CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

For the next eight days I will be supplying Fujifilm UK an image a day for their social media feed from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.   Today is the first day of Le Pesage, the two day scrutineering in the Place de la Republique in the centre of Le Mans.  Once each team has completed all of the technical and administration checks they all gather for the official photograph. I joined the rest of the media on the photographers platform to get a ultra wide angle shot of the proceedings.  Using the Fujifilm X-T2 and the Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye I captured this shot from behind my fellow photographers, with Porsche's official photographer Jurgen Tap standing above everyone else to ensure he got the shot. There will be more shots posted over the next seven days as we begin the countdown to the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans which starts on Saturday 17 June at 15h00 (CET). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

About eight months ago I decided to buy the diminutive Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye for the annual trip to Le Mans.  This lens is small and light and has a field of view of 180 degrees.  It is a manual focus lens but focusing only starts at one metre so I tend to leave the focus ring on infinity, stop down to f5.6 or f8 and not worry about it. This little lens allows me to get pictures from some very tight places or take an extreme wide view that you can't normally get, even with the Fujinon 10-24mm set at 10mm. Now if you want a wider view some photographers will say 'take a few steps backwards and then shoot'.  But there are some situations where you can't do that. The shot at the top of the page is a good example.  2016 European Le Mans Series LMP3 Drivers Champion Alex Brundle was getting strapped into the Ligier-Nissan for the final race of the season at Estoril in Portugal.  I took the shot through the other door into the cockpit.  The working a...

On Friday I spent the day in the Highlands photographing the autumn colours along the River Tummel. While shooting from the footbridge over the river near Pitlochry I decided to take a few images using the Samyang 8mm Fisheye on the Fujifilm X-Pro2.  This 180 degree field of view lens is very good at keeping distortions under control but sometimes I like to take images that enhance the fisheye look of the lens. The top image is using the bridge handrails as a lead in line to the copse of trees at the end, while the A9 road bridge spanning the river provides a nice frame for the river and the trees, with the fisheye effect adding a curve to the bridge that was actually right above my head when I took the image. Images taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 + Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS ...

Yesterday I attended the second edition of the Dunbar Street Art Trail, which MacLean Photographic had been invited to display - CLICK HERE . The west end of Dunbar High Street was closed to traffic and turned over to artists, jugglers and musicians and boards where visitors were invited to get creative and also chalk to decorate the street. I was only able to attend in the morning before catching train to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival but I was able to capture some of the flavour of the 2016 Dunbar Street Art Trail. All the images were captured on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 with either the Fujinon XF90mm f2 or the Samyang 8mm f2.8 lenses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts y...

This morning a package arrived on my doorstep containing the Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fish Eye lens with a Fujifilm X Mount.  This ultra wide prime lens is far wider than the 10mm end of the Fujinon 10-24mm f4 zoom and gives 180 degree of coverage.  Of course a fish eye lens give a distorted view of the world, the trick is to find suitable subjects.  The first real test will be to capture subjects at next week's 24 Hours of Le Mans.  This blog is just my initial impressions and I will do a complete review when I have finished at working at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After unpacking the lens I put it on my Fujifilm X-Pro2 and headed down to Dunbar Harbour.  With the tide at its low point, the boats in the harbour were resting on their keels and it meant I could also get down low. The initial impressions of the build quality are very good, especially for a lens that costs just £212.  The lens hood is integral to the lens and can't be removed so the l...