CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Just off the B9007 between Forres and Carrbridge in the Highlands of Scotland is the little known ruin of Lochindorb Castle.    Lochindorb means 'Loch of Trouble' and the 13th century castle was built by the Clan Cromyn on a man made island in the centre of the loch. On a recent visit to Forres I decided to stop off at Lochindorb to scout out the location for a future visit.  The wind had dropped completely and the loch was like a mirror, with the dark peaty water water perfectly reflecting the broken clouds above. I launched the DJI Mavic Pro to get some aerial footage around the castle as the only other way to approach the ruin is by boat.  The scene below the drone's camera was very etherial and I carried out a 15 minute flight to capture several angles and a few still images before landing the drone on the shore.  Being low down, and with only one angle from where I was flying the drone, I decided not to shoot still images with the Fujifilm X Serie...

I am working on a personal project with Barry Brunton, skipper of the Rockhopper of Percuel, a 32ft fishing boat that works out of Dunbar Harbour. The Brunton family have a long association with Dunbar stretching back to the 14th century with Barry's grandfather and great-grandfather fishing the North Sea and being the coxswain of the Dunbar Lifeboat.  Over the next few months I will be following Barry as he fishes the coastal waters around the South East of Scotland and I'll take everyone on a behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a fisherman in the 21st century. CLICK HERE to visit the Rockhopper of Percuel Facebook page ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -------------------...

The River Tyne Estuary in East Lothian is at the western end of Belhaven Bay a couple of miles from Dunbar. The John Muir Country Park is on the eastern shore and Tyningham woods is on the west shore.    At low tide the mudflats and sandbanks are revealed and the estuary is home to a whole host of wading birds taking advantage of the abundant food sources along the shoreline. On the west shore the rock formations revealed by the receding tide are  fascinating  and a great source of inspiration for photography. Tyne Estuary + John Muir Country Park from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . The Tyne Estuary and John Muir Country Park is one of the locations on the MacLean Photographic workshops. For more information visit  www.macleanphotographic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS O...

Wednesday was perfect drone flying weather so I packed the DJI Mavic Pro and headed out to Hailes Castle on the bank of the River Tyne near East Linton (no, not the River Tyne in the North East of England in Newcastle) to shoot the next promo video for the MacLean Photographic workshops. I did several passes of the castle from varying heights and also took some video clips using the new Fujifilm X-H1. On Thursday I was hosting a 'Beaches and Castles' workshop and we decided to head up to Hailes Castle for the afternoon.  Unfortunately the weather had clouded over so we shot long exposure images of the waterfall and some shots of the snowdrops in the trees. All of the shots below were shot on the Fujifilm X-H1 with the 10-24mm f4 or 50-140mm f2.8 lenses. For more information on the MacLean Photographic workshops CLICK HERE For more information on the history of Hailes Castle CLICK HERE -----------------------------------------------...

I have been shooting a series of aerial videos of East Lothian and the Scottish Borders to promote the various locations that we visit during the MacLean Photographic workshops. The location at Seacliff has to rank as the favourite location as a destination on one of the workshops as it has a bit of everything.  The beach itself is a beautiful present of golden sand flanked at each end by a rocky outcrop. Seacliff Beach, East Lothian from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . At the eastern end stands St Baldred's Cross which marks the beginning of the Firth of Forth and at the western end is the Gegan which boasts Scotland's smallest harbour.   The views from any part of Seacliff are fantastic with Tantallon Castle standing on the headland across the bay to the west and to the north is Bass Rock, a plug of volcanic rock jutting out of the sea, which is home to the world's largest colony of Northern Gannets from March until October. The aerial footage was taken ...

It has been a busy few weeks here at MacLean Photographic getting the new website built and ready for public viewing.   I have also been out with the DJI Mavic Pro drone shooting a series of videos to show the locations that we will visit on the MacLean Photographic workshops.  This has also proven to be problematic due to the almost constant windy weather since December, so the windows of opportunity to get out and fly have been limited. The above video was shot last week at one of my favourite locations at Fast Castle along the coast in the Scottish Borders. The folded rock formations are really dramatic and the aerial view point from out at sea really captures the nature of the geology in this part of the world. When I have completed my visits to all of the locations that feature on the MacLean Photographic workshops I will be editing a video that includes a selection of locations.  That will be coming soon. The image at the top of the page was taken on...