The Book Giveaway by Frederick Van

My book, “A World in HDR“, was just given away in dramatic manner by one Frederick Van in his video awards show. His awards show was completely devoid of attractive models holding my book, awarding prizes with gratuitous poses, and graciously thanking Fred for using Craigslist to search for “French Maid Costume”.

Amie Larson, you are the winner! As usual, feel free to ask me any questions you might have on Twitter, and I’ll do my best to answer…

onOne Plugin Suite Review

This software and these cool onOne tools are amazing and fun. I really dig them! I’ve been tinkering and experimenting for quite a while, and I finally decided to get my act together and write a full review.

People that joined the Facebook Fan Page got a sneak preview of this review, and now I can open it up to the rest of the world – I hope you enjoy it!

The onOne Plugin Review holds all the secrets and more inside. If you enjoy seeing what the latest technology can do to your photos, well, then, you’ll love all unexpected surprises that will open themselves in your computer!

Below are a few screens from the review.

onOne PhotoTools has a ton of very cool filter options. Under the Landscape Enhance, this is the “Wow Landscape” – I subtly applied it here – You can see a “Fade” value in the top right

onOne Mask Pro allows you to “select” areas that can be back-breaking… You can see the parts of Natalia’s furry hood that I wanted to keep and what I wanted to drop

onOne PhotoFrame has an amazing number of “frames” from traditional to grunge to Scrapbook-Mommy

Filed under the categories: Travel

Special Advance Notice for Special Communities

I know you all are BUSY. Also, I know you like to come here and hang out with the community since we enjoy finding some of the best stuff, sharing tricks, techniques, and art with you. However, some people go the extra mile. For each little sub-community within Stuck In Customs, I try to do something extra special:

• Newsletter Subscribers – I gave out a $50 off coupon on something cool just to subscribers, and many acted on it!  Cool!   The Newsletter is free, so why not join?  Besides that, I try to give advance notice on all sorts of things.
• Facebook Fans – I gave these fine people an advance link to a new review I am doing, so they can see it before anyone else.  The Fan page was started by a Dutch fan, and we are starting to do all sorts of things on it, including a fun discussion on Which Lens do you Want?
• Twitter Followers – Many times throughout the week, I open it up for questions on the new book or anything in between.  I think it is cool that I can have direct contact with so many people — I really try my best to answer most everyone!  In addition, I sprinkle in all sorts of inspirational art finds and do my best to keep things fun and light – the way the internet should be!

If you are a member of one or more of these special sub-communities – let me know any other ideas you might have!

Chicago Party in a Few Days!

Woo!  This will be fun!  The New York and Austin parties were exciting and fun – I really enjoyed getting to meet people and the like.  Chicago is next.  You can either RSVP on the Facebook Event Page or see more info here on the site!

Daily Photo – Belly up to the Bar

Here is another shot from the ultra-cook Hotel Sax, where we are having the party mentioned above. The Hotel Sax has tons of these really swanky rooms that have a very nice feeling about them. Now, I don’t drink alcohol at all… which makes awesome bars like this a little disappointing… but not so disappointing if there is someone interesting to talk to!

I actually, on occasion, end up with people who spend half the time talking about previous drinking experiences while having a drinking experience. I suppose this becomes a recursive function at some point… and I guess it’s no different than going out with photographers and talking about other photography outings!

Filed under the categories: Chicago, Illinois, Nikon D3X, Travel

HDR Spotting Testimonial

I started HDRSpotting.com (and see the Editor’s Picks too) with a friend to help bring more attention to other HDR photographers out there. We developed a cutting-edge “attention generation engine”, designed to increase traffic for new and old artists all over the world. The site is still in beta, and thus, invite only. You have to know someone to get an invite (don’t ask me – I don’t hand them out). But you can pick up extra in the HDR group on Facebook, Flickr, and keep searching Twitter for when people have extras to give away.

Here is a testimonial from Brian Matiash:

I was first drawn to HDR Spotting because of the high quality HDR images that were shared by some very talented photographers. Since then, posting my best HDR images to HDR Spotting has become a natural part of my post-processing workflow. When a shot is finalized and ready to share, one of its first stops is at HDR Spotting. Now, most of my images average at least 1,500 views and my Editor’s Choice shots average between 7,000 – 8,500 extra views!! I really am loving this added visibility to my work. Great job with the site, keep up the great work!

