CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

While walking around Paris I stopped taking photographs and took in the surroundings and watched the people nearby.  The lull in my photography didn't last long but it is sometimes good to put the camera down for a while. I watched other people either enjoying the views in Paris or just enjoying a good book or playing a song in the park. 

Walk around any city and you'll see people holding their mobile phone in front of them posing in front of something for the latest 'selfie' that will appear on their social media feed.   Last week in Paris everywhere I looked there were individuals or groups smiling at their phones held at arms length or on the 'selfie stick' (how I wish I had invented that simple device which has sold by the truck load). Now I personally don't get the 'selfie' but it is probably easier taking a picture of yourself or your family rather than asking a stranger to take a picture on your camera.  You never know if the stranger is going to be able to get the picture of you in focus or framed properly, or more worryingly that they may run off with your camera. I have attempted a couple of selfies but now refrain because I am always pulling a stupid face, probably because I hate having my photo taken.  However it is great fun watching other people take selfies or at...

While sitting in a bar next to the Rhine in Düsseldorf I spotted a vapour trail from a high flying aircraft.  With the tops of the trees and a metal top to one of the buildings providing some foreground interest I took this shot on the Fujifilm X-T1 and the Fujinon XF90mm f2.  The image was converted to black and white in NIK SilverEFEX Pro2 software. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.   CLICK HERE  for mor...

Last Sunday I joined fellow X-Photographer Matt Hart and some other X-Series users for a Fujiholics Street Photography walk around Edinburgh. It was also the last opportunity for me to test out the Fujifilm X-T10 before it was returned to Fujifilm HQ in Bedford.  I will give my conclusions at the bottom of this blog. I will be the first to admit that Street Photography is not my forte but I do like observing people.  The X-T10 and 90mm is a perfect combination for me as the small X-T10 doesn't attract attention while the 90mm f2 allows me to stand further back and blend into the background. Most of the images on this blog were taken on the X-T10 - 90mm combination but there are some images taken on the X-T1 and 16mm f1.4. We started our walk at Haymarket railway station and headed towards Grassmarket where there are plenty of bars and cafes where the tourist hang out. We then headed up Victoria Street with the old building built on the steep hill belo...

While out photographing at sunrise yesterday morning at Barns Ness I spotted some Harebells growing in the grass on the top of the beach so I stopped to take some shots as the morning light cast a warm glow and long shadows over the small flowers. The Harebell (Campanula Rotundifolia) can be found all along the coastline here in East Lothian and these beautiful and slender blue flowers certainly add a splash of colour to the meandering coastal pathways.  Here in Scotland the Harebell is sometimes referred to as the Bluebell but most people know Hyacinthoides non-scripta as the Bluebell, which looks a lot different to the more slender and delicate Harebell.   All of these images were shot on a Fujifilm X-T1.  I used the Fujinon 90mm f2 lens with a 16mm extension tube to be able to focus closer to the small flowers.  The next three images were taken on this lens combination. I then took the opportunity to shoot some back lit Harebells using t...