CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

UPDATE SATURDAY 3 MARCH:  Due to the winter weather the event organisers have called off next weekend's rally.   CLICK HERE to see the official press release MacLean Photographic will be running a workshop on the Border Counties Rally on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 March in the Scottish Borders. Based in the town of Jedburgh each day will consist of photographing the start, a special stage out in the forests and a service area.  Professional motorsport photographer Jeff Carter will be your host on each day and will teach you how to get  some stunning images from the cars competing in the British and Scottish Rally Championships from the spectator areas. There will be a maximum of three people on each day so you will be guaranteed to have Jeff's attention to help you improve your photography. The workshop is run on each day with a maximum of three people each day.  The cost is £150 per person per day. While Jeff Carter is a Fujifilm X Photogra...

I have long been a fan of long exposure landscape photography and one of my MacLean Photographic workshops is called the Long Exposure Landscape workshop. Blurring the moving elements in a composition with a strong non moving subject is something I look for when out and about with my camera. Until recently I relied on my Lee 10x ND filter or 'Big Stopper' as it is more commonly known.  This turned a shutter speed of 1/15s into a 1 minute exposure due it blocking the light hitting the sensor by a factor of 10.  When the light is subdued in the early morning or late evening it was easy to get an exposure time of 1 or 2 minutes with a Big Stopper fitted but during the day, which is when my workshops take place, a 10x ND was only giving me a 30s exposure at best. So I turned to the Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 16x ND filter.  A 1/30s exposure without the filter becomes 35 minutes with the 16x ND in place, making it a much better proposition in bright sunlight.  ...

The River Tyne Estuary in East Lothian is at the western end of Belhaven Bay a couple of miles from Dunbar. The John Muir Country Park is on the eastern shore and Tyningham woods is on the west shore.    At low tide the mudflats and sandbanks are revealed and the estuary is home to a whole host of wading birds taking advantage of the abundant food sources along the shoreline. On the west shore the rock formations revealed by the receding tide are  fascinating  and a great source of inspiration for photography. Tyne Estuary + John Muir Country Park from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . The Tyne Estuary and John Muir Country Park is one of the locations on the MacLean Photographic workshops. For more information visit  www.macleanphotographic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS O...

Last week I hosted a Maclean Photographic workshop and one of my clients wanted to know how to get images of birds in flight using her X-T20 and XC50-230mm lens.   At this time of year the seabirds along the East Lothian coast are starting to return and I knew there were Fulmars starting to set up home in the cliffs above the beach at Seacliff.  So that is where we headed for a couple of hours to get some pictures of the Fulmars ( Fulmarus glacialis). While my client was using her X-T20 I decided to put the new Fujifilm X-H1 fitted with the XF100-400mm lens through it's paces to test the Auto Focus capabilities and I am pleased to say it is as good shooting wildlife as it is shooting sport. Fulmars Glacialis Fulmars are actually related to the mighty albatross and they fly low over the sea on stiff wings and shallow wingbeats.  They glide on the sea breezes and nest high up in the cliff faces, riding the  up draughts.  Fulmars defend their nest...

Wednesday was perfect drone flying weather so I packed the DJI Mavic Pro and headed out to Hailes Castle on the bank of the River Tyne near East Linton (no, not the River Tyne in the North East of England in Newcastle) to shoot the next promo video for the MacLean Photographic workshops. I did several passes of the castle from varying heights and also took some video clips using the new Fujifilm X-H1. On Thursday I was hosting a 'Beaches and Castles' workshop and we decided to head up to Hailes Castle for the afternoon.  Unfortunately the weather had clouded over so we shot long exposure images of the waterfall and some shots of the snowdrops in the trees. All of the shots below were shot on the Fujifilm X-H1 with the 10-24mm f4 or 50-140mm f2.8 lenses. For more information on the MacLean Photographic workshops CLICK HERE For more information on the history of Hailes Castle CLICK HERE -----------------------------------------------...

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF90mm f2 With 2018 being Winter Olympics year, we decided to feature a winter sport that will be one of the highlights of the games in South Korea - Ice Hockey. There are twelve clubs playing in the Elite League, the premiership of the ice hockey world, and I contacted my local club, the Edinburgh Capitals, to feature a home game against the Guildford Flames for part 11 of the ‘Sports Photography as a Spectator’ series.  Ice Hockey is played at a high level in the UK and attracts players from all over the world. The game takes place over three 20-minute periods and is fast and exciting to watch.There are six players from each team on the ice at any one time but they rotate the players from the bench regularly, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with which players are on the ice.   Sports Photography as a Spectator Part 11: Ice Hockey from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . I took along the new  Fujifilm  X-H1 and two X...

I have been shooting a series of aerial videos of East Lothian and the Scottish Borders to promote the various locations that we visit during the MacLean Photographic workshops. The location at Seacliff has to rank as the favourite location as a destination on one of the workshops as it has a bit of everything.  The beach itself is a beautiful present of golden sand flanked at each end by a rocky outcrop. Seacliff Beach, East Lothian from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . At the eastern end stands St Baldred's Cross which marks the beginning of the Firth of Forth and at the western end is the Gegan which boasts Scotland's smallest harbour.   The views from any part of Seacliff are fantastic with Tantallon Castle standing on the headland across the bay to the west and to the north is Bass Rock, a plug of volcanic rock jutting out of the sea, which is home to the world's largest colony of Northern Gannets from March until October. The aerial footage was taken ...