Testing out the big lens - 150-500mm

I was in Uni today getting a camera and I thought I'd book out the 150-500mm telephoto lens to have another go at some close ups of the moon, if it's not too cloudy.

Before trying to use this huge lens in the dark I thought I'd better have a go with it first.

Here's one of the first shots I took from my bedroom window testing out the zoom capability, trying to achieve a shallow depth of field.

After this I went out onto the back garden to see if I could get some photos of the birds that have been nesting in the tree just past the end of my garden. Of course after being there every day, now that I have a camera there's none to be seen. 

Fortunately one of the neighbours cats was on next doors shed roof. The tripod wasn't tall enough so I had to shoot these handheld. It was a very cloudy day but the clouds acted as a diffuser creating nice even lighting. This was shot at 1/800 f/6.3 which worked fairly well but I could have done with a quicker shutter speed using such a larger lens handheld. The wide aperture creates a nice contrast in focus, drawing the eyes straight to the cat. I particularly like this first one, she's almost looking straight into the lens. If I'd used the tripod I imagine these shots would have been much more crisp.

She disappeared before I had the chance to get any more shots. I'll just wait until later tonight to have another go at some close ups of the moon if it's clear enough.