CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

There is an old photographic adage that says the best camera to won is the one you have on you when there is a picture to be taken.  This was certainly the case yesterday evening when we were sitting on a bench at Newhaven Harbour in Edinburgh.   The light from the low sun was providing the perfect light for a picture of the boats and lighthouse and all I had to do was reach into my pocket for the Fujifilm X100 I usually keep there for spontaneous images when they present themselves. The image was taken on the X100 with the standard fixed 23mm f2 Fujinon lens.  The exposure was 1/320s @ f8 ISO200. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------...

With the weather here in the South East of Scotland being unkind for landscape photography in recent days I have set about doing some administration on the MacLean Photographic archives.   While sorting through the images from September I came across four images taken on the Fujifilm X100 of Dunbar Castle during an extreme low tide that I had meant to put together in a panoramic image but hadn't. Here is the finished image and converted to black and white in NIK Silver EFEX Pro 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE ...

I was packing my camera bag for a workshop I was conducting on Wednesday and I placed my X100 alongside my new X-Pro2 on the desk and it suddenly struck me how far Fujifilm have come in the development of the X-Series range in a relatively short space of time.   It also hit home how in 2011 when the X100 was launched all the interest that surrounded the launch then is being repeated now as photographers around the world start to receive their greatly anticipated cameras.   So what is it about Fujifilm that people want to own and use a rangefinder and retro style camera? I think it is a combination of the beautifully engineered aesthetics of the cameras - the tactile dials and that wonderful unique hybrid viewfinder - the super sharp XF lenses and the images that have that 'Fujifilm' look to them. Comparing the X100 to the X-Pro2 is like comparing a 1960s F4 Phantom jet with the latest F22 Raptor stealth fighter. The principles are the same but the technology has mov...

The Scottish Parliament Building is situated next to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh and is one of those modern structures that divides opinions.  Personally I like it, it is very striking and makes a bold statement about Scotland as a nation. I had a couple of hours to kill on a trip to Edinburgh earlier this year so I went for a walk around Holyrood armed only with my Fujifilm X100 - the original X-Series camera.  Once again the weather was very changeable and I found myself dodgy rain showers, but when the clouds cleared the light on the building was wonderful. This shot was taken at the back of the Parliament as the sunlight hit the strangely shaped windows.  I decided to tilt the camera up and on an angle because the abstract shape of the building suited this type of composition.  The image was converted to monochrome in post production with NIK Silver Efex Pro2 software. This image made it into my 2015 Top 10 because of the subject but also to prove that...

I had one day in Tokyo before heading to Fuji Speedway for the next round of the World Endurance Championship and it was spent at Fujifilm's headquarters to meet and discuss the X-Series camera and lens line up with the people that design this superb camera range. Afterwards we had an hour to wander around Roppongi before we headed to dinner.  Tokyo at night is bustling and vibrant city with bright lights and heavy traffic.   This shot of a brightly coloured taxi was taken at an intersection where the neon lights from the buildings provided a multi coloured background to this long exposure shot. The image was taken on the Fujifilm X100 with an exposure of 1/9s @f8 1600iso.

While walking on the beach near Dunbar Castle yesterday morning I came across this Common Sea Urchin lying on the sand.  I stopped to take some low shots of the large (8-10cm across) sea creature that had been left stranded by the retreating tide.  After taking this photograph on the Fujifilm X100 I placed the Urchin in one of the nearby rock pools. Background The common sea urchin, Echinus esculentus, or edible sea urchin as it is often called, is widespread around all the rocky areas of UK coast. Despite its passive appearance, it is an active predator and is probably the most heavy grazer of sub-tidal rock surfaces.  Very few encrusting animals and plants can resist the beak-like mouth of its underparts. This activity can quickly clear areas back to bare rock but unless the urchin population gets out of balance, this is not a problem because other creatures quickly settle out of the plankton and colonise this area.  This is a key to maintaining the huge...

A quick trip into Edinburgh on the train yesterday evening gave me the opportunity for a quick walk around Princes Street Gardens with Fujifilm X100 in the fading light to capture some images of Auld Edinburgh. Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley station I saw the sunlight coming through the glass roof of the station and the wonderful clouds over the city.  I quickly headed out of the station and across the road to Princes Street Gardens with the view across to Edinburgh Castle which sits proud above the city. Behind the Scottish National Gallery is a set of old fashioned street laps with big glass domes which caught the sunlight as it went behind the trees, which I managed to capture in the few seconds before the light disappeared. All images were taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with the fixed Fujinon 23mm f2 lens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISIT...

Three years ago I bought a Fujifilm Finepix X100 black limited edition and this proved to be a turning point for my photography as this small but finely tuned fixed lens camera put the joy back into image making for me.  Here was a camera that would fit into my pocket but take images that could rival my Nikon DSLRs and pro lenses. In 2014 I sold all my Nikon gear to move completely to the X-Series and despite testing the X100S and X100T the original X-Series camera remains in my camera bag alongside the two X-T1s and myriad of Fujinon glass. Yesterday evening we went for a stroll down to Winterfield beach and back along the cliff top walk towards Dunbar Castle.  It was a beautiful evening and the X100 was the perfect photographic companion to capture the scene in the warm September sunshine. The X100 might be the oldest X-Series camera but it still produces the goods and its 12mp Bayer (non X-Trans) sensor produce images with a slight different look to t...

This morning I will be heading to Austria for the next round of the European Le Mans Series at the Red Bull Ring near Spielberg in the Syrian Alps.  This will be my third trip to this beautiful part of the world, with the first visit made in 2013. This is one of the shots I took on that trip, taken on the X100.  The dramatic clouds over the circuit made a great backdrop for the massive Red Bull sculpture that sits on a hill over looking the circuit. I can't wait to take some more pictures in 2015. CLICK HERE to see some images from the trip in 2014.

Edinburgh is a very interesting city and with it being just a short 25-minute train journey from our home in Dunbar we do spend a lot of time exploring Scotland's capital.   On of my favourite spots is the Old Calton Burying Ground at the foot of Calton Hill.  Many of Scotland's leading citizens of the 18th and 19th centuries are buried here and the brooding sandstone and granite structures make for great photographic subject. I was in Edinburgh yesterday evening and had 30 minutes to spare while waiting at Waverley Train Station, so I walked to the cemetery, which is just 5-minutes from the station.  The weather was typically Scottish - overcast and slight drizzle which later turned to rain.  However the diffused light was almost perfect for the type of mono images I wanted to capture. The graves and mausoleums are in some state of disrepair and the 'well worn look of decay' was exactly the feeling I wanted to portray in the set of images I capture...