Google + Invites

I’d love to invite the whole community here into Google+, and think I have a way. But, please, follow these rules otherwise things get messy.

Now, I handed out 10 invites yesterday, and I asked those 10 people to make a post on our StuckInCustoms Facebook Page once they were in. Then others could post below that and perhaps the first 10 or so (discretion and time of the inviter) can get in.

It was supposed to be simple, but it ended up in a bit of a cluster because everyone just wrote their own email address right on the wall, asking for an invite.

So, please follow these rules for an orderly pyramid invitation system for inviters and invitees.

1) Come to StuckInCustoms Facebook Page and see if you can find a thread that has remaining invitations. Put your email in that thread (not on the wall).

2) Accept your invite when it arrives, then return to the StuckInCustoms Facebook Page and pay it forward by saying, “I have 10-15 (whatever) invites for Google+ so leave your email below and I’ll get you in!”

3) To invite people in, create a new circle and fill it with email addresses that need access.

4) Share a post or photo with that circle, and it will ask you if you want to email people not in Google+. Say yes, and they will get an email invite!

And, if you are looking for me in Google+, here is My Google Profile.

Where do you keep your passport?

When you travel, where do you secure your passport? Now, I’ve taken to keeping it in my front pocket of my jeans or cargo shorts. I’ve stopped leaving it in the room after it was stolen in China (from a very respectable hotel). I used to sometimes keep it in a safe, but that is kind of a pain… so, front pocket for me. The back pocket is too dangerous because it can easily be picked. And I can’t bring myself to wear one of those things around my neck like I’m a 6 year old traveling alone on an airplane.

Daily Photo – Night Settles In Feung Huang

There is a general poetic peace when it begins to go dark outside and the town comes alight with shopkeepers and villagers come out to turn on the lights. If you look around, you can see them popping on, one at a time, like little fireflies coming out to play for the evening.

This area is no different, and it’s made even more magical by the little river that flows through the middle of it all. And then you are faced with all these nice decisions… where to eat? where to drink? where to find an inn for the night?

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X

Google Plus

Here is my Google Profile, so feel free to add me if you are using Google+. It’s pretty cool, and I find it’s super easy and fun to make groups with circles.

Be Careful!

So, today’s shot reminds me of good man David duChemin, who recently took a serious tumble while getting a photo. He was laid up in the hospital for a long time and things looked pretty grim. He’s on the mend… and a nice way to show support is to pop over and check out some of David’s new eBooks! He has an amazing selection over there, and it’ll be something that benefits you too.

Anyway, today’s photo looks pretty scary yes? Do you think I would actually walk out on that ice to get this shot? Heck no… there are lots of ways to get interesting looking shots without pushing the limits… so, just because a shot LOOKS like it was dangerous does not mean it was… don’t let my shots or other shots make you feel inclined to take “risky” shots yourself.

Daily Photo – Delicate Ice in Spring

After dinner one evening in Ísafjörður, I drove through a nearby town and up into the mountains. Along the road, I noticed an iced-over river that was beginning to thaw in a few areas. I pulled over, and scrambled down the hill to set up for a shot.

I tried this both with and without an ND filter. The ND filter didn’t add anything to the shot except for a lot of pain! The light was low enough were a small aperture could get the feeling of the river through the hole in the ice…

Filed under the categories: Iceland, Isafjordur, Nikon D3X

Another Shuttle Launch

I’m so excited to be going back for the final launch of the Atlantis! It’s all so awesome… and, even be there, it will be during my 40th birthday. Even though my happenstance revolutions around the sun at 1 AU are a completely arbitrary measurement of age, it’s the one we all use, so there ya go.

Gordon’s Launch Experience

My friend Gordon Laing from CameraLabs.com made his own video when we were out there together, which he recently entered into the Queenstown Film Festival. It’s pretty cool – because he’s a friend, we stayed in the same hotel, and so on… the only difference is that I flew back for the actual launch while he watched from New Zealand. See his video here.

