In almost two decades of taking photos of nature, before this last weekend, I've always used either 60mm or 100mm macro lenses. These lenses are fantastic for getting very close on small details and narrowing in on what you want to isolate in the image.

This lens made me smile when the folks from Rockbrook Camera put it in my hands and told me to go try it out. "Try out the 600mm," they said and handed it to me. When I grabbed it I thought they were kidding and had switched lenses on me: this thing is small and light for a 600mm lens.