CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

  On Thursday evening in the European Le Mans Series paddock at the Autodromo Internacionale do Algarve in Portugal we conducted an interview with Hollywood star Michael Fassbender, who has been racing in the five round series this year with Porsche team Proton Competition.  We wanted to catch up with him at the end of his first season of endurance racing and get his take on racing in a top European championship. As the ELMS press officer I wrote the questions and did the filming, while with my colleague Sophie Liger asked Michael the questions. The interview was filmed on two Fujifilm X-T4s.  The main interview camera was fitted with the XF16-55mm f2.8 lens and this was fixed to a 3 Legged Thing 'Jay' video tripod.  The second X-T4 was used by me handheld and was fitted with the XF90mm f2 lens.  I also used a GoPro Hero 8 Black to give a rear view of the interview (see still image below). All three cameras were set to record in 4K25 with the final video produce...

Fujifilm X-T4 + XF10-24mm f4 - 1/60 @ f20 ISO400 - Haida CPL + 0.9 ND soft grad One of the things I like doing when working at a race circuit is to go out for a walk in the evening to check out where the best spots are to shoot from and also confirm that the red zones (no go areas) are all marked for when the track goes live. It is also an opportunity to get some shots of the circuit from the drivers point of view, something you can't do when the cars are actually on track.   At the last event for the European Le Mans Series at the Circuit Paul Ricard I took part in the evening track walk and with the setting sun I was able to capture some interesting shots of the kerbs and the run off areas around the circuit.  Paul Ricard is famous for its red, white and blue stripes in the run off areas which have replaced gravel traps for slowing cars that have spun off the circuit. Fujifilm X-T4 + XF200mm f2 - 1/4000 @ f2 ISO160 I suppose it is my fine art or land...

As you may have seen a few weeks ago that I tested the Haida Filters M10 system and I really liked the quality and the usability of the system.  Since my glowing review Haida asked me if I would like to work with them as a Co-Photographer / Ambassador and I said 'yes'. So today I am pleased to announce this partnership and HERE is a link to my profile page on the Haida Photo website. I am currently in France at the Circuit Paul Ricard for the two day pre season test and first round of the European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup. I have been using the Haida M10 0.9 (3 Stop) and 1.8 (6 Stop) Neutral Density filters for shooting videos at the track. Here is a the video interview with the crew of the no50 Richard Mille Racing Team Oreca that we did yesterday evening and then shot the track footage earlier today.  I used the two Haida ND filters to allow me to use a wider aperture in the sunny conditions here at Paul Ricard.  The final video was used on ...

Hello, sorry it has been a while!  I have refrained from posting updates on the MacLean Photographic blog since the end of April as I have been mulling over which direction I wanted to go with the features I post.   For the past five years I have tried to update these pages regularly with interesting articles and reviews but have recently felt this mix has been too eclectic.  So I have decided to concentrate on regular weekly updates on the projects I am working on. Future Direction for MacLean Photographic In November I obtained a DJI Mavic Pro drone to evaluate the possibility of using a drone to produce some promo videos to promote the MacLean Photographic workshops.  This has been very successful and given the promo videos an extra edge.  In May I have upgraded the Mavic Pro to a larger DJI Phantom 4 Pro and I have booked a CAA approved Permission for Commercial Operations (PfCO) course which will allow me to sell my services as a drone pilot...

One of the questions I see a lot on social media groups is 'how big can I print an image from a 24mp X series sensor?'  I have posted on this subject before and I regularly print images up to A2 from files from 12mp, 16mp and 24mp sensors.  However I think this image from the European Le Mans Series / Michelin Le Mans Cup event at the Circuit Paul Ricard last September. On each side of the entrance to the main pit building were two tracking shots of the European Le Mans Series and the Michelin Le Mans Cup.  The ELMS image (on the left of the door) was taken by Jakob Ebrey of Jakob Ebrey Photography at Monza at the end of March.  The LMC image was taken by me.   The size of the image can be determined by the entrance to the main building, with the porch above the door 3 metres above the ground so the tracking shot can be estimated as being 4.5 metres (14.75 ft) across and 2m (6.5 ft) high. How big do you want to print an image? The image was shot d...

1988 24 Hours of Le Mans Champion, and former F1 driver, Jan Lammers explains the various controls on the steering wheel of his LMP2 class Racing Team Nederland Dallara P217 race car. This video was shot at Le Castellet in August during the European Le Mans Series event in preparation for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in September.   This video is also available on the official website at www.europeanlemansseries.com and on the series DailyMotion channel HERE   The video was shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 using the XF16-55mm f2.8 lens and a GoPro Hero 5 Black for the cutaway shots. The still images were taken on my second Fujifilm X-T2 using the XF50mm f2 lens. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -...

Almost 12 months ago I was able to test the Fujinon XF23mm f2R WR prime lens for an hour on the FIA World Endurance Championship grid thanks to Fujifilm Mexico bringing one to the circuit for me to try - CLICK HERE to see that test.  A year later I have the 23mm f2 for a longer two week test and next week I will be returning to Mexico City for the next visit by the WEC to Central America.  In the meantime I put the lens through its paces at the Circuit Paul Ricard during the first two days of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet weekend for the European Le Mans Series and the Michelin Le Mans Cup. First impressions are very positive and it is no different from the initial test I conducted a year ago.  The AF is 'snappy', the build quality is superb and the images very sharp.  There is much to like about this lens and I will report back further when I do some more testing of the 23mm, 35mm and 50mm f2 lenses in the coming days. CLICK HERE for more information on the...