CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

A few weeks ago we visited Venice for the first time and the city lives up to it's reputation as a photographers paradise.  I had to be careful not to overdo it as this was a weekend for my wife and I to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and to have a camera permanently glued to my face would've been the wrong thing to do. Check out the blogs on Venice HERE (Venice with two lenses) and HERE (Details of Venice) Now I have been a fan of the square format since I started photography and dreamed of owning a 6x6 Hasselblad medium format camera.  The square format is iconic in photographic circles (sorry about the pun!) and when I see an image that suits 1:1 format then I shoot it with that in mind.   While the X-Pro2 can shoot 1:1 format images I prefer to shoot the images 3:2 and then crop in post production as it gives me the flexibility that I wouldn't have if I shot it in camera.  That isn't to say I don't shoot 1:1 in camera, in the same way I ...

Well I have reached the six month point of using the new Fujifilm X-Pro2 in the field and now it is time to report back on my findings.   As an X-Photographer I obtained a pre production model back in November 2015 and was asked to fully test its capabilities and send my feedback on a regular basis.  This meant that the final version that was launched in January 2016 in Tokyo (where I was invited to take part in the press conference ) that finally hit the shelves in February / March had received some real world testing from the 100 X-Photographer chosen worldwide using the camera in a variety of different situations. I now own a production model and the finished product is a great camera. I received the prototype X-Pro2 on my return from the last round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain and the end of November so I wasn't able to test the X-Pro2 on motorsport until well into 2016.  As regular readers of this blog will know I also tested the 1...

Using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF50-140mm f2.8 fitted with the 2x converter I took some close shots of the various row boats moored at the Balmaha harbour on Loch Lomond. In the strong afternoon sunshine the various colours and textures made for some interesting images. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 In June 2015 Jeff Car...

Last week I bought a DICAPAC waterproof case for the Fujifilm X-T1 for a project I am working on and yesterday evening I took it for a test run in the rock pools at Skateraw harbour just along the coast from Dunbar. I attached the case to my monopod using a Manfrotto Mini Clamp and a Peak Design leash attached to the case as a safety line should the clamp fail. Using the XF18mm f2 lens on the X-T1 I set the camera to interval timer, set at 1 second intervals, and put the case in the water as the surf rolled over the rocks. I took around 200 images and while most were binned before downloading I got several 'keepers' from this unorthodox method, including the images you see on this blog. The camera was bone dry when I removed it from the case but I still put several sachets of silica gel in the bag just in case any water got through the seals. I will run a second test very soon, probably setting the WiFi remote app on the camera to see if it will work underwater ...

This image was taken from the ferry back to Balmaha from Inchcailloch island.  On the short crossing we passed a yacht heading out of the small anchorage towards the north end of Loch Lomond.   Using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 with the XF50-140mm f2.8 lens and 2x converter I captured this shot from a low angle close to the water. The shot below was taken a short time later as a small motorboat also headed out of the Balmaha boatyard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Phot...

Yesterday we visited the small Scottish island of Inchcailloch, a 52 hectare piece of land situated in Loch Lomond and reached by a short ferry ride from the little village of Balmaha on the loch's eastern shore. Inchcailloch lies in the south east corner of Loch Lomond, within Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and is cloaked by oak woodland which is particularly important because of its rich flora and distinctive communities of mosses, lichens and birds.  There are also deer on the island but we didn't see any during our short visit. The ferry goes from Balmaha boat yard , which is a short walk from the free public car park.  The return trip costs £5 per person and runs from 9am to 5pm.  The 'Margaret' was our boat, a beautiful wooden vessel that was built in Cockenzie in 1947 for the Balmaha Boat Yard. The crossing to the North Pier on Inchcailloch took around 5 minutes and then we had two hours to explore the island.  The...