Semaphore!

Definitely not Wideangle Wednesday challenge either, with 750mm eqv. super telephoto!

Looks better LARGE

Me and BigSig (Sigma 150-500mm) went out early on the bus to Bournemouth for the day today. And what a glorious day it was too, with pink-tinged face and that feeling that summer is finally is on its way and life is fine...

Full of families, bikes and dogs (dogs are banned from May onwards) the beaches quietly buzzed with everybody and everything. Easter school holidays ensured families of all ages, buckets and spades, ice creams dribbling down cheeky chins and picnics under brilliant blue skies. The elderly came out of hibernation, carers pushed wheelchairs along the promenade. Lots of folk on bikes (bikes only banned July and August 10-6pm) but everybody got along just fine.

As anybody who owns a BigSig knows, it is a weighty and bulky boy and takes up much room in the rucksack. I keep him tamed on a monopod. By and large, I only used it from the cliff-top, looking out to The Needles on the left - and to Old Harry Rocks, on the right. The sea-mist that greeted me when I got there provided an ethereal feeling. I was after something high-key and minimalist. Hmm, just a little bit TOO high key and minimalist, but it was fun to try these out.

As always, I eventually walked my way over to Sandbanks and Poole Harbour, where these guys (and girls) were on their boards. No colours whatsoever have been changed here, no de-saturation of the background either. The only editing has been removal of a couple of distracting dark blobs in the water and some sharpening. The BigSig is a sharp lens but the haze, even heat haze, here, was apparent all day and that obviously fuzzes things up. Oh and crop to top and tiny bit to the right. Their sails have skull and cross-bones on.... The dominating outline of the distant Purbeck Hills are really brought to the fore, with the severe foreshortening from the huge focal length.

BigSig probably won't get taken to Bournemouth again, for a while. The sheer weight and bulk plus monopod means no long distance walking and my usual long lens, Tamron SP 70-300mm, especially with the 1.4x converter, can really pull in the long shots. However, it's always fun and interesting trying the power of a 15x magnification on subjects and an area you already know, it can really open new doors.

And now, it's almost bed-time, again! Unfortunately, no Journals looked at and no responses from me on all your lovely comments left on yesterday's Moon Halo. Huge thanks, as always, very much appreciated! I will try and get back to them in the morning.

Lens is Sigma 150-500mm OS, on DX