Photography Gadgets

I was checking out my website stats with Woopra yesterday, and I noticed that one of my most clicked links is that Green Cube On My Camera That Everyone Asks About. Funny! You would not believe how many people ask me about that in person. It’s a $7,000 camera, and all anyone wants to know about is the $9 green cube on top! Hehe…

I have a few more things I will add to the Photography Gadgets page as soon as I get some time… I actually don’t use a whole lot of stuff. I’m pretty bare bones. I keep a running list of my stuff in the HDR Camera equipment section here on the site as well.

Daily Photo – Leipzig at Night

When I was changing planes in Zurich, I had to go through some of the Customs run-around. It turns out that the customs officer was German. He asked where my ultimate destination was, and I said, “Leipzig”. I pronounced it “Leap-zig”.

“What?” he asked.

“Leap-Zig” I repeated, careful to annunciate each syllable.

“I have never heard of that.” he asked, regarding me suspiciously.

I was in a pickle. This guy was clearly German, as I could tell from his accent. I was a bit surprised because he was in Switzerland, but I figured that all nationalities come there to work. No big deal. But, still, how could a German not know about Leipzig. It’s not the biggest city, but I think it’s in the top 5.

I tried again and again. He seemed to be serious and not joking.

Finally, after about four more back-and-forth sessions, he said, “Do you mean Leipzig?” He pronounced it “LIPE-ZEEG”.

“Yes!” I exclaimed.

He gave me a little self-satisfied smile and signed my paperwork, sending me through…

Filed under the categories: Germany, Leipzig, Nikon D3X, Travel

HyperMac Review

I have a new HyperMac Review here on the site!  It’s an amazing device, and even if you are not a photographer, you will probably find a reason you need one!

Basically, it is an external battery that you can use to power up your Mac laptop and your iPhone.  I keep running into situations where I am running out of battery power on my iPhone and/or computer, and I just am not near a power outlet.

I bought mine from the Hypershop just recently, and I could not be happier! Maybe the worst thing is that all my friends are always using it to charge up their iPhones too… It’s like I’m the guy at the party that brought the beer!

New Version of Woopra Out

You guys probably know how much I love Woopra… I did a little Woopra Video Review here on the site several months ago. The product is even better now… and you can get the basic version for free. If you want all the cool features, you can upgrade, but that’s up to you! Anyway, I continue to make it part of my web-life… and I am lucky enough to be friends with the clever guy behind it. But, I’d use this thing even if I didn’t know the guy… !!

Daily Photo – Central Park in the Fall

I had spent the afternoon alone while traveling (as usual, it seems) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the middle of New York City. It sits on the Eastern edge of Central Park.  It was a little cold outside, but I decided to walk across the park anyway, just as the sun was setting.  As I moved through the trees, I found this little place and thought it would be fun to share.

Edit: A Happy Customer Gets a New Print!

John P from OneMansBlog.com recently released this video… I will let it speak for itself!

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

I hope you all have a great week!

Since we are just starting out a new one together, I thought I would share a rare personal video that is a bit mysterious in nature… I know we have a lot of creative people that can imagine all sorts of crazy things, so let’s see what you can come up with from the video below! This is Isabella… She is my 2nd child, four years old, and quite a sensitive little flower, as all girls certainly can be…

You can see my son Ethan, leaning over from time to time, watching Isabella’s reaction.  He’s hardly the paragon of brotherly support in times like this.  You can also see Tina there holding my sweet backup camera and grabbing some shots of her own.

So…. what could Isabella possibly be watching?

EDIT – Answer – #8 commenter below Jeremy nailed it! We were watching a sheep get sheared in Hobbiton !
What we realized later was that we told Isabella what these people were, and she heard “Sheephurters”. After, she asked, “Mom, why would anyone want to be a sheep hurter?”

Filed under the categories: Travel

Daily Photo – The Lime Couches

One of my favorite sites for finding boutique hotels is Tablet Hotels.  They are not an advertiser or anything…  I just wanted to thank them for having an awesome service!  I quite like staying at boutique hotels.  These are usually smaller, quaint, with unexpected interiors.  Often times, I like them better than the huge hotels because they seem more intimate and I sometimes get more personalized services.

This hotel is The Magnolia in Houston.  At least, I am 95% sure that is the name of the place!  It was one of those I found on Tablet…  give it a try next time you travel and let me know if you like it too!

Filed under the categories: Houston, Nikon D3X, Texas, Travel

Two Slots Left for Tokyo

We had some cancellations, so there are two openings for the Tokyo Workshop available. Inquire therein. It’s just in a few weeks, so you still have time to make it to Japan before all the beautiful blossoms fall off the cherry trees!

Daily Photo – Tokyo from a Window

Tokyo is one of those cities that looks incredible from every angle and from every window!

If you are like me, whenever you see a window, you sometimes act a bit like a dork and move your body and head in strange ways to “frame a photo”. Do you do that? Maybe it’s just me. And it’s not just windows… it’s everything that forms some kind of a square or rectangular frame on the world.

This time, I happened to have my camera with me and I set up the shot so it was just exactly what I saw out the window.

