Daily Photo - Aerophilia
Is aerophilia a word? Probably not. People that are really into planes probably have a very specific word for this, and the "wrong" word probably really irritates them... so I apologize in advance.
This wondrous place is the new Air and Space Museum in DC. I thought I knew a lot about planes until I got here. I would recognize this and that, but the whole gestalt of the place was completely overwhelming. Overwhelming in an awesome way, of course.
I only took the Nikon D3S in here (see my Nikon D3S Review) because they would not allow tripods. The D3S is so much better at quick shots with low noise. All of my HDRs in here were handheld, so I had to be sure that I took the photos quickly and with very little noise.
My Best Tweet Ever
Some of you follow me on Twitter to get regular useful and useless updates throughout the day. Sometimes I check back to see which tweets get "ReTweeted" the most. By far, the best tweet ever was:
@TreyRatcliff This guy traveled the world in the early 1900s & captured it all in COLOR.
If you follow me, I promise never to tell you when I am standing in line at a coffee shop. I try to do 33% inspirational tweets about interesting art and cultural finds, 33% connecting people with others, and 33% links to my own personal latest works. The last 1% is "Wildcard" (said in the Charlie voice from It's Always Sunny).
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 east coast Washington dc Washington D.C. District Columbia capital city Virginia Maryland national air and space museum air space museum national nasm Smithsonian institution aircraft spacecraft research history aviation spaceflight planetary science scientific aerophilia planes hangar vast cavernous January 2010 Nikon d3s
Daily Photo - Univac
I'm such a nerd and I love this computer.
My background is computer science and math, so I've always been into computers. This UNIVAC was just hitting its stride around the time I was born, and Moore's Law was kind enough to keep the doublings at a manageable rate so it wasn't a whole lot faster when I got my own first computer! I think I started with the Timex Sinclair 99 before getting into the C-64, then a whole host of Amigas before getting into the world of PCs (see these old vintage ads of computer stuff I tweeted about yesterday). Anyway, I'll try not to geek out too much here!
This photo was taken at the new Air and Space Museum in DC. There is an area in the back with all the rockets that also had the computers that were used alongside them at mission control. So, if you have any geek in you at all, I really recommend it.
Meet me at OpenCamp!
The Powers That Be talked me into speaking at openca.mp/, which is Aug 27-29 in Dallas. Who is OpenCamp for? As the website says, "Webmasters and web developers, bloggers, podcasters, social media enthusiasts and anyone interested in web content creation!" This is put together by the same people who did WordCamp Dallas and DrupalCamp Dallas. This should be one of the biggest events for bloggers this year - so I hope you can come out!
Cali Lewis, one of the organizers, recently mentioned OpenCamp in her recent Geekbrief video. You can get a full list of the speakers on the OpenCamp Page... along with me will be Chris Pirillo, John P, and many others. I've heard Leo Laporte may even join the festivities... that would be a lot of fun to hang out with him again!
Right after OpenCamp, I'll be heading out to Burning Man in the middle of the Black Rock Desert. That will be a wild time!
Exclusive! Video to be released on Abduzeedo!
The crew over at abduzeedo.com/ grabbed the Exclusive of my new video release on Friday. It's a bit different than anything I have ever done... I hope you like it. I'll link over there on Friday so you can be among the first to see it.
New Prints Available
If you go over to the Prints area of the site, you can get links to all the latest prints to be released. I only release about 1% or 2% of the works as Limited Edition Numbered Prints. One of them is featured today over in a onemansblog.com/2010/05/19/my-new-custom-wall-art-from-tr.... That print should come available soon.
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 east coast Washington dc Washington D.C. District Columbia capital city Virginia Maryland national air and space museum air space museum national nasm Smithsonian institution aircraft spacecraft research history aviation spaceflight planetary science scientific universal automatic computer I Univac Univac I commercial computer Eckert mauchly retro Nikon d3s January 2010 terminal mainframe
Workshop review from Jim Caldwell
At the Florida workshop, a nice gentleman named Jim Caldwell came up to interview me on camera during the first lunch break. He was a heck of a nice guy, and today he sent me this HDR workshop review that he just released. Thanks Jim!
First Nikon D3S Photo
I'm still writing my Nikon D3S Review, so get ready for that. I think I'll give the first look to people that subscribe to the newsletter ( www.stuckincustoms.com/newsletter/ ). So, far, I'm very impressed. In prepping for the event, below is an HDR photo I took yesterday with the new camera.
Daily Photo - The Shuttle in Spacedock
I finally got to see the Space Shuttle! It's one of those things a young boy always dreams of seeing, don't you know? I'm still waiting on that phone call from NASA where they invite me to see one blast off. I'd love to do a creative shot there...
This was shot in the new Air and Space Museum on DC. Yes, not that old one that I used to think was cool when I was a kid. This is a new and improved center that is completely unbelievable. I had a small argument with a security guard that would not let me take my tripod. He said I needed a "blue card". I asked how to get that and he said the only person that could possibly give it to me was probably at home. There were a number of bureaucracies where I could have filed a series of complaints, but only if such complaints were filled out in a way as pre-approved by other bureaucracies. I did send out a self-serving Tweet to @Smithsonian asking them for special dispensation, since I one of my photographs had hung in the Smithsonian. They did indeed respond, but one day late. So, I'll still keep @Smithsonian on one of my Five Twitter Lists.
So, I was forced to take my HDR shots with a hand-held pose. How barbaric and depressing. I would try to wedge myself up against a beam or a foreigner when possible, but that rarely works out as good as a tripod. Those things are never placed in the right compositional spots, sadly.
But, I did have the Nikon D3S as a backup, and I fired this one off. It was a 4-exposure HDR from -2 to +1. ISO 400, 23mm, f/6.7 and 1/6 second shutter speed. The +2 exposure was too blurry, and I got most of the light I needed out of the +1 anyway.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: space shuttle spaceshuttle airandspacemuseum air museum smithsonian stuckincustoms trey ratcliff stuck customs blog photography hdr high dynamic range digital imaging travelblog Nikon d3s color national nasm institute aircraft spacecraft travel north America united states usa east coast Washington dc aviation spaceflight science architecture design engineering technology exploration rocket nasa sts orbiter vehicle ov astronaut plane spaceplane orbital propulsion hangar flag exhibit spacedock dock january 2010
Want to see other popular reviews?
The Reviews section of the site is filling up fast! I only review stuff that I actually use, but I find myself using more and more stuff! Also, I figure that most people don't have time to wade through a hundred reviews, and you just want the best stuff out there... that's what I focus on - The Best Stuff!
Some recent popular reviews include the Nik Software Review, the Woopra Review, and the still-growing Nikon 85mm Review.
Nikon D3S
It's a great camera. It's so great I bought one to be a backup for my D3X. Truthfully, it's more than just a backup -- well, rather than repeat myself, you can read the full thing on the Nikon D3S Review page.
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Landing in the Air & Space Museum
I love this place! This was about the only place I was allowed to use my tripod (on the outside), so I spent a bit of time hunting about for best ways to capture the amazing building.
Read the rest of this entry (and some tips for taking handheld shots) here.
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 east coast Washington dc Washington D.C. District Columbia capital city Virginia Maryland national air and space museum air space museum national nasm Smithsonian institution aircraft spacecraft research history aviation spaceflight planetary science scientific exterior design architecture engineering wet cloudy building weather tripod January 2010 Nikon d3x