Uploads from Stuck in Customs, tagged smooth

Castle in the Black

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:46:17 -0700

I had a hard-edged rule that I am now considering breaking. Who am I kidding? I'm gonna break it for sure.

Now that Ethan is eight, we've been able to take him to Disneyworld a few times. Isabella is three and she has never been. I had a rule that it is silly to take kids on vacation before they are five, since you really can't form long-term memories before that age. Yes yes, I know... Some people disagree with this. Like my wife. She says it is not good that there will be a missing child from our family vacation photographs, no matter how good I am at photoshopping Isabella's head on a stunt-body. I try to offer the counterargument that a sub-five-year-old can have the same quantifiable amount of fun (within an acceptable margin of error) while at home with Disney movies. This, then, is thrown back in my face with my three-year-old having a dangerous fascination with Cinderella's castle. She can hardly believe that it is a real place.

So now we are going to take her to Disneyworld. Not for her, but for us. Well, also for her. Okay it's kind of for all of us. Rule broken.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Blood-Colored Walls of the Tomb

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:59:31 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This is Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. It's a wonderful place full of a rich bouquet of textures and light. There isn't a bad shot of it to be had in this well-preserved Moghul tomb, and these light levels were made for HDR.

I've put another image of this tomb in the upcoming book. I talked a little more about the shot and some additional explanation about how it was made. When I go around and give talks, get feedback, and hear all the comments here on the blog, flickr, and facebook, I get a lot of repeat questions. I think the book will be a good chance to get them all in a nice definitive place where almost everything can be addressed. At least, I hope so!

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Roadside Beauty Salon

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:25:25 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Are you ever driving down the road and you see something that looks like it might be an interesting photo? But then, you start thinkin' about turning around to take a photo, and then you think about it some more, and then by the time you get around to really asking the question in a serious way, you've discovered you've gone much too far and it would be silly to turn around now? Well that almost happened to me here... but I trained myself a while ago just to immediately turn around and not ask questions. This is a similar phenomenon to the "just 5 more minutes in bed" problem, which is also a slippery slope.

I found this beauty salon one evening when driving between Houston and Austin. It was just sitting there, all neglected.... and I felt like someone needed to pay attention to it, so I did for a short while.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Isabella as the Unicorn

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:00:18 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

My 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, has been dancing around all night for me, getting ready for her big event tomorrow. It's her first dance recital.

Her outfit is complete, her spins are looking almost 360, and her beauty sleep is currently in full-force. The epic event is at 4 PM tomorrow. Who has recitals at 4 PM on a weekday? I don't know. Isabella does. That's who. I'm not allowed to take photos, so say the ballet-gestapo that run the event. Should I organize an email campaign to make an exception?!!?!? Maybe we can get a 100-200K emails sent over there in protest! hehe...

This first photo below was included in the recent Newsletter, which I gave an advance link to the new Nikon 70-200 Review. It's a great lens, and there are a bunch of cool pics from that camera in the review. This piano photo was taken while my 8-year-old was practicing for his recital. He got to play on his first grand piano, and it was cute because he had trouble reaching the pedals on because they were so far from the bench.

The photo above is Isabella from a few weeks ago when we went to the Greekfest here in Austin... she had her face painted like a unicorn... it was her first face-painting ever, so of course I was there with the camera. That one was taken with the 50mm - I have more info on that one over at the Nikon 50mm Review.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Strange things grow in Vegas

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:04:57 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

How about this place?

This was shot at a really slick bar called Club Mix at the top of THE Hotel in Las Vegas. A lot of people ask how I end up getting shots when no one is around... Sometimes it is a camera trick, and sometimes I am lucky enough to get into places when no one is around. In this case, the people from MGM/Mirage, who own many of the most beautiful hotels-casinos in Vegas knew I was coming to Vegas and they gave me carte blanche to move around freely. I wore those poor people out because I didn't get tired... I was like Homer in that episode where he went to hell and was forced to eat donuts nonstop. He kept saying "more" until the devil got frustrated.

Anyway, a big thanks to David and his crew there at MGM/Mirage. I have a ton more shots coming in the future... so, as with other threads, stay tuned!

Last, I have updated my "Things That I have Found That Inspire Me" page. That page may take a while to load... my apologies... but once it is done, I hope you see a few cool things as well.

From the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Twisted Metal in Los Angeles

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:18:00 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This is the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. It was designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 2003.

The day was pretty hot, even for LA, so I ducked inside for a bit. There was some kind of event going on, and I was able to slip between the cracks of security to enter the inner sanctum. I would go grab a manager and try to explain the whole situation... like... you know... you really DO want me to take photos of this place... millions of people on the website will see it and want to come here and pay you money... but then again, I usually end up speaking to some low-level functionary that barely has the authority to tie their own shoes while on the clock. So, often, I don't bother, and just sneak around, which is not easy with a tripod and the tank of a Nikon atop. I did get some shots from the interior of the concert hall as well, which I hope to process in coming months... as always, this is another thread that will get closed in true Lost fashion before the season ends...

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Stairway to Heaven

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:59:33 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Heaven is sort of a relative place, and I imagine it would be relatively close to this place -- the first class lounge of Qatar Airlines. There you get everything from silken robes to delicate doilies on which to place your tomato (pronounced tom-ah-to) juice.

from www.stuckincustoms.com

The River's Cool Morning Spray on my Lens

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:46:50 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Another morning waking up at 5:00 AM. I'll admit... even though I sleep very little, getting up before 6 is always a little rough. But it's what you gotta do if you want to see the sun rise in the north during the summer. Of course, the freezing rivers that rip through the canyons of Glacier National Park offer a thousand opportunities for good lighting at daybreak. I think I got a little too close to the river here and some of the morning wind kicked up some spray from the rapids onto the lens. In retrospect, I should not have been standing anywhere near that thing!

from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Waiting at KLIA

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:36:31 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

I've spent a massive amount of time at this airport. I almost considered having all my mail forwarded there so that I can combine activities. After you end up checking your email for the 6th time, you tend to get bored then walk around and take a few photos... and it happens to be a great place for that around sunset!

Regulars get tired of the following daily message, but if I remove it, then I keep getting the same kinda emails: This is from My Tutorial right here - I have over 17,000 unread emails - sorry but I am too swamped - but most of you ask for that tutorial, so there it is! :)

Entering the Kuala Lumpur International Airport

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:12:22 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here is what greets me and several close friends many times a year upon entry into Malaysia

The First Class Lounge at Qatar Airlines, Doha

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:47:05 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

I spent a massive amount of time in airports during my 3-day trek via Qatar on my most recent trip to Kuala Lumpur. There were snow delays in Atlanta, which made me spend a night there, and then because everything was sold out, the only way to get to KL was via Doha, which, ashamedly, I had to look up. I thought I was kind of a world traveler, but I had not heard of Doha. I admit it.

But then I flew into Doha and on approach, it looks a lot like Dubai, but not nearly as much as the ultra-posh lounge area. I was warned many times by grisly-looking security guards not to take any photos of any people in the lounge, especially if they were wearing the national uniform.

See the:
Large Version!

Harley on Canvas

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:14:35 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Large on Black: Large on Black

Thanks all! For you, here are the most Popular Pictures you dig from my stream.

Thanks again! All Photos copyright Trey Ratcliff. All rights reserved. Photography blog at www.StuckInCustoms.com