Uploads from Stuck in Customs, tagged trees

And on the Way to Paradise…

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:14:37 -0700

On the way to Paradise, New Zealand is Glenorchy. Be sure to stop here and take a walk around their new boardwalks that go out through the wetlands. You better set aside 2-4 hours, like all the “little” walks around here!

Some days have the water at a pretty high level, and you can sometimes see nice shapes like this one here.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Snow over the Creek

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:48:04 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

There is a place called Pyramid Lake just past Glenorchy that is perfectly wonderful in the winter as long as you have the traction. This shot is from the end of last winter when I caught a little bit of snow. You’ll notice I don’t have a ton of snowy shots from NZ yet, but I think I’ll get a lot more this winter. I’m really looking forward to some good snowfalls, in fact! I’m sure if you’re in the northern hemisphere that you are sick of the cold and ready for the warm… but I really am looking forward to the change!

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Rowboat at the Still Lake

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:40:46 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

We walked around The Hills one morning, and we came to this place after the sun was beyond its “sunrise” phase. The sky was the peaceful morning infinite blue and the water was still as ice. There were many good angles to shoot across this peaceful scene, and most of us chose this view! :)

It was cool to do this and be with so many other nice photographers that were taking similar shots. I liked seeing their versions as well.

Anyway, if you end up getting the video series mentioned at the blog, you’ll get to see me edit this photo from beginning to end! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Across the Little Lake at Sunset

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:39:17 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here’s a little tip for shooting and getting those sun rays that burst out like that. So, you may have heard that you can set your f-stop as high as it can go… say, f/22 or something. But, you actually don’t have to go quite that high. The bad part about maxing it out is that you’ll see all the dust on your sensor and all the little bits on your lens. That takes a long time in post to clean up. Instead, try around f/16 or f/14… you can still get that nice effect without all the junk getting in the way! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Afternoon at the Chateau

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:36:04 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here is one of the many images created during the workshop. I decided I liked this slightly off-center version rather than right down the middle. I loved the one right down the middle too, of course, but just was giving the situation a bit of a curve-ball. The tree branches seemed so interesting to me, and I wanted to accentuate them in post processing so they felt like one hundred little arrows, all pointing at the chateau.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Lost Cliffs of Oahu

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:05:13 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

This is a very very very rare re-processing of a photo! I usually never go back to a work.. so, this is more the exception than the rule.But I started trying a few different things with Photomatix (that you can see in the Photomatix presets at the site), and I just like the overall feel of the photo better than the previous version. I don’t see myself going back to re-do whole swaths of photos… this one just grabbed me for some reason.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Evening on the blue Lake Tekapo

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:16:44 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Yes, these blues are real!

I’ve gotten tens of thousands of messages from people that say that New Zealand is in their plans to visit in the near future, and when you visit this area, you’ll see how crazy the colors really are. It’s like The Sound of Music To The Next Order of Magnitude… everywhere.

I’ve been adding this location and hundreds more to the free Stuck On Earth app — it should help you easily find these places when you eventually make it here! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Streets of Mont Saint Michel

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:43:40 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

I miss this place already!

I had a magical time exploring this place night after night. It never got boring and there were hundreds of little nooks, crannies, staircases, doors, and other mysteries to discover! I even got in the middle of a cat fight while two medieval cats duked it out… the whole place was dead quiet up until the point. That sound of fighting cats is hard to ignore… and then it all went back to quiet after that.

By the way, if you ever come to this amazing place, I suggest you sleep up inside the walled city. There aren’t a lot of rooms up there, so plan ahead. I think it’s better than staying outside of the city, because you get to roam around inside of it at night…

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Lighthouse on Roanoke Island at Sunset

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:43:41 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Ahhhh - finally a good sunset! I keep track of the sunsets like an insane meteorologist combined with a native-American shaman. I do my best to look at each day and figure out how things will end up that evening. Predicting more than a day ahead is almost impossible, unless you are at a special place on the planet around a certain type of year.

On this day in North Carolina, I knew that the late afternoon storm was a small cell, and it would pass quickly, perhaps letting the sun peak beneath the clouds to light them from the bottom. And, to my satisfaction, it actually happened!

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this entry at the Stuck in Customs blog.

San Francisco Cemetery

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:59:40 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Right after I got into San Francisco, I went into the YouTube offices for a meeting. Their offices were quite cool! It wasn't entirely what I was expecting, but I don't know what I was expecting. The team there was nice and welcoming, and they were already fans, so that made it easy.

Anyway, after the meeting, I went across the street (literally a 10 min walk!) over to this old cemetery that had charming trees scattered about. I was just in time for the sunset...

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this entry on the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Old Temple of Lore

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:32:18 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

The shapes of many SE Asian temples mimic the closed lotus flower. Once I found this out, it was incredibly obvious and I saw them everywhere. I did try to find a photo of a closed lotus flower floating in water alongside the temple, but that plan never really worked out.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest, including some stuff on the new app, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Lodge at Night

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:43:05 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

On the final night of the Yosemite PhotoWalk, we ended up here to explore the evening. This is the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, and I hope I made it look as beautiful as it really is. This is also the place that Steve Jobs got married.

