Taking the new lens for a ride

Picked up a Canon 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS on Saturday. Having had the 18-55mm "gifted" (read stolen) from my brother-in-law, this fulfilled the telephoto range.

Saturday late evening in the park of Stanford is where the new lens was taken through it's paces.
This one's not going to be too many "words", pictures might outnumber the characters in this post :D :D









The squirrel watching me













The IS on this lens "does work", shot this at 1/20, past sunset with barely available light.


Testing out the "macro" closeup distance n performance





Observation : Does pretty well in terms of "focussing fast" and "shooting in low light"!

Next day morning it was onto the tidelands of Coyote point, near San mateo. It is open vast lands of bay shore with tons of waders. We reached at the right time with the water levels still up. We found ourselves not too far from the feeding birds.
















The female of the same species











With the occassional territorial fights






The concentration and focus of these birds when hunting is fabulous












The rocks covered with algae n some plant growth


Enjoyed the fresh air and walked around the "bunds" often sitting at long stretches to enjoy the place and the birds.
some "fun" group shots
















The bunch of three watching the fourth "fly"





Watching people enjoy the outdoors, irrespective of age groups was nice.





We reached the boat park section - the Coyote recreation area.







Found more ducks here







The lone pigeon



Moved further to shoot a few passing birds.










Some "metal" ones too :D







Talk about heavy volumes in air space, these two did an almost sychronised landing



Took a few closeups/macros when I was there



















Returning from the jetty, this little humming bird not more than 2" (excluding the beak) allowed us to get close and gets some gorgeous closeups. The colors and hues on this little one were mindblowing.



Inched closer n closer one step at a time







I think god decided to spend a little more time creating these lil winged wonders :)


With the light diminishing, we visited the Coyote point animal Rehab center, time for some "practice shots"











Not a "real" Coral snake, but this one imitates it to "fool" predators.


The Colored bottles lit up nice


Then it was outdoors again with very little light when we shot this Turkey vulture.


The mushrooms also caught our notice




The "cat", lovd his/her stare



Some shots of the smaller birds




A few monotones









Walking back captured a few views of Dusk.












Took the SamTrans and then the Caltrain to reach back.
A fulfilling and tiring day (we walked the whole day!!)

Adios till the next ride/visit.

Cheers,
Hayath