I have a restaurant suggestion!
The best fish I have ever had is in that little viking-house there to the right. You have to duck to get through the door. Once inside, you emerge into a darkened viking-style dining hall (imagine the great hall where Gríma Wormtongue held powah over King Théoden of Rohan).
This spot is pretty well-known restaurant called Tjöruhúsið in the little town of Isafjordur. There is a little window in the back where the fishermen come every morning to deliver the fresh fish in exchange for getting to eat there for free. They bring you the food inside giant iron-clad pans... it was so awesome. I'm going back in a few months and I'm going to gorge myself here with giant dinners before heading out for all-night shooting.
Tags: Iceland icelandic stuckincustoms treyratcliff stuck customs stuckincustoms.com travel blog travelblog photography photoblog photographyblog hdr high dynamic range imaging digital processing software tutorial hdrtutorial trey ratcliff world Europe Ísland island north atlantic midatlantic ridge cold Tjöruhúsið Ísafjörður isafjorour tjoruhusio fjord northwest vestfiroir westfjords eyri Skutulsfjörður fishing town village fishery Ísafjarðarbær west fjords peninsula restaurant dining cuisine boats bright yellow blue red hut cloudy sky stormy mountain june 2010 nikon d3x
If you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks! I have over 21,000 unread flickr emails - sorry but I am too swamped - but most of you ask questions that are answered in that tutorial, so there it is! :)
As for the process, it was a tough night because I was on the edge of a bridge that was rumbling as cars went across. The evening was very windy, and there was a light driving rain right into my lens. I had to wipe down the lens after every few exposures and try to cup my hands over the top during the shot.
from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com
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These little finds are everywhere! Sometimes, while stumbling around from alleyway to alleyway, I appear right in the middle of these perfect little scenes.
It was very close to the National Day, and crews were out freshening-up the city. There were about four Chinese painters that were busy putting a fresh red coat of paint on this perfect little bridge. By chance, they were just finishing up as I approached. This little boat from the painters was pulled up beside the bridge in a wonderful way, so I set up my tripod along the bank for a photo.
They all looked at me in a confused way. They had no idea why I would want to take a photo of their little boat and the bridge. I imagine they find this so commonplace as to be hardly worthy of a photo... and it makes me wonder about all the non-photographers (or fans of this site) out there. Perhaps they just go through life and don't even notice anything interesting pretty and nicely composed. What an empty visual life this must be!
from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
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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
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If you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks!
I can't tell you how many times I've spent mornings and evenings on the beach by myself. I think it's quite alright, and I don't entirely mind it at the time.
For me, it is even more strange, I think. Because I always have my camera with me, I suppose I'm not really alone because you are there too, along with the tens of thousands of others. We're there at slightly different times, but still there together with the moment frozen. I'm not sure I can be good company to everyone at the same time, but there are always certain people with whom bare toes on the beach would be more than welcome.
from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com
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