Nikkor 18-200mm in the Cloud Forest

Below are a couple of pictures John shot with his D70s and my Nikkor 18-200mm in the Cloud Forest of Santa Elena. They came out quite sharp. The first was shot at 200mm f/5.6 ISO400 for 1/20 seconds. The second was shot at 18mm f/3.5 ISO400 for 1/80 seconds.

A juvenile centipede crawling on the forest floor:


A full 1:1 crop of the centipede:

Me among the trees -- John has a good eye for composition and perspectives, and it helps that a lens can do 18mm:

Santa Elena Cloud Forest, part 2

Here is another shot with the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 in the Santa Elena Cloud forest.

Handheld, I propped against the railing of a wooden bridge. John and Andrew were on the bridge but soon, Andrew would get off it. The platform on the bridge became more stable. I took a breath and as I exhaled, depressed the shutter release button. I shot a couple of times. Both pictures turned out really good, even when shot at f/16 for 1.5 seconds.

Santa Elena Cloud Forest

I decided to switch my Nikkor 18-200mm with the Sigma 24-70mm with John on the way to Santa Elena / Monteverde. Most of my shots with the Sigma was sharp even in the Cloud Forests so I am happy with this lens.

They don't call them Cloud Forests for nothing. We were right in the middle of clouds so the air was misty and moist, everywhere. Without a hat, your hair would be totally wet. Without a jacket, your t-shirt would be equally wet. However, I could care less as it became intensely hot after 30 minutes of hiking in relative coolness of the shaded forest. I removed my jacket but kept my hat on, and hiked in shorts and a shirt.

I wonder how the pictures would turn out had I used the Nikkor ... gotta wait for John's pictures.

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8

I met up with John who picked up my Sigma lens in Boston, on the way to Costa Rica. I finally saw the lens a couple of weeks after I purchased it. The wait was worth it. I like this lens. It is fast, and on a moving bus, VR does not matter -- speed matters. I shot quite a few photos from a moving bus on rough terrains so the speed was quite welcoming. It was also good in the lower light conditions of the Cloud Forests. However, when handheld in the morning light on stable ground, my Nikkor 18-200mm VR II will beat this Sigma 2.8 lens hands down.

Here is a photo I took of a hummingbird in flight. I think the 18-200mm would have done a better job but this shot with the Sigma is not bad. The settings were 70mm, f5.6, ISO400, flash on.