Daily Photo – The Shuttle Prepares

On the day before the launch, I was ushered out a few football fields away from the shuttle. It was surreal being so close, even though I wanted to be closer…closer…closer…. but the 28-300 (See the Nikon 28-300 Review) was plenty lens enough to get in tight so you can see all the details of the shuttle and the launch facility skunkworks…

See all my NASA shots here…

Filed under the categories: Florida, NASA, Nikon D3X

Part 3 of the Student Interview

And the African Queen of never-ending-turns-interview ends with this segment…

Daily Photo – The Old Waterwheel

Right after I arrived in Feng Huang, I went down by the river to walk up and down both sides… and I was drawn to this old waterwheel right away. It was all so quaint… here were old Chinese women washing clothes in the river, and it was all right out of a movie. I only got to spend a few days here… after seeing how wonderful everything was, it’s on my list to revisit some day…. I hope it stays like this.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X

Student Interview Part 2

And here is part 2 for you…

Daily Photo – Fingers Above River

This was one of those Tour-de-France days when I burned about 10,000 calories. I carried my equipment all up and down this valley in Zhangjiajie… up and down each side, traversing the entire length several times, took very few breaks, and ended up sleeping like a baby. That wasn’t a complete sentence… I know this.

This is just about the same area where I encountered a snake later that night. It was black and gnarly and did nothing to lift my spirits. I’ll finish that snake story next time I post a photo from this region… I don’t really want to think about it until then!

Filed under the categories: China, Nikon D3X, Zhangjiajie

The Student Interview

Remember these? I never ran all three parts, so I will start that now.

See the rest of part 1 on Vimeo… At the time I uploaded that YouTube video, I was not yet a YouTube partner so I had to make it short… so you may want to fast-forward a bit through that Vimeo one there…

Daily Photo – Entering the Neo-Opera

This is a truly beautiful building. I sometimes feel like I am cheating… when the colors and textures and lines are already there, it just makes for such a pleasant shooting experience. But, when times are easy like this, it reminds me of when the situation is a non-stop struggle to get a good shot. I guess, like everything, it comes in waves…

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China

Another Post-Processing Tutorial Photo

Here is the one of the final photos that I worked on in class for the HDR Video Tutorial. It was a tough one… a lot of issues that needed fixing, but I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I wanted to thank my support team for really working hard to help out all the customers that got this product. Luke does an amazing and very patient job of personally helping each and every question he gets at support (at) stuckincustoms.com. I really appreciate him… glad he is around to keep everything going smoothly. As always, if you have any questions or feedback, let us know!

Daily Photo – Exploring the Church

I like all the colorful votives. They make everything a bit more festive…. Cathedrals can be sort of melancholy places, so anything to liven things up a bit are a nice change of pace. I’m not saying we should go neon-signs or blinky-text on the church’s website or anything crazy like that…. just a little somethin-somethin to spice things up a bit.

And I do like that hallway quite a lot… it’s got a nice M.C. Escher quality to it.

Filed under the categories: Barcelona, Nikon D3X, Spain

Top 5 people to follow in Instagram

I’m @TreyRatcliff at Instagram and I’ve been following quite a few people that are really talented… but I need more people to follow! Here is my list of my Top 5. What’s your Instagram name and who are your favorites?

1) @zarias

2) @JoshJohnson

3) @takahiroooo

4) @Aaronburden

5) @sweetness_smile

More from Spain

The Spain Photos Category here is slowly filling up with photos! I know…I know… people want more of that girl in Ibiza… MAYBE those are coming in the future… you never know…

Daily Photo – The Endless Alley

The dirt and grit and color that comes with European alleys make for great subjects for dynamic night photography. Usually I only stay out for about an hour after it gets dark, but it’s hard to stop with this kind of scenery… I mean, you can make a legitimate excuse to stay out all night!

But a lot of people warned me about how dangerous Barcelona can be… I did already meet many people that were robbed blind… I was extra-extra careful… and, in this case, decided to head back to the hotel early. Also, I was feeling pretty under the weather…so yet another excuse.

Filed under the categories: Barcelona, Nikon D3X, Spain

Category Reminder

I’m usually pretty good about tagging the daily entries with categories.  If you see one that interests you, just click on the tag at the bottom.  For example, this one is in China, so clicking that will take you to all the China photos.  I only put up about 15 per page, so if you click “Previous” at the bottom, you’ll get another set of 15, and so on.

