New toy: Canon EF 70-200MM f/4.0L IS USM zoom lens.

I should say new Family toy. This purchase is 3 years overdue. I promised myself long ago I would get a zoom the day the kids started sports; sorry Emma! We still have many great shots with our stock 17-55 lens.

This was an interesting purchase; at least the research phase. Neither Johanna and I are professional photographers; by any stretch of the imagination, but we love taking pictures and i know I'll be taking a ton from the sidelines. The interesting part was, the more reading I did the higher I found myself up the Cannon line; go figure. I settled on image stabilization being a must because I KNOW were not going to use a tripod. I also settled for 200 over 300 based on a great point made by a Amazon reviewer, essentially I'll be able to roam the field so full field length reach wasn't of the utmost.

Here are it's first shots, most are undoctored. I added a couple from far across the field so you can see it's reach. There was a certain novelty to taking closeups of a dandelion from a standing position.

The pictures were taken with a 20D, with no filter (have to get that).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13754428@N03/sets/72157605291587762/