CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

March saw more snow in Lincolnshire so there was plenty of opportunities to get some interesting snowy landscapes.  This shot was taken from Somerby Hill just after a snow storm had passed over Grantham.  The sun started to peep from behind the snow clouds giving this surreal scene that last about 30 seconds. Also in March we had three trips to London to organise the launch of the FIA World Endurance Championship's first event at Silverstone.  This involved a display of cars at Potters Field next to Tower Bridge and a press conference at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall. There was also the first overseas trip of the FIA WEC season with the official test at Le Castellet in the South of France. CLICK HERE  to see the March 2013 archive   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to...

A quick trip south back to Grantham to pick up some of the furniture we had left behind five weeks ago when we moved to Dunbar enabled me to have photograph the town where we had spent the last 23 years.  The Market Place received a make over a couple of years ago, receiving a larger pedestrian area with less car parking.  The old market cross is the central focal point of the area and the area around it has been sympathetically restored. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 PUR...

A visit to Welby Cricket Club today to visit friends enabled me to take this shot of the game on the Fuji X100.  Without a telephoto lens I was unable to get a close up shot of the action but this overall image of the two teams taken on the 23mm f2 Fujinon lens gives an wide view of this great English game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 this blog please visit our  Facebook  page and click 'like'

Situated at the north end of the High Street, Vine Street joins onto Swinegate which leads past the main entrance to St Wulfram's Church.  This part of Grantham has a lot of history and most of the buildings are Victorian or Georgian. Vine Street is still open for traffic but only one way and the entrance to the road was subject to traffic calming measures when the town centre was re-profiled a couple of years ago. Images taken on the Fujifilm Finepix X100 and 23mm f2 Fujinon 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHO...

Grantham's history includes the 'blue' pubs, of which the Blue Pig on the corner of Vine Street and Swinegate is one of the few remaining. Grantham has had, in its history, pubs named the Blue Pig, the Blue Lion, the Blue Horse, the Blue Dog, the Blue Bull, the Blue Cow, the Blue Ram, the Blue Sheep, the Blue Lamb, and the Blue Man. The Blue Bull, Cow, Dog, and Fox are/were all in Colsterworth, which was part of Grantham 'soke' when it was enclosed in 1805–1808. The Blue Pig, Ram, and Man are/were in Grantham proper. These names have their roots in a 19th-century political rivalry over the membership of Parliament for the constituency of Grantham, between the Manners family (the Duke of Rutland from Belvoir Castle) and the Brownlow family (from Belton House). Pubs in the constituency declared political allegiances, and acted as gathering places for supporters of political factions. Where a person drank declared that person's political views. The Manne...

The Guildhall is situated on St Peter's Hill in Grantham and was built in 1866.  Once the home of Civic power in Grantham it is now the home of the Guildhall Arts Centre but still retains some of its former political trappings as it still houses the Mayor's Parlour inside the main entrance to the building.  In front of the Guildhall is a statue to Sir Isaac Newton, Grantham's most famous son, who was born in Colsterworth and who went to school in the town at the King's School. HISTORY The Guildhall and jail on St Peter’s Hill in Grantham was commissioned in 1866 by Mayor Thomas Winter after criminal Jesse Dale, who was serving 15 years for stealing, twice walked out of the town’s original jail in 1864. The new Guildhall was also home to the four-sided clock which was the first time many of the town’s residents would have had the luxury of telling the time with any accuracy.  It was this fact that coined the local phrase ‘under the clock’ meaning, ‘to appear in...

Grantham boasts many historic buildings and one of the most famous is the Angel and Royal Hotel, which is widely regarded as the oldest surviving English Inn, with the main façade of the building that stands today was built approximately 600 years ago.  The site then, however, had already been an Inn for 200 years, and was built as a hostel for the chivalrous Brotherhood of the Knights Templar. It was then that the beautifully carved building caught the eye of King John (“he of Magna Carta fame”) who decided it would make a suitable location for a visit of his Royal Court in 1213. An Angel was a common medieval sign that reflected the early connection between religious establishments and a travellers hostel. The Inn was extended in the mid 14th Century and again in the 15th Century. There then followed many royal visits, and the next appears to have been by Edward III and his Queen “Philippa” in the 14th Century. Evidence of this visit can still be seen today whe...

