CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This shot was taken on our visit to Lake Garda in 2010 when we stayed in an apartment at the foot of Monte Baldo near Malcesine.  St Stefano's is the main church in the beautiful medieval town of Malcesine and this shot of the clouds covering the summit of Monte Baldo is typical of the fantastic scenery in this part of Italy. History The church of St Stephen (the patron saint of Malcesine) is visible from the lake in its position above the main town. A religious building has stood in this position for centuries - originally thought the be the site of a pagan temple, the first Christian place of worship was constructed in the time of the Franks. The current baroque building dates from the 18th century and houses the remains of two local saints, St Benigno and St Caro, who were reputed to have lived in a cave at the foot of Monte Baldo. For more information on Malcesine CLICK HERE Image taken on a Nikon D90 and 18-105mm f3.5/f4.5 AF-S VR lens - 1/320 @ f8 - ISO2...

Continuing my theme of images from the West Coast of Scotland, this is another shot from our visit to the Isle of Mull at the end of 2011 to celebrate Hogmanay.  This is one of the rivers that flows into Loch Buie on the south side of the island and it known as Sruath a' Ghreusaiche in Gaelic. The day was a bitterly cold one but the air was perfectly clear, with snow on the mountain top.  It was also a good day for spotting otters as we sat and watch one fishing a little further up the coast road. With less than six weeks until we head to Mull on the 25 May, we are counting the days by posting images from previous visits to this beautiful part of the world. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ...

In just seven weeks time we will be heading to the Isle of Mull for our annual holiday on the island just off the west coast of Scotland.  I started to go through my archives from previous trips to work out where I want to photograph on the next visit as I only have seven days on Mull. Nikon D90 - Sigma 10-20mm f4/f5.6 - 1/400 @ f11 -  ISO400 While looking through the files from our trip at the very end of 2011 I came across this image of Calgary Bay, which is the most beautiful white sandy beach on the west side of Mull.  In the summer this beach has quite a few people enjoying the sand and the sea, but this was taken on New Years Day, 1st January 2012, and it was bitterly cold but very beautiful.  There was also not another soul in sight, we had the beach all to ourselves. This shot was taken just as the sun tried to break through the clouds but unfortunately the rain clouds came in and the result had us running back to the car for shelter.  It w...

The past few days have been so grey and miserable that I haven't been able to get out to do any fresh photography so I've been sorting out the MacLean Photographic archive. These images are from the Simple Minds concert held at Jarama in Spain in June 2010.  The concert was held after the FIA GT3 European Championship race at the track that is located just north of the Spanish capital Madrid.  I was there in my capacity as the FIA Media Delegate for the Championship and I had time to walk down to the stage and grab a few shots of lead singer Jim Kerr and the rest of the band. Scottish band Simple Minds were formed in 1977 and achieved commercial success in the early 1980s. The band scored a string of hit singles, and are perhaps best known for their 1985 hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (UK #7, US #1), from the soundtrack of the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. Their other more prominent hits include "Alive and Kicking" (UK #7, US #3...

There was a bit of good news this morning when the March issue of Outdoor Photography magazine arrived in the post, one of my images that I had submitted for their 'Night' photography competition had been picked for the top 10 submitted images. The shot was of Calve Island off the Isle of Mull in Tobermory Bay and was taken at dawn just over a year ago.  It was taken on a Nikon D90 and a Sigma 18-50 f2.8 lens, exposure was 30 seconds at f11 and I used a tripod. While there is no prize for a runner up the fact that they chose this image is reward enough as the photography in this publication is outstanding with many of the contributors are my favourite landscape and wildlife photographers.  And there is a link to my website, so a bit of free publicity as well.   If you don't subscribe, the March issue of Outdoor Photography will be in the shops in a couple of days. The two pages from the March issue of Photography Magazine ---------------------...

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...

In the Digital SLR Photography CC Facebook group I belong to we have started to run weekend challenges with the owner of the image that receives the most 'likes' choosing the subject of the next challenge.  This weekend's challenge is 'silhouettes' and this is one of my favourite photographic genres.  It is also dead easy to learn. Sail boat sunset - off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa - Nikon D90 + Sigma 50-500 f4/f6.3 The subject has to be strong and it also has to be backlit (ie the light source is behind the subject).  This usually means sunlight but you can use off camera flash, a street light or other bright source of illumination. My silhouettes are usually landscapes but I have used the technique to shoot wildlife as well.  The technique is very simple.   Find a suitable subject with a strong light source behind. Set your camera on aperture priority or manual exposure at around f8 or f11 and take a meter reading off a brig...

On our trip to Lake Garda in 2010 we visited the top of Monte Baldo, which stands at over 1700m and has impressive views of the lake and the surrounding area.  You can even see all the way to Switzerland on most days. The Cable Car Station on the top of Monte Baldo We drove up to the mid point cable car station, which was located a few hundred metres higher up from our apartment we had hired for the week, but because of the windy Italian roads it was a few miles to get to the station.  Tickets purchased and we found our way to the top of the mountain and were treated to some glorious views over Malcesine and Garda. From the top of Monte Baldo looking south along Lake Garda We walked along the well worn paths on the top of the mountain, even stopping at a cafe which was located near the summit cable car station and had a coffee while taking in the views. The quickest way off the mountain, but not to everyone's tastes It was time to head back to the cable c...

2012 has been an interesting year with more opportunity to travel due to my work on the FIA World Endurance Championship and also family trips.  Over the next twelve days I will choose one image from each month, starting with this picture of a waterfall near Loch na Keal on the Isle of Mull from our visit to the island for Hogmanay (New Year). Waterfall near Loch na Keal - Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20, 8s @ f14 - ISO200 This year we have visited - Shanghai, China Fuji, Japan Bahrain Sao Paulo, Brazil Marrakech, Morocco Florida, USA Istanbul, Turkey Le Mans, France Paris, France Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium Tuscany, Italy In the UK we have visited: Isle of Mull, Scotland Isle of Skye, Scotland London, England Berwick on Tweed, England Alnmouth / Alnwick, England Farne Islands, England Leeds, England  Southwell, England Vale of Belvoir, England  I will post an image from February tomorrow morning. -------------------------------------...

The picture of the week was taken at Potrero de los Funes, near San Luis in Argentina during a thunder storm that was one of the best I've ever witnessed.  Potrero de los Funes is situated on a lake in the middle of the crater of an extinct volcano.  The image itself was quite easy to capture. I set the camera on a tripod and pointed it across the lake towards the town and then opened the shutter on a very long exposure (30 seconds) and waited for the lightening to fork across the sky.  It was a bit hit-and-miss but I got this image on the fifth attempt.

The FIA GT3 European Championship features race cars that are based on a road going production model from each of the brands taking part in the twelve race series. What is it like to drive the road going version of one of these fire breathing feats of automotive engineering?  Jeff Carter had the pleasant task of finding out when he drove the Audi R8 V10 FSI quattro.   Audi’s motorsport pedigree certainly ranks amongst the world’s best when it comes to building championship winning cars. Audi have won at almost every level from the Le Mans 24 Hours, World Rally Championship and in Touring Cars both in DTM and the Super Touring era worldwide including the BTCC; the German manufacturer’s trophy cabinet is bulging at the seams.  In 2009 Audi added the FIA GT3 European Championship to this roll of honour when the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS powered Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies to the Driver’s Title in the car’s debut season. This made the Audi R...