CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This evening I organised a photoshoot for the official test of the European Le Mans Series at the Circuit Paul Ricard with 27 of the 42 full season entries lined up on the grid.  After my photographer got a great shot of the cars from a high position (see image HERE ) the cars were pushed back to the garages.   As I walked back to the press office I saw this shot on the grid and was drawn to the skid marks and the fact that the grid number was '14'.  I decided to capture the image from a low point using the X-Pro1 and 18mm f2 lens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

After the hectic past few days at the FIA World Endurance Championship test at the Circuit Paul Ricard there was a chance to recharge the batteries before the European Le Mans Series test gets underway by visiting the small harbour town of La Ciotat and then onto Marseilles - more on this in the next few days. Here are some shots of the fishing boats in the harbour at La Ciotat. La Ciotat   is a  commune  in the  Bouches-du-Rhône   department  in the  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur   region  in southern  France . It is part of the metropolitan area of  Marseille Provence . La Ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon.   More on La Ciotat HERE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an ad...

Part 2 of my new project 'Look Up' where I try to show off our new home in Dunbar in a different way.  We are all guilty of walking around observing the world at eye level.  As a photographer I tend to be always on the look out for the next picture and Dunbar has some wonderful buildings with so much history attached.   By looking up we see things that we sometimes miss when we are walking about and here are three more images from the 'Look Up' project. Lauderdale House Dunbar Parish Church The corner of the building above Peter Whitecross butchers Part 3 of 'Look Up' will be coming soon. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8R LM OIS.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru fr...

In the centre of Pont Neuf, in the Square du Vert-Galant, stands a bronze statue of King Henri III astride a horse.  Henri III was responsible for the building of Pont Neuf (New Bridge) and laid the first stone in 1578.  Henri died before the bridge was completed in 1607 when it was opened by his successor Henri IV. The statue is actually an exact replica of the original that was melted down during the French Revolution.  The bronze statue was replaced after the fall of Napoleon in 1818. CLICK HERE for more information on Pont Neuf and King Henri III Images taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 35mm f1.4R -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ...

Situated above the Jardins du Trocodero outside the Palais de Chaillot is a 21-foot bronze Apollo with lyre (or Apollon musagète) by sculptor Henri Bouchard. The shot was taken from below the massive statue on the 14mm f2.8 wide angle lens to get the lines of the building behind the statue to shoot away towards the sky.  The image was then converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro 2.   CLICK HERE for information on the Jardins du Trocadero Image taken with a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 14mm f2.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL I...

When out and about in Paris I like to watch and photograph other people as they take in the skyline at the tourist sites.  Take these shots from the Trocadero last Friday, I spent some time using the wide angle 14mm f2.8 Fujinon to capture some images of people with the Eiffel Tower as the back drop. All images taken with a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 14mm f2.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 thi...

One of the things I see a lot of photographers do when presented with a beautiful landscape is to grab the camera and take a picture standing up.  The camera will be either pressed to the photographers face or, more normally these days, with the camera / phone held out in front at arms length.  There is nothing wrong with this way of viewing the world, it's how we see it (ie normally between 5 and 6 feet above the ground), but a different point of view can change a picture dramatically. Rannoch Moor - Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 (@17mm) - 2s @ f11 - ISO100 The picture above was taken on Rannoch Moor. The Nikon D800 was attached to the tripod and placed into the water so the camera was almost level with the rocks.  The camera's live view screen was used to compose the shot and the shutter released using a remote cable. A word of warning. Make sure you had something tied to the tripod or camera and to your wrist when putting your gear n...

A very Merry Christmas to all our readers.  We hope Santa has been kind to you all this year and has left you lots of photographic goodies under the Christmas Tree.    Besides being Christmas Day, today is the 365th blog of 2013 and so we've reached our target of an average of one blog per day this year six days early.  There will be six more posts rounding off our review of the year.  Thanks to everyone who has visited and read the MacLean Photographic blog and in 2014 we will have more of the same, with some extra bits and pieces.  What this will be we can't say yet, but if you keep checking back you're sure to find out. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF35mm f1.4 lens   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click ...

On the Champs Elysee towards the Place de la Concorde is the location for the annual Christmas market.  The stalls line each side of the avenue along with food vendors and a fun fair.  The whole area is lit by thousands upon thousands of Christmas lights, with festive music playing over the speakers along the Champs Elysee; the whole scene is very Christmassy. The Christmas market gave me the opportunity to test the low light ability of the X-Pro1 and 35mm f1.4 lens.  With the ISO set to automatic 3200, with a minimum ISO of 200, and aperture priority selected with f2 being my preferred option as this gave me 1 stop in hand (ie f1.4) if I needed it, I was able to let the camera do the hard work while I concentrated on the composition.  This camera is amazing in low light and coped extremely well with the difficult conditions presented by the different levels of lighting. Fujifilm X-Pro1 - Fujinon XF35mm f1.4R - 1/50 @ f2 -  ISO1000 ...

A walk down to the River Seine is a must do on any visit to Paris and last weekend I did just that.  One of my favourite views is  from the Pont Alexander III which crosses the river by the Grand Palais and leads to Les Invalides. As always I spent some time trying to find some angles that were different from previous visits to the 'City of Light'.  Because this was my first trip to Paris with the X-Pro1 and its brace of prime lenses I had to think carefully about the composition because being on a bridge I couldn't 'zoom' with my feet. The Pont Alexander III is a beautiful structure with statues and ornate lights that line the road across the bridge.  After much consideration here are the shots I came up with   - The first shot is using one of the two statues in the centre of the bridge as a frame for the river and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I just had to wait for one of the many tourist boats to come into ...

Some more images from Paris, this time from the Place de la Concorde. After a long walk down the Champs Elysee to photograph the Christmas lights (see images HERE ) I inevitably ended up in the Place de  La Concorde.  The contrast in the lighting at night is massive, with the bright illumination of the big wheel and the Obelisk and the very low level of illumination from the street lamps.  Once again the X-Trans sensor on the X-Pro1 coped very well when coupled with the excellent XF35mm f1.4 lens.   Here are some of the shots from this part of my evening in Paris. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------...

Here are some of shots taken on the grid for the final FIA World Endurance Championship of the 2013 season in Bahrain.  All of these images are taken on the Fujinon XF 55-200 f3.5/f4.8 on the final day testing this telephoto zoom lens.  Moving around the grid with the X-Pro1 fitted with the 55-200mm I was able to capture images from further away and this allowed me to get an essence of the atmosphere during the build up to the race.  Bagpipes in Bahrain on St Andrew's Day Pipe Band Sousaphone Pipe and Drum Major 2013 GT Drivers World Champion Gianmaria 'Jimmy' Bruni Gridgirl Stephane Sarrazin, 6 Hours of Bahrain winner for Toyota Giancarlo Fisichella  The helmet of Kamui Kobayashi waits for its owner  Watching you - watching me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS I...