Smashing Magazine Book

Do you guys know Smashing Magazine? It’s a great design resource, and they were kind enough to run this controversial piece by me called “10 Easy Steps to Advanced Photography Skills“.

They have a new book out that is doing very well. It’s called the “The Smashing Book“, and if you are a designer or just interested in the subject matter, it’s a great resource!

Daily Photo – Grand Central on a Rainy Night During the Holidays

I took this about the same time I went into Grand Central Station and performed my unique star-pattern maneuver to evade security guards. I described it in detail the next day when I spoke at B&H.

I’ve perfected a panoply of techniques to circumnavigate and befuddle security guards who don’t like tripods. Maybe I will write a little e-book on this some day.

Filed under the categories: New York, New York City, Nikon D3X, Travel

Frederick Van’s First HDR

I speak to groups all the time in all possible venues. I have about five different talks based on the audience, but one of the fundamental messages that runs throughout is the basic notion that I can teach anyone to do this stuff with my HDR Tutorial. More and more people are either just getting into photography or are seasoned pros that just want to learn new tricks. HDR has something for everybody, and I get really excited when I see people getting a kick out of it!

So Fred posted his first HDR on his blog, just one day after he announced a giveaway for my book! I think it’s great the way he did it too… really talked it out and linked back in the healthy Creative Commons way.

New Collectable Limited Edition Print Available

Every week we have a “New Print Event”, in which one of the best works from the portfolio becomes available for order. This week it is “The River Runs Through the Andes“. It was shot in Patagonia while I was trying to find a path through to a glacial lake. It turned out to be getting too late in the evening, and I couldn’t find an easy way to cross this river, so I turned around to sleep on it, and find a new path in the morning.

Want more info? See the “Prints” area.

Daily Photo – Morning in the High Nevada Desert

I did nearly freeze to death that morning! I woke up at a brisk 4:45 AM to get ready for this event, which is always a painful time, especially in Las Vegas. I was going out to shoot just as some various sorts were rolling back into the hotel! I bet my friend Cameron, who had a car heated and ready for us downstairs.

He had a secret spot just over an hour outside of the city. We switchbacked up a mountain until we began hitting the snow layer, nearing the peak. We jumped out, and I almost instantly froze into place like a cartoon caveman in a block of ice. What a time to forget my gloves! We set up for shots, took a few, then ran back to the car, screaming like little girls in the cold. It was actually great fun and I had a good time. As we were driving off, I asked Cameron to stop the car so I could jump out and take one last shot – this is it.

Filed under the categories: Nevada, Travel

Win a Free Book at Frederick Van’s Place

You can win a copy of “A World in HDR” over at FrederickVan.com. Note, if you can somehow evade his haunting stare, you can then leave a comment to win!

Fred is a an awesome guy, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him. We hung out together in Northern California a while ago and got along like a Starbucks on fire. Take some time and visit his blog… he’s got all kinds of good stuff on there. Also, he recently interviewed me for an upcoming This Week in Photography, which I will link to as soon as it goes live!

Daily Photo – The Rainy Forest in Hakone

Hakone is a wonderful and remote part of Japan. The bullet train only took me so far before I switched to a smaller series of trains to get me out to this spot. It is nationally known as a place for rest and spiritual relaxation. I was already on vacation, so I decided to double down and take a vacation from the vacation and super-relax. I spent the day out exploring places like this before retiring in the evening with the most intense hotbaths of my life.

Filed under the categories: Hakone, Japan, Nikon D3X, Travel

Behind the Scenes at B&H

After my talk at B&H Photo a few weeks ago, I had an unexpected event. One of the head guys walked up to me and offered a full behind-the-scenes tour of their operation. Now, I know only some of you know about this place… but it is basically the valhalla for photographers (with valhalla being the ultimate religious destination for your respective religion or pastafarianism). SInce they are partners of StuckInCustoms.com, they have always gone out of their way to help me out, so I am very appreciative of them.

I recommended their store even before they partnered up! Great prices, no state tax, and they sell a lot more than camera stuff. You can even get huge TVs delivered right to your door and set up in right in your home.

