More from Rudyard

Who has ever heard of Rudyard, Montana? Not many people, I figure! This is where I had the privilege  of spending several days with Jack Horner on a dinosaur dig in the badlands… slept in a tipi and everything. It was a great experience. To see the other photos from Rudyard (which many of you know this trick, now), you can just click on “Rudyard” by this post or over in the categories.

Daily Photo – The Tracer

Late one night, after everyone was super-exhausted from digging up dinosaurs all day, we had a BBQ. After the BBQ, everyone got out a bunch of guns and we started playing around with them. Good times in USA! Anyway, hehe… one guy pulled out a giant elephant-type gun and loaded it with tracers. We fired them off into the distance to watch their awesome parabolas. I set up to capture some of the action…

v

Filed under the categories: Montana, Rudyard

Visit Gordon at Camera Labs!

Among other very nice local people I have met here in the Queenstown area is Gordon Liang from Camera Labs. Be sure to pop over to his site to check out some of his reviews. He’s a very nice guy and our families had breakfast together here… after talking about all his testing, he gave me some serious camera-envy!

Daily Photo – The Most Beautiful Road in the World

I found it!

I’ve looked at travel guides and driven on a ton of beautiful, scenic roads all over the world, but I think this road to Queenstown (on the way to/from Glenorchy) is the most beautiful in the world. The road winds down one side of a perfect, fjord-like lake, and every few kilometers, the mountain views change dramatically. Depending upon the time of day you travel it, the entire landscape transforms before your eyes.

Wonder what it looks like on the other side of the lake? You won’t believe that it is in the same place! See this photo called “Mountainstorm” that I took on a previous trip to this location. It was shot later in the evening, so I wasn’t able to properly capture the road that time.

What’s the prettiest road you have ever found? I’ve seen conflicting guides of the most beautiful roads in the US… I’m sure everyone has their opinion… I’d love to know what you think!

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

New Video Interview in China

Well, I won’t repeat what I say in the intro to this video interview, but maybe you like this new format…  

This is part 1, and you can see Part 2 of the Video Interview right there.  Btw, if you like this style of doing interviews rather than a text-version, let me know.

Daily Photo – “The Place”

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again — the Chinese are not always the best at naming things.  I just don’t get it.  All I can figure is that these names are ultimately decided upon by a committee.  And this is why you never see a statue of a committee.  (well, except for maybe in China)

Anyway, besides the horrible name of this place — “The Place” — it is an awesome place!  It’s a modern outdoor shopping center with all the sorts of shops that one might expect.  High end shoe stores, purse stores, clothes, espresso, and the like.  The centerpiece of the whole place is this enormous downward-facing diamond-vision screen.  I’ve heard it’s one of the biggest in the world, and I don’t doubt it.   While shopping, underlings are entertained by non-stop animations and cool artsy video montages set to music.  It’s quite the spectacle!

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel

Taking Photos of Cities

I love these sorts of photos, obviously. But when I am trying to find the perfect spot, I am always reminded about how most people don’t think like photographers. Of 100 people, 97 or so would recommend that I go up in the tallest building in the city. No, I always contend — I want the tallest building to be in the shot, so I need to go up in the 2nd-10th tallest buildings that actually look back towards the west and towards the tallest building. It all requires a lot of 3D visualization and spinning of the city, and I find that most of these conversations end with confusion (and then me going back to Google Earth once again).

Daily Photo – Five Minutes of Light in Houston

When I give talks, I have a rotation of random photos that appear in the background while I talk about all sorts of things. I figure people don’t want to watch me… and a steady stream of photos is more interesting. Anyway, at some point, one of my photos of Houston appears, and I say, “This is about the prettiest you will ever see Houston.” It always gets a laugh… mostly because it’s so painfully true.

This is the 2nd or 3rd photo of downtown Houston that I have processed. There is a quick moment between sunset and dusk when the sky can turn any color… this time it turned purple, so I was lucky!

Filed under the categories: Houston, Texas, Travel

New Video!

When I took this photo, I also made another little behind-the-scenes video. Here it is below!