This week we will be leaving Grantham in Lincolnshire, which has been our home since November 1990.  We moved here from Forres, which is a small town in Morayshire, 30 miles from Inverness in Scotland and on Wednesday we will be returning to Scotland to live, this time to Dunbar in East Lothian. I have decided to dedicated the blogs this week to places around Grantham and today's article is on St Wulfram's Church, the dominant landmark in the town. History It is believed that a church stood on the site long before Norman times, but of the original Saxon church probably only a few stones, near the organ loft, remain. The church was totally altered by the Normans and the remains of their church may still be seen in the nave.  The north aisle arcades, except for the two west bays, date from before 1180. The original Norman church was ruined by fire when it was hit by lightning in 1222.[2] The north aisle was rebuilt in about 1250. In 1280 the church expanded westward...

Summer has arrived here in the UK at last and this has meant watering the garden so it doesn't dry out in the 30 degree heat.  The last few evenings I have been setting up the sprinkler to water the lawn and I saw the evening sunlight hitting the stream of water.  Sometimes the simplest, everyday situation can make an interesting image. Images taken on Nikon D800 Nikon 105mm f2.8G VR micro ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 l...

Another image taken using the Infrared filter on the Fuji X100 of a tree and country lane near the Grantham Canal.  The exposure was 5 seconds @ f8 (ISO 400) and you can see the movement in the tree caused by the wind blowing the branches during the long exposure. Image taken on Fujifilm Finepix X100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 this blog please visit our  Facebook  page and click 'like'

As we are moving out of Grantham in less than three weeks I have decided to visit some of my favourite photographic haunts over the next 14 days for one last time.   Yesterday morning I went for a walk up to Belmont Tower, which is situated on a hill near the village of Londonthorpe at the end of an avenue of trees.  At the other end of the avenue is Belton House and Belmont Tower is part of the estate which is now owned by the National Trust and so open to the public. This image was taken on the Fuji X100 with the WCL-X100 wide angle converter lens attached and using an 720nm infrared filter.  The exposure was 4 seconds @ f8 (ISO200) which meant I had to use the Manfrotto tripod to make sure everything was rock steady while the shutter was open. The second image was taken from a slightly different viewpoint with the X100 fitted with the WCL-X100 but this time with a Lee 10x ND filter (big stopper) and a Lee 0.6 Soft ND Grad. This gave an exposure o...

Taking a short walk by the Grantham Canal I came across a rape seed field that had started to lose it's yellow flowers.  But in the corner of the field there was a clump of giant daisies growing and I headed over the capture the flowers with my Fuji X100.  I did several images in Black and White rather than the usual colour pictures.   All images taken on Fujifilm Finepix X100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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 y...

My first day back in the UK after 10 days in Le Mans and the chance of a good sunset had me grabbing the camera bag and heading out to the poppy fields out towards the village of Burton Coggles.  The scene that greeted me didn't disappoint and the a low sun meant the field of red was backlit for around 20 minutes as the sun sank below the horizon.  This gave me the chance to capture the scene on the D800 and three different lenses. Nikon D800 - Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D - 1/250 @ f9 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D - 1/320 @ f5.6 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D - 1/500 @ f5.6 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S - 1/25 @ f11 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D - 1/1600 @ f2 - ISO400 Nikon D800 - Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D - 1/250 @ f11 - ISO400 - SB600 off camera flash Nikon D800 - Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D - 1/80 @ f6.3 - ISO400 -----------------------------------------------------------...

