CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

After the FIA Awards Gala at the Lido de Paris had finished I decided to walk back to my hotel near to the Opera House so I could take in the Christmas lights on the  Champs-Élysées before I headed to the airport to catch the plane back to London a few hours later. The awards ceremony didn't finish until 1am so by the time I had walked from the Lido de Paris at the top of the  Champs-Élysées many of the stalls in the Christmas Village that line both sides of the avenue from the Grand Palais down to Place de la Concorde were shut.  But the lights were still ablaze and there were still people walking and enjoying the scene. Here are some of the pictures I captured on the Fujifilm X-T1 and XF16-55mm f2.8 during my short Christmas walk in Paris. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By click...

Yesterday evening we got into the Christmas spirit by visiting the Virgin Money 'Street of Light' on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The Street of Light is a new event to light up Edinburgh’s Old Town this Christmas and runs daily from St Andrew’s Day (30 November) to Christmas Eve.  The Street of Light is a huge canopy of over 60,000 lights from City Chambers to the Tron Kirk and visitors can stand near or even under the structure during the 20 minute performance. The lights are synchronised to music sung by choirs from across Edinburgh, which yesterday evening was the Edinburgh's Gay Mens' Chorus. Here is a video of the final carol 'Deck the Halls' The images and video were shot on the Fujifilm X-T1 and the 16-55mm f2.8 or 90mm f2 Fujinon lenses. CLICK HERE for more information on the Virgin Money Street of Light ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015.  This year has been a great one for everyone at MacLean Photographic.   This was a shot I took on the X-Pro1 + 35mm f1.4 in October for our 2014 Christmas cards.  We built a sandman on White Sands beach and found shells, pebbles, seaweed and some driftwood to make the eyes, nose, buttons and arms.  My trusty woolly hat finished the ensemble. I'm sure a few people did a double take while walking their dogs along the beach but we didn't care.  It was quite enjoyable building a sandman but I think we may get the opportunity soon to build a snowman in Dunbar.  Here's hoping! The MacLean Photographic blog will be taking a break for a few days for the festivities and the next post will be on the 27 December. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PA...

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in London after a seven hour flight to Doha as I will be attending this evenings Autosport Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel.  After checking into my West End hotel I decided to go for a walk down to the shopping area to have a look at the Christmas lights as I haven't seen the displays in the UK capital for many years.  I certainly wasn't disappointed. Each street has its own unique display and many of the big stores also have the shop front lit up.  It certainly makes you feel Christmassy.  There was even a snow machine on top of one of the buildings in Oxford Street! All of the images were captured on the Fujifilm X-T1 with either the 14mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4 or 56mm f1.2 lenses.  I didn't use a tripod, preferring to handhold the camera down to 1/8th second using lampposts or shop fronts to hold the camera steady. Here are some of the displays in London for Christmas 2014. ...

A very Merry Christmas to all our readers.  We hope Santa has been kind to you all this year and has left you lots of photographic goodies under the Christmas Tree.    Besides being Christmas Day, today is the 365th blog of 2013 and so we've reached our target of an average of one blog per day this year six days early.  There will be six more posts rounding off our review of the year.  Thanks to everyone who has visited and read the MacLean Photographic blog and in 2014 we will have more of the same, with some extra bits and pieces.  What this will be we can't say yet, but if you keep checking back you're sure to find out. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF35mm f1.4 lens   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click ...

On the Champs Elysee towards the Place de la Concorde is the location for the annual Christmas market.  The stalls line each side of the avenue along with food vendors and a fun fair.  The whole area is lit by thousands upon thousands of Christmas lights, with festive music playing over the speakers along the Champs Elysee; the whole scene is very Christmassy. The Christmas market gave me the opportunity to test the low light ability of the X-Pro1 and 35mm f1.4 lens.  With the ISO set to automatic 3200, with a minimum ISO of 200, and aperture priority selected with f2 being my preferred option as this gave me 1 stop in hand (ie f1.4) if I needed it, I was able to let the camera do the hard work while I concentrated on the composition.  This camera is amazing in low light and coped extremely well with the difficult conditions presented by the different levels of lighting. Fujifilm X-Pro1 - Fujinon XF35mm f1.4R - 1/50 @ f2 -  ISO1000 ...

Two days ago I posted a review of the Fotodiox adapter so that Nikon F mount lenses can be fitted to the Fujifilm X-Pro1.  My first test was with the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D ( HERE ) and yesterday I got to try out the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D on the X-Pro1 during the Christmas Lights Switch On celebrations in Edinburgh. The Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D fitted to the Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the Fotodiox Adapter The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 is another stunningly sharp lens from Nikon and like the 80-200mm it is a 'D' lens, which means it has an aperture ring to set the f stop manually.  This is important for use with the Fotodiox adapter as the newer 'G' type Nikon lenses wont work because they don't have the aperture ring. Because the X-Pro1 is an APS-C sensor the 50mm becomes an effective 75mm f1.4 when fitted to the Fuji.  The Japanese manufacturer is launching a Fujinon 56mm f1.2 next spring so the Nikon is almost a perfect match for the new X-Series lens, which I am lookin...

This afternoon we went to Edinburgh to see the switching on of the Christmas Lights in George Street by cycling's multiple Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy.  The event was crowded with thousands of people attending the event that saw 850 artists performing across 10 different stages and got everyone in a festive mood. Here are some of the shots taken on the Fuji X-Pro1 and a variety of lenses including my Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D (more on this lens test tomorrow) The Ferris wheel in Princes Street Some of the lights in George Street Sir Chris Hoy on stage outside the Assembly Rooms The lights are switched on to a massive firework display on the roof of the Assembly Rooms Edinburgh Castle This post is the 500th since starting this blog in February 2011.  At the start of 2013 I planned to post at least 365 times before the 31st December and this is the 333rd so far this year.  I am on course to hit my goal on the 26th December. Images taken...