For international people, they even have a prepay tariff-calcualtor, which takes care of all that governmental nonsense to get everything taken care of right away. Smart. That means people around the world can enjoy the greatness of B&H.

Anyway, the sights I saw can hardly be believed. I’ll do a full review of my behind-the-curtain tour when I get some time… but it was just wild… from the robotic conveyor belts to a camera room with a guard where nothing costs less than $50,000 to special equipment that can also be used as weapons and can’t be sold outside of the USA — this place is AWESOME.

New Zealand Seems Excited!

I announced in the newsletter a few days ago that I am going to New Zealand, so I started a little page for Kiwis and Wanabiwis to give me some advice! It’s filling up fast – thanks so much! I’m drinking it all in, and I hope to have a little party there with everyone.

Daily Photo – Harmony in Pink

It was my first evening in Patagonia I was hiking over the low-laying grassy hills. Just beyond were the Andes, but it would be too cold and late to go this night. But, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, it splashed pinks and new blues across the icy clouds.

Filed under the categories: Argentina, Nikon D3X, Patagonia, Travel

Some more goodies for Christmas!

Yesterday, I recommended a bunch of the best iPhone Games and Apps for the holiday season. Now, if you have a fresh new Amazon Gift Card or Kindle and are looking to fill it up, here are some great suggestions. For more, visit the full “Trey’s Book List“.

Daily Photo – Christmas at The Rock in the Rain

Beautiful Rockefeller Center in New York has one of the most amazing Christmas displays in the world. It’s famous, and always presents a majestic scene right in front of the ice skating rink.

As soon as the guards see me with a tripod, they come over and escort me away. Damn them! Actually – it’s not their fault – it’s the goddamed lawyers who feed off a tort-happy system. The tripod may trip someone, you see. And then they can file a law suit against the property owner. We increasingly live in a world where you have to second-guess the most natural of actions for fear of being looted by the organized wealth redistribution system of tort-happy lawyers.

Anyway, to spite them all, I kept coming back and setting up my tripod in the thundering rain until I got the shot. Let them try to arrest me some day – I’m obviously a real threat to society as a photographer. It’s amazing how hard we all have to work in the USA, land of the free, to be creative and capture beauty… just another reason I’m Coming to New Zealand, where there are no tort lawsuits!

Filed under the categories: New York, New York City, Travel

Top iPhone Apps for Christmas

I use my iPhone a lot.  And I mean A LOT.  I’m a big gamer and app-user.  Besides playing games with my wife and friends, my 8-year-old is also uses it to play games… and he just may get an iTouch for Christmas.  Anyway, here are some great games and apps for you and/or your family!

DIGG this story here!

Fun Games

• Labyrinth 2 – This game has nothing to do with that awful movie with David Bowie from the 80′s. It is a very fun game for all ages where you have one of those little balls that you have to move through a wooden maze by balancing the iPhone. It’s very creative and there are tons of levels for all difficulties.
• Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor – A beautiful game in which you play a little spider that weaves webs to catch bugs. There is a lot of fun strategy to figuring out the best way to make bugs to catch the bugs… it’s very original and fun for all ages.
• iBlast Moki – A fun physics-based game for all ages. You have to get these little guys into a portal by placing bombs around the level. There is a lot of clever strategy to proper placement… and just nice physics fun!
• I Dig it Expeditions – This is a very fun and addictive game for all ages.  I played the first one to death and the new one is even better.  It’s easy to understand, you dig up treasure, upgrade your treasure-findin’ craft, have fun in bite-sized amounts, great for collectors, and an amazing source of entertainment…  I’d find myself thinking about it while driving around!
• Words with Friends – This is basically a slicker version of Scrabble that you can play with all your friends, barely-known-facebook-friends, or strangers. What is cool is that you can take your turn whenever you want, and then you send your triple-letter-score word off into the cloud. Your friend will have a little red 1 on their app letting them know there is a turn waiting for them!
• Drop 7 – A very simple to learn but addicting puzzle game. It’s better than Bejeweled by a mile — and you will just love it. Facebook friend me in the game and see if you can beat my score!
• GeoDefense – Do you like Tower Defense games? This one is the best, by far. I think I have played 20 of these types of games, and this one is the sharpest. If you like this, also go GeoDefense Swarm
• Rogue Planet – Do you like turn-based strategy war games? This is a great one!
• Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid – A fun platform game where you are a little ball-guy and you roll around creative levels with fun goals. It’s impressive in every way… fun for all ages!
• Knights Onrush – Very fun action game where you are keeping legions of knights from storming your castle. It starts out simple with throwing knights around then more strategy comes around once you start buying new things to help you fend off the hordes!
• Tornado Mania! – A fun game where you get points for using a tornado to destroy a city. It sounds simple, but there is a nice game to it… you can either touch the screen or tilt it around to move the tornado.

