CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Yesterday evening we got into the Christmas spirit by visiting the Virgin Money 'Street of Light' on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The Street of Light is a new event to light up Edinburgh’s Old Town this Christmas and runs daily from St Andrew’s Day (30 November) to Christmas Eve.  The Street of Light is a huge canopy of over 60,000 lights from City Chambers to the Tron Kirk and visitors can stand near or even under the structure during the 20 minute performance. The lights are synchronised to music sung by choirs from across Edinburgh, which yesterday evening was the Edinburgh's Gay Mens' Chorus. Here is a video of the final carol 'Deck the Halls' The images and video were shot on the Fujifilm X-T1 and the 16-55mm f2.8 or 90mm f2 Fujinon lenses. CLICK HERE for more information on the Virgin Money Street of Light ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in London after a seven hour flight to Doha as I will be attending this evenings Autosport Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel.  After checking into my West End hotel I decided to go for a walk down to the shopping area to have a look at the Christmas lights as I haven't seen the displays in the UK capital for many years.  I certainly wasn't disappointed. Each street has its own unique display and many of the big stores also have the shop front lit up.  It certainly makes you feel Christmassy.  There was even a snow machine on top of one of the buildings in Oxford Street! All of the images were captured on the Fujifilm X-T1 with either the 14mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4 or 56mm f1.2 lenses.  I didn't use a tripod, preferring to handhold the camera down to 1/8th second using lampposts or shop fronts to hold the camera steady. Here are some of the displays in London for Christmas 2014. ...

I have a couple of days in Paris for meetings and two Awards Galas for the FIA (tonight) and the FIA WEC / ELMS (tomorrow).  Yesterday evening I met a colleague for dinner just off the Place de la Concorde and instead of taking a taxi or the metro I decided to walk down the Champs-Elysees and take in the Christmas lights and the festive atmosphere. Armed with the X-Pro1 and the Fujinon 35mm f1.4 I captured plenty of images and below are a small selection.  The low light ability of this camera and lens combination is amazing.  I set the ISO to Auto 6400 where the camera selects the lowest ISO setting possible for the aperture used and a reasonable shutter speed and the fast 1.4 aperture was a godsend, keeping the ISO low to not cause any noise issues.   More images from Paris on tomorrow's blog. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and 35mm f14 lens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Two days ago I posted a review of the Fotodiox adapter so that Nikon F mount lenses can be fitted to the Fujifilm X-Pro1.  My first test was with the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D ( HERE ) and yesterday I got to try out the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D on the X-Pro1 during the Christmas Lights Switch On celebrations in Edinburgh. The Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D fitted to the Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the Fotodiox Adapter The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 is another stunningly sharp lens from Nikon and like the 80-200mm it is a 'D' lens, which means it has an aperture ring to set the f stop manually.  This is important for use with the Fotodiox adapter as the newer 'G' type Nikon lenses wont work because they don't have the aperture ring. Because the X-Pro1 is an APS-C sensor the 50mm becomes an effective 75mm f1.4 when fitted to the Fuji.  The Japanese manufacturer is launching a Fujinon 56mm f1.2 next spring so the Nikon is almost a perfect match for the new X-Series lens, which I am lookin...

This afternoon we went to Edinburgh to see the switching on of the Christmas Lights in George Street by cycling's multiple Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy.  The event was crowded with thousands of people attending the event that saw 850 artists performing across 10 different stages and got everyone in a festive mood. Here are some of the shots taken on the Fuji X-Pro1 and a variety of lenses including my Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D (more on this lens test tomorrow) The Ferris wheel in Princes Street Some of the lights in George Street Sir Chris Hoy on stage outside the Assembly Rooms The lights are switched on to a massive firework display on the roof of the Assembly Rooms Edinburgh Castle This post is the 500th since starting this blog in February 2011.  At the start of 2013 I planned to post at least 365 times before the 31st December and this is the 333rd so far this year.  I am on course to hit my goal on the 26th December. Images taken...