CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

During our recent trip to the Outer Hebrides we stopped at an art gallery near to the beach at Luskentyre for a browse and a cup of tea to escape the rain that had blown in off the Atlantic. We did buy a couple of items that were coloured a vivid blue, just like the sea just outside the window.  One of the items we bought were a pair of glass coasters, which were blown full of air bubbles.  This made a fantastic object for a still life I set up in my office, shooting the coaster with the LED video light behind to highlight the textures and colours in the glass. Here are two shots taken on the Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF60mm f2.4 macro lens.  The one at the top of the page was taken across the glass using an aperture of f2.4 to give a shallow depth of field.   The second image is taken with the coaster parallel to the camera with the aperture set to f5.6 to increase the depth of field. -----------------------------------------------------------------...

On the recent visit to the Outer Hebrides I took over 1200 images of the scenery on Harris and Lewis.   Over the past two days I have spent some time looking at some of the images in the archive that I didn't use the first time round and this shot is one of the stand out images.  In colour the shot across the bay is OK but it didn't attract my attention. However when I looked again I saw the potential in the wide variation in tones that made this image suitable for a strong black and white image. I converted the image using Silver Efex Pro2 software and then did some dodging and burning to increase the contrast in parts of the image in Photoshop Elements 11. The result is quite pleasing.  The colour version of the image is below so you can decide if my choice was correct or not.  Image taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

While on our recent trip to the Outer Hebrides there was a lot of open moorland and peat bogs which is the perfect place to spot Cotton Grass. Cotton Grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) is very distinctive with it's fluffy white head that looks like someone has opened a bag of cotton wool and emptied it onto the landscape. We stopped near one peat bog near Tarbert on the Isle of Harris and the windy conditions was making the Cotton Grass heads wave like flags in a stiff breeze. Using the Fujifilm X-Pro1 fitted with the Fujinon 55-200mm telezoom I was able to isolate patches of Cotton Grass and throw the background out of focus with a wide aperture. CLICK HERE for more information on Cotton Grass (Eriophorum angustifolium)  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support ...

This is a shot of Eilean Glas Lighthouse on the Isle of Scalpay taken from the Tarbert to Uig ferry on our way back to the Isle of Skye after a great weekend in the Outer Hebrides.   The clouds were sweeping in over the mountains of Harris and the breaks in the clouds allowed the sunlight to hit the lighthouse, which is situated on the eastern edge of the Isle of Scalpay. There has been a lighthouse on Scalpay since 1789 and the current tower was erected in 1824 by the Northern Lighthouse Board engineer Robert Stevenson. CLICK HERE for the history of Eilean Glas lighthouse Image taken with a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8R OIS lens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -------------------------------------------------------------...

Scotland boasts some of the best beaches in the world and the images are sometimes mistaken for more tropical locations in the Caribbean or Indian Ocean.   The white sandy beaches and bright blue seas have been attracting visitors to Scotland for generations and while these two pictures from the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, I have posted similar images from Mull and Iona in the past.   Even the beaches on the east coast of Scotland, from the Moray Firth, down to Fife and nearer to our home in East Lothian, are the envy of the world for the pristine sand and clear blue seas.  I never get tired of photographing them. The images on this page were both taken on the Fujifilm X-T1.  The top image on the Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS and the lower image on the Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8R OIS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVE...

This image was taken on our way back from the beach at Hushinish the day we arrived on the Isle of Harris.   The old boat was pulled up out of the water at Loch Leosavay, not far off the B887.  The sunlight and the high clouds made for an interesting image so we had to stop to get the picture before we traveled up to Lewis for our first night in the Outer Hebrides. Using the Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon 10-24mm f4 fitted with a polariser, I took several shots  around the boat and the shoreline. The images were converted to black and white in Nik Silver Efex Pro2 after using Lightroom 5.5 to convert the RAW file. The last shot was taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the XF 55-200mm f3.5/4.8 lens and is looking across the small bay back towards Amhuinnsuidhe Castle Estate. Today I am heading to Austria for the next round of the 2014 European Le Mans Series at the Red Bull Ring in the Styrian Alps.  I will be posting some images from this tri...

Another day, another beautiful deserted beach on the Isle of Harris.  This is the world famous beach at Luskentyre that is so typical of the scenery on the Outer Hebrides.  We can attest to the fact that the water is really that blue, even when the rains came over for a 15-minute shower, the sea was still that beautiful colour.   They say them beaches in the Outer Hebrides can rival any in the Caribbean, and having seen them for myself, I have to agree.  If only the weather was 10 degrees warmer than the 14 degrees we experienced on our last day on the Isle of Harris.  It was still a wonderful experience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

This weekend we are in the Outer Hebrides exploring the isle of Harris and Lewis. We arrived on the Calmac ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye, arriving two hours later in Tarbet on Harris. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm so we headed out to the beach at Huisinish. We were greeted by a view of turquoise sea and white sand. A walk around the headland presented us more vistas of the same blue seas, mountains and white sand, the scene could've be straight out of a Visit Scotland travel brochure. We then headed up to Stornaway, the capital of Lewis and to our accomodation at Broad Bay House. Our room has a great view over the bay with another white sandy beach a short walk away. More from our trip the Outer Hebrides on the blog tomorrow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts y...