Great Apps and More Fun

• Tweetie 2 – The best Twitter app in the iPhone
• Best Camera – This is a cool app by the photographer Chase Jarvis. I’ve yet to meet the guy, but I think we’d really get along. Anyway, it’s a simple app that lets you put nice filters on your photos. Better yet, you can quickly share that photo in email, Twitter, Facebook, and more. It’s smart, cheap, and fun. It’s amazing what a little filter will do to a crappy iPhone shot! See one I took in Carmel here.
• Pano – A fun camera app that lets you take several photos that partially overlap — then it builds them into a huge panorama! As you have probably figured out, you can’t fit a whole scene into the default zoom of that lens.
• Pandora – You know Pandora, right? It’s a great free music service that will play you songs based on what you like! I use it on my computer too and am a subscriber.
• RedLaser – I use this to scan barcodes everywhere to find the cheapest prices. I rarely buy anything in stores any more because the prices are too high – RedLaser will tell you the cost on Amazon and a ton of other places, and even let you order. If you don’t have to have it immediately, it’s nice just to get it shipped to your place!
• SmackTalk! – I don’t even know how to describe this. You talk into the phone and then a hamster, cute cat, cute dog, or something else will repeat what you said in a funny voice. There is nothing better with family or at a party where people don’t mind being silly.
• GoWalla – The BEST geo-location game. Walk or drive around your city collecting stamps, finding cool virtual geocached goodies, and compare your virtual passport stamps with friends. I think it’s so much better than Four Square.

Why not more Photography apps? Frankly, I’ve tried a lot and most are little gadgets that I only use once or twice then never use again. I don’t want to waste your time with useless stuff you’ll just use once then throw away.

I’ll stop there for now – that’s a lot! What are some of your favorites?

Trey’s Book List!

I figure as long as I am listing out great iPhone Apps, maybe some people also got a Kindle or some Amazon gift cards. I have a FULL “Trey’s Book List” here on the site. Here are a few:

Live Random Q&A!

I popped into Twitter tonight and took two hours of random questions and answers — sounds like the HDR Book is finally starting to arrive! Cool! I’ll continue to be on Twitter a lot to help you guys out… if I have a spare few hours to dedicate to Q&A, I will do so at random times… but, as always, feel free to ask questions and I’ll attend to them if humanly possible.

Daily Photo – Green Man in Chicago

This is the famous “Bean” sculpture in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.  It was an extremely busy day around there, so there was no hope of getting the bean sans tourists… generally, I don’t like people around in my photos, but if there are going to be people, I want them to be interesting!  Well I was lucky that Green Man was there…  Now, I’m sure MOST of you don’t know who Green Man is… you sort of have to be a mindless disciple of a rather edgy TV show called “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”  Like the apps above, I do recommend it… although, it can be a little offensive, to say the least!

Filed under the categories: Chicago, Illinois, Travel

Guest post on Scott Bourne’s Blog – Black & White HDR Photography

I did a guest post over on PhotoFocus about B&W HDR Photography. There is a quote in there that got tweeted out — “HDR is about light; it’s not about color.” It’s true! Anyway, you can go read the guest post on his site.

Review of David duChemin’s book, Within the Frame

“Within the Frame” is a great book and I recently gave it a 5-star review on Amazon. Here is what I said about David’s work:

David presents all of his thoughts in a wonderful and inspiring way.

I find, personally, that the typical photography book is predictable and obvious. I like thinkers that challenge the status-quo, and David certainly falls in that realm. This book will inspire you because he’ll give you new ways to think about stuff you’ve been thinking about for years. If you are the kind of person that just wants old tired dictums being reinforced, then this isn’t the book for you. It’s full of new, fresh thought, smart conclusions, and, of course, beautiful photographs.

