CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Richard Lietz - no91 Porsche 911 RSR  Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 (zoom 400mm) - 1/2000s @ f5.6 ISO200 Today is race day here at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas, which is hosting round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.  The race will begin at 12h00 local time, which is 18h00 in the UK. The most iconic landmark on the circuit is the observation tower, which stands 251 feet / 77 metres above the track and gives a panoramic view of the circuit and the Texas countryside.  At Turn 10 on the track the cars crest a small rise in the track and by moving down the fenceline you can place the top of the tower in the shot behind the car.   The image at the top of the page was taken during Free Practice 3 at 10h30 on Friday morning, while the shot below was taken at the same point but at 17h15 on Thursday afternoon during Free Practice 2.   no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE - Alessandro Pier Guidi / no36 Signatech Alpin...

Marcel Fassler - Audi Sport Team Joest During a World Endurance Championship weekend there are plenty of opportunities for the fans and the media to meet the drivers and leading members of the team.   Patrick Dempsey - Dempsey Proton Racing Yesterday in the media centre we held several of these opportunities, including Audi's 'Meet the Team' and the 'Mixed Zone' where the drivers who took part in qualifying gathered to talk about their efforts to the media. Patrick Long American Porsche works driver Patrick Long also took part in a 'Twitter Chat' which gave the fans the opportunity to put questions to him. I took these shots on the Fujifilm X-T1 with the Fujinon XF90mm f2 Dr Wolfgang Ullrich- Audi Sport Team Joest Loic Duval - Audi Sport Team Joest Andre Lotterer - Audi Sport Team Joest Neel Jani - Porsche Team Patrick Dempsey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Once again we held a pre event press conference on the first day of action for Round 5 of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Texas.  Six of the drivers taking part in the event faced the media gathered for the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas.   The drivers were Fernando Rees from Aston Martin Racing, Patrick Long from Dempsey Proton Racing, Scott Sharp from Tequila Patron ESM, Ricardo Gonzalez from G-Drive Racing, Mike Conway from Toyota Gazoo Racing and Paul Dalla Lana from Aston Martin Racing. As usual I filmed the press conference on the Fujifilm X-T1 fitted with the XF10-24mm f4, which was then uploaded to the WEC YouTube Channel.  Using the second X-T1 with the XF50-140mm f2.8 I took pictures of the drivers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you ...

Photographing a firework display is pretty easy and the results can be spectacular.  I recently had two opportunities to photograph fireworks, the first in Italy and the second in Texas during the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Circuit of the Americas near Austin. A sturdy tripod and a remote release are required to enable you to take long exposure shots.  Pointing the camera towards the firework display I usually set the aperture to f11 and open the shutter for 10 seconds (with the ISO set to 200).  I then review the image and adjust the exposure accordingly.  I also try to include some foreground interest so the images are not just explosions against a dark sky.  On the final evening of our week long stay in Italy we were treated to a spectacular firework display which was visible from our apartment balcony in San Siro.   The display was being launched from the headland in Rezzonico, which was north of the commune of San Siro. F...

In Texas last weekend the video mode on the Fujifilm X-T1 was used to record and stream the press conferences on all three days of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Circuit of the Americas. The overall podium press conference took place immediately after the race and featured the winning crew from Audi, Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, who were joined by the second placed crew, also from Audi, Tom Kristensen, Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi.  In third were Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Lapierre.  The video was psoted on the FIA WEC Daily Motion channel and it can be seen below   Overall Podium Race Press Conference - 6 Hours... by fiawec Starting on Thursday we held the traditional pre event press conference with drivers from the top teams and also some local drivers to help drive media awareness in the local area.   CLICK HERE to see the video. On Friday we held the Qualifying Press Conference ...

Yesterday morning I received the Fujinon XF56mm f1.2R that I have had on order and I was able to give it a quick run out during the drivers briefing ahead of the FIA World Endurance Championship event at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas. I have had two short test sessions with this lens in May and in June  which persuaded me to buy a copy of this lens for my growing Fujifilm X-Series kit.  I will be doing a full report on this lens once I have given it a thorough test but the initial impressions are this lens is deserving of the positive plaudits it has been receiving in the press and on the internet. These three images were shot on the Fujifilm X-T1 with the Fujinon XF56mm f1.2 and converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you a...

Part of the process of preparing for a race weekend is the requirement for all cars to be submitted for scrutineering.  These are a set of technical checks  to ensure that each car complies with the many regulations that govern the FIA World Endurance Championship.   Scrutineering takes most of the day from early morning to late evening.  This shot is of the no14 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb, one of first cars to go through the technical checks ahead of the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Image taken on the Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS and converted to black and white in NIK Silver Efex Pro2. For more information on the FIA World Endurance Championship event at CoTA CLICK HERE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are ...

Today is set up day ahead of this weekend's FIA World Endurance Championship race at the Circuit of the America's in Austin, Texas.  After a long journey by sea freight from Europe the teams are busily unpacking the containers and rebuilding their race cars ahead of this weekend's event. Track action begins on Thursday afternoon so the teams have two days to set up their garages and prepare the cars for battle.   The 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas is the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the first of five rounds outside of Europe.  This race in USA will be followed by 6 hour races in Japan, China, Bahrain, with the season concluding in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the 30th November. For further information on the FIA WEC CLICK HERE More images can be found on the FIA WEC Facebook feed HERE Images shot with a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------...

In June the ACO celebrated the 90th anniversary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans that was held in 1923.  At each of the FIA World Endurance Championship events there has been a special presentation to the oldest surviving competitor in each of the nations we visit and presentations have been made in England, Belgium, France and Brazil.  In Austin it was the turn of the American drivers, with 93 year old Richard Thompson receiving an entry into the 24 Heures du Man Hall of Fame.  Unfortunately Richard, also known as the 'Flying Dentist', was unable to travel from Florida to Texas but a video presentation was shown to the assembled guests. In addition Corvette acrried a special panel on the back of its cars taking part in Saturday's American Le Mans Series race with the names of all of the 307 American drivers who have competed at Le Mans in the last 90 years.  For more information visit the ACO website HERE Image taken on a Fuji X100 ...

One of the highlights of any FIA World Endurance Championship meeting is the opportunity to walk on the grid before the start of the race.  The atmosphere at this time is electric as the teams and drivers prepare for the start.  There is also a carnival atmosphere as VIP, media and fans mingle with the drivers, teams, grid girls and other participants. These shots were taken yesterday during the build up of the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Images taken on a Nikon D800, Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Tuesday evening in Austin and one of the LMP1 race cars from the FIA World Endurance Championship was on display outside the W Hotel along with promo girls and lots of giveaways to raise awareness of the race that will take place at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.  I went down to take a few pictures for the official website and Facebook page and talk to the members of the local media who attended the event. Images taken on a Fuji X100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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...