Holocaust memorial, Berlin

Most likely one of the most photographed tourist attractions and most likely all photos of this place have been already taken several times. Still, interesting place and most interesting place to photograph in. And I'm going to bother you with some of my photos of it. ;)

Tourist

Concrete

Taking a photo

Girl arching.

Three elements

You are not allowed to jump from platform to another, yet still people do it.

Let there be light

Thanks for watching!

Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM

Berlin Berlin Berlin... Hotel Berlin, Berlin.

Oh... I mean TRAVELING.

I visited Berlin recently and the first thing I wanted to do is to buy a decent travel lens. You know, the kit lens (18-55mm)won't get to far when it comes to photographing. Pictures itself are fine and all, it's light and easy. Simply ok for what it is, almost a free lens with the camera body. Then I have the 70-300 lens which is pretty much ok too for what it is. It was cheap but even it was a bit soft everywhere it did decent enough pictures. But when traveling, you don't want to carry several lenses around. You could but if you want to see the city and walk around, that really doesn't make much sense. Also when something happens you most likely have the wrong lens on.

After some studying I decided I would go for this Sigma 18-250 mm lens of which the latest version is now called "Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM". Latest addition for the lens it the tag "MACRO" and that's what you want to look for when buying a Sigma 18-250 mm. The older seem to be just fine too but this is better if you can rely on all the reviews. It's also smaller and lighter so much more easier to carry around. So far I've been impressed. It REALLY is a do-it-all. I'll attach a few real world samples straight out from the camera to show you the potential. There are also few shots that would have been easily missed with the kit lens I've been previously using when traveling.

But again, now to the pictures!
FULL SIZED JPG's straight out from the camera ARE FOUND HERE: Link to set
and most likely I will add more shots to this same place later too.

Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM

Nikon D3100 @ 18mm (27mm), F8, 1/250, ISO 180 (auto)

Handheld.

Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM

Nikon D3100 @ 155mm (232mm), F8, 1/250, ISO 320 (auto)

Handheld.

Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM

Nikon D3100 @ 210mm (315mm), F8, 1/250, ISO 220 (auto)

Handheld.

Testing the zoom range... This and the next shot taken from the same spot!
Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM
Nikon D3100 @ 18mm (27mm), F8, 1/200, ISO 100 (auto)
Handheld.

Testing the zoom range... This and the previous shot taken from the same spot!
Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM
Nikon D3100 @ 250mm (375mm), F8, 1/500, ISO 100 (auto)
Handheld.

A Shot that could have been missed with the old kit lens. Emergency helicopter landing in the middle of the busiest street of Berlin, Kurfürstendamm. And I have to say it was Hollywood-style exciting. Police rushing in with cars and motorcycles to stop the traffic and keep people away. And the people were taken aback on what's happening.

Sigma 18-250 mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM
Nikon D3100 @ 75mm (112mm), F8, 1/250, ISO 125 (auto)
Handheld.


Happy photoshootings! :)

Friendly neighbourhood hedgehog

European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), our friendly neighbour. This huge individual for a hedgehog (most likely the biggest I've ever seen) wandered to our backyard. Or well, frontyard, anyhow... First it startled and took cover but as soon as it saw I wasn't going to do anything it continued it's activities groveling around in the bushes. It also came out from the bushes even I was there and it looked at me. Then it sniffed the surrounding rose bushes and after a while it just trotted away. It seemed friendly towards me and I saw it felt safe. Funny little guy, hope to see you soon. ;)

Three times cotton grass

Same thing can be photographed in so many ways. This is cotton grass in a swamp late at night, by day and in black and white with a hooded crow walking across the field. One of the fun things in photography is the ways you can look at the world. Options are Limitless. (fine movie btw ;) )

Cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum (Tupasvilla in Finnish.)

Mess over chaos

Today I tried to make out something that should not be done. If you don't know how to do it, it will be just a mess. Every one of these shots are a chaos and a mess of many things at same time. Most of them don't have any clear point of interest. Still... I tried to make them viewable by using black and white techniques and composing lines combined with industrial elements of a power plant and out of service log floating channel.

Just say what you will, but I think I managed to get some interesting shots out of this chaos. I might be wrong too. :D

Now to the pictures!

Tsirp tsirp!