New Video - What's in Trey's Camera Bag?
I put this video on a special Camera Bag page here on the site -- and included the link in the recent newsletter that went out a few days ago. It has a few comments on there with model numbers and the like, if you are interested!
Cali Lewis and John P met me for lunch one day in Texas, and John had his handy-dandy video camera. I was just about to leave for a long photo-adventure, and we decided to use the opportunity to document what is in my bag. I know many people are interested in this, so here we go!
Cali can be seen on calilewis.me/ and is the host of www.geekbrief.tv/. You can find John P at onemansblog.com/. Thanks again - and I hope you guys enjoy seeing what is on the inside.
I mention some Photography Gadgets there in the video -- and if you want more information on any of the things inside, see my "Reviews" area of the website.
Daily Photo - The Remarkable Mood
Oh wow do I love New Zealand! Every city I have been to is remarkable in its own way, and I was particularly struck by the environs around Queenstown. It's just an amazing place. I've been completely swamped with photo activities, but I stayed up till 4 AM in my "HomeCar" (as my daughter calls it) to process this photo. It's all a perfectly magical place, as you can plainly see here. This was the beginning of a three-hour sunset drive that went around this same lake... every stop was more moody than the next.
That mountain range? It's called "The Remarkables". What a cool name.
from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
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New Version of Topaz Adjust out today!
Topaz Adjust 4 is out today on the Topaz Website. You may have already seen my Topaz Adjust Review in the recent past, and you'll be happy to know the new one is a free upgrade if you have the previous one! I got a sneak peak at the new one, and I posted an image below from the slick new interface. If you haven't already got it, then I recommend it totally. I use it quite a bit to sharpen things up and give images some pop.
Daily Photo - The Icy Cave at the Franz Josef Glacier
I've had an amazing time so far in New Zealand. I'm here for about a month with my family. On a recent evening, my 8-year-old son and I went on a decent hike to the base of the Franz Josef Glacier on towards the west coast of the southern island. Once we got close to it, we could see the icy blue cave where a glacial-white river emerged. Awesome! My son looked at me and said, "Wow. I feel like we just discovered Atlantis!"
In truth, we stayed way too late. This was a good 1.5 km from the car, and it was pretty dark. By the time we got back, it was totally dark except for the moonlight that helped guide us home. I had a flashlight hanging off my camera "just in case", but, as case would have it, the flashlight fell off into the glacial river!
from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
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The Auckland Photowalk
I knew a Type A personality would come along and create a Flickr Group for the Auckland Photowalk. Thanks for that – there is the link for everyone else that has yet to discover it. I am so lame and slow – it takes me a long time to process photos, but I will ! Thanks again everyone for the walk, the talk, and the pizza! I’d also like to thank Vivian Ho and Virginia Mui for helping me out with the whole event!
Christchurch Event Soon!
On the heels of the north island, the photowalk is moving to the south island and Christchurch on March 4. This talk will be a high-class event, complete with Wine and Cheese… but of course! :)
Daily Photo – The Giants in the Muir Woods
When I was in California recently, I left Leo Laporte’s cottage to take some photos of the Muir Woods. If you have never been here, it’s a must!
Did you know this is where they filmed that speeder scene from Return of the Jedi? Very cool. I did nto see any Ewoks in the forest, nor did they try to trip me by making me roll my robo-angle on strategically-placed logs. Those Ewoks… so small, crafty, and flammable.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
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Recommended View: Large on Black
This was a remarkably lucky shot of the sunrise in Naples as it illuminated all the buildings along the shore under a cloudy sky.
All Rights Reserved - Trey Ratcliff - From Stuck In Customs www.stuckincustoms.com
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Daily Photo - The Spray of the Tasman Sea
This was an incredibly difficult photo to achieve!
I did this one live, in front of my HDR Workshop in Tokyo. I like to tackle new photos in front of people so they can see how I struggle through the HDR process. It's never easy... and I like to talk out loud and let people know my thinking process. I think this is a very interesting way to give a live tutorial, rather than go by some automated and predictable script. The way you think about all the unexpected problems, dodge and roll with the issues, and synthesize various tools to accomplish an end goal is an interesting process.
You'll also see this on the upcoming HDR DVD. One night after an outing, I came back to process some brand new photos, and they all got to see me struggle through a few pieces to come up a satisfying work.
This was shot very recently when I was down on the extremely frigid coast of the Tasman Sea, on the southwest edge of New Zealand. With a wide-angle lens, you need to get in really close to this icy cold spray to get the splashes just right... I was completely soaked after this, and it felt (and smelled!) like I had just finished a multi-week crab hunt in the arctic!
Art Show in Austin
I arrived a little late to the show, and the girl that clicked us in said there were over 200 people there! Crazy! But it was really awesome to see this World's Largest High Resolution Tiled Wall display. I enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people, seeing other artists, and checking out the whole scene.
A gentleman there named David Ingram (Dingatx on Flickr) grabbed this photo below to give you some idea of the scene.
from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com travel blog travelblog photography photoblog photographyblog hdr high dynamic range imaging digital processing software tutorial hdrtutorial trey ratcliff treyratcliff southwest pacific new Zealand newzealand Aotearoa tasman sea tasman sea water ocean Australia Tasmania the ditch crossing the ditch sun brilliant clouds sky weather oceanic marine flare rocks surf natural scenic scenery panorama turbulent spray march 2010 Nikon d3x