CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Sunrise over Hiroshima Bay GFX50R + GF100-200mm f5.6 - 1/250s @ f5.6 ISO100 One of the joys of my job is the bonus of travelling to some fantastic destinations.  Of all the countries I visit Japan is by far and away my favourite and I have been lucky to have visited the Land of Rising Sun nine times since 2012. I usually fly to Tokyo and spend a few personal days travelling around the city or in the area to the north or south of Tokyo, but in 2019 I decided to fly to Osaka and spend some time in the south of the country.  I also decided to take the medium format Fujifilm GFX50R, along with the GF32-64mm f4 and the GF100-200mm f5.6 zooms, to see if this was going to be my ultimate travel camera outfit. TWO DAYS IN HIROSHIMA I flew into Kansai International Airport and, after collecting a hire car, I drove 230 miles west to Hiroshima for the first stop on my itinerary.  As a student of history I have always wanted to visit the Peace Park and museum in Hirosh...

After traveling up the A9 to Inverness and stopping for a coffee we crossed the bridge over the River Ness onto the Black Isle.  The city was back lit with a slight mist and the church spires above the tops of the houses. The image was shot on the Fujifilm X-T2 and the XF100-400mm. We pulled into a parking bay at the side of the dual carriageway opposite the port to take a few images before continuing our journey north towards Lochcarron and then onto our next stop on the River Kishorn before making the climb through Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle). Other features from this trip A Highland Photo Trip: Part 8 Sunset at Altandhu -  CLICK HERE A Highland Photo Trip: Part 7 Clashnessie Beach to the River Polly -  CLICK HERE A Highland Photo Trip: Part 6 Kylesku to Drumbeg -  CLICK HERE A Highland Photo Trip: Part 5 Ardvreck Castle -  CLICK HERE A Highland Photo Trip: Part 4 Bealach na Ba to Applecross -  CLICK HERE A Highland Photo Trip: Par...

One of the plus points of the Fujifilm X-Series is it compact and lightweight design.  I have been accused recently by a reader of this blog for going against the ethos of the X-Series by having so much equipment, four camera bodies, nine lenses and all the accessories that support my camera system for my work.  Yes this is a lot of equipment and all in it weighs just under 12kg full loaded.   However the name is compact SYSTEM camera and the system means I adapt the camera and lenses for the job in hand.  If I am tackling sport I will pack three bodies and the long zooms, plus the 1.4x converter.  For travel I don't need to pack as much and that is where the X-Series comes up trumps. Now I was taking a personal trip to Venice with my wife Julie to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to indulge in a spot of photography on our first ever visit to such a beautiful place.  My wife is very patient with me wit...

On the recent trip to Japan we traveled to Kyoto on the Shinkansen, the world famous Japanese bullet train.  We traveled the 500km to Kyoto on the Tokaido line, which was the first high speed line to open in 1964, the year I was born. The trip took just over two hours, which literally flew by at speeds of 320kph / 200mph.   Speeds of 440kph /275 mph were recorded in 1996 and a new world record of 603kph /375 mph was set in 2015 by the new maglev trains. One of the things that I noticed was the frequency of the trains.  On the way down from Tokyo there were services every 20-minutes. On the way back from Kyoto there were four trains to Tokyo in a 30 minute period.  And they all ran with typical Japanese efficiency and punctuality. Now I have travelled a lot by train in the UK and in France and the first thing that struck me on entering the carriage was the width.  In the Europe the seats are usually two each side of the aisle.  On the Shinkan...