JHP Newsletter - 2005, No. 1, 20 January

Equipment: Sigma 120-300 f2.8 APO EX IF HSM

I finally broke down and bought a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 APO EX IF HSM. I had been thinking about getting this lens since hearing Joe McDonald sing its praises while on the reptile shoot in June 2004. I was hesitant to get it for two reasons. First, it's not a Canon lens, and the only other non-camera-manufacturer lens I owned, a Sigma 50-500 F4-6.3EX APO RF for my Maxxum 7, didn't stand up to the use I put it through even though the EX series lenses are supposed to be built to pro-level standards. The 120-300 feels well built, and Joe and Mary Ann McDonald haven't had any trouble with their lenses, so maybe my first experience with Sigma was marred by a manufacturing problem. Second, the 120-300 doesn't have an image stabilization (IS) system, so its usefulness will be limited mostly to tripod shooting. While I shoot almost everything from a tripod anyways, I do occasionally shoot handheld when I'm panning for birds in flight or shooting from a boat. Because this lens will largely be a replacement for the Canon EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS USM, I'll probably be torn between the extra speed of the 120-300 and the IS of the 100-400. I will keep the 100-400 for now, because it's smaller and lighter and will be more convenient for long hikes.

The primary reason I got the 120-300 f2.8 is for its speed, and I'll be taking advantage of that speed on my upcoming trip to shoot gorillas in Rwanda. It's dark in the forests where the gorillas are, and when I shot gorillas in Uganda with the 100-400 f4.5-5.6, I only got a handful of acceptable images because the shutter speed I had to use wasn't fast enough to stop their motion. Hopefully this time, with a lens that's twice as fast, and a digital body that can shoot acceptable-quality images at two ISO stops faster than my old film body (with ISO 100 film pushed to 200), I'll get many more useful images.

Travel: To Long Beach and Back

I spent New Years visiting friends in Long Beach, CA, and in order to help rationalize the road trip from CO, I made stops along the way to shoot.

First stop was Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, NM. For those not familiar with "Bosque," as it's referred to in photography circles, it's a place where thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese winter. And for those not up on their Spanish, the place name means "Apache Woods," and was given by the early Spaniards who while traveling from El Paso to Santa Fe, were frequently attacked by Apache camped among the cottonwoods in the flood plain of the Rio Grande. After the river was dammed, halting the annual floods, man stepped in and recreated a series of ponds and wetlands that are flooded and drained each year to provide a suitable habitat for the wildlife.