CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Fujifilm X-T4 + XF10-24mm f4 - Haida M10 1.8 ND + Red Diamond 0.9 ND Grad 1 second @ f11 ISO80 Last week I ran my first Black and White Landscape workshop of the year.  Like many businesses the Covid19 pandemic caused me a bit of a headache and I had to put my photo workshops on hold for three months.  The clients who had already booked workshops were offered a refund but I was happy when they said they would be OK to postpone and wait until I could rearrange the bookings with them.  The first workshop was a 1-2-1 with a client who was returning for her second one day MacLean Photographic workshop.  Fujifilm X-T4 + XF50-140mm f2.8 - Haida M10 1.8 ND 1/6s @ f8 ISO250 The workshop was held at Barns Ness and Tyningham, demonstrating the techniques on how to 'see' a landscape in black and white and expose the image accordingly.  This something I have learnt from experience and I now endeavour to teach my clients during the one day workshop. The...

The River Tyne Estuary in East Lothian is at the western end of Belhaven Bay a couple of miles from Dunbar. The John Muir Country Park is on the eastern shore and Tyningham woods is on the west shore.    At low tide the mudflats and sandbanks are revealed and the estuary is home to a whole host of wading birds taking advantage of the abundant food sources along the shoreline. On the west shore the rock formations revealed by the receding tide are  fascinating  and a great source of inspiration for photography. Tyne Estuary + John Muir Country Park from MacLean Photographic on Vimeo . The Tyne Estuary and John Muir Country Park is one of the locations on the MacLean Photographic workshops. For more information visit  www.macleanphotographic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS O...

While out on the Woodland Exploration Workshop last Saturday we came across a couple of random objects that had been placed near to the beach at the River Tyne estuary here in East Lothian. The first object was an old Singer sewing machine that had been painted pink with the word 'LIFE' on the side and placed on the top of one of the World War II anti tank concrete blocks that line the woodland area just off the beach. The second item was an old draw front that had been had been painted bright blue with black metalwork and the words 'black' and 'submarine' had been written in black on each end. The draw end had been placed on one of the fallen tree trunks on the beach. I don't know the story behind why these objects were painted these bright colours and placed in this location, or to the meaning of the words written on the, but I have to be honest to say that I quite like this type of 'Guerilla Art'.  It certainly makes for a sligh...

Today I hosted a MacLean Photographic Woodland Exploration workshop here in East Lothian and after a week of torrential rain and howling winds the weather gods decided to smile on me and abate for the day. This morning was spent up at Innerwick Castle, exploring the woodland around the old ruin.  With bright sunlight filtering through the trees we were able to shoot some of the ferns and fungi that were spotlit by the natural light piercing the canopy of leaves above our heads. After a spot of lunch we headed out to Tyningham for a walk through the woods and along the shoreline, capturing the flowers and trees in this wonderful natural woodland setting. If you are interested in joining me on a workshop here in East Lothian you will find details on the MacLean Photographic website HERE .   Remember if you don't find a suitable date you can contact me at tours@macleanphotographic.co.uk to see if we can find a more suitable date for your schedule. All images we...

After two weeks away in Japan and Portugal today was the first opportunity I have had to visit one of my favourite places near to my home in Scotland.   With autumn in full swing we decided to go for a walk in the woods near Tyningham beach and with the sun shining through the trees there was some great photographic opportunities to be had.  I decided not to go loaded down with lots of photographic gear and took only the Fujifilm X100T in my pocket.  Going small and light meant I had to think creatively about what I was going to photograph but with the X100T that isn't such a hard thing to do. With the sunlight coming down through the trees, there were plants and leaves being highlighted by the shafts of light so I switched the X100T to macro mode to get in close with the Fujinon 23mm f2 lens.  This sharp lens picked up all the detail in the backlit leaves and the forest floor. All images taken on the Fujifilm X100T with its fixed 23m...

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF16-55mm f2.8 - 250s @ f16 ISO200 This evening I headed along the East Lothian coast to Tyningham and the River Tyne Estuary at the western end of Belhaven Bay. The rock formations at the end of Belhaven are amazing and on checking the Tide Timetable I noticed that High Tide almost coincided with sunset, so I grabbed the camera bag and tripod to do some long exposure images on the shore line. Setting the camera and lens on the tripod I composed the image to include the rocky fore shore and some of the brightly coloured sky with fast moving clouds.  The four to six minute exposure time resulted in plenty of movement in the sea and the sky. Each of the the images were taken on the Fujifilm X-T2 and the 16-55mm f2.8 fitted with a Lee 0.9 soft ND Grad and the Lee 10x ND 'Big Stopper'.  Fujifilm X-T2 + XF16-55mm f2.8 - 361s @ f16 ISO200 Fujifilm X-T2 + XF16-55mm f2.8 - 291s @ f8 ISO200   ---------------------...

I went for a walk down to the Tyne Estuary today to take in the glorious spring sunshine before the Arctic weather returns tomorrow.   While walking through the woods to the beach I spotted some wild Primulas growing in the trees beautifully lit by the strong sunlit filtering down through the branches over head.  So I stopped to take a few shots on the X-Pro2 and XF100-400mm.   This super telephoto zoom lens is surprisingly good at focusing close in on the flowers and all of these shots are full frame, none of them are cropped. I also used the same lens and camera combination to capture a few shots down by the beach. The next MacLean Photographic Woodland Exploration workshop will take place on Sunday 22 May - more details HERE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE ...