CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

The X100 line of cameras has a special place in my heart as it was the original X100 that I bought in 2012 that started me on my Fujifilm journey.  I currently shoot with the third generation of the camera, an X100T, which compliments my X-T2 and X-Pro2 perfectly.   When Fujifilm announced the new X100F (F for fourth apparently - T is for third) I was interested to see what improvements Fujifilm could make to this already superb camera. Fujifilm decided to leave a few things alone and quite rightly in my book.  The Fujinon 23mm f2 lens is the same as the previous three generations of the X100, with its built in leaf shutter for silent operation and flash sync at all shutter speed.  The hybrid viewfinder, which was a unique feature at the launch of the original camera, also remains largely unchanged but with a much better EVF.   The overall size of the camera stays pretty much the same as the 'T' despite accommodating the larger WP-126 battery inst...

The latest fast Fujinon prime is the tenth fixed focal length lens in the XF line up and the second after the 16mm f1.4 to be Weather Resistant (WR).  With the equivalent focal length of 137mm in full frame 35mm terms, the 90mm f2 offers extra ‘pulling power’ over the faster 56mm f1.2. This lens is primarily targeted at portrait, wedding and street photographers but I was interested to see if it would be of use in the areas I primarily work - motorsport and landscape. I have recently acquired the superb 50-140mm f2.8, which offers greater flexibility over the primes and covers the 90mm focal length but with the disadvantages of one stop less on the aperture and in a much larger size.  However the 50-140mm does have the addition of an Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) system built in where the 90mm doesn’t. Specification Comparison To compare the sizes of the different lenses here is a shot of the 50-140mm f2.8, 90mm f2, 56mm f1.2, 55-200mm f3.5/4.8 an...

Here is the second of the three promotional videos that are being unveiled to advertise the three MacLean Photographic workshops.  Yesterday we unveiled the 'Woodland Exploration' video and today we present the 'Beaches and Castles' video, which was produced using Apple iMovies. INTRODUCTION   A one day tour showing our guests some of the best locations in East Lothian for wonderful beaches and fantastic historical buildings.  With its location close to the English border, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders has many examples of 13th and 14th century fortresses that stood guard against English incursions. We will take our guests to one inland castle, one clifftop fortress and one of the several beautiful sandy beaches on this stretch of Scotland’s coastline.  The itinerary depends on the tides on the day the tour is run.  Guests will also be given a choice of the venues we can visit. DATES FOR THIS WORKSHOP The following dates are available for th...

The countryside in East Lothian has lots of ruins of old buildings and castles that are testament to the turbulent history between the Scots and the English.  Dunbar Castle, Tantallon Castle, Hailes Castle are well documented and visited but there are other ruins tucked away in the countryside in East Lothian and the Scottish Borders. Innerwick Castle just south of Dunbar is hidden away amongst the trees of the Thornton Glen Wildlife Reserve.  The castle sits on a large crag overlooking the glen and it is easy to see why this fortress was built here to guard the way west to Edinburgh. The castle, built in the 14th century on "the edge of a precipitous glen", was a stronghold of the Stewarts and of the Hamilton family. It was extended several times, but was captured and destroyed by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset in 1548. Both Innerwick and Thornton castles had been of strategic importance for guarding routes from the south. Innerwick Castle stands within the ...

One of the best things of living in East Lothian is the fact we are not only close to the beach but we are also surrounded by farmland.  The fields close to Innerwick have been harvested and the stalks turned into straw bales.  Being in Brazil last week I missed getting any shots of the combine harvesters at work but yesterday evening I was able to get some shots of the straw bales before they are collected by the farm workers for winter storage. Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S - 30s @ f11 - ISO100 - Tripod and Lee 0.9 ND soft grad filter Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S - 30s @ f14 - ISO50 - Tripod and Lee 0.9 ND soft grad filter ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 - tha...