CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

A Christmas shopping trip to Edinburgh gave me the opportunity to grab a few night shots on the Fujifilm X100T of Edinburgh Castle. I usually have the X100T in my coat pocket when I am walking about and with it's wonderful 16mp X-Trans II sensor mated to the Fujinon 23mm f2 lens I am always ready to grab a picture should the occasion arise. The images of Edinburgh Castle meant the ISO was set at 3200 to keep the shutter speed high enough to allow me to handhold the camera without fear of camera shake ruining the final image, but I know from experience that the X100T is quite capable of getting relatively clean images at 3200ISO, as the three images here prove. The three pictures were shot in RAW and JPEG (Velvia film simulation) and these images were taken from the JPEGs with small tweeks in Photoshop in post production. The second and third images were cropped to a 12:5 panoramic format because I felt the images suited the crop.   ------------------...

Most of the time as a landscape photographer I have to plan my trips carefully, always keeping one eye on the weather forecast to try and optimise my chances of coming back with a few 'keepers'.  Other times I can just get lucky and these images are one of those occasions. The shots were actually taken last September when I was testing the 1.4x converter for Fujifilm along with fellow X Photographer Dirk Bogaerts from Belgium, who was doing a round Scotland trip in his MGB for his new magazine Carburettor .   I had taken a series of shots for the test and these were taken just as the clouds parted to produce this stunning light display over Edinburgh Castle.  I filed the images for processing later and completely forgot about them until yesterday due to other work commitments.  As I said the images were shot on the XF50-140mm f2.8 fitted with the 1.4x converter fitted to the X-T1.  We were standing on Calton Hill looking west towards the castle when t...

A quick trip into Edinburgh on the train yesterday evening gave me the opportunity for a quick walk around Princes Street Gardens with Fujifilm X100 in the fading light to capture some images of Auld Edinburgh. Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley station I saw the sunlight coming through the glass roof of the station and the wonderful clouds over the city.  I quickly headed out of the station and across the road to Princes Street Gardens with the view across to Edinburgh Castle which sits proud above the city. Behind the Scottish National Gallery is a set of old fashioned street laps with big glass domes which caught the sunlight as it went behind the trees, which I managed to capture in the few seconds before the light disappeared. All images were taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with the fixed Fujinon 23mm f2 lens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISIT...

This panoramic shot of Edinburgh from above the battery looking north towards the Firth of Forth was taken last Wednesday during a trip to the Scottish capital city.  The image was taken on an X-T1 with a 23mm f1.4.  The camera was set to Panoramic Mode and 180 degree sweep. 

On Sunday evening we visited Calton Hill in Edinburgh which gave us some great views of Scotland's capital city.  One of the most iconic sights in Edinburgh is the world famous castle that sits high above Prince's Street on it outcrop of volcanic rock.  As the sun was setting in the west and the sky turned orange and red, the castle was silhouetted against the bright sky, providing me with a different view of this much photographed landmark. Fitting the Fujinon XF55-200mm telephoto zoom to the X-T1 I captured a series of images including these two I have used for this blog.  The one at the top of the page shows Edinburgh Castle in its entirety, while to the shot below shows the clock tower on the Balmarol Hotel to the left and the top of the Scott Memorial to the right while concentrating on a small part of the castle buildings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT...

This was the wintry scene on a recent trip into Edinburgh looking west along Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle in the distance on the hill with the Scottish National Gallery in the middle distance. While Dunbar in East Lothian has had very little snow, Edinburgh and Mid Lothian have had a fair dusting and walking around with the X100 while I was waiting for my train back to Dunbar I captured this image from the Waverley Bridge. I will be in the centre of Edinburgh again tomorrow when I head out to the airport to catch a plane to Paris. This will be the first trip to Europe of 2015 and it is for the Press Conference on Thursday to unveil the entry list for this year's FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series. More on this later this week. Image taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with a Fujinon 23mm f2 lens.  Image converted to mono using Silver Efex Pro2. -------------------------------------------------------...

Before we attended the Torch Parade yesterday evening we paid a visit to the Christmas Market and entertainment area in East Princes Street Gardens by the Scott Monument.  We did visit it before Christmas but it was so busy you could hardly see anything.  On Tuesday evening the area was busy but not so you couldn't enjoy the atmosphere, see the stalls and have a drink and a bite to eat. Edinburgh's Christmas is a spectacular, six-week season of festive entertainment in the heart of the city. The festival features a host of shows in the beautiful Spiegeltent, as well as ice skating, markets and rides, including the Big Wheel and the 60-metre Star Flyer, with breathtaking views over the city. The festival gave me plenty of opportunity to indulge in a spot of Street Photography to finish off 2014 nicely. Edinburgh's Christmas festival is on until January 4th - more details HERE ----------------------------------...

Yesterday evening we visited Holyrood Park and climbed up Salisbury Crags, an outcrop of rock which is slightly below Arthur's Seat, to get a view of Edinburgh as the sun was going down behind the clouds in the west.   This shot of Edinburgh Castle was taken as the sun broke through the clouds, providing a beautiful back drop to the imposing ediface of the castle.  Holyrood Park is a rare example of unimproved grassland. Effectively unchanged since its enclosure as a Royal Park in the 16th century, it is rich in plant species and also provides a home to a variety of important invertebrate, amphibian, mammal and bird species. To find such a wildlife haven in the heart of a capital city is remarkable. CLICK HERE for more information on Holyrood Park. The image was taken on the Fujifilm X-T1 and the Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8R OIS.  The final images was converted to mono in Silver Efex Pro2. -----------------------------------------------------------------...

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Stockbridge in Edinburgh and then had a family trip to the cinema at Ocean Terminal in Leith.  Our film finished at 21:45 and we saw the sun setting so we decided to drive up to Arthur's Seat and see the sunset behind Edinburgh Castle. This panoramic shot of the Edinburgh skyline was taken on the Fuji X-Pro1 and Fujinon 60mm f2.4. (C) MacLean Photographic

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...

Without doubt the most famous castle in Scotland, if not the world, Edinburgh Castle stands guard overlooking the Scottish capital. Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle here since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century its principal role was as a military base with a large garrison. Its importance as a historic monument was recognised from the 19th century, and various restoration programmes have been carried out since. As one of the most important fortresses in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical co...