big red for SIGMA

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Ireland is an absolutely amazing place. Fields of green that far outstrip what your mind can comprehend. Herds of cattle scuttle past as you walk through farms to get to surf spots and the mountains go beyond that which the eye can see. And waves, well, that’s another story. Ireland, and in particular a little surfing town called Bundoran, has recently become very well known amongst the surfing fraternity. “Isn’t it cold?” most people ask.  Far gone are the days where surfing was just centered around targeting warm, tropical, blue oceans. I mean yes, it is pretty cold but it’s nothing some 5mm wetsuits, a fireplace and of course a pint or two of Guiness can’t solve.

 

Ireland

 

Sigma lent me their 150-600mm and 18-35mm on this epic trip. With Ireland providing the most breathtaking and spectacular backdrops, having a long-range lens to shoot some pulled back shots with surfers surfing from afar was a must. This 150-600mm did that exact job particularly well. At some points standing a good 1,5km away trying to capture the backdrop behind a surfer getting some perfect barrels. The lens itself is pretty light for a lens of it’s magnitude and doesn’t take up tons of space in your camera bag, which is a key factor when travelling.

 

Cliff

 

A Versatile Travel Companion

As mentioned before, with backdrops being absolutely incredible it was essential to get wide shots too. I used this lens for every lifestyle shot I got of the surfers/people I was working with on the trip as well as every wide shot I wanted to capture. Goodness me, this is a beautiful lens. So diverse, being able to capture epic portraits as well as showing the intensely beautiful landscape we were enveloped in.

Collage of images

This whole trip (1,5 months) I only used two lenses on land and that was the 150-600mm and 18-35mm. I should of chucked the rest of my lenses out before traveling (haha) as it’s all I needed! Couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Thank you so much Sigma!

 

 - A review by surf photographer, big red


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