This evening there was a beautiful sunset that turned the clouds about Grantham a deep pink so I grabbed my Fuji X100 and headed out to get a few shots before the light disappeared.  This shot was taken with the sun behind me with the X100 on a tripod and fitted with a Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad filter.  The shutter speed was 1/8 which was used to give some movement in the rape seed in the foreground which was being blown about in the breeze. Image taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with a Fujinon 23mm f2 lens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW 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...

This shot was taken a few weeks ago on my first test shoot with the Nikon D800.  This is the single track road that leads down to the village of Burton Coggles or Burton Le Coggles as it is sometimes known, just 8 miles from Grantham in Lincolnshire. Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/20 @ f7.1 - ISO 200 The first shot above was taken on a landscape view and shot in colour.  It was then converted into mono in Photoshop Elements 11. Below you can see the live view screen on the D800 showing what the camera 'sees' and at what exposure.  I have found the live view function on the D800 to a huge step forward from the live view on the D700.  It is a revelation and I have found myself using it more and more. The final shot was the same view but shot in portrait with the 50mm f1.4 lens rather than the 17-35mm f2.8 used in the first shot. Nikon D800 - Nikon 50mm f1.4 - 1/200 @ f4 - ISO 200 ---------------------------------------------...

Just over a month ago I reported that I had added a Nikon D800 to the MacLean Photographic arsenal alongside the existing D700 and over the past month I have been getting used to the new 'beast' with its massive 36 megapixel sensor which gives me some massive advantages when working on landscapes or in the studio.  Starting today, and continuing over the next couple of weeks, I will write some blogs on my personal experiences on using this camera and compare it to the D700. One of the main advantages of the huge pixel count it the ability to produce large prints without resorting to software trickery.  The native image size of the D800 is 7360 pixels by 4370 pixels, which gives an image of 62cm (24.8") x 37cm (14.8") at 300 pixels per inch.  This compares to the D700 file size of 4256 pixels x 2852 pixels from its 12mp sensor, giving a size of 36cm (14.4") x 24cm (9.6"). Now in the real world none of that matters unless you produce massive images becaus...

The weather over Grantham this evening was rather weird with snow storms blowing through, followed by a spectacular sunset.  I grabbed my camera bag and climbed to the top of the hill overlooking the town to capture the scene. Setting the D800 on the tripod fitted with the 17-35mm f2.8 wide angle zoom I set about capturing the scene.  I also used the D700 with the 80-200mm f2.8 to get a closer image of the sun setting behind the clouds on the horizon. Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/15 @ f16 - ISO 200 - Tripod - Lee 0.6 ND Soft Grad Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/15 @ f16 - ISO 200 - Tripod - Lee 0.6 ND Soft Grad Nikon D700 - Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 - 1/2500 @ f5.6 - ISO 400  Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 - 246 seconds @ f16 - ISO 100 - Tripod - Lee 0.6 ND Soft Grad / Lee 10x ND Snow Cloud over Grantham - Fuji X100 - 23mm f2 - 1/50 @ f2.8 ISO400 ----------------------------------------------------------------...

Nikon D700 - Sigma 50-500mm f4 / f6.3 - 1/4000 @ f8 - ISO 800 - Tripod  If you are a regular visitor to the MacLean Photographic blog you'll know that the Vale of Belvoir is one of my favourite places to visit, not only due to its proximity close to my home town of Grantham but also because it one of those great undiscovered photographic locations, with a variety of landscapes in a relatively small area. The focal point of the Vale is Belvoir Castle, home of the Duke of Rutland. Perched high on the hill, surrounded by woodland, the castle is a very photogenic piece of architecture.  On every visit to the Vale I usually end up shooting it from one angle or another. The first shot was taken on a very foggy day in October 2012 and for most of the morning the castle was shrouded in mist. However as the sun started to break through the castle and the trees were revealed.   Grabbing the Nikon D700 and fitting the Sigma 50-500mm lens I took this image with the foca...