CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This was one of the images I took yesterday while getting some winter storm images in Dunbar.  This shot is in fact six images taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF16mm f1.4 lens, taken in sequence and then stitched together using the 'photomerge' function in Photoshop CC to create a wider field of view. Once the images were stitched together I cropped it 3:2 to give it a standard size.  At 8121 x 5414 pixels the overall image was larger than the standard 6000 x 4000 I usual get from a straight image from the X-Trans III 24mp sensor on the X-Pro2. I then converted the image to mono using NIK Silver Efex Pro2 software, converting the image with one of the custom presets I have developed. I then did some dodging and burning to lighten and darken certain areas to increase the overall contrast of the image. Not long after I took this sequence of images the snow began to fall heavily again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------...

For the past two days much of the UK has been gripped in a severe snow storm, including the South East of Scotland.  In fact the Met Office issued the first ever 'RED' weather warning for snow in the central belt of Scotland.  The high winds and low temperatures have produced blizzard conditions and dumped a fair amount of snow across the country.   While Dunbar hasn't been as severely hit as other parts further inland, the weather has forced the trains to be cancelled, the schools to be shut and made roads hazardous to drive on and even impassable for a while. Today I walked with my wife to the school where she works and then headed down to the harbour with the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and Xf16mm f1.4 lens to capture some images of the wintery conditions. I also took along my GoPro Hero5 Black and the Karma stabiliser grip to capture some video of the conditions.  I didn't fly the DJI Mavic Pro drone because the wind conditions were too strong to safely fly. ...

The latest edition of shooting sport from the spectator areas is on horse racing for Fujifilm.   I attended the first jump meeting of the 2017/18 season at Musselburgh Racecourse on Wednesday 8th November to shoot the latest feature and came away with a nice selection of images for the Fujifilm website. I shot the event using the Fujifilm X-T2 and Fujifilm X-Pro2 fitted with the XF100-400mm and XF50-140mm f2.8 zooms plus I also used the XF16mm f1.4 prime as well. CLICK HERE to see the full article on Fujifilm.com  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES (UN...

The view from the bottom of Eau Rouge to the top of Raidillon is one sight in motor sport that I will not get tired of photographing.   Today was set up day for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round 5 of the 2017 European Le Mans Series.  Part of the day was taken up with track inspections and driver interviews ahead of track running tomorrow. Looking at the track all you see is Belgium's national colors of Red, Gold and Black, with the kerbs and tyre barriers all painted in red and gold paint, with the black ashpalt circuit proving the third element to the national colours. The paint around the track is flaking and the textures certainly draws my photographic eye. All of the images were taken with either the Fujifilm X-T2 or X-Pro2 and the XF10-24mm f4, XF16-55mm f2.8 or XF50-140mm f2.8 lenses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY ...

On Saturday I went along to the Central Scotland Autograss Club event at Avonbridge to shoot the next feature in the series of Shooting Sport as a Spectator for Fujifilm UK and also shoot a series of images for an upcoming feature in a national newspaper. Because I was fulfilling two roles I signed on as media to shoot the newspaper images but shot all of the pictures and video I needed for the Fujifilm feature from the spectator areas.   However I did shoot a number of images from the inside of the track thanks to the media access granted by the club. Here are some action images taken from the inside of the oval track. All of the images were shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with the exception of the main image at the top of the page, which was shot on an X-Pro2 and XF16-55mm f2.8 lens.  The two X-T2 bodies were fitted with an XF50-140mm f2.8 and a XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 zoom lens. For more information on the Central Scotland Autograss Club CLICK HERE ...

Sometimes the most mundane objects can become a source of inspiration.   Yesterday evening while hosting a photo walk at the John Muir Country Park the grey skies were not providing me with any creativity and I was trying to find something that would provide the smallest spark. Near to the East Links Family Park we came across a stack of rails for the small railway that runs around the park through the animal enclosures.  These rails had been stacked and the light filtering through from the top set onto the rusting and eroded metal on the lower tiers were just the inspiration I needed. Using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF50-140mm f2.8 lens I captured a set of images that looked great on the LCD and also on the iMac once they were imported into Lightroom.  I converted the images to mono using NIK Silver EFEX Pro2.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPO...

I hear it said a lot that motor sport is difficult to shoot without a media pass.  Well that is very true for circuit racing, especially at the big venues like Silverstone or Le Mans, but there is one form of motor sport that does afford great access for spectators and that is rallying.   To prove the point I went along to the opening round of the British Rally Championship the Border Counties Rally in Jedburgh, which was also Round 2 of the Scottish Rally Championship.  All the access during the event was on a spectator pass, I paid for the car park on the special stage and I shot from the designated areas. The result was a great set of images that couldn't really have been bettered if I had been wearing a media vest.  Yes the media photographers could visit all of the special stages, where as spectators were limited to a few, but the pros had to submit a plan of the areas they wanted to visit for approval by the event safety manager BEFORE the event and the...