CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This is the final day of my 7 Day Nature Photo Challenge for which I was nominated by Tom Hodgetts of Skye Walks and Photography. This shot was taken in November 2011 of a Grey Seal pup at Donna Nook in North Lincolnshire.  The pup was lying just inside the fence that separates the public area and the breach where the seals are.  You have to be careful not to touch the seal pups because if the mother smells a human on the pup she may reject the pup and it will die. The camera was fitted with a wide angle lens and set down on the ground behind the double fence so there was no chance of the pup being touched.  I then used the wireless remote release to take some pictures of the pup as it got curious and went to look at the camera.  It soon got bored and wandered back to mum and on checking the pictures I found this shot. It has to be one of my all time favourite nature photography images and is a nice way to round off this 7-day challenge. The camera ...

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...

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...

Nikon D700 - 28-105mm f3.5/f4.5 - 1/200 @ f8 - ISO400 I caught this scene on my Nikon D700 and 28-105 lens when out shooting the first test shots on my Nikon D800 at Stoke Rochford.  The beauty of having two camera bodies is you can be shooting long exposures with one camera (as I was with the D800) and capturing the scene a different way with the second camera. The other advantage when working with two camera bodies is you can have one type of lens - a wide angle for example - on one camera and a telephoto on the other so you don't have to keep swapping lenses. For landscapes, where time is usually not of the essence, one camera body s usually enough, but in this case where the clouds were changing very quickly in the high winds, I was able to react quickly due to the second camera body fitted with a short telephoto.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE...

A short three minute video from a photographic trip into the Vale of Belvoir, shot near the Grantham Canal close to Woolsthorpe by Belvoir. A full HD version of this video can be seen on the MacLean Communications YouTube channel HERE   More videos are planned throughout the year which will show the changing seasons and the different type of photography undertaken by MacLean Photographic. The plans include short photographic tours into the Vale.  For more information contact Jeff Carter at photo@macleanphotographic.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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' MORE IMAGES CAN BE VIEWED ON  FLICKR  AND ON OUR  WEBSITE

This is one of my favourite places in and around Grantham to take photographs.  The stream runs through a field next to the A1 and the bridge leads to the church on the hill at Stoke Rochford.  I decided this would be a good place to test the new D800 and this is one of the first shots that came out of the camera. Nikon D800 - Nikon 17-35 f2.8 AF-S - 1/5 @ f10 - ISO200 - Lee 0.6 Soft ND Grad - Tripod More shots from this first test will be posted soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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' MORE IMAGES CAN BE VIEWED ON  FLICKR  AND ON OUR  WEBSITE

Grantham's famous son Sir Isaac Newton was actually born on Christmas Day in 1642  in the village of Woolsthorpe, 6 miles south of  Grantham. He studied at the King's School in the town and the original school building still forms part of the King's Grammar School.   The statue, by William Theed, was erected in 1858 on St Peter's Hill green in front of the Guildhall, which now houses the theatre and arts centre. This image taken on the 23rd January was used to illustrate a story run on the Grantham Matters website about the fact the Guildhall clock tends to stop in cold weather - this picture was taken at 3:30pm and the clock has stopped at 7:35am.  The clock was duly repaired the following day. For more information on Sir Isaac Newton CLICK HERE Image taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 and 19mm f2 lens (WCL-X100 converter fitted) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

Continuing my trip around snow covered Grantham I decided to head into town yesterday evening to capture some images with my Fuji X100 and a tripod around the old parts of the town and the River Witham. River Witham and the River Walk near Grantham College The street lighting gives the snow a yellow tinge and the reflective surface of the snow allows plenty of light into the scene.  It is strange because if there was no snow I wouldn't normally bother with some of the pictures I took, however the whole area takes on a magical quality just because the ground and trees are covered in the white stuff. Grantham Cemetery Grantham Cemetery First stop was Grantham Cemetery where the old chapel was lit by the faint glow of the street lights on Harrowby Road. Vine Street looking toward St Wulfram's Church St Wulfram's Next stop I headed down Vine Street, with it's old Georgian and Victorian buildings to St Wulfram's Church, which is lit at night...