Daily Photo – Shopkeeper in Beijing on Steps

I carry around two cameras so I can get things like this.  I keep my main body affixed to my tripod with whatever lens fits the bill.  This is either a the 14-24 or the 28-300.  I keep my second camera with a prime — either the 50 or 85 prime.

I was taking photos of the festive street at dusk, and I noticed this shopkeeper out taking a rest.  I’ve always admired how people can rest in this position.  I can only sit in that position for about 15 seconds before I scream in agony and my patellas pop off at a hyperspeed tangent.

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3S

Travel Planning

Are you much of a travel planner?  I kind of am… I think I’m accidentally kind of an expert on this… people always ask me these questions and I should write a little ebook or something.  I have one loosely planned… maybe 2013 or something!  But I do have a title… it’s a quote from Buddha:  ”It’s better to travel well than to arrive.”

Daily Photo – The Keyhole to the Old City

This is the second photo I have posted from Montpellier.  I have a lot more to process… it’s a beautiful town!

We were staying with a very nice older couple and had spent the evening in the city.  Before leaving, we were not quite sure how to get back to their home.  After asking, we got one of those very quick but complex set of directions.  They are the sort of directions people give when they have lived somewhere their entire life…  They mention landmarks that they are quite sure we have already seen and give dire warnings about going down the wrong fork in, oh, you know the place….so on and so forth… and then we were thrust out into the cruel city… not really having any sure way of finding our way home…  but, I figured, as long as we were lost, we would take photos along the way.  That is when I saw this…

Filed under the categories: France, Montpellier, Nikon D3X

Daily Photo – Sleeping In

I usually am too swamped in the middle of photo-adventures to process and post immediately, but this one is an exception I made just a few hours ago.

I have a favorite fish restaurant here in Isafjordur called Tjöruhúsið. They bring out a huge skillet of three pieces of fresh fish cooked in a mushroom cream butter sauce. Also in the pan are potatoes, tomatoes, and even a salad tucked into the corner. I took my time eating my Viking meal while processing this photo.

I took it just yesterday while driving from Reykjavik to Isafjordur, which is just about one of the longest possible drives you can make in Iceland in a day if you have a reasonable level of sanity. There comes a point when you feel like you’re getting close, when you start weaving in and out of fjords. They are huge and each one seems to take over half an hour to drive around. (here is part of my driving path)

In the midst of one of these, I espied an old house up the side of one of the valleys. It was partially obscured by a hand-built stone wall. I stopped the car and started hiking up the side of the valley to investigate. Once I got up there, I began to think that maybe this place was actually occupied! There were new lace curtains hanging in the windows and everything seemed to be in pretty good repair.

So then, I felt like I was intruding, and not just exploring an old ruin. But, it was 3 AM in the morning, and I figured if anyone was indeed inside, they must be fast asleep. So I set up for a shot and then made a hasty elf-like egress.

I just found out this place is called Litli-Bær and it was originally built in 1894.

Filed under the categories: Iceland, Isafjordur, Nikon D3X

Free HDR Tutorial

I’ve updated the free HDR Tutorial with a bit of new information.  I also updated the link to the un-free HDR Video Tutorial that has the same sort of thing… just on video…  We now have over five languages and even more in the works for the free version… stay tuned!

Daily Photo – A Dusk Walk in Montpellier

We headed out on an evening walk with our wonderful hosts in Montpellier, France.  They’ve done a few nice things to the city to minimize car traffic. There is a lot of public transport on light rails, and that tended to keep congestion down.  You don’t really realize it until you compare it to someplace like Milan or Daegu, but there just aren’t a lot of cars driving around all the most interesting places.

Taking the “back way” to dinner, we stopped at this perfect little intersection so I could take a quick photo.  It was a highly recommended spot by my friend Jacques.  This is the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier an elegant and unique cathedral that has a castle-like feel to the facade.  Since I always get excited when I see a castle, this got a big thumbs up!

Filed under the categories: France, Montpellier, Nikon D3X, Travel