CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This morning saw another sunny start in the Ardennes forest as we prepare for the opening day of track action for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Round 5 of the 2017 European Le Mans Series. As usual at this time of year there was a low lying mist on the fields and in the trees surrounding the 7km Spa-Francorchamps circuits.  As the sun rose above the tree line the warm sunlight streamed through the tops of the trees creating a stunning display. Standing on the top of the pit building I shot across the valley with the Fujifilm X-T2 and the XF50-150mm f2.8 + 2x converter.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 is an image of one of the wooden piers on Lake Chuzenji in Nikko Province in Japan.  This was taken just after sun up but with low lying cloud covering the mountains and the lake. The visibility was very limited and you couldn't see the end of the pier. Using the Fujifilm X100T I took the above image, getting down low so that the end of the pier disappeared into the mist.  You can just make out the mooring posts further out in the lake.   The image was converted into mono using NIK Silver Efex Pro2 software.

When you asked what is a good landscape lens you would probably say a wide angle prime or good quality zoom.  My preferred wide angle for landscapes would be the XF10-24mm f4 or the XF18mm f2.   However a good telephoto lens can be used to great effect to isolate parts of the landscape or compress the perspective and while the new XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 Fujinon is probably thought of as a good lens for sport ad wildlife, I use it a lot when I am out shooting landscapes. Earlier this week I spent two days shooting in Nikko National Park in Japan and I used the X-Pro2 with the 100-400mm telephoto zoom to good effect.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ---------------------------------------------...

Today is race day for the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring in Germany.  Yesterday was misty and wet with dry spells which did provide some interesting track conditions for qualifying.   On the way back to the hotel in Nurburg the cloud cover that had engulfed the castle overlooking the circuit started to appear just after sunset, so I grabbed the X-T2 and XF50-140mm f2.8 and walked up the road from the hotel to get a few images. After 30 minutes the clouds came back in and covered the castle back up for the night. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ...

After a day of heavy rain yesterday it was a misty start as we arrived at the Spa-Francorchamps track this morning with the clouds sitting just above the trees on the hills surrounding the circuit. Using the Fujifilm X-T1 and the XF55-200mm telephoto lens I captured a few moody images.

The apartment we rented for our week near Lake Como was situated on the side of the mountain overlooking the lake in the commune of San Siro.  San Siro was made of mostly new build properties but there were some older buildings clinging to the side of the hillside.   The first few mornings of our stay was unusually wet for Italy in August but the low cloud and mist provided a moody backdrop for some images from our balcony.  The view is looking north east towards Rezzonico down below on the lakeside. The two images above were shot on the Fujifilm X-T1 and the Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8R OIS lens and converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 was the scene this morning out of my hotel room window here in Shanghai.  The Crowne Plaza also has its own golf course and the mist had settled on the fairways with just the trees sticking up out of the fog. The shot was taken on the Fuji X-Pro1 and 60mm f2.4 lens.  The post processing included a bleach bypass filter and I added some film grain to give it almost a high speed black and white film effect. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 PERMI...

This was the scene from the Mull Charters boat that we were on when we were spotting the White Tailed Sea Eagles.   The day had started very overcast and it was raining but as we headed out from Ulva Ferry the clouds started to lift, as did the rain.  As we approached the coast where the Sea Eagles were located the tops of the mountains and cliffs were covered in mist and low lying cloud that spilled over and down the rocks towards the sea.  I saw a rock tower that was the perfect focal point and with the Sigma 50-500mm zoom lens I was able to isolate the area perfectly. The image was taken on a Nikon D800 with a Sigma 50-500mm f4/f6.3 lens at 1/1000 @ f8 ISO500 and converted to a mono image in Silver Efex Pro2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fe...

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...