Richard Washbrooke Photography Blog

Freelance Photographer

Posts from the ‘Nature’ category

Sony Alpha 7R mkiv and the Sony FE 200-600mm lens part 2 Featured

Sony – Dunstable Downs 8th March 2020

Found myself at Dunstable Downs to put the Sony FE 200-600mm lens through its paces on a Sony Alpha 7R mkiv. Weather was changing all the time. Raining, Sunny, Stormy. I’m looking at purchasing this lens and the camera so I wanted to put it through its paces.

First thing i found is the lens is very comfortable to be hand held. Which is perfect as I wanted to capture images without being too obvious. Dunstable Downs is big place and the views are amazing. When I have photographed up here before with a smaller lens you will struggle to capture well what you see. Probably need to crop in a lot which will have effect on the quality of the image. The shot above is simple view and on a 600mm lens becomes very accessible.

The Dunstable Downs is a busy place. Dog Walking, Cycling Flying Kites, Gliders and Planes. Perfect opportunity to test the lens. The tracking was pretty much spot on. Tracking the plane and the glider was very easy and shooting into the sun amongst the clouds was not an issue. Using this lens really does open the opportunity of capturing images you probably would of thought about taking.

www.richardwashbrooke.com

Sony Alpha 7R mk iv with the Sony FE 200-600mm lens Featured

I was lucky enough to have tested the 200-600mm lens out in Turkey at the Gloria Serenity Resort. Perfect conditions lots of sunshine. But how does it compare to a overcast day in the UK. I’m looking at using this lens for my fieldsport photography which is seasonal from September to the end of January. The weather can change from sunny days to blizzard conditions. The day I chose was overcast very grey, subject was a couple of Buzzards I know fly around a farm up the road from me. I was impressed with what I managed to capture. The tracking on the Sony Alpha 7R mkiv was pretty good in some difficult conditions.

Its a camera and lens I would have in my bag.

www.richardwashbrooke.com

Riverlily Working Dogs – Abbie Reid

I have known Abbie for many years mainly through the Venture Scouts. The last ten years has been through her love of the working dog that I have photographed Abbie and her dogs being trained or picking up. It’s an area I specialise in as it fits in well when I’m photographing field sports.

A favourite image of mine is when Abbie commissioned me to photograph her dogs in action.

Recently I was asked to come over and capture some images of her dog called Sherman for an article that would be appearing in the Gundog Journal Volume 1 issue vi.

It’s a great read so look out for it. Always nice to see my images in print.

www.shootdaysphotography.com

www.riverlilyworkingdogs.co.uk

www.gundog-journal.com

Porthcawl – Storm Dennis. 16th Feb 2020 Featured

We headed down to Milford Haven on the Sunday during the half term. On the way down Storm Dennis was hitting the UK west coast. We had the chance to go via Porthcawl and to see the storm in action. Porthcawl is on the coast and was taking a real battering. The first time I have visited and with a storm lashing the coast. The power of Storm Dennis was incredible and I managed to walk a round and take some images and video.

I left the big camera behind and bought down with me the Sony RXOii. The Sony RXOii I had won in a raffle after being invited by Sony to come out to the Sony Alpha Pro experience at the Gloria Serenity Resort in Turkey to try out the Sony range of lenses and the new Alpha9 mkii.

I secured the RXOii and shot some video. Zeiss lens equivalent to a 35mm. The smallest camera I have seen and used and I was very impressed with the results. Looking forward to testing this camera more.

Richard Washbrooke Photography