On the drive back from Houston to Austin, I pulled over to a small town just outside the sprawl. One of them had a bunch of old industrial tanks, pipelines, towers, chutes, and other mysterious bits and pieces. The light was getting just about right, so I started walking around to explore it with my tripod. I set up here and fired away.
Filed under the categories: Houston, Nikon D3X, Texas, Travel
I’ve always thought that when old trucks go to die, their final drivers seem to park them in a spot that will be perfect for photography some day. That’s kind of them.
This truck was found when we were leaving the dinosaur dig in northern Montana. Sometimes it pays to get off the main road and drive around these tiny old towns like Rudyard. Small, out-of-the-way towns are always fun to drive through, but I try to get off the main street and do random zig-zagging looking for nicely composed scenes… old trucks… you know, the sorts of things that are just sitting around waiting for a photo.
Also, you may notice a new feature go live today (or soon) at some point on the site here. It’s called the Meebo Bar, and I think you’ll like it! The best feature, to me, is the ability to drag a picture and very easily share it. I think you know that I invite you all to share these works freely with your friends, and this should make it easy and fun.
This is an HDR from a single RAW file! I shot it while on an escalator inside a building… while the escalator was moving! I would have to say that one of the top three questions I get is “How do you make an HDR out of a moving subject?” Well, that is covered in page 3 of the HDR Tutorial here… Maybe some people don’t make it to page 3? I don’t know. It’s easy! 
Also, I was recently interviewed on NPR for a the station WUKY. You can listen to the NPR interview here online. Enjoy!
The TSA never liked me and I didn’t expect them to start on this day.
I have a general distaste for their attitude, their silly policies where they search grannies for show, and their little uniforms meant to quell the suspicions of a doting public who will succumb to authority with nary a question.
So, I was surprised when I was able to charm a new female TSA employee into letting me onto the tarmac to take a photo of the storm. I was down at the end of one of the terminals catching a little plane to fly over the Rockies. A major storm was brewing in the middle of the sunset, and there was no good shot from inside the terminal. Anyway, I went out there, with the permission of that one gal… then started shooting until another TSA guy came over with a much more important uniform, scowling away. That was a short conversation. No worries everyone, your government is protecting you from people like me.
I don’t sleep much, even when I am home here in Texas. I get a good 5-6 hours of sleep a night; but when I travel, I’m so charged up I get less. These foreign city streets seem to have a romantic sense about them, so that impedes even more on my sleep since there are so many great places to shoot.
This perfect little European medieval street was in Lyon, if I am not mistaken. Sometimes I forget here in my old age. There’s a 10% chance it is in Paris. There’s a long path from click to final image and my memory fades betwixt.
Filed under the categories: France, Paris, Stuck In Customs Textures, Travel
My first impression of romance in India came from Bollywood. I was pretty sure that everyone fell in love then spent a long time dancing around a grapefruit tree. There are other dancers involved, nearby, of course, as well as a series of fountains, slow-motion cattle, Hinduesque yodeling.
But then, after being there, I saw romance was the same as just about everywhere else. I did capture this couple together, exploring Humayun’s Tomb in the middle of Delhi. Enjoy!
Filed under the categories: Delhi, India, Stuck In Customs Textures, Travel
I didn’t get enough sunsets in BA, but I tried to make the most of what I had! This picturesque park was enormous. And I mean enormous. We walked for miles before finding our final destination, which we made it to just in the nick of time. The parks of Buenos Aires were pretty much what I imagined… the Argentineans stroll around parks with a certain sense of style. It’s hard to explain…but kinda cool.
Also, Jim Austin has written a nice article about HDR for Apogee Photo Magazine entitled “Symphony in a Moment: HDR Nature Photography from Eight Maestros”. Very nice of him to call me a maestro – not sure I deserve that! The photo he included (“A Razor to the Sky”) I have put below… of that amazing mountain range called Fitz Roy. The way to catch that orange-pink morning light was to hike up another mountain in pitch-black conditions. It was certainly worth it, traversing the icy crest, catching that glimpse of the sun coming over the horizon of the Andes.
Filed under the categories: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Nikon D3X, Patagonia, Travel
When I went up to have an interview in the ABC Newsroom here in Austin, a gentleman there named Ed Sparks was nice enough to take me back to the inner sanctum. Ed is a frequent here in the community (hi Ed!) and quite the camera enthusiast. Before and after my live appearance (from a few weeks ago), he took me back into this control room so I could set up for a shot. As usual, I’ve uploaded the full-res version so you can see all the little details in the room. To see the full-res version, just click on the photo to go to the Flickr site. Click on “All Sizes” at the top of the photo. Last, click on “Original”.
They explained to me how the room worked and how everything was customizable. The crew can pull in whatever feeds they need and position them on the screen accordingly. They even can save templates, since each producer that comes in and out during the day can have their own setup. It was quite fascinating to watch these guys operate in precision… I had to catch myself and remember to take photos, since I would sorta stare at the screens at get mesmerized for a bit!
Filed under the categories: Austin, Nikon D3X, Texas, Travel
This is the Perito Moreno Glacier that empties into Lago Argentina. It was simply awesome to be there, as you can plainly see.
I was there with a bunch of Russians who had brought an insane amount of cognac. Between shots, they would all drink cognac, yell, and try to bring down the next ice wall. We were the only ones there, and we stayed until the last moments of dark to eek out every last bit of light from the sky.
Also, I wanted to point you to an article over at Abduzeedo yesterday about the new book. It was written by good man Paulo Canabarro (his Twitter account here). You can also follow @Abduzeedo if you are looking for another good set of Tweets. I notice that people that complain about Twitter always have the same sort of complaints: “I don’t want to know when everyone is standing in line at Starbucks!” Well, then, I say, you are following the wrong people! Once you get 50-100+ people to follow, it becomes a nice source for information, fun, and inspiration. It might take a while to build your personalized list, but then you will be hooked. (I am @TreyRatcliff, in case ya didn’t know).
Filed under the categories: Argentina, El Chalten, Nikon D3X, Patagonia, Travel
This was my driver in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He’s a heck of a nice guy. We had a growing retinue as the weekend wore on, and he was always there to help out! First it started out with just my guide, Ratanak (who recently set up his own Cambodia Tour Guide site here – I recommend him!), and then we added one monk and then another. By the end, we had five us piled into his car and we were having a great time.
He was there every morning at 4:30 AM to pick me up for first light and there every night until sunset. We kind of bonded because of the one-eye thing… (I also only see from one eye). I asked about it and he said it happened when he was a young boy. It’s been gradual, but he has gotten used to it; He seemed to be at as much ease as the monks in the backseat with me. Below are a few of the places he took me… thanks again mate!
Filed under the categories: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel
This is a classic motel here in Austin. It’s on South Congress, and one of many examples of unique neon in the city. It looks positively phallic (if that wasn’t in your head, it was now, excuse the pun) and you just can’t miss it when you’re driving down the street.
There is a long and rich history, starting even before when it became a hotel in 1938. One thing I remember as a kid (and still hear now from the backseat), is that my primary feature in any Texas motel was a swimming pool. I understand they still have a kidney-shaped one out back.
As you can tell, I’ve been working my way around Austin, doing my best to grab some of the classic spots. It takes a lot of time, because the conditions aren’t always perfect. I like the sky and everything to be just about right… but, sometime by the end of the year, I should have the major spots of interest captured!
Filed under the categories: Austin, Nikon D3X, Texas, Travel
The triceratops definitely falls into one of those “Top 5″ dinosaurs of my youth. Now there are so many, I hardly know where to begin. I go through my son’s dinosaur books and I am shocked at how many different names there are. I can’t keep track of all that. Plus, the names are kinda rough. Each one seems to have over seven syllables.
This was shot at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. It’s one of the top dinosaur museums in the world and the curator is Jack Horner. I was lucky enough to get a personal tour through it with Jack… he showed me all kinda of secret stuff throughout. Awesome! I have another friend up there named Dr. David Sands who actually found one of the triceratops that is in the museum. I can’t imagine finding something that big… If I did, I think I’d tell everyone I know the first time I met them. Hi, I’m Trey, I found a Triceratops!
I also made a new page here on the site in tribute of my favorite photographer, Edward Curtis. I mentioned him in a recent interview and it occurred to me people may not know who he is! So, I put together a grouping of some of my favorite photos of his. Be sure you read the bit about his ex-wife.
Filed under the categories: Bozeman, Montana, Nikon D3X, Travel
19 Comments »