Karen Hutton and I arrived here very late at night after our extra-long walk! We could even see a few people camping for the night halfway up the mountain they were climbing. After going around the back side of the lodge, we saw the stars and trees and cliffs above...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Anyone Wanna Buy a House in Austin?

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:52:06 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Contact me at wildcard (at) stuckincustoms.com if you are interested in finding out more... this is just a little teaser with some photos.

It's in a great area of the hill country, about 15 mins from downtown (with no traffic!) Austin. The neighborhood is called Jester, and it weaves in and out of a natural preserve. It's mega hilly with tons of trees. Our house, as you can see below from the backyard shot (the fourth one) backs onto a natural preserve... so there is nothing for miles and miles except for little creeks and hilly forests.

The house itself is 5 bedroom, two stories, contemporary design, with all sorts of nice-to-haves. I'm even leaving the media room with the projector, big screen, and all that stuff.

Here is another view of the front of the house at Christmas time.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more and see all the pictures here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Anyone Wanna Buy a House in Austin?

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:51:54 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Contact me at wildcard (at) stuckincustoms.com if you are interested in finding out more... this is just a little teaser with some photos.

It's in a great area of the hill country, about 15 mins from downtown (with no traffic!) Austin. The neighborhood is called Jester, and it weaves in and out of a natural preserve. It's mega hilly with tons of trees. Our house, as you can see below from the backyard shot (the fourth one) backs onto a natural preserve... so there is nothing for miles and miles except for little creeks and hilly forests.

The house itself is 5 bedroom, two stories, contemporary design, with all sorts of nice-to-haves. I'm even leaving the media room with the projector, big screen, and all that stuff.

Here is a view off the back deck. The first dip you see down below leads to a quaint little bubbling brook that tumbles away on rainy mornings, like when I took this photo.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more and see all the pictures here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Anyone Wanna Buy a House in Austin?

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:52:03 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Contact me at wildcard (at) stuckincustoms.com if you are interested in finding out more... this is just a little teaser with some photos.

It's in a great area of the hill country, about 15 mins from downtown (with no traffic!) Austin. The neighborhood is called Jester, and it weaves in and out of a natural preserve. It's mega hilly with tons of trees. Our house, as you can see below from the backyard shot (the fourth one) backs onto a natural preserve... so there is nothing for miles and miles except for little creeks and hilly forests.

The house itself is 5 bedroom, two stories, contemporary design, with all sorts of nice-to-haves. I'm even leaving the media room with the projector, big screen, and all that stuff.

Here is a photo from the street, looking down the hill at our house on the left.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more and see all the pictures here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Mariposa Woods

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:49:50 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

While we were at Yosemite for the big PhotoWalk, we took an evening to visit the Mariposa Woods. They were very close to our hotel, and it was an easier drive than going all the way to the main park at Yosemite. Plus, I had a feeling the sunset would be quite stunning through the trees. My feelings don't always work out, but this time it did.

My methods still haven't changed for these kinds of shots. Seven exposures: from +3 to -3 seems to get the job done. I end up with more than enough light for the post-processing.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Lonely Woods, Forever

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:33:17 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Here is another photo from our recent Yosemite PhotoWalk last week. The valley floor is full of dense forests that can go on for an eternity. I had a wonderful time exploring these with all my fellow PhotoWalkers. I can't wait to do it all again soon.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest, including some info on why you won't find paid blog posts on stuckincustoms.com, here at Stuck in Customs.

Glacier in the Fog

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:03:20 -0800

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Yesterday's photo was of Glacier National Park, and today we have another glacier - but this one is from Argentina.

The glaciers in Glacier National Park are really quite boring. I'm sure that's not a nice thing to say, but it's true. The only ones I saw were quite far away and not very epic-looking. Maybe I was in the wrong place, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more (and see a video of a cool workflow presentation) here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Sorbonne

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:04:53 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

My friend (and website designer), Fabien Barral, met my wife and I in Paris to take us out to dinner. We left the hotel, and about 30 seconds out the door, we came across this street side cafe right by the Sorbonne, the famous university. Luckily, I think both of them were used to this behavior and chatted pleasantly while I snapped away.

I worked on this photo all day. People often ask me how long I work on photos. If you've seen the HDR Video Tutorial here on the site, you know it takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. This one was on the long side for sure... It was tough work, but I am happy with the results.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Pink Mountains During Morning Sunrise

nobody@flickr.com (Stuck in Customs) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:20:53 -0700

Stuck in Customs posted a photo:

Te Anau is a great little town down in the southern fjord area of New Zealand. It's sort of the stopping-off point for Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. It's also a great home base for photography, because there are countless things to see within just a short drive. I woke up early one morning to drive out towards Doubtful Sound and I saw this scene in my rear-view mirror.

- Trey Ratcliff

The rest of this blog entry is here at stuckincustoms.com.