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

New Silver Efex Pro Shot

In my few workshops, I always take time to show off this tool. If you want to see more, see my Silver Efex Pro Review here on the site. For those of you that have tried it before, then I probably don’t even need to tell you!

Since you guys know I am kind of a color-centric kind of guy, this thing has to be pretty cool in order for me to use it… Actually, I’d like to do a great deal more black & white stuff, but I know most people like the colorful stuff. I’ll continue to sprinkle these in from time to time if that is okay!

Daily Photo – Six Girls in New Zealand Getting Meat

While on a long drive from the Coromandel to Matamata (where The Shire is), we pulled into this pizza place to stock up on some much needed carbs. I saw these six girls lined up so perfectly, I had to grab a quick shot.

Most places in New Zealand outside of the cities seem to shut down about 8 PM. I had to start getting used to planning ahead to get dinner! It’s hard for me because I usually just go go go go until after sunset, taking photos like a madman… and THEN I think about dinner. But that trick doesn’t really work when you’re on the road there…

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Travel

Little Update to the Noiseware Review

You guys know I love Noiseware and use it all the time. I added another screenshot to the Noiseware Review so you can see it in action under normal settings.

I have used many different noise-reduction software packages. Many are very good! In fact, it’s almost a push. To me, it comes down to the best UI — and, for me, personally, Noiseware is the easiest to use.

What is your experience? Do you have Noise Reduction software you prefer?

Daily Photo – Riverfall

Even though I know the science inside out, the idea that one hemisphere swings into Autumn while the other turns into Spring always is a very cool concept to me! It’s so strange to go from the southern hemisphere where the colors are just starting to change to the deep oranges and reds — and then arrive in the northern hemisphere where everything is just starting to bloom!

This is a perfect little river down in Argentina. It emptied from a big glacial lake, so there is always a bit of a strange color and tinge to the water… but it is very nice and other-worldly, in a way.

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

Get More Internet Stimulation!

I made a video to show you how to use Tweetdeck to stay connected to members of the Stuck In Customs community!

You all have always been very supportive, and I have gotten to know many of you either directly or indirectly via your comments.  I think you all will enjoy getting to know one another as well!  Typically, by the way, only 1% of readers comment — but a much greater percentage are very active on Twitter.  Remember Twitter gets much much better when you follow people who make good tweets!  If you are new to Twitter, you don’t have to stress out about what to say… just enjoy following interesting people!

To get your setup, do the following

• Watch the video below
• Here is the text to copy for the community:  http://twitter.com/TreyRatcliff/stuckincustoms-community
  • Funny people on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/TreyRatcliff/funny-twitter-heads
  • Art for your right-brain:  http://twitter.com/TreyRatcliff/art-for-your-right-brain
• If you want to get on the community list, *Add yourself and make recommendations here! (yes it is totally cool to recommend yourself!)

Other suggestions for Tweetdeck:

• Whatever interests you, make a “Search” column for it.  For example, my mom loves “General Hospital”, so I made a new Tweetdeck column for her with it.  Now, whenever anyone on twitter mentions something about General Hospital, she is the first to know!
• Turn off the annoying sounds and the little popup notifier under the settings.  For me, it gets to be too much to constantly see updates!

Linking to SmugMug

You guys may notice that all my photos link to SmugMug. If you want to find out more, see my article on “How to Make an Online Photo Album” and you can also find a SmugMug Coupon there on the link

Daily Photo – Once You’re Dead, it’s Too Late

I don’t know why I enjoy visiting cemeteries so much. They are great motivators for me, really… to get out there and start doin’ stuff.

I try not to let things I really want to do go by the wayside, but some things can’t be controlled, I assume. I certainly go through life with a no-fear attitude, and I guess I shouldn’t expect everyone around me to be exactly the same…

Anyway, maybe cemeteries only make me think this way about stuff, especially desolate, remote cemeteries like this one in the cold windy plains of southern Iceland.

Filed under the categories: Iceland, Nikon D3X

In Limited Editions of 250…

There is a new print release from Yellowstone: The Atomic Explosion and Mushroom Fallout at Sunset. Getting this shot was quite difficult because earlier in the day I forgot my tripod! I left it at a ranch where I was staying, and then rode a horse for 3 hours… and forgot I left it back at the ranch! That would have meant another 6 hours of horse-related-activity, and I was not up for that!

Luckily, I had gotten to be friends with the head park ranger for Yellowstone, named “Ranger Rick”.  That’s his real name! How cool.  Anyway, I had stopped at his place where I talked with Rick and his wife before he filled me up with all kinds of powerbars, snacks, and other goodies (he is so nice!) — AND he let me borrow his tripod!  So, that was a real life saver.  I spent another few hours out shooting until dark, then stopped back by his place after I took this shot, and left the tripod on his doorstep, not wanting to wake him up.

Daily Photo – The Dock to Forever

One of the advantages of going down all the side roads is that you get to find cool places! After leaving Nelson on the South Island, we found a little lake on the map that looked about perfect. After a few hours of meandering, we discovered this place was almost completely empty (just like every place else on the South Island!). Even better, there was a perfect little dock jutting out into the lake.

