CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Built in the 12th Century, Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) is one of the highlights of any visit to the French capital city and draw for tourists from around the world.  I hadn't been to the cathedral since 2013 and so we took the opportunity to walk around the grounds during our visit to Paris at the end of July. Notre Dame is an impressive building, standing in a commanding position on the eastern end of the Ile de Cite on the banks of the River Seine.  It is very easy to be swept away by the grandeur of the architecture and miss the details that pervade every corner.  So I decided to take some detail shots of the building using the X-T1 and 90mm f2 lens. The western facade of Notre Dame, which is the main entrance to the cathedral, is full of details with figures carved into the arches and statues standing in rows.  Each figure is part of the bigger picture and each has a story to tell.  As we moved around the south side of the cat...

Ever since I have became a professional photographer, back in 1996, I have had an ultra wide angle lens in my camera bag.  In recent years I have used the Sigma 10-20mm f4.5/5.6 for the Nikon D300S / Nikon D90 and when I moved to full frame I used the superb Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S for the Nikon D700 / D800.   Now, as part of the move exclusively to the Fujifilm X-Series system, the Nikon 17-35mm has been sold to fund the new Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R, which is the equivalent of 15-36mm in full frame terms.  I picked up the new lens from Park Cameras' London store on Friday morning and took it along to St Paul's Cathedral to test it out with the X-T1 before heading to the press conference for Nissan's LMP1 announcement .   Firstly the 10-24mm is not a small lens, in fact only the 55-200mm is larger in the Fuji XF inventory. BUT the widest XF lens has the same high build quality as all the other Fujinon lens and I am pleased to report that the reviews and test result...

After spending 4 days in Spielberg for the European Le Mans Series race at the Red Bull Ring we headed back to Vienna airport to catch the plane home.  However with a couple of hours to spare we headed into Vienna to have lunch in the main square near St Stephen's cathedral. We decided to climb the 300 steps to the viewing platform of the South Tower of the cathedral, which at 136 metres is the most dominant feature on the Vienna skyline.  The view from the tower is spectacular, as can be seen by the panoramic images taken from the windows. The multi-coloured tiled roof of the cathedral is one of Vienna's most recognised symbols and is even more impressive when looking down from the South Tower. History St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz...

I have already posted some images from the old part of Le Mans on one pf my previous visits but I never got a good shot of the cathedral.  On Saturday night I went for dinner with my colleagues at a nearby restaurant and saw this scene on my way back to the car.   Le Mans Cathedral (Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans) is a Catholic cathedral situated in Le Mans, France. It is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the beginning of the 4th century.  Next door is the Restaurant La Maison D'Elise which is also a hotel. I didn't have a tripod with me for these shots, so I was forced to crank up the ISO to 3200 on the Fuji X100.  Once again the little Fuji came up trumps, with the results showing little noise. All images taken using a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with a standard 23mm f2 lens or with a WCL X100 wide angle converter fitted (19mm f2) ----------------------------------------------...

On Friday I posted my favourite shot from an evening in London, which was a night shot of St Paul's Cathedral as seen from the south side of the Millennium Bridge.  This is one shot I've wanted to take for a long time as I love taking images of Sir Christopher Wren's most famous creation.  Fujifilm X100 - 19mm f2 (WCL-X100) - 1/350th @ f5.6 - ISO200 I decided to spend the last part of the day in and around the area taking images of the skyline with St Paul's in shot.  The images were very monochromatic, so this is how I chose to post process in PSE11. Nikon D800 - 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/250th @ f5.6 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/160th @ f5.6 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/50th @ f5.6 - ISO400 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERM...