Passport Sunday!

If you’re a Passport member, today you’ll see how I’ve changed the way I stitch together my panoramas, especially for these shots that are made from the drone.

Editing a MASSIVE Panorama

Creating this photo took quite a while, so I decided to split it up into two videos! In this first one, you’ll see how I prep the photos before I make the panorama and then the final stitching process. In the next video (next Sunday), I’ll show how I use Aurora HDR for the final touches.

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Daily Photo – A Huge Panorama of the road from Glenorchy to Queenstown

It was a perfect day a few weeks ago on the drive back, so I got the new Mavic 2 Zoom up in the air to take this panorama. It’s kind of annoying, in a way, that when the Mavic zooms into the sky, it doesn’t do any exposure adjustment. That always requires a little bit of cleanup.

A Huge Panorama of the road from Glenorchy to Queenstown

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-12-01 15:47:22
• CameraFC2204
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/640
• Aperture3.8
• ISO100
• Focal Length8.6 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias

Arrowtown Brewing Co.

My friend David Gent has a new beer company! Dave is a cool dude. He comes over to my studio about once a week and we drink gin & tonics and come up with new Black Mirror plots. Last night we came up with our magnum opus episode about a fake vasectomy with a plot twist. Hey! Maybe we should make a podcast where we record these ideas. That’s a good idea in itself and it’s also the root of a good idea for another Black Mirror episode in a parallel universe where podcasts about ideas are illegal. Wait, let me write this down.

Dave was also the bass guitarist for The Exponents, one of the most well-known New Zealand bands. He’s also the sperm man for the great Tane Gent, who you may remember as my assistant before he left me for that delightful succubus in Chicago.

Anyway, here’s the new video for their beer company. He says it only cost $300 to make.

Daily Photo – Panorama of Lake Wakatipu

On a recent trip to Glenorchy, I stopped along the road to make a panorama. I love it when the water here is so smooth and perfect. I continue to use Lightroom to do most of my stitching. It does a pretty good job, but it can occasionally really blow out some of the highlights. I wish I could make adjustments beforehand. Well, I actually can, but that takes an extra step because I have to export them from Lightroom and then bring them into Photoshop as layers before merging to the final image to make sure it transitions nicely.

Panorama of Lake Wakatipu

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-10-21 10:52:54
• CameraFC220
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/3200
• Aperture2.2
• ISO100
• Focal Length4.7 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

New Webcam!

Hey Passport Members! You’ll be happy to know that I got a new webcam to up the quality of the videos a bit. If you’ve missed some of the last few Passport Sundays, then be sure to go see all of them, as there are some great instructional videos in there!

Daily Photo – Living in the Fjords

See our tiny little boat down there? Actually, it was big enough to sleep 10 of us! I lived on there for about four days and I was fairly unproductive. I mostly just took photos and drank with all the guys on the boat. We mostly just told jokes, stories, and all kinds of bs were being spouted by everyone. They also taught me the most ridiculous drinking game called “three-man” which has the most confusing rules of any game I’ve ever played! For example, one of the rules is, if you roll the dice and get double-ones, then: “Create any rule. If that rule is broken during the game, the infringing player drinks.”

Living in the Fjords

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-10-30 15:38:46
• CameraFC220
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/1500
• Aperture2.2
• ISO100
• Focal Length4.7 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias-1

Aurora HDR 2019

I used the new Aurora (that is available for PC and Mac) to make today’s image. If you haven’t picked it up yet, then be sure to pop on over to the store and make it happen!

Daily Photo – An Autumn Wander

Last Autumn, I took the time to have some random walks around the countryside here between Queenstown and Arrowtown. There are hundreds and hundreds of little scenes like this everywhere. Most are on private property, but it seems to kind of okay to wander around anyway. No one has ever stopped me. In fact, I’ve met a lot of nice people. They see me with a camera and are a little suspicious, but then they chill out after we talk for a while and see I am just one of their friendly neighbors!

An Autumn Wander

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-04-30 11:59:04
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/800
• Aperture5
• ISO250
• Focal Length24.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

What’s In Trey’s Bag?

Here’s a new What’s in Trey’s Bag video! I haven’t updated this in YEARS, so it’s time for some fun! I have all of this stuff listed at www.Kit.com/TreyRatcliff – you’ll actually see in there I have it separated into different sort of kits for beginners or experts. I also have other mini-kits in there for gadgets, books, and all other sorts of goodies. Enjoy!

The Fiordlands

Here’s a Google map that shows the fjords I was exploring. What a crazy place, eh? I’ve never been to the fjords of Norway, but that is next on my list! If you haven’t tried it, be sure to click the 3D button there on Google maps and you can use the Command/Ctrl key on your keyboard to spin the map around in any direction.

Daily Photo – The Incredible Disappearing Waterfall

A few weeks ago, I went and lived on a boat for several days down in Dusky Sound in the far southern fjords of New Zealand. It was so beautiful! I remember looking at that map above before I moved to New Zealand and thinking… wow, wouldn’t it be cool to explore all those little nooks and crannies in the fjords! Anyway, while floating around, we saw this incredible waterfall that seemingly came out of a cave in part of the mountain and disappeared into another cave.

The Incredible Disappearing Waterfall

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-10-28 17:45:27
• CameraFC220
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/450
• Aperture2.2
• ISO100
• Focal Length4.7 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias-1

Sam Harris Meditation App

I have many meditation apps… this is a new one from Sam Harris that I really like. I think it’s perfect for people just getting into it for the first time. I’ve been meditating for a while, but it’s still fun to “start over” with a new set of techniques. That Sam Harris, he’s a cool cat.