Daily Photo – The Green Pool

The northern island of New Zealand has a geothermal area in Rotorua called Wai-o-tapu that is filled with these strange places. One of the best things about these are the names… Various mysterious pits have names like the Devil’s Throat, Hell’s Gate, and Devil’s Cauldron. You don’t want to drop your cell phone in any of these.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Rotorua, Travel

Having a Driver

Having a driver is so nice! Really… it sounds so elitist and decadent to say, I am sure… but it really is wonderful.

Now, here’s the deal… I think it sounds extraordinarily extravagant, but in places like India, China, SE Asia, and hundreds of other places, it really is not. It might only cost $10-$30 a day, and these guys will follow you around all day long. It’s like a mobile base that holds all your extra camera stuff, snacks, drinks, and lots of sweet sweet air-conditioning. So, when traveling to exotic places, even though it can be expensive to get there, you can actually move around within these countries with relative ease and style.

Another $10+ per day will even get you an “umbrella assistant” that will follow you around and hold an umbrella over your head. Again, it sounds so over-the-top, but why the heck not?  If I were feeling generous, I might even pay another $10 to get an umbrella assistant for my umbrella assistant, but that would just be redonkulous.

Daily Photo – Boat in Mumbai

Mumbai and Bombay are the same place. If you say “Mumbai” quickly with a thick Indian accent, you will see what I mean, and understand it why the stiff-upper lipped British just went with “Bombay”.

One of the more interesting bits of the city lies along the waterfront. The quay is filled with hundreds of boats going each and every direction. I popped on my 70-200 after a quick visit to the car so I could find some interesting things out in the water.

Filed under the categories: India, Mumbai, Nikon D3X

Music in your mind…

Do you all listen to music when out taking photos? Have you ever tried it? I love putting on my noise-canceling earphones and listening to all sorts of things when I am out taking photos… I never see anyone do this, so maybe I am alone in this practice?

Daily Photo – To Another World

There are no short days at Disney! They are all long escapades, filled with happiness, crying, sticky fingers, strollers hitting you in the achilles tendons, and scary people that should not really be allowed to the buffet area.

This was another one of those very long days. Sometimes, towards the end of the day, one of the only things on my mind is getting back home to collapse — especially after carrying around my tripod and D3X the whole day! But, on this particular exit from Epcot, everything lined up so nicely that I just could not help myself!

Filed under the categories: Disney World, Florida, Nikon D3X, Orlando, Travel

En Route to Queenstown

We are heading to Queenstown soon, and really looking forward to it. We are informally poking around for places to live… and renting a house in the meantime. We found this cool spot — QueenstownChicChalet.com on the site that suggested here on the blog called BookABach.com. I’ve never heard this word “Bach” before in reference to a rental house/apartment… am I alone in this?

Daily Photo – Under the Umbrella at Sunset

We took this during our fun PhotoWalk in San Clemente. It’s a wonderful beach there – not too crowded, a perfect beach, and an idyllic pier.  Just throw in a few clouds, and we end up with a perfect sunset!

Every 100 feet or so, these thatched-roof umbrellas are spread out.  Composing with these and a wide-angle lens is kind of challenging, but fun.  I noticed that after I got a wide-angle lens that it opened up a whole new range of compositional complexities. Walking around a scene has to be done with a whole new perspective, since you are able to capture more than a human can see in a single viewing-cone.  But, the challenge is kind of fun to compensate for the lens and try to put together something that feels right.

Filed under the categories: California, San Clemente, Travel

New 28-300 Lens

I could not stand it!  I’ve been on the road for closing on 80 days, going around the world in an easterly direction, and an awesome lens came out mid-trip!  The nerve of Nikon!  Shouldn’t they check with me first?

So, while here on the shaky south island of New Zealand, I had to swing by a camera store in Christchurch to pick up the new 28-300 Nikon lens.  It’s expensive here… probably an extra $700 over the 28-300 cost in the US…  That kinda sucks eh?  Does anyone know why its so expensive?  Are there tariffs and taxes?  Why do governments do this?  (I come from the Milton Friedman schools, as some of you know…)

Daily Photo – The Peony Pavilion at The Imperial Granary

Look at this place! (and it’s worth a 100% zoom to original on SmugMug too)

I was invited to go see a very special event here in Beijing. There is an old area that has the ancient Imperial Granaries that date back hundreds and hundreds of years. One of these has been converted to an intimate opera house. They bring in some of the best opera actors from all over China to perform here.

