Daily Photo - The Lonely but Beautiful Path
I have a lot of alone time. When I am out shooting, I am totally in my own world. In fact, I'm even double-in-my-own-world because I have my iPod on and I drift away into pure right-brain mode. It's quite nice, in a way, because I do achieve a zen-like peace where time does not matter.
I've worked with a few photographers that will copy and paste a sky from one photo and put it into another photo. I don't do that stuff - that is waaaay too much editing for me. All the clouds and colors you see are true and wonderfully there. I even sat with a guy once who would take a perfect moon out of one photo and paste it into another! I simply can't bring myself to do anything like that... it's just too over-the-top!
The HDR Tutorial, Still Going Strong
I think it's been over three years since I first posted the HDR Tutorial here on this site! By the way, if you are new to the site, then what you are mostly seeing here is HDR Photography.
I go in and update the tutorial every three months or so, as I discover new techniques and further refine the process. We have SO many comments on there (especially on page 3 of the tutorial!) -- I am not able to answer them all. But I am happy that so many people are learning this fun new sport. As usual, if you have any feedback, please let me know. The reason it is so good now is based on that very feedback, so keep it coming!
Tags: world travel united states usa north America southeast south east florida travelblog blog stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com photography digital hdr high dynamic range imaging hdrtutorial tutorial water processing scenic island intracoastal waterway atlantic ocean lonely alone solitary clouds sand planks boards wood path weathered sunset warm Nikon d2xs September 2007
Great Time on the Hobbiton Movie Set!
Did you know they are already getting geared up to make The Hobbit? And it will be a two-movie event? Cool!
It turns out that Ian Brodie, who is a fan of the site and a big HDR enthusiast, works there on the Hobbiton Tours and offered to give my family and me a private tour of everything! It was really cool to walk around the Shire and see all the various bits and pieces from the movies. They are starting to move stuff around and get ready to shoot the next Hobbit movie there sometime in the near future.
I took a lot of photos and even made a little video of how I took one of the shots. After I get back and get everything edited, I’ll get it uploaded so you can check my settings and all that good stuff!
New Print Avail – The Red and White Lighthouse
This new lighthouse print is a perfect little place was spotted in Iceland. The skies are have such a nice tone there, and they are even better with the high icy clouds. It’s such a treat to shoot there and to find wonderful things like this lighthouse that complement it so well.
Daily Photo – The Hellenistic Ruins
For our weekly photo mystery, which is, mysteriously, neither weekly or all that mysterious, is up again! Who can tell me where these strange ruins are from? Or, maybe, at least, some creative guesses?
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: notags
Daily Photo - The Galaxy Cafe
When I was recently at Universal Orlando, Ethan and I made a late night getaway to do some exploration. We were staying at the Portofino, and they have a wonderful boat system that skirts you down to the main park. We jumped on the boat after dark to go down and visit this little area of shops, restaurants, and dozens of other interesting things to see and experience. I've gotten him used to the idea of roaming aimlessly, taking photos of this and that, with no real goal other than exploration and noticing little things.
Ethan and I stopped at a tiny trinket store and bought a few necklaces and bracelets for ourselves and the girls. After that, we grabbed a few hot cocoas, got on the boat, and drifted back home. We took our time, drank our hot cocoas, and helped each other put on our bracelets.
New Prints Available
In the fray of the new servers, I missed a week's announcement of new prints that are now available. They are two of my favorites, of course. As always, each of them is a Limited Edition Numbered Print, so each one is unique and collectible.
The first one, "A Razor to the Sky" nearly killed me to capture... even if I accidentally shattered my camera into a million pieces whilst climbing that icy cliffside in the Andes at 4 AM in the pitch black -- I would have been happy just to see the morning sun hit these mountains. It was so lucky to see the mystical peaks of Fitz Roy without them being covered in clouds... but I felt happy enough to survive!
The second one, "The Skeletons at Sunrise", is a different sort of photo. These are the old dead trees from the fires of Yellowstone back in 1998, just as the morning fog is beginning to burn off.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa florida orange county Orlando universal studios theme park citywalk late night Portofino boat themed nightlife dining restaurant patio galaxy bar amusement quiet empty neon retro January 2010 Nikon d3x
Daily Photo - Beautiful Disney World at Sunset
Hey, you know... I can't stay mad at Disney for too long. I think those issues are just at Downtown Disney.
