CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

2016 saw my first ever visit to Mexico when I travelled there with the FIA World Endurance Championship at the beginning of September.  I set aside one day to be a tourist and, along with fellow X Photographer John Rourke, was invited to join Jaime Pastelin and some others from the FujiX MeXico group to see Mexico City with the help of some local people. The day we spent with Jaime and the rest of the group was one of the best of the year and I have a new entry on my top ten cities to spend more time in 2017. One of the places Jaime took us was the  Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico, which is located just off the Zocolo, the main square of the city.  The Art Nouveau architecture of the building is very famous and was used in the opening sequences of the last James Bond film 'Spectre'. This image of the stained glass ceiling was taken on the Fujifilm X-T2 and the Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye lens. CLICK HERE to see the blog on the  Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexic...

I have to be honest, I did travel to Mexico with many preconceptions on what I would find there, views that were mainly formed by what I have read in the UK media and advice from the Foreign Office.  However I was pleased to discover that many of these preconceptions were unfounded thanks to the fact that we were given a tour of real Mexico by friends through Fujifilm. The people of Mexico were welcoming and proud of their country and their culture. On the first day in Mexico City Jaime Pastelin, who runs the FujiX meXico Facebook group, invited myself and fellow X Photographer John Rourke to join him and some fellow group members on a photo walk of the historic part of Mexico City and also out to the suburb of Coroycan. Now with any city around the world parts can be dangerous if you don't take care.  Try not to look like a tourist, don't have cameras and expensive watches on show and try to blend in. Also find out where the no go areas are and don't go alone. ...

Race day at a FIA World Endurance Championship event is always lots of work and pressure but also extremely enjoyable, especially when we visit a new country for the first time.   On Saturday 3 September the first running of the 6 Hours of Mexico saw drama and excitement, with the enthusiasm of the Mexican fans really adding to the party atmosphere despite two periods of rain during the race. The day started early with the traditional pitwalk, where the fans have the opportunity to get close to the drivers, get an autograph and a selfie, followed by the gridwalk before the race.   The race itself is a six hour sprint with no let up in the action. It was won by the no1 Porsche 919 of  reigning world champions Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard ahead of Audi and Toyota.  The Mexicans had a home win when the no43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier-Nissan of Ricardo Gonzalez, Bruno Senna and Filipe Albuquerque took the chequered flag in LMP2.  The a...

While I have been working at the  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Mexico City I have been in contact with Fujifilm Mexico.  On race day we invited the top people from the Mexican division of Fujifilm to come along to the race to see the first WEC event in their country for themselves.   When they arrived they brought a little present for me, the new Fujinon XF23mm f2 lens for me to try for the day.  As it was race day I had only a small window of opportunity to try the lens and that was on the grid during the build up to the race.  I have tested the 23mm f1.4 on two  occasions  and love the images it produces (see review HERE ) but the size of the lens means it isn't one I would put in my camera bag. The 23mm f2 is about the same size as my 35mm f1.4 and is the same focal length and maximum aperture as the fantastic lens I have on my X100.  The 35mm equivalent focal length is ...