The Scottish Parliament Building

-

Yesterday evening I had a couple of hours to kill in Edinburgh so I headed down to the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood with the Fujinon 18mm f2 fitted to the X-T1 to see what I could photograph.  Sometimes I like to go out with one camera and one lens and see what I can find to photograph.  I have no idea or agenda, it is bit of a photography magical mystery tour and sometimes I come up trumps and sometimes the trip is a bust.  Luckily on this occasion it was a case for the former rather than the latter.

The Scottish Parliament building sits at the bottom of the Royal Mile opposite Holyrood Palace and since construction started in 1999 it has divided opinion with regards to its modern design.  It is certainly a 'marmite' building, you either love it or hate it due to its radical look.

 Designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles, who died before the building was completed, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the new building on 9 October 2004, one month after the first formal debate took place on the 7 September and three years later than originally planned.  The original estimate of £40 million overran by ten times that amount prompting a major public enquiry.

 The building aimed to achieve a poetic union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture and the city of Edinburgh and has won many awards. 

I decided to switch the X-T1 to Black and White (red) film simulation mode but, as usual, I also kept the camera set to RAW + JPEG so I had the original RAW files as well, which records all the image data, including the colours.

 The striking architecture was set against the dramatic clouds that were scudding across Edinburgh and for the next hour I indulged in capturing some different angles in and around this iconic building.

 CLICK HERE for more information on the Scottish Parliament Building and HERE to visit the Scottish Parliament website.





All images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF18mm f2R
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE
By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.  CLICK HERE for more details and availability

If you like what you see on this blog please visit our Facebook page and click 'like'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: The New Fujinon 2x Converter

-
Image
Yesterday Fujifilm launched the latest edition to the Fujinon XF lens line up, the XF 2X TC WR teleconverter for use with the XF50-140mm f2.8 and XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 zoom lenses.  In April I was invited by Fujifilm to test the new converter and here are my thoughts on this new lens. Before I go into details I need to be upfront about something.  I've never been a fan of 2x converters because the optical quality of the lens is usually affected to a large degree.   I did have a 1.4x and 2x converter for my lenses when I was shooting with Nikon. While the 1.4x converter was regularly attached to my long f2.8 lenses, the 2x converter was probably used about three times in the 18 years I used Nikkor lenses.  I didn't like the results when using the converter so tended to not use it. Anyway back to the X-Series!  The 1.4x Fujinon converter was launched in 2015 and I have been a fan of this diminutive lens attachment on both the 50-140mm and 100-400mm....
Read more

Review: Little and Large - Using a Fujifilm X-T20 for Sport

-
Image
In July 2015 I posted a review of the Fujifilm X-T10 which I tested alongside my X-T1 as a lightweight alternative to the larger and more expensive camera.  So when Fujifilm announced the launch of the X-T20 I was keen to put one to the test.   I took an X-T20 along with me to the FIA World Endurance Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps and also shot the TCR International Series race during the European Le Mans Series event in Monza.  I also took a few shots with it during the recent Water Ski event at Hazelwood Ski Centre last month and these three events really put the X-T20 through its paces. Like the X-T10, the T20 is tiny compared to it's bigger brother.  Even with the battery grip removed from the T2,  the picture above shows the larger camera dwarfing the X-T20.   Now this can be seen as a good thing if you are traveling and need a lightweight camera with a big punch but when using it with long lenses such as the 50-140mm or 100-400m...
Read more

REVIEW: Using Nikon Lenses on a Fuji X Camera

-
Image
I've been using the Fujifilm X-Pro1 for the past month and I haven't enjoyed my photography so much since I bought the Fuji X100 12 months earlier.  The only issue I have with the X-Pro1 is the lack of a long telephoto lens.  The longest lens I have is the 60mm f2.4, which is the equivalent of a 90mm telephoto; it's a great lens but I sometimes wish my Fuji system had a bit more pulling power.   Fuji have provided the X system with a telephoto zoom, the 55-200mm f3.5 / f4.8 R LM OIS and I will be testing this lens next week for three days. I will be showing the results on this blog. However my Nikon kit has one of the best short telephoto zooms in the world, the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D.  I bought this lens brand new in 1996 for £1600.00 and it has been a faithful companion ever since. I've bought and sold plenty of SLRs / DSLRs in the past 18 years but I've never felt the need to upgrade the 80-200mm because it is still optically the best lens I own and it ha...
Read more