Tamron Blog: Exploring Nature Reserves With A Zoom Lens

Nature reserves are the perfect place for wildlife and landscape photography fans to pass on an hour or so, capturing images of birds, flowers, insects, watery landscapes and a whole host of other shots. 

Rick, our resident photo blogger, recently went on a walk around Denaby Ings with the Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro lens to see what he could capture and after just a 40-minute walk, he came away with plenty of interesting images. 

Denaby Ings is a nature reserve that's in easy reach from Denaby and Mexborough. It's wildlife residents  include Kingfisher and Grey Heron while riverside meadows, dry meadows, open water, woodland scrub and hedgerow habitats all provide picturesque backdrops as well as ample opportunity to get closer to insects and flowers. 

As with many nature reserves, there are viewing hides overlooking the main marsh which give you the opportunity to capture photos of skittish birds, a situation when a lens with a longer reach will be incredibly useful. 

The reason why Rick chose to take the 16-300mm zoom out with him rather than a selection of prime lenses is simply for its versatility. He didn't need to carry several lenses in his camera bag as the zoom gave him ample opportunity to capture everything from macro images to landscapes. Plus, the lens produces great colours, something we have a lot of in summer, sharpness levels are more than adequate for a zoom lens and it's lightweight which makes it perfect for a photo walk. 

Here are a few more of Rick's nature themed images to take a look at and do remember you can share your wildlife and landscape shots in the Tamron Gallery.