CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

While I have been busily testing the Fujifilm GFX I have not neglected the faithful X-T2 and this shot from last week's trip to Glen Coe jumped off the computer screen when I downloaded the images at the end of the day. I visited the base of Buachaille Etive Mor to take the well trodden path to the edge of the waterfalls.  I don't usually go for the 'standard' image, preferring to find a different angle, but I make an exception with the location because it is one of the most beautiful in Scotland. With the clouds still hanging low over the mountains I had to wait patiently for a break. I ftted the X-T2 with the XF10-24mm f4 wide angle and waited for the perfect moment.  The sun made a brief appearance, lighting up the waterfall and foreground while keeping the brooding mountain in shadow while framed by the white clouds. With the Lee 10x ND Big Stopper fitted to the lens the exposure was120s @ f16 ISO400. ------------------------------------------------...

Looking down Glen Coe towards The Three Sisters The final destination on our Highland photo trip was the depths of Glen Coe.  We hadn't planned to stop in the Glen, instead we were heading back to Rannoch Moor, but the light hitting the Three Sisters as we traveled up the A82 between the steep sides of the mountains had us changing our plans quite rapidly. The main problem we had was trying to find somewhere to park the car near where we wanted to be as the Glen was very busy with walkers, people sledging and, of course, other photographers.  We lucked in when we spotted a parking space near to a good spot. The view was back down the Glen towards The Three Sisters with some foreground interest provided by some snow covered boulders and an old stone bridge.  The Three Sisters Trying to find a suitable location to set up the tripod proved to be interesting as the snow was very deep, up to 24 inches / 60cm in places, which made walking very tiring. Skis or s...

Today was another photographic trip into the Highlands of Scotland visiting Rannoch Moor for sunrise, Glen Orchy, Loch Leven and Glen Coe for sunset.  We took over 700 shots which now have to be edited for tomorrow's blog but here is one shot that stood out on the Lightroom display. This was one of the final shots of the day at the sun set behind the mountains at the top of Glen Coe.  Standing ankle deep in freezing water (with proper waterproof boots on I hasten to add) I got this shot on the X-T1 and XF10-24mm f4 lens of the sunset behind Buachaille Etive Beag.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE ...

Since August 2013 we have lived in Scotland and 2014 was the first full year of living north of the border.  The year began with a day trip to photograph the snowy Highlands - Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, Glen Etive.   Of course most the images from Scotland in 2014 have been taken nearer to home in East Lothian and the Belhaven Bay bridge is one of my favourite subjects as it is a short 5-minute walk from our house.  This image is of the bridge under the moonlight. The East Lothian coast is a mixture of wide sandy beaches and rocky shoreline.  The beach at Yellowcraig is typical of this stretch of coastline. Cove Harbour is just a few miles south east of Dunbar and is a quaint fishing village that you can almost step back in time. A bit further along the coast from Cove is the old abandoned church of St Helen's.  Perched on the top of the cliffs this ruined church, with its upturned grave markers, is a eerie place to visit, even on a sunny d...

So far the winter in the UK has been pretty mild with no snow at low level or temperatures dropping below freezing for long periods.  I'm sure this will change but as a photographer the lack of snow or ice to photograph is disappointing.  However in the Highlands there has been plenty of snow and ice and I captured some close ups of the ice that had formed in the River Etive a few weeks ago using the close focusing abilities of the Fujinon 60mm f2.4 macro on the X-Pro1. The shapes and textures of the ice provided a great photographic subject and using the Slik tripod with the legs splayed out I was able to get down low to capture these images. This image was captured on the Nikon D800 and Nikon 17-35mm 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 fo...

Square images are a throw back to the 6cm x 6cm medium format cameras that were favoured by wedding and portrait photographers and also some landscape photographers. Looking at the world in square is very different from the norm as we are used to looking at things in rectangular formats thanks to mainstream photography and TV / cinema screens.  It is usually 4:3 but widescreen laptops, PCs and TV screen has also introduced the 16:9 format. I decided to compose my image in square to see if I could see the world differently and it works.  The beauty of square format is editors can crop the image portrait or landscape as the page layout dictates, but I quite like this image square - what do you think? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 t...

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...