walk in Piddinghoe this morning!







































Detail from the above photo - love the fact that the scene of the surroundings is copied (upside down) in each droplet.












It happened to be the highest tide I've seen the river, and the first ever boat I've seen sailing on the river!

Friston Forest in detail

We went to a different part of Friston Forest today, and I thought I'd take some small detail photos this time. But it wasn't going to happen today; didn't get excited about anything I saw. I was hoping to see some interesting shrooms, but it's been too dry (for a change!) recently. Then I remembered that I've been meaning to test whether it is possible to use macro extension rings with the Canon 100-400mm lens. So I thought I'd give it a try.



Absolutely! OK, what can we find to take photos of...






All the above photos are straight from the camera non-cropped, focal length 390mm shots, taken from hmmm maybe about 50-70cm from the subject. The closest focusing distance of the Canon 100-400mm lens is 1.8m, but with the macro extension rings the closest focusing distance is reduced, thus the subject appears bigger in the frame. When I was on the Sussex Summer Safari with David Plummer earlier this year, first off I started taking photos with the 100-400mm, but soon realised that due to the 1.8m minimum focusing distance of the lens it wasn't practical at all when trying to take photos of butterflies. That's when I got the idea of trying macro extension rings with it, and although David said he wouldn't do it, I'm actually quite pleased with the results: I can take the shot from a lot further away than when using my 70mm (Canon 24-70mm "macro"). So until I buy myself a true macro lens, I'll have a little play with this interesting combination.