A reliable all-rounder for capturing amusing creatures

Winter isn't everyone's choice of a favourite photography season, but I love being out in the cold and sometimes wet environment battling against conditions to grab that one shot to make the effort worthwhile. I'm not a total glutton for punishment either; if the weather gods are smiling on me and I get some good light then I'm going to be even happier. But I do think that the most atmospheric images can sometimes be taken when conditions are more extreme.

I've experienced freezing weather in both Polar regions, when your fingers are so numb you can barely feel a thing, but the drive to capture what you're seeing in front of you overrides the desire to find warmth. For me, a lens needs to offer flexibility in focal length, reliability, and durability so that you can keep on shooting when conditions are at their worst.

SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports,
SONY α7 IV, ISO 2000, F6.3, 1/250s, 600mm

When the SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports for mirrorless arrived, I was pleased with its size. It's not heavy like a long telephoto prime, but it still feels solid and substantial, and I like a little more weight if it makes the lens feel more balanced in the hand.

We need to take care of our lenses, but if we're going to use them in all conditions, then they've got to be able to withstand a few knocks and whatever the weather throws at them. I was relieved the SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports is sealed against both dust and rain. This kind of splashproofing means you can use it in coastal situations I enjoy without worrying if it's up to the task.

I'm mainly a large animal photographer, and years ago I fell in love with seals, from the feisty fur seals on the Namibian Skeleton Coast, to the leviathan elephant seals of South Georgia, or the curious grey seals we find along the British coastline. They're not the prettiest of creatures but they're full of character. Ungainly and cumbersome on land, they're nimble athletes in the water, and both situations can provide interesting images.

SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports,
SONY α7 IV, ISO 1600, F6.3, 1/400s, 487mm

My first outing with this 60-600mm was always going to involve sand, surf and a few seals. Before first light, I found myself standing on the edge of a beach, the crash of unseen waves booming in the darkness, trying to work out whether I could make out the shapes of seals along the shoreline. Were those vague blobs in the far distance animals or rocks?

As the morning transitioned from black to pale blue, and finally a flat grey, I quietly headed into the dunes and looked down on a beach littered with females, and a few pups. I found myself a spot as low as it was possible to be but still raised from the beach so I could be totally hidden and avoid disturbing them.

With such an extensive focal range on the 60-600mm, the choice of approach was enormous, from animals looking small within their environment to frame-fillers at the long end. I think this flexibility is important because it allows us to explore different compositions without having to move as much. The wider shots didn't work so well from my position, so I concentrated on shooting between 300mm and 600mm, picking out interaction between mothers and their offspring.

SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports,
SONY α7 IV, ISO 3200, F6.3, 1/2500s, 454mm

Later the same day I clambered onto a boat to see the view from the opposite direction. Choppy conditions made accurate focusing tricky, and the 'now you see me, now you don't' antics of the seals in the water meant I was twisting and turning my position constantly. I was also grateful the lens was very manageable as I leaned over the side of the boat, trying to shoot from as low to the water as possible!

The flat strip of sandy beach set beneath a threatening, stormy sky and littered with both adults and pups looked more interesting at the lens' wider focal length than the view from the land back to the sea had earlier in the day. With a quick pull or twist (I prefer the pull), it's easy to try different compositions or simply try to keep the subject in the frame as the drift of the boat, and movement on the seals - frequently in opposite directions - continued to test both the lens and photographer.

SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports,
SONY α7 IV, ISO 800, F6.3, 1/1000s, 309mm

SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports,
SONY α7 IV, ISO 200, F6.3, 1/500s, 343mm

On a different day, in beautiful afternoon light, I wandered around to test the 60-600mm capabilities on deer. As the sun started to dip toward the horizon, creating a blaze of late autumnal colour among the ferns, I shot handheld even into the last remnants of light, knowing the very impressive Optical Stabilizer would help me get pinsharp images.

Even when the sun had almost gone, leaving a fiery-orange sky as far as the eye could see, I continued to shoot handheld, composing a gorgeous silhouette of a lone deer standing on a rocky outcrop. What a beautiful way to end the day.