The world of Photography is changing, and David is one of the great flag bearers of the new age.

I also invite you to visit David’s website. He’s got his own review of my book there, which was awful nice of him!

Daily Photo – The Long Road to the Andes

There was a series of plane hops and car rides to get down towards the very edge of Argentina. At one point, I felt like I was on this road for a good 5 hours in a very sketchy rental van.

We pulled over to the road to relieve ourselves. I was ill-prepared for how windy this place is. There’s just no good way to capture how windy it was, since everything over one foot off the ground had blown away an epoch ago. The only evidence I have is that this was made with a single RAW file since I could not keep the tripod still for multiple exposures! I could not even keep myself upright! Let’s not talk about how I had to relieve myself; I can simply say there is only one good direction to aim.

Filed under the categories: Argentina, Patagonia, Travel

The classic Taj Mahal photograph, Limited Edition Numbered Print now available

Every week we are releasing something new into the Print Gallery. Each on is a Limited Edition numbered print from 1 to 250, so when they are gone, they are gone. The paper prints start at a very affordable $99 and, if you want a large dramatic showpiece in your home or business, there are giant canvases available too.

We launched with only 20 prints, and this dramatic photograph taken from the Taj Mahal is the next that is available in the collection.

Daily Photo – Two Paths Through the Tangled Japanese Forest

The day in Kyoto had a steady light rain. When I was going through this forest, I was able to lower the umbrella. The little droplets seemed to get caught up in the upper canopy of the trees. Big drops would plop down from time to time, but it was kind of nice, in a storybook way.

I got to this point and couldn’t decide which way to go… which way would you have gone?

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

A Beautiful Newsletter Going Out Today! (Don’t tell the Aussies)

Our free newsletter goes out live today! There is mention of a secret trip to New Zealand… but shh… don’t tell those Aussies because they get all upset about this talk. I have no desire to earn their ire, even though they are generally too laid back to do anything about it.

Isn’t it the prettiest newsletter in the world? All I ask is that you share it with your friends, family, and other people that you think like beautiful things.

My Favorite Software products of the Year

Two great tools out there for you: See my Nik Review and my Topaz Adjust Review.

And, of course, I am sure most of you have already seen my Photomatix Review. That thing is awesome and I use it all the time! In fact, just the other night during the SmugMug event, I gave people a quick 15-minute demo.

Daily Photo – Cartier in New York during the Holidays

I shot this a few days ago when I was in New York City. It was a cold and rainy night, so shooting with this bulbous 14-24 mm lens is an exercise in frustration! If you aim it just slightly in the air, it gets soaked in about 2 seconds! So, I set the aperture to 2.8 so the 5 exposures would be as fast as Nikonably possible.

Fifth Avenue in New York is amazing at Christmas. It’s everything you imagine. I’ve done my best to capture the spirit of it here, and I have a lot more shots in the pipeline… stay tuned!

Filed under the categories: New York, New York City, Nikon D3X, Travel

Facebook Wall Chat on Monday, Dec 21, at 1:00 pm PST

Come join me for a fun chat on Monday! To join,
1) come become a fan of Peachpit on Facebook.
2) post a Question on that page as a comment until the end of the chat.

A few random fans will win a free copy of the book! So come on in…

Drobo Contest Still Going Strong

We have just over 1,000 comments on the Drobo contest. It ends soon, so come spend 20 seconds and enter to win!

Daily Photo – Chihuly is Awesome

I’ve always admired the artist Dale Chihuly. He makes the most outrageous and colorful art in the world. I’d love to learn to blow glass. I saw a great documentary on him in high def about a show he did in Venice… they made all sorts of beautiful things and hung them over the canals. I wish I was there to photograph it! Personally, I think the best way to properly capture the light in these images is with HDR techniques. Other methods of shooting these awesome pieces always come up a bit short, at least, to me.

I shot this a few weeks ago at his new gallery in Las Vegas right in the middle of City Center, which you can see in the background. This is just one shot of many, and I have a lot more jewels from Chihuly to come!

Filed under the categories: Las Vegas, Nevada, Travel