I first took a bunch of shots with my 14-24mm lens… but it was not really getting the dock with the distant valley in the right way. So, I put on my 70-200mm, zoomed in almost all the way, then backed up quite a bit to get the compression effect of the valley. Remind me to post the other version someday so you can see the comparison! I haven’t processed it yet — but it is in my “Pile to Process” — which is now 22,000 strong.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Travel

Google Talk – Now with Subtitles (Did the Google Engine do it Automatically?)

This  talk seems to be pretty popular – we recently broke 10,000 views, second to Al Gore and Joe MacNally – not bad – thanks again for all your support!  I am glad you find this stuff informative.

Also, I know some of the people in the audience here are hearing-impaired, and so now we have some good news for you! Some nice person there at Google went through my entire talk and added subtitles! I can’t imagine how long that took… or…

Maybe they used one of those automated Google speech recognition engines? It’s a good question — what do you think? I’ve only watched a few bits and pieces and saw some minor mistakes, but nothing major yet. I know I use Google Voice and it does a pretty good job of interpreting English into text. Maybe one of those clever people over at Google can shed some light on this question!

You can see the full Authors@Google YouTube Video here.

Daily Photo – The Floods of Lago Argentina

Towards the end of my trip in Argentina, we started exploring around the edges of some of the other towns.  One of them had started growing towards the lake before it started to flood.  There was a whole house community over here that had to be abandoned because of the lake.  It seemed like a great and unusual place for photography.

What you can’t see in this photo is how HARD it was to get to this spot!  I knew it would be a good angle, and the path looked just a little muddy.  But, it was one of those muddy steps where you immediately sink in knee-deep.  You know the kind I mean.  It’s the kind of step when you immediately feel soft dutch-chocolate-mud seep up and over and into your hiking boots.  And then there was, of course, the horrible mud-sucking sound as I tried to yank one leg out while another was quickly sinking.  It was a bad scene, but, priority #1 was keeping the camera safe and tidy!

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

Facebook Fan Page

We have a nice and active Facebook Fan Page — I invite people to freely share their photos, comments, and the like.  I also occasionally pop in there to answer special questions and give sneak previews on cool things — so be sure to join up!

I added a little widget over there in the right column — you might just see your bright and shiny Facebook-smile appear over there on day!

Daily Photo – An Icy Cold Evening

I’m always amazed at all the little living things in the most extreme conditions. I’m a big fan of all those science shows that talk about various organisms and extremophiles that barely cling to life in the most bare of circumstances. I was reminded of this while at this icy cold lake in Argentina.

I’m used to moss and lichen and this sort of thing growing in more temperate climates, so I was surprised to see whole rocks covered in it, especially with little icebergs floating nearby. It did give some nice color to an otherwise blue-cold-stark scene.

The only thing more stark than this scene was the cooking waiting for me back at the camp. I don’t mean to say anything bad at all about the two Russian women that were cooking for me — but over a week’s worth of in-the-bush Russian food is enough to harden any soft man. My main mate on the trip was ex-Soviet military, so he was used to these sorts of rations and seemed to enjoy it — or, at least tolerate it with less of a grimace.

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

HDR Spotting Doing Well!

HDRspotting.com was started late last year as a spin-off of this site. We started it because we wanted to drive more traffic to and get more attention to other interesting HDR photographers and artists around the world. I knew that existing engines were not really doing a great job of spreading around and “creating” attention.  So, in essence, we have created what I call an “attention generation engine”.

I knew that my photos were above average — and I had over 20 million views on Flickr. But then I would look at some of by friends’ photos (and even the photos of strangers), and I saw they only had a few hundred or a few thousand — and their photos were just as good if not better! Anyway, I thought it was high time to make a new site, designed to generate more traffic and attention to other photographers out there, and that was the origin of HDR Spotting.

Since then, whenever I have a speaking engagement or photowalk, I always have nice people come up to me and tell me how much more traffic they are getting. Often times, their views have gone from maybe a few dozen into the thousands. That’s great! And I think it will only get better from here.

Note that HDR Spotting is still in beta and is invite only. I do not hand out codes. You’ll have to get a code from an existing member, but I understand they are sometimes handed out in the HDR Group on Flickr or on Facebook. Anyway, this concludes the little HDR Spotting update. Be sure to check out the HDR Spotting Front Page too — new photos roll in there on a constant basis.

Daily Photo – Deep in the South of New Zealand

I drove over 4,200 kilometers while there — it was just a wonderful experience. Towards the end of the journey, we started making deeper and deeper into the southern island, where things seemed to get more wonderful and wild every kilometer.

The weather was crazy the whole time!  It would go from sunny to violent little storms to random winds to perfect calm.  During one of those transition periods, I was halfway to Milford Sound by this beautiful little lake when this rainbow peeked out. I quickly got into position to capture it, but then realized I had on the wrong lens!  The 12-24mm was okay, but this really called for the 24-70.  Despite worries of rain getting into the chamber, I switched out lenses, doing my best to keep all the elements at bay.

Filed under the categories: Milford Sound, New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Travel