Happy Halloween!

I hope you have fun and get some good pictures. Be sure to save me the Peanut M&Ms. They are my kryptonite.

New video – Trey’s Video Hangout #10

This was a great Google+ hangout (my Google profile) . You guys will love it… interesting people, new photographers, great conversation and insight — what else do you need?

Okay, who do I mention first? Don’t think because I mention someone first that they are more important or anything… but, well, anyway, Jaime Ibarra talks a lot about his work — many surprises for beginners out there! Jeremy Cowart talks about his work and Help Portrait. Victor Cajiao talks about his podcasts and photography… of course Gordon Laing was there and funny/helpful as always… We also had a some new faces with Kelli Seeger Kim , whose into macro photography, Angela B. Pan a fellow travel photographer, and Anna Rumiantseva with her Ukrainian stylings. We also had the smooth operator +RC Concepcion to grace us with his gentle latin stylings…

For the whole transcript with timestamps, visit the YouTube page. Thanks to Dave Veffer for producing / transcribing. Thanks to Keith Barrett for broadcasting live.

Filed under the categories: Travel

Thanks to the Stuck In Customs team!

We have so many moving parts around here, and it wouldn’t be possible without the team here. Be sure to check out the “About The Site” area at the bottom to see who all has been involved. Everything from website design to coding to hosting and a ton of other little things. Thanks guys!

Daily Photo – The Sorbonne

My friend (and website designer), Fabien Barral, met my wife and I in Paris to take us out to dinner. We left the hotel, and about 30 seconds out the door, we came across this street side cafe right by the Sorbonne, the famous university. Luckily, I think both of them were used to this behavior and chatted pleasantly while I snapped away.

I worked on this photo all day. People often ask me how long I work on photos. If you’ve seen the HDR Video Tutorial here on the site, you know it takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. This one was on the long side for sure… It was tough work, but I am happy with the results.

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

Google Ripples

The analysis side of my brain loves this thing. Yesterday, I decided to share the work of a photographer named Jaime Ibarra. And then, this visualization of the information spread was created. Very cool!

With that chart, you can drag the timeline along the bottom to watch how things grow and spread over time. Cool! Also, you can zoom in and click on various bubbles.

Google+ Hangout Live Tonight!

It’s a late one, starting at 11 PM ET, 8 PM PT (Your World Time)
Where: Tune in Live on my Google+ Stream for a live link, so you can watch the video even if you are not one of the 10 that gets in.

Daily Photo – The Tattoo Shop

Speaking of Google, I did a Google+ hangout last night where I worked on this photo. I took it just recently at the San Francisco PhotoWalk with Thomas Hawk. It was a great night… so many sights to be seen there.

As usual, I had two cameras with me. One was for quick street shots with a 50mm prime. The other had my 14-24mm (see Nikon 14-24mm Review) on for these sorts of shots. I find that if I want to be on the sidewalk and take a photo of the store in front of me, I really need this kind of lens to squeeze it all in!

Filed under the categories: California, San Francisco, Travel

You Use Klout?

I’m still confused by Klout; I keep getting emails that people are klouting me or something. Do you use it?

Daily Photo – Under the Factory

As I explored the abandoned airplane factories in this old section of Beijing, I went down into the basement level to see what I could find. There were all sorts of iron fixtures, strange knobs and wheels, semi-circular openings to kilns that had been bricked closed, and endless layers of peeling, scorched paint.

I wanted to go back to this whole area to explore more, but maybe next time. I think this will be a great area for the next PhotoWalk in Beijing!

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

Still enjoying Topaz?

I’m doing a few updates to my Topaz Adjust Review, because I was realizing that I am using it quite a bit! It’s great for final sharpening and a few other nice effects. I wonder if there will be a new version soon…

Daily Photo – Man Alone at Red Door

After leaving the drum tower area, I started walking around some of the older streets. The number of little streets and these sorts of scenes in China seem more numerous than grains of sand on the beach. It’s a little overwhelming, in fact, when you come to a fork in the road. You know that either direction could be equally interesting, and you want to explore both. But, alas, you can only choose one.

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Travel

New Chrome Extension!

Do you guys use Google Chrome? I’ve moved over to it entirely. It’s fast and elegant. Anyway, a few developers teamed up to make a very special Chrome extension for me.

Get the New Extension Here.

It will give you updates whenever I publish a new photo… then you’ll be the first to know! To see the people involved, like Mohamed Mansour, visit this Google+ thread. Enjoy!

Daily Photo – Lijiang at Night

This is the old town of Lijiang, China, where I spent the week with Tom Anderson (the MySpace guy).  I think I mentioned him before.  Anyway, we got to be friends over the past several months, and we ended up spending a week together here in the south of China.