Daily Photo – Derek Sivers in a Field

I think I really nailed it with the title of this photo. It came to me instantly. I don’t know what force brings about these amazing photo titles, but I am very thankful for it.

Man, I miss this guy! We were gonna do a big road trip across New Zealand, but we were both too busy to make it happen. He’s in Portugal now. Maybe I should make a trip over thataway and we’ll do a road trip there!

Derek Sivers in a Field

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2017-03-21 04:50:19
• CameraX1D-50c
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/2000
• Aperture3.5
• ISO100
• Focal Length30.0 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Aurora HDR 2019

Hey guys, don’t forget to pop over to our store and get the new Aurora HDR 2019. Today’s photo is a good example of what it can make out of a single RAW file (handheld shot).

Daily Photo – Pre-Interview Sunrise

One of the New Zealand TV Morning Shows invited me down for an interview early one morning here in Queenstown. They were set up down by the lake, and it was freezing cold. I don’t know why they decided to do it at the coldest time of year, but, hey, I’m not in TV production. Anyway, I went down there to give a little interview about my fine art and some of my collectors. About 30 seconds before I ran onto the set, I took this photo!

Pre-Interview Sunrise

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-07-04 08:08:31
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length23.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

New Mavic 2 Zoom

I chose to get the new Mavic 2 Zoom because I’m excited about many features, namely the zoom-panorama. I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m going to try it on the scene below next Autumn. Apparently, you can put it into a special photo mode where it zooms into 48mm and then takes a series of shots and creates a high-resolution panorama. That sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun to try in these situations.

Daily Photo – Autumn in Arrowtown, New Zealand

The trees on the hillside behind Arrowtown in the Autumn are so beautiful. There’s a big autumn festival every year in downtown every year where all the families come out and have a good old fashioned parade. I don’t really like parades. I don’t know why. Other people really seem to enjoy them. I wonder if I am missing something or if I am simply numbed by over-stimulation. But I don’t think that’s true either because I’m a happy camper just to sit there and meditate with nothing happening. I should meditate more on my dislike of parades.

Autumn in Arrowtown, New Zealand

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-05-01 13:43:02
• CameraFC6310
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/4000
• Aperture6.3
• ISO6400
• Focal Length8.8 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias

Best Black Friday / Cyber Monday Photography Deals

Searching for the best photography deals? We’ve made a tidy little list which will hopefully save you time and money!

Only TWO spaces left for our New Zealand Photo Workshop

Also, be sure to pop over to our workshops page to get more info and sign up. You’ll love it! (Be sure to check out the Black Friday page above for a special offer on the Workshops…)

Daily Photo – Beautiful Queenstown

You might recognize this from a lot of advertisements that Google ran to promote its Chromebook laptops. That caused a minor point of contention, I will tell you, honestly. But I didn’t have any desire to sue Google because I have so many friends there. Besides, the idea to sue a big company is just an invitation for disaster, no matter how genuine and earnest the intention. I mentioned this issue one day when I was talking to Sergey and things were worked out.

Anyway, this is one of the scenes you’ll see if you come out to New Zealand for the workshop! I only do one of these a year, and I have as good of a time as all of you!

Beautiful Queenstown

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-02-08 11:45:33
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/200
• Aperture7.1
• ISO100
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-1

The New Flickr Pro

I added this to the Flickr forums after they announced the new pricing model at Flickr. I’ll share it with you now! Oh, also, here’s a link to my Flickr Account.

I think all the Pro features look fantastic and it’s a huge step in the right direction. I know the team is very serious about doing this the right way.

Besides, the cost of Pro is a FRACTION of what most photographers pay for their equipment. And let’s face it, the equipment is not nearly as fun as Flickr and sharing photos. So why don’t more people look at the fun:money ratio?

Anyway, I’m going for the new Pro option and so are all my photographer friends I’ve polled. It’s a heck of a deal… I’m not even sure where else you can get unlimited storage for full-rez files for that price. And, when you think about it, that price really is extremely small compared to your camera/phone + lenses + apps + travel, etc. If you like the online service, why not pay for it?

I read someone above talking about when art meets money things get messy. That can be true, but it’s always been a bit messy with the production and distribution of art ala movies, tv, music, etc. We see new smarter models all the time like Netflix and Spotify. They are much more efficient mechanisms (with no ads yay!) for the distribution of art than previous iterations. On the corporate side, they have a predictable income every month so they can make better planning decisions when it comes to adding new features and expansion. I don’t know if you listen to the Sam Harris podcast or not, but he uses this same monthly model and his fans love it.

Anyway, I’m excited to pay for the features and the fun. Flickr has done so much for me over the past TWELVE (whoa I just had to look that up) years. They are committed to making it even better, so I’m more than happy to keep my Pro account.

Daily Photo – Chinese Wedding Photographers in Queenstown, New Zealand

These guys are pretty easy to spot, I tell ya. And not because they happened to be near a Chinese couple in wedding garb. Wedding couples seem to ALWAYS bring their own photographer from China. And, since the couple are so over-the-top in their outfits, the photographers have started to assume all manners of dress as well. Some are all-Banksy like this guy and others wear shiny three-piece suits.

Chinese Wedding Photographers in Queenstown, New Zealand

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2017-12-30 20:16:16
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture4
• ISO160
• Focal Length44.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias