Shopping in 2010?

Speaking of today’s image, I’ve noticed I have really changed the way I shop!

Now, this doesn’t happen in all shopping situations, but it is happening more and more every month.

On my Trey’s App List, I mention something called RedLaser. When I was in the toy store below, I basically walked around with my iPhone, found cool stuff, scanned in the UPC with RedLaser, chose the best price, and had it sent to my home. Most often, Amazon had the best price. In some ways, this could become the future of retail stores — they become showrooms.

It reminded me a bit of a later trip to B&H Photo. They have an amazingly cool system there where you find the stuff you want on the show floor, and then the boxes are sent to the front from an underground warehouse across a robotic series of conveyor belts overhead. While you shop, the boxes whiz above your head with a gentle buzz… it’s all very cool.

And so, I picture this same sort of thing as I shop in other stores using RedLaser. I imagine the box sliding all around the UPS/Fed-ex World, slowly weaving its way to my home.

Newsletter in next 48 Hours!

At some magical point in the next two days, the Most Beautiful Newsletter Ever will arrive in your email.  You will see how it took a small eternity to put together.

In exchange, I have one simple request.  If you find it pretty, forward to your mom, your kids, or your best friends.  Life is too short for ugly emails.  Besides, you know how everyone else forwards you ugly junk?  Do them a favor and up the ante a little!

Daily Photo – The Amazing FAO Schwarz

While I was in New York City for the big book party, we took some time out for shopping! This is the famous FAO Schwarz, which holds a special place in the hearts of many people. I’m sure at one point, you could call it the greatest toy store in the world. I’m sure other places hold that title now. In fact, I think I heard about FAO going bankrupt or something a few years back? I can’t remember… but, either way, the store was still alive and hopping while we were there!

I figured this is most certainly the kind of place you cannot use a tripod, which made me determined to use a tripod. I quickly set up on the second floor after surveying the whole store for about 30 minutes, looking for the most interesting vantage. I quickly extended the tripod, fired away, and then retracted back into stealth-mode.

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

Golden Ratio Video

Some of you that have heard me speak (or maybe from the Google Speech) know that I rant on and on about Composition, Phi, and the Golden Ratio. One of my New Zealander friends sent me this beautiful video below about numbers, math, Fibonacci, Phi, and all that good stuff.

Daily Photo – The Chemical Pool

I was driving from Tampa, Florida up to Washington, DC. Along the way, about halfway through North Carolina, near a little town called Rowland, I found an abandoned motel. It was called the “Family Inns of America”.

It looked like every roadside hotel you’ve ever seen, except it looked like it had run through about 20 different horror movies. Every room was completely gutted and scary, almost all the windows were broken, and the playground was rusted and creaked. I jumped out of the car with Ethan and we walked around, exploring the place. At one point, we found a bunch of old pink insulation pouring out of a split wall. My son had never seen insulation before and he asked what it was. I said, “I think it’s a pig skin.” That freaked him out big time. Oh yeah.

We stopped momentarily at the central pool, located right in the middle of the dilapidated complex.

Filed under the categories: Nikon D3X, North Carolina, Travel

Newsletter Goodies – Sign up now

These newsletters (sign up for free!) take a long time to put together! But, here are some goodies that are coming for you in the next few days… really, we have beautiful newsletters and send them out about every 4-5 weeks or so. You are missing out!

In the next one, some first looks to subscribers:

• Two New Videos – behind the scenes on the North and South Island of New Zealand
• Two New Unreleased photos of the Snow Monkeys…. (scroll down in case you missed the first!)
• A 20% discount on the Textures Tutorial that will only last one week.
• And the usual other goodies that regular subscribers are used to!

Updated Nikon D3S Review

I’ve updated the Nikon D3S Review with the new video from japan as well as the new photo below. I occasionally pop into previous reviews to update them with new information so they stay fresh. In a way, they are sort of “living documents”, especially as my experience and opinions grow and change over time.

Daily Photo – The Lamps and the Sakura

Sakura is the Japanese word for the Cherry Blossom. I don’t know if I can explain how crazy the Japanese people are about this yearly bloom! For one thing, every local newscast has a big “Cherry Blossom” report that has in-depth descriptions of exactly where the trees are blooming in the country and upcoming predictions. The wave sweeps across the island of Japan and rich graphics cover the screen like a cold front, assaulting the countryside.

I took this photo with the Nikon D3S. I’ve recently taken to carrying two cameras with me. I take the Nikon D3X with me, and it’s usually attached to the tripod. This is the one that I use for 90% of my landscapes. While I carry that, slung around my neck and shoulder, Chewbacca-style, is the Nikon D3S, which I use for people shots, DOF shots, and videos.

This was taken at F/1.4 with a 50mm prime lens. The shutter was 1/8000 and the ISO 200. As always, this “EXIF” information is available on the SmugMug site if you click through and do a tiny bit of investigative clicking!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3S, Travel

People really seem to love having pretty photos on their iPads! There are two areas you can put these wallpapers (or iPad Backgrounds as they are sometimes known). One is on the “Lock Screen”. The other is the background behind all the apps.

Get the iPad Wallpaper here.

I put these hi-res wallpapers together when the iPad has launched, and I can’t believe how well they have sold! They are very inexpensive (my wife says I made them too inexpensive!), but I wanted to make sure people could get something cool quickly and easily.

Leo Laporte even featured them on MacBreak weekly in a brief mention — so I thank him for that! I saw he was using one on his background as well…

Why doesn’t your iPad look like this? It can!

Screenshots of my personal iPad lock screen and background wallpaper (they can be different)

Sample iPad Wallpaper

Here are a few sample wallpapers that are included with the pack of 15!

Filed under the categories: Travel

New Print Available – The Mysteries and Adventures of the New Year

Art collectors and fans rejoice! This great new Limited Edition Numbered Print is now available entitled “The Mysteries and Adventures of the New Year“. It’s so pretty and one of my favorites. I took it in Indonesia after patiently waiting through a heck of a bad storm at this ancient temple. Sometimes, if you wait through the storm just long enough, a perfect and dramatic sunset can appear. Even better, you’ll be able to enjoy it by yourself because most everyone else will be huddling inside, trying to avoid the storm.

Also, remember that every print is unique and has its own number. You can purchase now from our partners at Really Big Canvas. You can also shop more around that site — Mother’s Day is quick approaching!

Daily Photo – The Royal Entrance

It took me a long time to get this shot right. In fact, in the upcoming HDR DVD, I try to work on another version of this — a vertical one. No matter what I did, I could not get it quite sharp enough because of some camera shake. This one turned out okay.

This is one of the entry hallways into the amazing Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Feel free, as with all the photos, to zoom into the maximum resolution version on SmugMug. And yes, I still think SmugMug is very cool and am still using it after three months. For more info, see my SmugMug Review.

Filed under the categories: Las Vegas, Nevada, Nikon D3X, Travel

See me Thursday Night!

There is a cool and unique event here in Austin that should be fun for all art-lovers! You are invited to stop by and say hello!

My work is being displayed on “The World Highest Resolution Tiled Display Wall” at a special event put on by the UT Department of Art & Art History Graduate School, and the Austin Museum of Digital Art (AMODA). It sounds fun!

Here are the details:

Facebook Event Click Here
Thursday April 29
5:30 to 7:30 PM
in the TACC Visualization Laboratory
– The ACES building is at 24th & Speedway.
– Parking is available in the San Jacinto garage, at 24th & San Jacinto.
at The University of Texas at Austin
ACE 2.404a

Featuring Lawrence McFarland, Trey Ratcliff, Robert Melton,
Ricardo Meleschi and Morgan Gaither

Gizmodo HDR Contest

I entered the photo below in the big Gizmodo HDR contest! I found out about it when I got back from Japan. What is strange (and a small world!) is that the photo featured at the top of that contest is from /\ltus, who is the friend I stayed with for three days while in Tokyo! And, even more small-worldish, the photo I submitted was also from Tokyo! It had to be a photo taken in the last week, so I thought it fit the bill in many ways.

Daily Photo – Ginza, Tokyo in the Rain

It had been raining all afternoon and it continued right through dusk. Luckily, the D3X seems impervious to rain, ice, sleet, and snow (deep experience in all four), so I just ignored all the elements in this case too.

Ginza is a really cool, upscale area of Tokyo. The buildings are huge and gleaming with every possible color. It comes alive right at dusk. I ran out into the middle of the street to do my best to capture all the action of the scene.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Tokyo, Travel

The Greatness of Yelp

Yelp has really changed the way I go about finding places to eat! I was in the middle of New York and had a craving for some Mediterranean food. A quick trip to Yelp helped me find this place, get ratings and reviews, and then figure out how to get here. It could not have been easier, or a better recommendation!

I also recommend getting the iPhone/Android/iPad version of Yelp… it can come in handy when trying to find some new haunts!

Daily Photo – ilili

I was here alone. You can see my laptop there on the table… I like to take a long time to eat while editing photos and listening to music with my earphones on. Every other patron looks at me kind of like a freak. That’s quite okay!

Luckily, while I was waiting for the food, they let me run around the restaurant with my tripod. This is yet another thing that makes people look at me strangely. They can’t imagine why anyone would bring such a monster setup to do such a thing. Most people assume that the restaurant pays me to do it, but the staff knows that is not the case. At one point, the manager came over to talk to me — not to get mad… just to chat about art and food and life and these sorts of things. And then I ate some amazing food! I had some sort of Lebanese marinated lamb on saffron rice. I need more saffron in my life…

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

Comments on the Site

We have thousands of posts here and other subpages. Comments get sprinkled in all over the place every day. I do my best to respond, so please do not take it personally if I can’t get back and answer a question. I was thinking about hiring someone to do it for me – but that seems kinda strange… so I’ll just keep trying to do my best!

I noticed a sour grape over on the About Me page. I always leave up negative and critical comments (unless they are outright offensive). We run about 99% positive around here, but I’m always open to dissenting opinions, as in this one from “TRC” below:

Submitted on 2010/04/20 at 7:21pm

sorry, but your photos look way to clarified and contrasted that it completely defeats the purpose of SLR photography. . . . . .

If i wanted wanted a shot that has every thing sharp in it, i’d use a point and shoot.

Where is the shallow depth of field, its like you’ve maxed out the clarity levels in every photo and crushed the blacks in every photo. . . . .

You photos look crap.

Daily Photo – Doors of India

India is filled with all sorts of amazing temples and fine examples of Mughal architecture. When visiting the famous places, there are often a lot of “periphery” buildings that are quite empty. The crowds flock to the centers of these places, but all kinds of little treasures wait around the edges. I think being a photographer (beginner or advanced) helps you to enjoy the other bits as much as the major bits.

The only problem, if it can be considered a problem, is that you are constantly over-stimulated by any place that is remotely interesting! There is a bit of sensory-overload, but I guess there are worse things in life!

Filed under the categories: Delhi, India, New Delhi, Travel

Internet Trust and Sharing

I catch a lot of flak from other photographers for my views on sharing photography and art on the Internet. That’s okay… by now, most of you know that I don’t mind going against the grain (especially when I am right). This new way of sharing art on the Internet has been expounded upon by Matt Brandon from Digital Trekker – click to see his article. Matt is a really nice guy, and I enjoyed my conversation with him.

Of my many points, I am convinced that legitimate companies do not steal. And just because my stuff is Creative Commons, it does not mean they have commercial rights to it. They simply contact licensing@stuckincustoms.com and work out a deal — our licensing team entertains dozens of emails per week. It clearly works in our situation.

I have put a little video before that I found on Matt’s site on Creative Commons, in case you are not familiar with it…

Daily Photo – Beyond the Dome

This was one of those perfect days where I woke up and had no real responsibilities. I was able to drive aimlessly around Yellowstone to explore places I had never been. I took the road up north and went down as many side-roads as I could. After a bit of driving, and listening to some good audio books, I found this remarkable place.

I have a bunch of other images from Yellowstone. As always, you can just click on that link or the category at the bottom to see more from that location.

Filed under the categories: Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Working on New Videos

I captured a lot of video while in Japan. And I mean a lot! I’m really looking forward to editing together some beautiful things for everyone. There is footage of the snow monkeys, Nikko, Tokyo, Kyoto, and more! In fact, I have so much stuff, I’ll probably release several videos.

You can see existing ones here in the Videos section.

Daily Photo – The Endless Tunnel

There is a long walk in Kyoto called “The Philosophers’ Path”. I’ve now walked on it five times. It’s incredibly peaceful and there are countless opportunities for photography. The path has everything from gentle streams to temples to cherry blossoms to interesting architecture. Near one of the temples, I found this series of arches, which seemed to be all lined up for something just like this!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

Video Embeds from SmugMug

Today’s video is hosted over at SmugMug (I have a SmugMug Review) here on the site. What do you think of the embedding? Does it play smooth for you? Can you see it in HD when you go to full screen mode? Is it easy to use compared to YouTube videos? Let me know your feedback!

Daily Surprise: Video Interview with Alfie Goodrich

While I was in Tokyo, I had the good fortune of getting to work with Alfie. It’s a very short talk, but we get to find out more about digital medium format cameras, Alfie, and some of Alfie’s amazing work. You can find out more about him on http://japanorama.co.uk/.

Filed under the categories: Travel

Upcoming Review of Nikon 18-200 Lens

This is probably an unexpected lens for me to buy, but I’m really getting a kick out of it! I’ll be sure to update the Nikon 18-200 Review when it is all done.  I’ve been using it a lot in the last few weeks and I quite like it.  I wasn’t sure for a while…  mostly because it is a DX lens.  But I am using it in a bit of an unconventional way — anyway, a full review will come when I get a bit more time!

I added a few pictures of the new lens on my camera while here in Japan. You can get an idea of the relative size of the thing… it’s certainly a lot smaller than the 24-70mm or the 70-200mm. By the way, this will be the crux of my review… that is more convenient and lighter, and the higher f-stop is not a problem whilst in a tripod.

The 18-200 lens retracted at 18mm on the body of a Nikon D3X

Daily Photo – From the Forest, Across the Valley

I’ve read several interesting anthropological studies of what people like to see in paintings.  I assume the same thing goes for photos.  I don’t hyper-analyze all the constituent parts, but I do notice when they come into play naturally.  There are a number of features that are desirable, most of which track back to a genetic history of the Pleistocene.  One interesting bit is that we like the idea of being near the protection of a forest while looking out across a wide plane that has a sense of scale.

Well there is plenty of that in New Zealand!  This spot was found on the long drive to Milford Sound.  I had so many wonderful distractions along the way…  how can I not stop for something like this?

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