CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Finally after ages of grey and damp horrible winter English weather we finally got a half decent day to get out for a family day out.  We chose Fountains Abbey near Ripon, which is owned by the National Trust and is a World Heritage Site. Beautiful scenery and the remains of the Abbey that was founded in 1132.  Well worth a visit.  Fountains Abbey is approximately two miles outside of Ripon and is one of the largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in the country.  More info at  http://www.fountainsabbey.org.uk/

This image was taken at Thurne on the Norfolk Broads at the end of a short boating break.  The weather had been typically British but as we moored up for the final evening the sun came out and  I managed to capture this picture of the sun setting behind the windmill on the other side of the river.

Why is it when we visit places it is usually away from your own local area?  I am as guilty as most when it comes to photographic locations; I'd much prefer to be up in the Highlands of Scotland.  Well I've decided that it is about time I started exploring the surrounding areas of Grantham where I live so I have set myself the weekly task of visiting somewhere within a 10-mile radius of Grantham and come back with at least one decent image. The first place on my list was the Vale of Belvoir (well the area around Belvoir Castle) so with the sun shining I set off for a couple of hours to see what I could find.  First up was one of my favourite haunts from years ago, the hill above the village of Woolsthorpe by Belvoir looking across the valley to Belvoir Castle. I then moved to the other side of the castle to Jubilee Walk where I came across a Monkey Puzzle tree and some very unusual sheep - white heads with black wool - which I later found out to be the Herdwick bre...

The picture of the week was taken at Potrero de los Funes, near San Luis in Argentina during a thunder storm that was one of the best I've ever witnessed.  Potrero de los Funes is situated on a lake in the middle of the crater of an extinct volcano.  The image itself was quite easy to capture. I set the camera on a tripod and pointed it across the lake towards the town and then opened the shutter on a very long exposure (30 seconds) and waited for the lightening to fork across the sky.  It was a bit hit-and-miss but I got this image on the fifth attempt.

The brand new MacLean Photographic website home page The new website for MacLean Photographic was unveiled at the weekend after several weeks of behind the scenes work.  Websites are difficult things to quantify but one thing is clear, in this day of instant communications your website is the shop window for your activity, whether it is business or pleasure. I have been a professional photographer since leaving the military in 1996.  While the vast majority of my income now comes from MacLean Communications (ie the writing and organisation side of the business) being a competent photographer has enabled me to secure work over other highly experienced PR professionals.  It certainly doesn't hurt to have that extra string to the proverbial bow. Websites are also a personal thing that reflect your business and brand values.  I had investigated the template website option that are available from some very good and reputable firms.  While they offer a quick,...

The FIA GT3 European Championship features race cars that are based on a road going production model from each of the brands taking part in the twelve race series. What is it like to drive the road going version of one of these fire breathing feats of automotive engineering?  Jeff Carter had the pleasant task of finding out when he drove the Audi R8 V10 FSI quattro.   Audi’s motorsport pedigree certainly ranks amongst the world’s best when it comes to building championship winning cars. Audi have won at almost every level from the Le Mans 24 Hours, World Rally Championship and in Touring Cars both in DTM and the Super Touring era worldwide including the BTCC; the German manufacturer’s trophy cabinet is bulging at the seams.  In 2009 Audi added the FIA GT3 European Championship to this roll of honour when the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS powered Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies to the Driver’s Title in the car’s debut season. This made the Audi R...

Welcome to the new MacLean Communications Blog. I will endeavour to keep this blog current and interesting as we move into 2011.  Work travel plans include 17 events this season and I'll be travelling to Abu Dhabi, Portugal (Algarve), Spain (Pamplona), Italy (Monza), France (Marseilles, Nevers and Paris), Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder), Germany (Sachsenring and Dusseldorf), China (Ordos), Brazil (Curitiba), Argentina (San Luis), Russia (Smolensk), The Netherlands (Zandvoort) as well as visits to Silverstone, Thruxton and Croft here in the UK.  On top of this trips to the West Coast of Scotland are planned and I will be endeavouring to add more images to the MacLean Photographic archive on the local area of South Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire / Rutland. All feedback is welcome and thank you for reading this blog.