CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This was one of the last shots I took on my X-Pro1 before it went for a swimming lesson in the harbour on the Isle of May.   The boat taking us out to the island from North Berwick circled around Bass Rock and the gannets were overhead as the sun broke through the clouds.  I captured this image looking straight up from the boat with part of Bass Rock in the frame. The shot was taken on the X-Pro1 and the Fujinon XF18mm f2 lens and makes it into my 2015 Top 10 because of the dramatic lighting highlighting the spectacle of thousands of seabirds circling overhead. After this shot was taken the boat took us out to the Isle of May.  The camera fell out of my jacket pocket as I got off the boat into six foot of sea water.  The harbour master fished the camera out for me but the camera and lens were both dead.  I managed to recover the images and videos from the card.  The camera and lens were replaced by my insurance company. This image is my favourit...

Over the next few days as 2015 draws to a close I will be posting 10 of my favourite images from the last 12 months and sharing the reasons why that particular image has made it into my top 10 of the year. Let's start with a shot I took back in January on a very snowy Rannoch Moor.  We arrived before dawn and the snow was very deep.  Keeping one eye on the clouds and the horizon in the east I waited for the light to change as the sun appeared above the horizon.  With high winds and fast moving clouds there was no guarantee that the sun would actually appear above the horizon but with all landscape photography you need to be patient and also have a little bit of luck. On this particular morning Lady Luck was on my side as the sun did appear and the light struck the tops of the mountains.  I had the X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF55-200mm ready and captured the fast changing scene as the light changed.  In fact the light only last 30 seconds but I had managed to ca...

When out shooting landscapes on a cloudy day I always keep one eye on the sky to see if the sun will break through to create some interesting light on the landscape.  I have got very good at anticipating changes in the light over the years and it is a skill that all landscape photographers acquire over time. On the west coast of Scotland the weather can change very quickly.  Just when it looks like it is time to pack the cameras away and head back home, the clouds can suddenly part or the rain can stop and the scene that 10 minutes earlier was grey and overcast is suddenly transformed. Take these two shots looking out from the northern coast of the Isle of Skye out towards Harris and Lewis.  The wind was blowing the clouds across the scene at a fair rate of knots and the moving clouds would suddenly open up to allow the sunlight through to illuminate part of the seascape. They say 'patience is a virtue', and for landscape photographers this is very true.  S...

This shot was taken on the Isle of Lewis last summer during our trip to the Outer Hebrides.  After visiting the Callanish Stones and the Gearrannan Black Houses, we stopped off at the beautiful sandy beach at Dail Mor.   Daily Mor is on the North West side of the island facing the Atlantic and we could see the next weather front rolling in.  The dramatic rain clouds were set against the waves crashing onto the sandy shore and against the rocks of the headland at the north end of the beach. About 10 minutes after this image was taken the rain started to fall in typical Hebridean fashion - heavy and sideways.  But we were dressed for the weather and it was only a short walk back to the car.  This shot was taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and the Fujinon XF18mm f2R lens, with the image converted to black and white in Silver EFEX Pro2 software. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

This image was taken on last weekend's trip out to the Isle of May and shows thousands of Gannets circling Bass Rock.  This was taken from below them on the RIB and I love this shot for the sheer power of nature.  Bass Rock is one of the natural wonders of the world and I feel quite privileged to be able to see it everyday from the end of the road here in Dunbar. Image taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 + XF18mm f2R lens

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I love to discover and photograph unusual objects, especially if they have some historical significance, no matter how small. I discovered one such object while out at Skateraw on Wednesday evening.  Embedded in the rock on the shore was a metal bolt that probably held a mooring ring when Skateraw Harbour was in operation in the early 19th Century. The bolt is very weathered and stood about 8cm above the rock.  There was a puddle of water left by the receding tide that gave me a nice reflection to work with and I took three different angles using the Fujifilm X-T1 with the 35mm f1.4 and the X-Pro1 with the 10-24mm for the panoramic shot below.  History of Skateraw Harbour The harbour at Skateraw was built between 1799 and 1825 by the owners of the nearby limestone quarry and kiln to facilitate the export of lime and import of coal. It occupies a natural harbour, between rocky points, with a sandy be...

Yesterday evening the wind and the rain disappeared and so I gathered my camera bag up and headed out to Skateraw which is near Torness Point.  I wanted to capture the colours and the textures of the shoreline on this part of the East Lothian coast.  Skateraw has a natural labour with a beautiful sandy beach.  Around the point the shoreline is a flat rocky surface with lots of grooves and cracks that look like crazy paving and is home to rock pools, seaweed and other flora and fauna. When I arrived the tide was on the turn and waders were out in abundance feeding off the creatures that had been left exposed by the retreating sea water. The seaweed that was piled up on the tide line had started to dry out and the red and brown colours were quite vivid.  The growth that was still in water or was covered by water when the tide was in was still green and with the low angle of light coming from the sun the greens and browns where highlighted against...

My luck was in this evening as I headed down to Belhaven to catch the last light of the day.  My original plan was to take some images to produce a new time-lapse of Belhaven Bay and with lots of moving clouds I did set the X-T1 to capture around 600 images for this purpose. However as the sun began to set it appeared below the cloud cover and a spectacular light show took place for around 30 minutes.  using the X-T1 to capture some 4-5 minute long exposure shots using the 10-24mm wide angle zoom, I also used the X-Pro1 and the 18mm to capture some images at around 1/250s handheld. Here are the results of this evening's sunset and I will also be posting the time-lapse sequence in due course. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. -----...

After the 4 Hours of Imola we held the traditional post race press conference in the media centre for the winning drivers to face the press and talk about the trials and tribulations of the race. There are two press conferences.  The first is for the first three driver crews overall and then the second is for the winning crew from the LMGTE, GTC and LMP3 classes.   I use the Fujifilm X-T1 to video these conferences so that they can be streamed on the ELMS Daily Motion channel.  The reason is so any media that cannot be present at the press conference can see and hear the drivers and use the quotes that they have made.  The bonus is that these press conferences can also be viewed by race fans who are also interested in hearing what the drivers said after the race.  Here is the LMP2 press conference video  4 Hours of Imola - Race Press Conference by ELMS The Class Winners press conference can be viewed HERE I also used the Fujifilm X-Pro1 w...

The geology in this part of Scotland is amazing and very diverse, a very visual reminder of the volcanic past of East Lothian.  The beach at Skateraw looking west along the coast to Barns Ness is one of my favourite areas to captures the different types of rocks. Near the shoreline is a slab of rock that looks like crazy paving and even has seaweed growing in the cracks, much like our path at home but substitute grass for the seaweed. Now I am not a geologist, I don't know what type of rocks these are or what caused the formation but as a photographer I like the shapes and the textures. So this evening, as the sun was setting in the west, I headed out to Skateraw to take some shots as the tide receded.

Last week at the first race of the 2015 season at Silverstone was a bit 'full on' but this was to be expected as I have worked in motorsport for many years and every year it is the same.  Now we have the first race of the year under our belt then the rest should be a bit easier.   Since I got back to Dunbar on Monday I have been working on the post race information and also preparing for the next race in Belgium on the 2nd May.  So yesterday evening, with the sun shining, I downed tools and grabbed the camera bag for a much needed walk on the beach at Seacliffe. The evening light was wonderful with the low sun behind Tantallon Castle throwing deep shadows mixed in with golden light hitting Bass Rock just off the coast in the Firth of Forth. I set the X-T1 to take long exposure images as the sun slowly set to my left and while I waited I just sat taking in the view and watching the Gannets fish in the sea.  Sometimes you have to just slow down and app...