CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This afternoon I was in North Berwick conducting a 1-to-1 workshop with one of my long term clients who wanted to learn more about Long Exposure photography for an upcoming European trip. We went over to North Berwick for a few hours to try out some of the techniques we had been discussing.  With a sea mist hanging around just off the East Lothian coast we headed down to the Old Pier.  Luckily the tide was high and the marker was surrounded by the swirling seas of the Firth of Forth. A two minute exposure provided me with this very pleasing image of the marker surrounded by water.  The image was taken on a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF16-55mm f2.8 lens fitted with a Lee Big Stopper and 0.9 ND Grad filter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this b...

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. ------------------------------------------------...

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF10-24mm f4 - 3s @ f9 ISO200 (zoom 10mm) On Friday 27 January we set off from Edinburgh for a two day photo trip into the Highlands around Ullapool.  We left Edinburgh two hours before dawn and as we traveled up the A9, the main road from Perth to Inverness through the mountains, we decided to stop at the ruins of Ruthven Barracks to capture the sunrise. Ruthven Barracks stand on a mound on the opposite side of the A9 from the village of Kingussie, about 13 miles south of Aviemore.  I have been traveling up and down the A9 since I was posted to RAF Kinloss in February 1987 but have never stopped to view the ruins. Fujifilm X-T2 + XF10-24mm f4 - 1/13 @ f11 ISO400 (zoom 12mm) Ruthven Barracks were built in 1719 by the British Army after the failed Jacobite uprising in 1715.   In the 1745 rising led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart a unit of 12 British soldiers, commanded by a Sergeant Terrence Molloy of the 6th Regiment of Foo...

With the weather forecast of a clear day with scattered clouds after recent heavy snowfalls had us heading into the Highlands of Scotland.  We arrived before dawn at Rannoch Moor with deep snow drifts and frozen lochs presenting us with a beautiful wintry scene to photograph. A quick recce to find the best, and safe, vantage point before setting the Fuji X-T1 on the Manfrotto 190 tripod in position facing west away from the sunrise towards the mountains.   While I waited for the sun to appear I captured the shot above on the 35mm f1.4 with a 20 second exposure of scene before the dawn. I then switched to the 10-24mm wide angle zoom to give me a little more flexibility and a Lee 0.6 (2 stop) ND grad in place in preparation for the sunrise.   I put the 56mm f1.2 on the X-Pro1 and then switched to the 55-200mm to give me some extra pulling power once the sun came up.  This allowed me to get some close up shots of the sunlight hitting the ridges of t...

This evening, at the end of a beautiful sunny and warm day in East Lothian, we had a family BBQ on White Sands beach.  Of course I took one of my cameras, the X-Pro1 to be precise, to take some shots of the beach as the sun set in the west towards Dunbar.   The clouds had started to bubble up so I put the 10-24mm wide angle zoom on the X-Pro1 and fitted the Lee 10x ND 'Big Stopper' filter + the 0.9 soft grad ND filter to give me a long 30 second exposure.  The shot above, taken at 30s @ f16 iso200, was the result. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

On Monday afternoon I arrived back home after a weekend in Le Mans working on the official test weekend for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.  I head back to France on Saturday for nine days for the event that begins on Sunday 8 June and concludes with the 24 Hour race on the 14/15 June. Arriving home I had received a package with the 72-77mm step up ring to enable me to fit the Lee Filter holder to the new 10-24mm Fujinon lens, so I headed down to Belhaven Bay to try it out. Using the Lee 0.9 ND soft grad on the Fujinon 10-24mm I was able to bring out the detail in the dramatic clouds overhanging the beach.  The two images were shot in colour and converted to mono in Silver Efex Pro2. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on a...

For some weeks now I have been planning a shot of the Bridge to No Where at Belhaven Bay that required high tide to coincide with dawn and for the weather to be kind.  Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, and with a high tide at 7:09am, yesterday morning look to be a good bet to head down to the bridge. Well the weather gods were smiling and despite a short, sharp shower of rain that produced a rainbow, the sunrise provided the perfect conditions to get the shots I had visualised in my head. Images 1 and 2 were taken on a Nikon D800 and Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens - Lee 10x ND 'Big Stopper' and 0.6 ND Soft Grad filters. Image 3 was taken on a Nikon D800 and Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens - Lee 10x ND 'Big Stopper' and 0.6 ND Soft Grad filters.    Image 4 was taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 14mm f2.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING ...

In Glen Etive there is a dead tree overhanging the River Etive, which at this point is a series of beautiful waterfalls (see image posted on Tuesday HERE ).  The tree is a draw for many photographers as it frames the mountain and the river as it flows south into Loch Etive and then the ocean beyond. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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'

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...

To say the past ten days have been hectic would be an understatement.  The normal manic build up to Christmas has been compounded by our decision to purchase a new house in Dunbar and move in so we can spend the festive period in our own home rather than in rented accommodation.   After a week of driving a truck from England to Scotland an back again, moving furniture from two locations and humping box after box (as well as concluding the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season), yesterday I felt the need to go for a short walk with the Nikon D800 near to our new abode in Dunbar. The Clubhouse at Winterfield Golf Club I haven't picked up the D800 since I returned from Japan in October mainly due to the fact that I have the Fujifilm X-Pro1 system to use now and the bulky Nikon has not been the camera of choice for my work of late.  But I needed to remind myself that while the DSLR system is a more considered choice it is still one of the best pro cameras ...