If you haven’t seen a Chinese opera, you are in store for something totally original!

This particular performance was called The Peony Pavillion, which was written during the Ming dynasty and is a love story about all kinds of crazy mythical stuff that I don’t want to spoil for you. But it’s really a must-see if you are into unique forms of entertainment. And you do feel a bit like a time-traveller, watching a scene from hundreds of years ago.

Even more interesting, there is a trendy and delicious restaurant next door. Everyone eats together and has a wonderful leisurely meal before meandering over next door to enjoy the opera. It’s a great experience!

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel

A Normal Day in Trey Ratcliff’s Life

Well I don’t know if it was a normal day or not, but I met several people from international press agencies while I was in Beijing. On this day, I had a bunch of very nice people follow me around… I don’t know if I was all that entertaining or not! But, anyway, this nice German reporter named Philipp Neumann wrote an article called “A Normal Day in Trey Ratcliff’s Life” that you might like. A few of the images that I took while in Tiananmen Square I included in the most recent newsletter (it’s free). Did you see them?

Daily Photo – Waterfalls at Midnight

I had done a little research about the southern part of Iceland before my trip, but I left enough gaps to be surprised.

On this particular night, it was about 65 degrees (18 C), so it was just a tad perfect. The air was wet with moisture from an evening rainstorm, and it was held aloft by the strange weather patterns. When I first saw this waterfall, it was around midnight. By the time I got into this position, it was about 1 AM or so.

Once again, I had not seen another human for hours. It was so eerie walking around these amazing places alone. Typically, with something so grandiose, you sort of expect a bunch of tourists to be lurking about. So, alone, it all feels a bit post-apocalyptic. But thanks to a ton of video games, I’m well versed with how to survive in these situations.

Filed under the categories: Iceland, Travel

Don’t Miss Out!

We have a new eBook out. This is the first time we have brought in a veteran writer… so show him the love! As you can see below, Joe Farace has published over 33 print books on photography, and this is his first eBook, so it is a very exciting moment. Don’t miss out!

$9.97 – 15 Tips for Better Car Photos from Veteran author Joe Farace Written & published 33 books; his newest, “Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography,” is in bookstores now. Contributing writer/Photographer to Shutterbug magazine since 1999; Editor Emeritus eDigital Photo magazine. Has published more than 1950 magazine stories in the USA, Europe, and China. Awarded Photographic Craftsman’s degree by Professional Photographers of America, Professional member of American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Ass’n. 31 pages of detailed, dense information Practical advice for beginners, intermediate, and advanced shooters Details on photo exposure data, conditions, and other EXIF data Joe has taught thousands of people, so he knows how to communicate important concepts

more sample pages for you…

eBook in PDF Form

After purchase, the eBook can be downloaded via a special link that is sent to your email. After downloading you can:

• Read the PDF on your computer (all computers can read PDF files)
• Read the PDF on your iPad in iBooks
  • Drag the PDF into iTunes then Sync and look for it in iBooks
  • or… email the PDF to your iPad and open in iBooks
• Print out the PDF to read on paper

Filed under the categories: Travel

What Terrain-Person are you?

I think there are ocean people, mountain people, plains people, desert people, and forest people. By that, I mean, for whatever reason, you just feel most comfortable in one of these environments. You picture living there, building your house there, waking up there, and going to sleep there.

I’m pretty sure I’m one of the mountain people (not be be confused with the “hill” people or the “village” people). I have a lot of friends that are definitely “ocean people” that just love the beach and the sea. What terrain-people group are you in?

Daily Photo – The Sea and the Sun

Even though I’m not an ocean person, I do spend a lot of time photographing them. Maybe as long as there are mountains close by, I feel a little more comfy.

The NW area of Iceland is edged with countless fjords. They just go on and on and on. It’s also confusing when you are not used to the area. The road goes around the outside of course, and as you edge out onto one peninsula, it circles back into another big loop around the bay. Each loop takes another 30-45 minutes or so! I remember I was trying to get to a certain town, and I knew it was somewhere there along the road. Fjord after fjord passed, and as I rounded yet another peninsula, I was both exasperated and excited that I had to make a big loop around yet another fjord!

Filed under the categories: Iceland, Travel