CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Simple things sometimes make interesting subjects, especially when using a macro lens.  This two pence coin was lit from above and shot with a Nikon D800 fitted with a Nikon 105mm f2.8 micro. The image was taken with a shallow depth of field and shot along the coin so the focus was on the figure 2 on the reverse. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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' ...

On the first morning of our stay on Mull I got up early to go for what has become a traditional walk on the path towards the lighthouse on the entrance to Tobermory Bay.  However I didn't get very far on this morning because the sight of thousands of bluebells and wild garlic flowers had me reaching for my camera. Here are some of the images I captured - All images taken on a Nikon D700 or Nikon D800 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 WITHO...

This is a bridle path that leads down the hill to the village of Branston in the Vale of Belvoir. Regular visitors to this will have noticed that I love images with strong lead in lines, which lead the viewing into the image.  This shot does this perfectly, pointing the way to the village of Branston on the hill in the distance. Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G VR micro, 1/100 @ f16, ISO800 - Lee 0.9 ND Grad ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 PERMIS...

While out and about in the Vale of Belvoir we spotted this field near Barkestone that was full of Dandelion Clocks so we stopped to get a few images before the wind destroyed the scene. Composition was difficult with such a mass of white so with the 105mm f2.8 on the camera I set the tripod very low to get a shot across the field. With a wide aperture I was able to isolate one clock head while throwing the rest out of focus in the background. I used the same technique with the 17-35 lens, a wide aperture to throw the background out of focus but this time I was able to include the sky to give a different perspective to the scene. The final shot was taken on the Nikon 50mm f1.4 at the widest aperture and I singled out one clock head with just a green background. All images taken on the Nikon D800 with a 105mm f2.8G (top), 17-35mm f2.8 (middle) and 50mm f1.4D (bottom). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Not being a great gardener I don't get out in the garden as much as I should but we are lucky that we have plenty of plants that look after themselves.  This is one of them, the Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) which is a native plant that has small blue flowers on this green nettle-like plant seen by the pathside.  It does grow like a weed, it probably is classes as a weed by proper gardeners, but it does produce a big display of blue flowers in our garden. image taken on a Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm f2.8G AF-S VR micro, 1/60th @ f5.6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 I will be flying south to Marseilles for seven days at the Paul Ricard track for European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship testing and a special event on Thursday when Porsche will be unveiling their FIA WEC works challenger to the media. The temperature in Marseilles is currently a balmy 17 degrees centigrade compared to the freezing conditions here in the UK.  After 24 hours of snowfall the sun finally came out this evening and I grabbed the camera to get some shots of icicles back lit by the setting sun. Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro - 1/1600 @ f8 - ISO800 Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro - 1/80 @ f5.6 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro - 1/200 @ f4.3 - ISO800 I am looking forward to leaving the freezing conditions behind and I hope that spring finally arrives in the UK while I'm away. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

More bad weather today meant no outdoor photography so it was back to the simple desk top studio set up.  On the Digital SLR Photography Magazine CC group page on Facebook we have a weekly challenge and this week's subject is 'flora', which provided me with the perfect subject for my desktop studio. Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro - 1/3 @ f9 - ISO100   A black cloth provided the back drop to the low key set up with a white rose as the subject.  The light was provided in the main from my office window, with a small desktop lamp providing some additional lighting when needed. Using the Nikon D800 and a Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro lens, I set about trying different settings and lighting to see what I could get from the set up.  The first shot is very basic, with the rose placed to the left and leaning into the picture. The black space to the right can be used to put text for either a card or a magazine page.  It is always useful to provide ...

Another day of bad weather in Grantham had me looking for something to photograph indoors.  As it is Mother's Day tomorrow here in the UK we had some flowers in the house so I 'borrowed' one for a quick table top studio shoot in my office. After several images from various angles of the flower head I decided to go for a macro shot and put a drop of water on the petals to give a point of focus. Using the Nikon D800 fitted with the Nikon 105mm f2.8G micro and a very simple set up using a LED head torch as the light source, I decided to then try one shot with a very large depth of field and one with a shallow depth of field. Here are the results - Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G AF-S micro - 1/15 @ f9 - ISO 100 Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G AF-S micro - 5s @ f51 - ISO 100 Simple set up - Nikon D800 - Nikon 105mm f2.8G AF-S micro - LED Head Torch as the light source -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...