CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

After the hectic past few days at the FIA World Endurance Championship test at the Circuit Paul Ricard there was a chance to recharge the batteries before the European Le Mans Series test gets underway by visiting the small harbour town of La Ciotat and then onto Marseilles - more on this in the next few days. Here are some shots of the fishing boats in the harbour at La Ciotat. La Ciotat   is a  commune  in the  Bouches-du-Rhône   department  in the  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur   region  in southern  France . It is part of the metropolitan area of  Marseille Provence . La Ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon.   More on La Ciotat HERE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru fr

'The Prologue' is the official two day pre season test for the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France.  The second day on the 29 March was a public day and as well as a press conference to introduce some of the new drivers taking part in the WEC in 2014, there was also a pitwalk and autograph session at lunch time. Here are some of the shots taken on this very busy day at Le Castellet. For more information on the FIA World Endurance Championship CLICK HERE Images taken on a Fujifilm X100 or Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 55-200mm f3.5/f4.8 or Fujinon 14mm f2.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping

This morning the MacLean Photographic blog passed another milestone with the 200,000th visitor to the site since I started this blog in February 2011.  As you can see by the graphic below the majority of these visits have taken place since November 2012 and in total I have posted 640 times in the past three years. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my articles and look at the images. I will continue to strive to improve the content as we head further into 2014.  

Continuing the 10 week photographic project in and around Dunbar of pointing the camera lens above the eye-line and capturing the tops of buildings and views that we normally don't notice. The spire of the old chapel at the eastern end of the High Street The 25 pound gun on the headland, taken from below on the coastal path John Muir's House on the High Street CLICK HERE for Part 5 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 4 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 3 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 2 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 1 of the 'Look Up' Project Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 55-200mm f3.5/f4.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for e

Next door to the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet is a small airport that is used for a variety of purposes. Yesterday we saw one of the Sécurité Civile water bombing aircraft practicing the water scoop approaches using the runway instead of the sea. This area of France is prone to forest fires in the summer months and these aircraft are a vital line of defence for the local population. Sécurité Civile aircraft operate for the Rescue operation and civil-military cooperation branch under the Groupement des Moyens Aériens Sécurité Civile (Aerial Group). Aircraft carry the title SECURITE CIVILE on the fuselage sides, together with the international civil defence symbol. The aircraft are divided into the Groupement des Helicopteres de la Securite Civile (Helicopter Group) and the Groupement des Avions Bombardiers d'Eau (Water Bomber Group). Water Bomber Group: 12 Bombardier CL-415s are currently operated by the Sécurité Civile, each able to drop 5,800 L of sea water that

Some of the 31 cars that will compete in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship lined up in front of the cameras this evening at the Circuit Paul Ricard.  The sun shone and the skies were blue. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog please visit our  Facebook  page and click 'like'

Today I will be flying to the South of France for the official tests of the FIA World Endurance Championship (called The Prologue) and European Le Mans Series in my capacity as the Media Delegate for both championships.   Here are a couple of images from last year and I hope to get the opportunity to try out some new ideas during the eight days I am in Le Castellet from the 26 March until the 3 April. Images taken on a Nikon D800 + Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND

On Saturday I climbed to the top of Traprain Law for the first time to see what the view was like.  I certainly wasn't disappointed and was also rewarded with some beautiful light. This imposing rock juts out of the East Lothian countryside near East Linton to a height of 221m and is a  Site of Specific Scientific Interest   and an ancient monument because of the prehistoric hill fort that was discovered on the summit and the 5th century treasure that was discovered in May 1919. Looking east towards Dunbar and the North Sea - Looking north towards Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle - And looking west towards the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh - For more information on Traprain Law visit the East Lothian Countryside Ranger Service website HERE . Here is a timelapse video taken from the summit looking towards Dunbar on the Nikon D800 Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 35mm f1.4 or 55-200mm f3.5/4.8 lenses -----------------------------

On Saturday evening I walked to the summit of Traprain Law for the first time since we moved to Dunbar last summer.  The hill might only be 221 metres high  but the views over East Lothian are spectacular - more on this on tomorrow's blog. Most of the hill is grass land and designated as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its botanical and geological interests as well as having Ancient Monument designation.   To maintain the botanical interest on the Law and minimise the risk of fire, grazing has taken place for a number of years. Initially sheep were used, but since 2012 13 Exmoor ponies have been grazing the hill. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 14mm f2.8 lens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click

Aston Martin are probably the coolest cars on the planet and if you follow this blog you will be aware that I had the privilege of driving a V12 Vantage S last week for a feature that will appear on the FIAWEC.com website and in the 6 Hours of Silverstone programme on Easter weekend. These are two of the car displays at the company HQ at Gaydon in Warwickshire where I picked up and dropped off the Vantage and I am sure you agree these are fabulous to look at. The shot below is of the actual car I drove for two days and I was quite sad to leave it here in the car park.  But boy was it a fun couple days.  Next month I'll share the other images and my experience of this fantastic car. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 18mm f2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert

Another week and another three images continuing the on going photographic project of taking images above the eye-line in and around Dunbar. The first shot was was taken from the slipway leading onto East Beach and looking across towards Dunbar Church.  The second shot below is the top of a house on the corner of Westgate and Lawson Place. The third and final shot is from the top of the building above the Bank of Scotland on the High Street. Part 6 of this series will be posted next Saturday (29 March) CLICK HERE for Part 4 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 3 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 2 of the 'Look Up' Project CLICK HERE  for Part 1 of the 'Look Up' Project Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 55-200mm f3.5/f4.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS

Apart from the UV filters I have screwed to the front of the lenses to protect the front element of these expensive pieces of photographic equipment I have three types of filters in my camera bag. 1. Neutral Density Graduated Filters - Lee 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 soft grad 2. 10x ND Filter - Lee Big Stopper 3. Hoya Pro1 Polariser filter The polariser is a very useful filter as it performs more than one function.  The main one is it will boost the colour saturation of the landscapes, most noticeably it will boost the saturation of a blue sky.  A polariser also cuts through reflections, such as surface water and car paintwork.  And finally it cuts the light entering the lens by two stops so it can act as a 2x ND filter to allow a slower shutter speed to be used in bright light. The shot at the top of the page was taken with the X-Pro1 and 14mm f2.8 lens fitted with a polariser.  The shot below is the same scene without the polariser. Here is another scene taken on the beach n

This is the view that greets me every morning when I walk or drive to the end of our road.  This is Bass Rock out in the Firth of Forth and the tree is on the edge of Winterfield Golf Course. Even after three months of living in Dunbar this view still blows me away. Image taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 55-200mm f3.5/f4.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog please visit our  Facebook  page an

For the past two days I have been driving around in a road going Aston Martin for a website / print feature. This will be a Road Car / Race Car article for the programme for FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Silverstone event on the 18-20 April ( www.fiawec.com ) Myself and my photographer John Rourke have been running around Oxfordshire and Worcestershire with this beautiful Aston Martin V12 Vantage S and the results will be available next month.  This is a taster of part of the shoot in the garages at Silverstone.  Images taking on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 55-200mm or Fujifilm X100 (image 3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ------------

This cross at Seacliff is the southern end of the line that marks the beginning of the Firth of Forth for ships heading into Leith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog please visit our  Facebook  page and click 'like'