CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

As you may have seen a few weeks ago that I tested the Haida Filters M10 system and I really liked the quality and the usability of the system.  Since my glowing review Haida asked me if I would like to work with them as a Co-Photographer / Ambassador and I said 'yes'. So today I am pleased to announce this partnership and HERE is a link to my profile page on the Haida Photo website. I am currently in France at the Circuit Paul Ricard for the two day pre season test and first round of the European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup. I have been using the Haida M10 0.9 (3 Stop) and 1.8 (6 Stop) Neutral Density filters for shooting videos at the track. Here is a the video interview with the crew of the no50 Richard Mille Racing Team Oreca that we did yesterday evening and then shot the track footage earlier today.  I used the two Haida ND filters to allow me to use a wider aperture in the sunny conditions here at Paul Ricard.  The final video was used on ...

Yesterday I was on the grid ahead of the Michelin Le Mans Cup race at the Circuit Paul Ricard and I took the Fujinon XF50mm f2 attached to my X-T2 to capture some images of the drivers as they prepared for the two hour race. The more I use the 50mm f2 lens the more I getting to love it.  I had the 56mm f1.2 but sold it in favour of the 90mm f2, which is a brilliant portrait lens.  However the small size of the 50mm f2 with superb image quality really makes it a desirable package and I will probably add one to my camera bag after the test. The AF was one again very quick to react and with the XT2 set to single focus point I was able to take images of the drivers sitting in the cockpit and focus on the eyes through the helmet or car windscreen. I will be travelling to Mexico tomorrow afternoon and will be using this lens a lot more in the streets of Mexico City and at the  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. ------------------------...

When working at a motorsport event it is very easy to get caught up in the 'big picture' capturing that racecar out on track or taking a dramatic image of a pitstop.  I occasionally like to step back from this and look for images that are not the norm or objects that lit by the sunlight. Take the shot at the top of the page.  This was a photocall for the no12 Rebellion Racing crew of Nelson Piquet Jr, Nico Prost and Mathias Beche.  I took some shots from the side on the pitfall and then I saw Rebellion on their race suits and decided to take a close shot of their legs and race boots.  this was captured on the X-Pro2 and XF50-140mm f2.8. The image below was also captured on the same combination of camera and lens while walking back to the pitlane from the multicar photoshoot at the last corner of the track.  The sun was very low in the sky and relaxing off of the red stripes that are painted on the inside of the last corner.  The colours and textures...

The Fujinon XF 1.4x TC WR has been available since autumn 2015.  The converter is a useful addition to the camera bag for any photographer using the X-Series system who has either the XF50-140mm f2.8 and /or the new XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 as it extends the focal length of these two lenses at the expense of one stop of light. The 1.4x converter only works with these two zoom lenses due to the fact that part of the converter protrudes and fits into the back of the lens.   The advantage is it keeps the profile of the converter very small - it only increases the size by 16mm - but it means that lenses that have enough clearance to the back element can accept the converter.   This means the two cheaper Fujinon telephoto zooms - the XF55-200mm f3.5/4.8 and the XC50-230mm f4.5/6.7  - cannot be used with the converter, much to the disappointment of owners of these lenses. Fitting the 1.4x converter to the 50-140mm f2.8 turns it into a 70-196mm f4 (or 105-300mm f4 e...

Ford have entered two of their stunning Ford GTs in the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship to challenge the might of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche for the world title. 2016 is a special year for Ford as it is 50 years since the American manufacturer took a famous 1-2-3 at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans with New Zealanders Chris Amon and Denny Hulme taking the win for Ford. Here are some shots from the last few days at the Circuit Paul Ricard where the teams and drivers have been testing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USE...

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/60 @ f16 ISO200 Today was the first time the teams and drivers taking part in the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship had the opportunity to take their cars on track at the same time to compare their pace against the opposition.  The venue is the Circuit Paul Ricard on the Cote d'Azur and I was attending the event - The Prologue - in my capacity as the FIA Media Delegate for the World Endurance Championship. This afternoon I decided to go out on track to get some images to accompany the reports and interviews I would be producing for the FIA official website and also give the Fujifilm X-Pro2 its next big test and that was to shoot motorsport. Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 +1.4x converter - 1/250 @ f8 IS0400 As regular readers of this blog will know I have been attending different sporting events to test out the X-Pro2 and the XF100-400mm lens and a couple of weeks ago I attended the 6 Nations Rugby internationa...