CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

On Friday I went out with the XF50-140mm f2.8 lens attached to the X-T1 to carry out some more test shots to report on this blog how this lens is performing for my landscape work. The 50-140mm performed extremely well at Le Mans a couple of weeks ago and this lens with its fast f2.8 aperture and balanced weight on the X-T1 (with the VG-XT1 battery grip fitted) is suited to working at a sporting event.  My other consideration for this lens is for my landscape work.  I was worried that it would be a 'big beast' to lug around but so far I haven't found this to be a problem. On Friday morning I went for a short walk on the clifftop path here in Dunbar with the X-T1 and 50-140mm slung over my shoulder.   My first tip when carrying this lens is to change the anchoring points for the camera strap.  I have used the anchor point on the bottom of the battery grip instead of the top of the camera (see image above).  The reason for this is the camera and...

This afternoon I headed out to East Fortune to watch a fly past by the last remaining airworthy Avro Vulcan.  XH558 is the last of Britain's 1950s / 60s nuclear deterrent before Polaris submarines replaced the airborne nuclear weapons. However the Vulcan will be best remembered for the daring raid on Port Stanley during the 1982 Falklands War where one Vulcan bomber flew from Ascension Island in the Mid Atlantic down to the Falklands and bombed the only airfield on the island's capable of supporting the Argentine jet fighters.   It was more of a propaganda show than an effective bombing raid but it announced to the Argentine forces on the island that Britain could hit back and the Royal Navy and the Army were on their way to defend British territory.  Four more raids followed in support of the Task Force that was there to retake the island. I also have a personal story of a flight of a Vulcan.  On the 30 June 1982 I was taking part in a pass out para...

I discovered a new beach here in East Lothian yesterday evening as I went for a walk near Billsdean Creek (that's the name on the OS map) to try and find the natural arch that a fellow photographer had posted on Facebook.   With the High Tide approaching I decided to abandon the walk around the headland to the arch as I didn't want to be the cause of a Dunbar Lifeboat callout, so I settled for taking some images in around the shoreline as the sun set behind Torness Point.  I have several images to process from this short foray along the East Lothian coast but this picture of a large rock sat at the edge of the shoreline caught my eye.  The golden light from the setting sun to the left and the reflection in the water makes this, for me, a standout picture when viewed in Lightroom. The shot was taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 and a XF18mm f2 lens.  The camera was handheld so I could get the low angle close to the water and is gives the rock, which was about 3 feet /...

Last weekend I decided to set myself another one lens challenge during the trip out to Innerwick Castle.  The lens I decided to use was the Fujinon XF90mmR LM WR, which I have had on test from Fujifilm for the past two weeks.   Now using a 90mm telephoto was going to prove to be a challenge as the area around the castle ruins is quite tight.  On the north side is the woods and the path that leads to the ruins. On the south side is open ground but is quite overgrown and the access is not easy.  while to the east is Thornton Glen, with a 20 metre drop to the Burn below. Anyway I am always up for a challenge and if it isn't easy then so much the better! So I started to look for images that would suit the 135mm equivalent focal length of this brand new Fujinon lens. The obvious starting point was to take some shots of the castle ruins through the trees from the pathway that leads up to the castle.  I took a few images before moving to some close up deta...

Dunbar boasts not one but two harbours - Victoria and Cromwell.  Cromwell Harbour predates the newer Victoria Harbour by 300 years and hasn't changed much in the past 500 years since it was built.  Prior to the building of Cromwell Harbour Dunbar was served by the natural harbour at Belhaven Bay. When I am visiting the harbour I tend to favour the older Cromwell Harbour because visitors gravitate towards the Victoria Harbour because of the Castle, the Battery and the parking bays along the harbour front.  Cromwell is quieter and therefore is my favourite of the two. Cromwell is the oldest and was built in the 16th century just east of Dunbar Castle.   Cromwell Harbour has hardly changed since that time. It became known as the Cromwell Harbour because in 1650, Cromwell repaired the east pier to make it safe for English ships supplying his army. Two cannons are embedded in the quay serving as bollards for securing boats. Another feature is the partial r...