CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This shot was taken in October on my second trip to Japan this year.  We traveled up to Nikko National Park, 160km north of Tokyo, to photograph the famous autumn colours.   This image was taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and the Fujinon XF100-400mm lens.

To photograph autumn in the Highlands is a very rare occurrence for me because of my motorsport schedule at this time of year.  Between September and November I have seven events in just eleven weeks in Mexico, USA, Belgium, Japan, Portugal, China and Bahrain which doesn't leave a lot of time for other work in between.  This year I set aside one day to go north and explore the area around Pitlochry and the River Tummel. So an early start last Friday with friend and fellow photographer Alistair Spence saw us heading over the Forth Road Bridge towards our first stop just north of Dunkeld to catch the dawn.  We stopped on the side of Loch Craiglush (Point A on the map) looking east waiting for the sun to come up above the tree line on the opposite shore at 08h15.     Loch Craiglush at Dawn - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF10-24mm f4 - 240s @ f11 ISO100 I had set the Fujifilm X-T2, fitted with the XF10-24mm f4 ultra wide angle zoom, on the Manfrotto 190...

The main reason we spent two days in Nikko National Park in Japan was to capture the autumn colours that this region is famous for.  Unfortunately we arrived in Nikko Province about ten days too early as many of the trees were still in their summer livery.  But when we headed north of Lake Chuzenji, climbing up into the mountains, the leaves started to show their autumnal sheen, with some trees a blaze of fiery reds and yellows.  The trees surrounding the impressive Ryuzu Falls provided a great display and the shot on this page is one of my favourites from the whole day.  The picture was taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 with the XF100-400mm lens. I will be posting a series of features of the travels in Japan in the coming weeks once I have completed the European Le Mans Series event in Portugal this weekend.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY ...

During these short, stormy, winter days, when it is difficult to find the time to get out with the camera or the weather - like today - is not conducive to good landscape photography I find myself going back through my image archive to see if I can find some images that I might have missed the first time round.  Some hidden gems that can be unearthed in the 'MacLean Photographic Undergrowth' so to speak. Well I came across these shots from the trip out to Innerwick Castle last August. The sun was shining through the foliage of the trees, highlighting leaves and berries at ground level, providing great subjects for wide apertures, giving a wonderful shallow depth of field to the images. It certainly has me looking forward to a time when we can get out early to capture the sunrise and be back in time for breakfast before the days starts rather than these dark mornings that don't see the sunrise until after 8:45am.  Winter is a great time for photography but it is als...

Photographically speaking autumn is probably my favourite time of year.  The colours of the leaves and vegetation are vibrant, the sun, when it appears, is low in the sky producing a nicer light later into the day and, of course, sunrise is later so there is no need to be up and about at 3am, it is more like 6am at this time of year.  I'd like to say I traveled a long way to get these shots of the autumn leaves but I wouldn't be telling the truth.  These shots were actually taken in my back garden and with the sunlight hitting the leaves through the trees at the back of the house I grabbed the X-T1 and 60mm f2.4 macro to take a few images before the light faded. Sometimes you just don't need to travel far to get interesting shots, you just need to keep your eyes peeled and camera at the ready. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING ...

This morning I will have arrived in Japan and will be heading for two nights in old capital of the Land of the Rising sun, Kyoto.  On Tuesday morning I then go back to Fuji Speedway for the next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship on the 10-12 October. Before I left the UK yesterday morning I spent a couple of hours out at Tyningham to capture the turn of the seasons from summer to autumn.  While the leaves on the trees are starting to turn colour and drop, there was plenty of other evidence that autumn has arrived in Scotland.  I arrive back from Japan on Monday 13 October and I expect the scenes photographed here to have changed completely as the wind rises to blow the leaves off the trees and those that do remain change colour.  I think autumn is a wonderful season to be a landscape and nature photographer. All of the shots were taken on the Fujifilm X-T1 and either the XF56mm f1.2 or XF60mm f2.4 macro. T...

A Bank Holiday stroll through the woods after a week away working in Belgium is a great way to unwind. It also demonstrates how quickly nature changes as on my last trip a few weeks ago the branches were bare, they are now bursting with leaves and flowers. Images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon 55-200mm f3.5/f4.8R OIS or Fujinon 18mm f2R lens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog...

With the strong winds in this part of Scotland I have to admit I am surprised that there are still plenty of leaves clinging to the branches of the trees near Tyninghame beach. The colours that are abundant are gold, brown and yellow but not a lot of red this year.  I decided to make Mother Natures colourful display the subject of today's blog.  All images taken on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and 18mm f2 or 60mm f2.4 lens. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURP...