CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

  I have been flying a drone for commercial and personal work since 2018 and have held a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Permission for Commercial Operations / Operational Authorisation since April 2019.   In that time I have owned several DJI drones (Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2, Mini 2). All of these drones can shoot 4K video which has been used for my clients but, apart from the Phantom, I have never been that happy with the still images coming off these drones.   However, in November 2021, DJI launched the Mavic 3 and, for me as a professional photographer, this is a game changer with regards to capturing aerial photographs with a drone. I am not going into a full in depth review of the DJI Mavic 3 as there are plenty of technical reviews available since the drone's launch and subsequent firmware update.   However, with it's micro 4/3rds main camera and an additional telephoto camera as well, the Mavic 3 is a big step up from the previous ...

Fujifilm X-T4 + XF10-24mm f4 - Haida 15stop ND + 3 Stop ND Grad - 480 seconds@f8 ISO160 Yesterday I hosted another MacLean Photographic 'Long Exposure Landscapes' workshop at Seacliff beach, a location I tend to take most of my guests to because of the immense variety of images available in a relatively small location. Located a couple of miles east of North Berwick, Seacliff features a small sandy beach looking out towards Bass Rock one mile out in the Firth of Forth.  At this time of year the small island is covered in gannets as up to 150,000 birds call this part of Scotland home from March until October.  We were treated to some fantastic diving displays as the birds fished just off the beach for most of the day. Fujifilm X-T4 + XF50-140mm f2.8 - Haida 15stop ND + 3 Stop ND Grad - 480 seconds @f11 ISO80 On the headland looking west is the ruins of Tantallon Castle, which is still an imposing sight high on the cliffs across the bay.  Just off the bea...

The 14mm Fisheye is the second of the five Moment lenses I have for my iPhone11 and it is also the one I have used the most over the past two months. Fitted over the standard lens on the iPhone 11, the Moment 14mm Fisheye gives an ultra wide 170 degrees angle of view, which is a lot wider than the 120 degree offered by the wide angle lens on the iPhone.  The Moment lens is also designed to give this impressive view without any vignetting in the corners, but you do have to be careful to keep your fingers from creeping into the edge of the frame as you hold the phone to take the shot. Like all the M Mount Moment lenses the build quality of the 14mm Fisheye is superb with optical glass surrounded in an all metal chassis.  The Moment 14mm Fisheye boasts additional elements of bi-aspheric glass compared to the previous 15mm model. Also, because it fits over the standard lens on the iPhone 11, the Fisheye gives the user the option of using Night Mode, w...

As a landscape photographer a good set of quality filters is just as important as a solid tripod to get a high quality image in camera.  I always have a circular polariser, at least one neutral density filter and a set of neutral density graduated filters in the camera bag everytime I go out on assignment or just for pleasure. When I became a professional photographer I was an early convert to the Lee filter system but then bought into the Formatt Hitech Firecrest system two years ago.  The Firecrest system offers me great quality colour neutral filters but I do find the filter holder a little fiddly and getting the polariser on and off is, quite frankly, a pain.    A couple of weeks ago I was approached by Haida, a filter manufacturer based in the city of Ningbo, 200km south of Shanghai, to see if I would be interested in reviewing their M10 and Red Diamond filter system.   I have to admit that, while I heard of the company...