Tom had first been here many years ago when he was setting up the MySpace office in Beijing.  He had great memories, and he thought it would be great for a big return now that he is getting more into photography.  So, it was definitely a week full of non-stop photography action.

One late night after the sun had set, we weaved through the old streets until we found this place.  Looking up, I knew it would be a wonderful place to take a photo, so I set up for this one.

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

New 50mm Update

I’ve updated my Nikon 50mm review to now point to the new “G” model of the lens. It’s more expensive, but it’s also more flexible with various cameras as well as having better quality.

Daily Photo – The Temple at Sunset

Burning Man is the only place I can go and: a) Not have any idea what I am going to see and b) just know it is going to be awesome.

So, that’s kind of a unique situation, I think. For example, if I go to London, England, I know I’m going to see the Tower Bridge and it’s going to be incredible. But how often do you go in completely blind to a place, and just know you’re going to be amazed?

This is the main temple that lies on the 12 o’clock axis from the burning man himself. Every year it is different. It’s always non-denominational, but it has hints of all the major religions… So, that way, the 1 billion+ Buddhists are happy, the 1 billion+ Hindus are happy, the 1 billion+ Muslims are happy, and the 500 mil+ Christians are happy, and so are the other 2 billion various belief-systems floating around out there. I don’t know how you can make a temple for everyone, but, well, here it is… and everyone seems to like it!

Filed under the categories: Burning Man, Nevada, Nikon D3X, Travel

Sorry about the Apple Talk Broadcast

We tried to do a live Google+ hangout from the Apple event, but there were problems. It kinda worked, but didn’t really have all the ooomph that I was hoping for. Oh well, at least we tried. And I know what went wrong… I’m still figuring this stuff out, and we’ll get it better next time.

Daily Photo – Beautiful San Francisco

I just got back from a crazy three days in San Francisco. The trip included everything from visits to Google, YouTube, Facebook, breakfast with Scoble, Smugmug, Microsoft at a Calacanis event (where the upcoming app WON Audience Choice!), then finally a PhotoWalk in SF with Thomas Hawk. It was completely exhausting, but very fun. After the Facebook talk, I headed to downtown San Francisco with Tom Anderson to get this photo. It was a great night!

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Francisco, Travel

Category Reminder

Want to see more photos from NASA? Or how about Patagonia? Remember you can click on the categories on the right or at the bottom of the post!

Daily Photo – Endeavor to the Beyond

This photo was a bit of an accident.

I was as close as humanly possible to the launch, on the edge of the media area in the NASA compound. When the shuttle blasts off, there is a long delay before you hear the thing. Right when I took this, the first staccato wave ripped through my skeleton. I think I just hit the trigger out of fear and shock combined! But, it came out pretty good, all the same.

Filed under the categories: Florida, NASA, Travel

I'll see you at the Apple store tonight... Note this is NOT a photo of the Barton Creek location...hehe

Apple Store, Austin – Plus LIVE Video Feed

Join me tonight in Austin at the Apple Barton Creek store at 7 PM. It’s a free event. I’m talking about photography, my workflow, how I process images, and also there will be lots of Q&A.

Time: Tonight, Saturday, 7-9 PM CST (Your World Time: http://bit.ly/nUNHRU )
Where: watch live at http://keithbarrett.tv

I’ll be showing workflow and doing some cool new stuff. Come watch!

Any Polyglots?

How many of those words can you read down there from other languages?

Daily Photo – The Eiffel Tower Through Art

Oh darn, I hear you saying. Another photo of the Eiffel Tower. I know I know… I’m sorry… hehe.

Actually, you should see my Lightroom. I have so many interesting shots of the tower that I can’t hardly stand it. I’ve only processed a small percentage of them. Every time I dip my toe into that “unprocessed” category, I get all excited again.

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

Big Announcement Today!

I’m out at Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH event today. I’ll be taking the stage in late afternoon to announce and show off our newest iPad app. I’ll try to do a live Google+ Hangout from the event, so follow my Google+ profile for the latest!

Daily Photo – 鼓楼 Rickshaws at the Drum Tower

I’ve visited Gǔlóu many times and never taken a photo.  I just couldn’t figure one out.

And then, this most recent trip, I walked around the tower several times until I finally got an idea.

This is the giant drum tower built about a thousand years ago by Kublai Khan.  An enormous drum rests in front, and it was beat rhythmically to announce meetings. The temple sits in the Inner City to the north of Di’anmen Street.

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

The Updated Chernobyl Story

I recently started cleaning up all the various bits and pieces of the Chernobyl Story. It took forever, but now it is much more concise and proper in formatting. Go have a look!

New What’s-in-my-bag Video

I started making this video to show some behind-the-scenes from The Opposite House hotel, and then I turned it into a tour of my bag. This is everything that I took to China for a month. Enjoy!

Filed under the categories: Travel