This photo above, from Epcot, is one of the reasons I keep coming back again and again. It's such an amazing place, and Epcot may be my favorite new spot for photography at Disney.
This is the "France" area of the World Showcase, which is a huge lake that is circumnavigated by about 10 different countries or so. Each one has a cluster of buildings set in the theme of the country. They are all quite authentic, and the areas are staffed with people from the countries. The Norway area has authentic-looking and -sounding Norwegians. The Germany area is filled with Germans in postcard-German-clothes. The Canada area has people that look and sound like Americans.
The afternoon had ripped open a wicked thunderstorm on the whole park. It was subsiding around sunset, so the clouds were swirling about with these wonderful tempestuous formations. I set up to take this shot before moving over to the Japanese area to watch the big fireworks show on the lake. While I was taking these shots, by the way, I had sent my family into one of the pastry shoppes here in the France area to load up on wonderful little morsels to keep us fully loaded during the fireworks show!
If you have seen the wonderful fireworks show at Epcot -- where is your favorite place to stand? I've got a new spot.. I'll reveal that with a bunch of new tips/ideas soon!
Minor Altercation
A few nights ago, I had a minor photography/police incident at Downtown Disney (Twitter followers saw the ordeal realtime). Everything is resolved now, and maybe a result of the whole thing is that security will be easier on photographers in the future. We live in hope!
Now, I've never had a problem using tripods or "professional-looking equipment" at any of the Disney Parks, like the Magic Kingdom or Epcot, but Downtown Disney seems to have a special set of rules. I was approached by security when they saw the tripod - they asked what I was doing. I said I was a blogger and was taking personal photos. They pressed me more. They asked if I had permission, and I said that in fact I did have permission, although that should not matter; I'm just a photographer taking photos of a place to show the world some beautiful things.
I didn't have my ID with me, since everyone in Disney World carries around these little Disney ID cards that you get at the resorts. You charge food, goodies, and everything on it. You don't need a wallet or anything, so I just leave that back at the resort. Since I didn't have ID, they called in the Sheriff's Department. I called my wife, who was shopping elsewhere with the kids to swoop in and vouch for me.
My wife was of course quite worried and upset, seeing me surrounded by four security guards and a newly-arrived member of the Sheriff's department. Luckily (I guess?), she had her ID with her. The police took all her information down (why?) and then left. I assume they finally got the right people on the phone at Disney that knew who I was and that I had permission.
However, I still strongly believe that even if I didn't have permission, that I, or any other photographer, should be allowed to take photos. It's 2010! Everyone else is taking crappy photos with their mobile phones and uploading to Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and all over the place. I'm doing the same thing as them, but mine are simply taken with a bigger, nicer camera. What's the crime? Even more importantly, all I'm doing is promoting the beauty of this place to hundreds of thousands of people here on the blog.
With what little influence I have at Disney, I suggested that they tell the powers-that-be to stop bothering photographers (I know good man William Beem, among others, also had a run-in). I understand there are some new conversations in the works, but I don't know if anything will really change. Let's hope so.
from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: Disneyworld Epcot Francland stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa florida orange county Orlando Disney theme park park amusement family vacation resort downtown downtown Disney district shopping dining entertainment garden altercation experimental prototype community tomorrow world showcase france French security clock sunset clouds may 2010 Nikon d3x
There are these Lego stores popping up everywhere it seems. That's okay with me... Who doesn't like a good Lego set?
This one is just outside the Lego Store at Downtown Disney in Orlando. They have a few of those gigantic Lego beasts that were mysteriously built. Anyone that is sensible knows that it takes many hours to build something roughly the size of a human hand. So, these monstrosities must be either built by aliens or an army of industrious Germans that parachute in during the wee hours.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: DIsneyworld Disney Florida Orlando World stuckincustoms treyratcliff stuck customs stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing north America united states usa orange county theme park park amusement family vacation resort lego toy brick block plastic assemble assembly constructed construction leg godt model creative enormous dragon puff loch ness nessie fun downtown may 2010 Nikon d3x