CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

As a photographer occasionally I am asked to try new products that offer something different from their competitors or sometimes offer a different solution.  I was asked to try a lens cleaning product that claimed to use 100% natural ingredients and be 100% safe for pets and children.  Lens cleaning products contain chemicals and I try to minimise my use of harmful chemicals in every part of my daily life where possible. The RCS Products lens cleaner is described on their website as 'made from natural plant derivatives, organic salts and minerals and is a non-smear product that absorbs dirt rather than chemically breaking it down'. I decided to test it on an X20 lens and LCD screen.  I made a greasy thumb print on the lens to see how it would cope in removing it.  I have to say I noticed no different between the ease of removal between the usual chemical based lens cleaner I use and the RCS Products lens cleaner.  I then cleaned the eye piece and the LC...

Reigning FIA World Endurance Champion Mark Webber being interviewed during the event in Texas In November 2014 I had the opportunity to test the Fujifilm X100T alongside my original X100 Black Limited Edition ( CLICK HERE to see the blog).  At the time I thought the X100T was a big step up from the X100 and that I might be persuaded to upgrade from the camera that started my X Series journey. However I never did.  Not because the X100T wasn't the leap forward that I eluded to in my test, it was just that funds needed to be spent on my X-T1s and XF lenses for my work and I couldn't justify the expense when the X100 was still a great camera to use (it still is!). Anyway, nearly two years later I have finally got an X100T and it is still superb.  The small body, the build quality, the 16mp X-Trans sensor and that sublime Fujinon 23mm f2 lens all go together to make the photographic experience a joy.   Yes, compared to my X-Pro2 and X-T2 the AF is a lot slowe...

As well as shooting high resolution trackside and pitlane action, European Le Mans Series official photo agency Adrenal Media are always looking to provide the series with some very special images from each of the events.  Creative Director John Rourke invited Proton Competition to bring both of the Porsche 911 RSR 991 race cars to La Source at Spa-Francorchamps to photograph them using a rig. The rig is a 6 metre carbon fibre four section boom made by UK firm Car Camera Rig that is fixed to the car using high powered suction clamps.  The camera, which is a Fujifilm X-T2 fitted with a 10-24mm ultra wide angle zoom lens, is then fixed in position to the end of the boom.  This allows Adrenal Media to take images from a position that would not be possible to take when the cars are on track. Using a long shutter speed of between 8 to 10 seconds the movement in the shot is achieved at walking pace by pushing the cars and the result is an image that makes it look lik...

This weekend I am in Belgium for the fifth round of the 2016 European Le Mans Series at Spa-Francorchamps. On arriving at the circuit for the first day of track action this morning, we were greeted with a beautiful scene over the Ardennes forest with mist hanging just above the trees. Using the Fujifilm X-T2 and the XF50-140mm f2.8 I captured these images before the light changed.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 th...

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm  0.5s @ f22 ISO100 As regular readers of this blog will know I love pushing the boundaries with the performance of my equipment and also the exposure.  A good motorsport image will portray the sense of speed and the slower the shutter speed used the more the sense of speed is enhanced. While working trackside on Saturday evening at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas while the sun was setting to the west of the track, I decided to push the shutter speed from the usual 1/30th second to 0.5 seconds for a few laps.  The sun had just set and the sky was a vibrant orange.  The light reflecting off the red, white and blue stripes at the edge of the circuit and the metal barriers provided the framing for the cars speeding away from me across the frame. With the cars traveling at over 150mph at this point of the circuit, the intention was to get a lot of movement in the car, to almost get an impressionists view of a race car tr...

The fourth edition of the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas, which is the 6th round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, took place in Texas yesterday in sweltering conditions.  The thermometer hit 96 degrees F / 36 degrees Celsius - it was VERY hot! I took the opportunity to get some shots during the build up to the race and then capture some track images as the sun went down and the race finished under the stars. Once again the event was organised very well by the US crew and Austin is a great place to visit.  Next stop on the WEC calendar is the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan but before that I head to Belgium for the next round of the European Le Mans Series at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend. Here are some images from the build up and race taken on the Fujifilm X-T2.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY V...

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF50-140mm f2.8 (140mm) - 1/60 @ f2.8 ISO1600 Racing after sunset is part of the DNA of endurance racing and presents the photographer with some fantastic photo opportunities but also with some unique challenges.  I went trackside during the night practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship event at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas with the Fujifilm X-T2 and the XF50-140mm f2.8. With floodlighting and car headlights getting the right exposure is going to tax any automatic exposure system so I set the shutter speed, aperture and ISO manually to ensure that the variation in light doesn't affect the end image. Fujifilm X-T2 + XF50-140mm f2.8 (50mm) - 1/30 @ f2.8 ISO400 The image above of the no42 Strakka Racing Gibson is a good example where I exposed for the pool of light and waited for the car to cross into the correct place.  The autofocus system on the X-T2 was able to track the car perfectly, in fact I used t...

After Mexico City the FIA World Endurance Championship headed north to the city of Austin in Texas for the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas, Round 6 of the FIA WEC. This is a shot I took in the first Free Practice session of the no7 Audi R18 of Andre Lotterer negotiating some of the fast corners on the track which are bordered by the red, white and blue lines that are a hallmark of this track in Texas. The second shot below was from the same position and is of Gianmaria Bruni in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488. The images were shot on the Fujifilm X-T2 and XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6, with the exposure of 1/200s @ f11 ISO200.  The camera was set to continuous AF and I was able to follow the car at high speed through the corners to capture this image.

I have to be honest, I did travel to Mexico with many preconceptions on what I would find there, views that were mainly formed by what I have read in the UK media and advice from the Foreign Office.  However I was pleased to discover that many of these preconceptions were unfounded thanks to the fact that we were given a tour of real Mexico by friends through Fujifilm. The people of Mexico were welcoming and proud of their country and their culture. On the first day in Mexico City Jaime Pastelin, who runs the FujiX meXico Facebook group, invited myself and fellow X Photographer John Rourke to join him and some fellow group members on a photo walk of the historic part of Mexico City and also out to the suburb of Coroycan. Now with any city around the world parts can be dangerous if you don't take care.  Try not to look like a tourist, don't have cameras and expensive watches on show and try to blend in. Also find out where the no go areas are and don't go alone. ...