CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

The circuit at Spa-Francorchamps is famous for two things - producing fantastic racing and for it's changable weather.   Today is race day for round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the sun is shiny for the first time this week so when the opportunity arises to take a sunrise over the circuit and the Ardennes forest you just have to take the picture. The shot at the top of the page was taken on the Fujifilm GFX50S and the GF32-64mm f4 with a Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad filter.  The shot below was taken on the X-T20, which I also have on test but have to admit I have been neglecting in favour of its medium format brother.  I will be taking the X-T20 trackside later today alongside the X-T2 to give it a proper test. Fingers crossed the weather stays fine for the race which starts at 14h30 local time. CLICK HERE for more information on the FIA World Endurance Championship CLICK HERE  for more information on the Fujifilm GFX system --------...

The colours of the kerbs and buildings on and around the Circuit Paul Ricard are vibrant and bright. Today was the set up day for the European Le Mans Series ahead of the two day test that begins tomorrow.  Using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and 50-140mm f2.8 or 10-24mm f4 lenses I took some shots around the facility.

The Red Bull Ring has to be one of the most photogenic circuits in the world but even if you didn't know you were in Austria, you could certainly guess by the national colours painted around the track. The home of the Austrian Grand Prix is playing host to the European Le Mans Series and yesterday I was able to take part in the driver track walk to get some shots of the circuit ahead of today's Free Practice sessions. The images were taken on a combination of a Fujifilm X-T1 or the new X-T10 fitted with a Fujinon XF10-24mm f4, XF90mm f2 or XF50-140mm f2.8. More images are available on the European Le Mans Series Facebook page HERE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -----------------------------------------------------...

I carried out a track inspection this morning looking at the new Red Zones (restricted areas for photographer access) that have been installed ahead of this weekend's World Endurance Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps. While I was there I took the opportunity to grab some moody low level shots of the track and the kerbs using the X-T1 and the 10-24mm f4 Fujinon.  With the sun poking through the cloudy sky I used a Lee 0.9ND soft grad filter to balance the exposure. Here are some of the shots from around the 7km circuit at Spa-Francorchamps.

Today is the start of three days of track action at Silverstone for the opening round of the World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series.  I am here in my capacity as the Media Delegate for both championships but, of course, I have my Fujifilm cameras to hand. This shot was taken earlier this week as the sun set behind the Wing building at Silverstone.  I managed to get into position so the sun was framed by the segments of the Wing using the Fujifilm X-T1 and the XF55-200mm telephoto zoom. For more information on this weekend's events at Silverstone visit the WEC website at www.fiawec.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

I arrived in the Kingdom of Bahrain for the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at 2:30am this morning and after getting to my hotel for a few hours sleep I headed to the Bahrain International Circuit to begin the set up for this weekend's event. This is my third trip to Bahrain and the number of times that people have said to me 'be safe' or 'take care' as if Bahrain was a dangerous place to visit.  The reporting by the foreign media has not helped this perception and I know this small country has a few political issues but my only experience is the warm and friendly welcome we always get when we travel here. Today was the set up day and this gave me the opportunity to get out and take some images of this very photogenic circuit out in the desert. The images were taken on the X-T1 or the X100, which I have brought to Bahrain to do test later this week. --------------------------------------------------------...

Today is race day for the European Le Mans Series at the circuit of Estoril in Portugal and this will be the finale to an exciting 2014 season.  All of the six titles have yet to be decided and thousands of Portuguese fans are expected to descend on Estoril today to witness an epic encounter during the four hour race. Over the past couple of days I have taken the opportunity to walk around the paddock and pitlane to grab some shots of the teams, drivers and the facilities.  This is an old circuit with a long history of racing.  It used to be the home of the Portuguese Grand Prix for many years and has also hosted many famous sports car and bike races as well.  I last visited the track in 2001 for that year's round of the Le Mans Series, which I was also series press officer.  I am certainly glad to be back. I walked around the paddock on Friday with the Fujifilm X-T1 fitted with the 56mm f1.2 lens and the X100 fitted with the TCL-X100 tele conver...

The circuit at Interlagos is one of the most famous in the world and South America's premier circuit.  We are here this weekend for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Round 4 of the FIA World Endurance Championship and this is the view from the media centre at the circuit, looking across towards the sprawling city of Sao Paulo that is home to 20 million Brazilians. The track action begins tomorrow with Free Practice.  More information and live streaming of Qualifying and the race on Sunday at www.fiawec.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 PRO...

Austria is such a beautiful country, it reminds me of Scotland with it's mountains and tree lined hillsides.  The weather for our visit to the Styrian Alps has been glorious with 30 degree temperatures and blue skies. I spotted this tree on the hill inside the Red Bull Ring circuit with a stone religious icon in the shade underneath.  The hill was covered in wild flowers so, after getting a shot of the icon on top of the hill, I decided to move down the slope to get an shot looking up with the tree silhouetted against the blue sky and white clouds. The final result is quite pleasing and I also did a mono version in high contrast but this image works best in colour with the punchy colours.  What do you think? All images taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost yo...

Lead in lines are very important in photography and it draws the viewers attention into the image. I get to visit a lot of race circuits in my current role as the FIA Media Delegate for the World Endurance Championship and when I get to visit one for the first time I go for a walk to familiarise myself with the track.  It makes it easier when talking to drivers and gives me a better understanding of what I'm seeing on the TV monitors during the race. When I do go for my walks and I always take my camera so I can take record shots of each corner and also the photographers positions around the circuit.   This particular shot was taken at Brno in the Czech Republic just before the FIA GT1 World Championship race in 2010.  The corner is T11 and leads back up the hill towards the start / finish line.  Taken from the apex of the corner, this is the view the driver sees as they exit the corner for the long climb up the hill.  I decided to make this image...

Heading out to the race circuit this morning and I was faced with a gorgeous sun rise over the train station at Le Mans.  I just had to stop and take a couple of pictures - As we approached the office at the circuit the sun had started to rise over the grandstands so another few pictures were captured on the X100 before I headed up the stairs to my desk. all images taken on a Fujifilm X100   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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' MORE IMAGES CAN BE VIEWED ON  FLICKR  AND ON OUR  WEBSITE