Uploads from Stuck in Customs, tagged superb

The Beating Hearts of the Buddhas

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:27:02 -0700

The morning fog coming off the top of the jungle trees was not like anything I had seen before. There was just enough morning light to give everything a twilight blue and paint the mountains in the distance a deeper color.

I tried something a little bit different with this photo. I was holding two flashlights to help me climb the temple in the morning. I think I got there about 5:30 AM when it was still pitch black, so the flashlights helped me find the right footholds and whatnot. Anyway, this was an extremely long exposure, so I used some of that time to "paint" the inside of the bell cages with the beams of my flashlights. Each of those bell cages held a solitary outward-facing Buddha. I'm glad I was there alone, because I'm sure I looked like a loon running around shining the flashlights in patterns to illuminate the Buddhas inside.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Ancient Library

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:13:05 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This is an old library found in a remote temple complex in the wilds of Cambodia.

It's hard for me to imagine what a library was like back then. A library in the 12th century must have been very interesting. Almost 1,000 years ago, I imagine it was probably filled with all sorts of fascinating scrolls and documents. Without the Internet, it must have been the most interesting thing to do one a boring day. I wonder what it would be like to rip back in time and show them the iPhone and then show them some ancient-scroll app on from the App Store. I'm pretty sure the AT&T connectivity would be about as good as it is in 2009.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Green Fins in Austin

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:10:58 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

See how cool American cars used to be? And then they started getting designed by committees and focus groups and marketing experts... Did anyone see that Simpsons episode with Poochie the dog? I think about that episode a lot whenever I see a boring product flounder its way onto the scene.

Anyway, none of that has anything to do with anything... other than just as a talking point when looking back at old American cars and how much personality they used to have. This was shot at a classic car show here in Austin, which is always a great place to take the tripod for some HDR goodness...

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

When a Temple is Forgotten

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:37:57 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

These are the kinds of places that are too cool to be true. I think these are called "banyan trees" (no doubt one of my smart readers will correct me if I'm wrong!), and their seeds fell centuries ago on top of these old tombs. Although not part of the main complex, the temple of Ta Prohm is still considered part of Angkor Wat. It's a distance away, but, in many ways, cooler than the main temple.

Maybe I was lucky, the the days I spent there hardly had any tourists around. There were a few monks, but most of them were not Cambiodian and had traveled there from other monasteries all over the world.

Probably the coolest thing about the place was the ability to go anywhere and do anything. No little chamber, passageway, doorway, or underground mystery was off limits. It was definitely one of the best places for spontaneous adventure that I have ever been.

Note this was made with Lucis Pro 6.0... a few months ago, I did Lucis Tutorial, in case you want to know more.

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Wild Side of Yellowstone

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:18:49 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

I tracked this guy for over two hours through the wilderness. He knew I was following him for sure as we would move from trees to fields then back to trees. After the first 10 minutes, it was obvious that he was a million times more agile... and I was a million times more dirty. After the event, not only was I covered in dirt and leaves, but it took me half an hour to figure out where in the world the road and my car was!

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Shed in the Forest

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:06:56 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

A tiny little shed surrounded by huge old trees by Slough Creek in Yellowstone, just on the edge of the border between Montana and Wyoming.

www.stuckincustoms.com

Bucket-Head

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:11:29 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

While I was in Montana, I was able to stay with a good friend. As part of the "payment" for staying there, I offered to take a few shots of his adorable grandkids. Here is one of the ones that came from the click-fest. This was shot inside of a teepee, which has excellent light reflectivity, for those of you that ever get the urge!

BTW this was shot with a 50 prime, so there was no photoshop blurring...

from www.stuckincustoms.com

The Approaching Ice

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:09:28 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

It's closing in...

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 16,500 unread emails - sorry but I am too swamped - but most of you ask for that tutorial, so there it is! :)

I tend to get what I want from my Daddy

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:30:45 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here is Isabella at Ethan's piano recital. I don't remember exactly what she wanted at the time, but she probably got it.

View it large on the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Approaching the Blue Lagoon

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:45:30 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

The area around the geothermal baths of Iceland is covered with hundreds of acres of the hardcore sinew of the planet. It's black, pockmarked, fresh and raw earth. This is the part of the mid-atlantic rift that happens to be above ground and these spontaneous geothermal pools appear in the wild. As I approached the blue lagoon, I found this glistening powder blue pond (no color added -- promise!) with the steam of other vents in the distance.

See it Large on the blog at stuckincustoms.com/2008/05/15/approaching-the-blue-lagoon/

The Burial

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:08:35 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This was one of the most intricate burial sites on a remote hill outside of Kuala Lumpur. Janus and I stopped there on the taxi ride down to Malacca for some exploration and photography. You can look at the large version of this to see all the details of this single family's grave.

from www.stuckincustoms.com

Jessa Trapped in the Nexus

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:06:19 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here is Jessa again, meandering in the full spectrum... not that anyone gets tired of her. She looks mysterious while trapped in the Nexus, where she just might eat a carby breakfast with Kirk then go on a horse ride.

This was created after following the new video tutorial entitled "A World of Textures" that I recently put together. Included is also 100 textures, depending on the package you choose.

The Cup Cake Airstream of Austin

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:53:32 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This is on South Congress just across from the trendy area where everyone likes to sit outside and wait for Sunday Brunch for an hour.

The Abaondoned Church on the Icelandic Tundra

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:11:19 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

I arrived just as night was falling and I was trying to find my way to a remote hotel in the countryside. I stayed at the church for a while, taking pictures of the structure and the graveyard. There was an evening mist bordering on snow falling. It was all a surreal and calming experience.

Explosion in Austin - FlickrBlog beat StuckInCustoms.com for the Bloggies. FlickrBlog Aint so great. This is like the 300.

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:04:47 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

How can I compete with FlickrBlog? I bet most of their votes came from people that just clicked there because they have heard of “Flickr”.

I feel like King Leonidas up against XerxesFlickrBlog. They get tens of millions of users… I only have 3 million pageviews and 250,000 unique visitors per month. But I’m a one-man show… they are YAHOO. Tough competition. Why are we even in the same category?

Flickr is great, but the FlickrBlog ain’t so great. Consider:

* It’s only updated once every few days. Sometimes 4 days between posts. That’s not a blog… it has the same regularity of a Thunderstorm Warning system at worst and a Amber Alert at best.

* The updates would be less often if they did not patch so much.

* They don’t take their own photos.

* They are run by Xerxes and they have slaves.

Well… since I am here in Austin, and I DO post every day, I put a few pics of Austin on my blog .