CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Richard Lietz - no91 Porsche 911 RSR  Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 (zoom 400mm) - 1/2000s @ f5.6 ISO200 Today is race day here at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas, which is hosting round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.  The race will begin at 12h00 local time, which is 18h00 in the UK. The most iconic landmark on the circuit is the observation tower, which stands 251 feet / 77 metres above the track and gives a panoramic view of the circuit and the Texas countryside.  At Turn 10 on the track the cars crest a small rise in the track and by moving down the fenceline you can place the top of the tower in the shot behind the car.   The image at the top of the page was taken during Free Practice 3 at 10h30 on Friday morning, while the shot below was taken at the same point but at 17h15 on Thursday afternoon during Free Practice 2.   no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE - Alessandro Pier Guidi / no36 Signatech Alpin...

After travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), which only two hours to cover the 500km between the two cities, the first thing we saw outside the station was the Kyoto Tower. Standing 131 meters tall just across Kyoto Station, Kyoto Tower is Kyoto's tallest building and a rare modern iconic landmark in the city famous for its ancient temples and shrines.  The tower was completed in 1964, the same year as the opening of the shinkansen and the Tokyo Olympics.  A viewing platform is located 100 meters above ground and affords a 360 degree view of Kyoto and as far as Osaka on clear days. Using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 fitted with the XF16-55mm f2.8 lens I took some images from the station concours using the new ACROS black and white film simulation mode. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE...

One of the places we visited on the recent trip to Japan was the Tokyo Skytree, taking in the breathtaking views of the Japanese capital from the lower observation deck 350m above the ground. Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011. The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region; the older Tokyo Tower no longer gives complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by high-rise buildings. Skytree was completed on 29 February 2012, with the tower opening to the public on 22 May 2012. The 360 degree observation tower gave a great view over the city with clear blue skies enabling us to see to the horizon.  I chose to use the Fujifilm X-T1 to get these shots because we were accompanied by some journalists and it was...

I decided to visit Toulon yesterday evening to get a break away from the race track at Paul Ricard.  I headed there principally to see the Tall Ships that were resident in the city this month but with no where to park I headed out to the Tour Royale overlooking the entrance of Toulon Harbour. The Tour Royale (also known as La Grosse Tour) is a fort built in the 16th century to protect the entrance of the Petit Rade, the naval port of Toulon. It was the first fortification of the harbor, built 22 years after Provence became a part of France.  The fort was commissioned in 1513 by King Louis XII at the request of the bishop of Toulon and of the Senechal of Provence. It was placed on the cap de la Manegue, at the end of the pointe de la Mitre, where it could fire at any ships coming into the Rade. After a long and bloody history, Tour Royale became a museum in 2004, and in 2006, it was transferred from the Ministry of Defense to the city of Toulon. an...

After spending 4 days in Spielberg for the European Le Mans Series race at the Red Bull Ring we headed back to Vienna airport to catch the plane home.  However with a couple of hours to spare we headed into Vienna to have lunch in the main square near St Stephen's cathedral. We decided to climb the 300 steps to the viewing platform of the South Tower of the cathedral, which at 136 metres is the most dominant feature on the Vienna skyline.  The view from the tower is spectacular, as can be seen by the panoramic images taken from the windows. The multi-coloured tiled roof of the cathedral is one of Vienna's most recognised symbols and is even more impressive when looking down from the South Tower. History St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz...

Nikon D800 - 17-35mm f2.8 - 1/500 @ f8 - ISO400 One of the newest additions to the London skyline is The Shard - so named because it is shaped like a shard of glass - which at 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, it is the tallest building in the European Union, and the second-tallest in Europe, after the Mercury City Tower in Moscow.  Construction began on The Shard in March 2009, was inaugurated three years later on 5 July 2012 and was opened to the public on 1 February 2013.  Work continues on the interior with a hotel opening on the 34th to 52nd floors later this year. The Shard will also contain offices on its first 28 floors, restuarants above that, apartments with stunning views on the 53rd to 65th floors and the viewing platforms will be at the very top from floors 68 to 72. The Shard dominates the south bank of the Thames from the Millennium Bridge to Tower Bridge so we set about trying to capture images of this massive structure, trying to give pe...