Photomatix Presets

Do you have (my!) Trey’s Photomatix Presets? I still use Photomatix all the time, as many of you noticed from my recent tutorial video. I think my presets are much more interesting than the ones that come with Photomatix, but you can be the judge! If you don’t agree, you can have all your money back… no problemo!

Here’s a screenshot for ya!

Daily Photo – The Skies of Sydney

Sydney? Check. Sunset? Check. Easy photo? Check!

Man, this was such a lay up… I can’t claim much credit for it. I just kinda walked up and it was like this. Good sunset shots are not always easy, but this one was… I admit it! Now, it was made a bit easier with post-processing through Photomatix, but I kind of take that for granted now.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Photography Tips, Sydney, Travel

Paparazzi Dogs

I saw this funny thing on the website for the sculpture below…

Hehe I guess we all fell into their trap! Actually, there were not 500 people there. It was much less than that… I think the official face count from the group picture is on the world record site. Anyway, saw this and thought it was kinda cute.

Daily Photo – Bel in the Wind

Have you been wondering who shot that incredible video we just released a few days ago? This girl! Bel Jones! (go to her website to see more about her and her own art! She followed me around for about a week to get all the footage, and then she edited it all together in just a few weeks to bring straight to you. I took this while we were up on a windy bluff on Deer Park heights.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Melbourne, New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

iPhone Cases in the Wild!

Do you have an iPhone and looking for a snazzy case? We put together a bunch of different cases for you to enjoy and sport around! Just pop on over to the iPhone Case section of the store and have a gander!

Daily Photo – Another Bridge in Melbourne

I like these cities that get all fancy with their bridges. Melbourne certainly does! Each bridge tries to out-do the next. There’s no common theme and its sort of a mish-mash of styles, to say the least. I think that not everyone likes this, but I do. I don’t mind all the variety, especially from the perspective of photography.

It’s kind of the same way with the buildings and other decorative elements around downtown Melbourne. There are so many styles, most of which are one flavor of “modern” or “contemporary”. I enjoy mixing and matching different elements into compositions, but it is not easy. There is a challenging aspect to it that I don’t get in many other cities.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Melbourne, Nikon D800, Travel

Join me in Tokyo at the Google HQ for a free event!

On Friday April 12 at 4 PM, come to my talk and/or join me just afterwards for the meet up! To join me, just fill out this Google Form! I look forward to meeting you there… this will be a fun event and I’ll be talking about all new stuff.

The Google offices are located at 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. The building is called Roppongi Hills Mori Tower and the Google reception is on the 26th floor.

Extraordinary Vision Magazine

There is a free iPad magazine called Extraordinary Vision that has featured several writeups about the New Zealand event by a few of the photographers that attended the event. This is highly recommended – I think you will enjoy their photos and what they have to say!

Daily Photo – Awesome Ship in Sydney Harbor

Tom and I walked down to the Rocks one night, which is one of the oldest parts of the Sydney Harbor. I was wondering, actually, if I should spell it “harbour” now that I live down thisaway. I do like the British spellings of things… they seem so much more… well, British and sophisticated. I guess I’ll just stick with “harbor” – I don’t want people thinking I’ve turned native so quickly.

Anyway, the ship was moving a lot in the sea, so I had my ISO up pretty high to compensate. Usually, what I’ll do in this situation is take a normal set of brackets at a low ISO to get a nice HDR shot, and then I’ll take another at high ISO to freeze the movement… and then I do my best to Frankenstein it all together.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Sydney, Travel

Android Development of Stuck On Earth

Want to see some screenshots of the progress so far? Visit this thread on Google+ to see!

Daily Photo – The Amazing Bridge in Sydney

I think I took this during the Sydney photowalk – I am not sure! But those clouds seem very familiar. I took So Many Photos in Sydney… thousands… and I’ve processed hundreds so far. But I just can’t remember exactly when I took this one! Maybe someone from Sydney can confirm that I took this that evening.

I really wanted to get up there on the bridge, but they don’t let you take your camera, which is a real bummer. I wish I could get special permission some time. Whoever can get me special permission can go with me – that would be a blast!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney, Travel

Another shout out to the QT Sydney

Thanks again to the QT Sydney (a photo of my room) for hosting Tom and I! Stephen Howard did a great job showing us around and getting us here into the State Theater where we took the photo below.

Daily Photo – Tom in Sydney

That’s Tom Anderson there (the MySpace Tom). We had a very fun time running around Australia together, and especially here in the State Theater. It is an amazing place! The entryway, as you can see, is insanely ornate. And then once you enter, you go through one hall to the next, each as grand as the previous one.

I’d love to have an event here one night… I don’t know what I would do… maybe just bring in a bunch of people and we can all post-process all night together! That sounds lame but also kinda awesome.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney, Travel

iPad Mini (and QatQi)

I lost my bigger iPad on a QANTAS flight from Melbourne, which was kind of a bummer. So I decided to try the iPad mini. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do! I was worried that my photos would feel small and not as impressive… but I don’t find that to be the case yet. I’m really enjoying the form-factor, and reading books on the Kindle app is very nice… Oh, and here’s a fun word-game app recommendation for you: QatQi. Tell me if you make it all the way to the Sunday puzzle and can finish it !

Daily Photo – The Skyline of Melbourne from Across the River

Melbourne has one of the most “walkable” skylines I’ve seen. It runs all up and down the river and looks pretty from both sides. It also works out well because there is very little to obstruct your view. It’s the complete opposite, of, say, Bangkok, where getting a view across the river is next to impossible.

I look forward to going back to Melbourne to walk along this river many more times!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Melbourne, Travel

Taking Photos During PhotoWalks

This is a very hard thing for me, actually! I’m often so busy talking or explaining or whatever, that it’s quite difficult for me to concentrate on a good shot. Also, the other strange thing is that I can only shoot forward. If I ever see something behind me, man, forget it. There are a lot of people standing in the way, and it seems so rude to tell them to move! So, I just skip it and try to find something inside the forward bit of my viewcone!

Daily Photo – Sydney Glows at Sunset

During the Sydney photowalk, we ended up with some nice skies! I always love a bit of drama in the skies… makes everything a bit more exciting and epic I think. And just after the sun set, there were a few interesting splashes of color in the sky to break it up.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Sydney, Travel

Movie Premieres

The State Theater below is apparently where they also have some of the major movie premieres in Sydney. This is not news to all the good Aussies out there, but it’s cool to think about all the big movies that have first shown here. I used to go to movie premieres all the time, but now that I am in a smaller town, it’s not so much of a big deal any more… but I do miss it!

Daily Photo – On stage at the State Theater in Sydney

What an amazing place! I don’t think it is that secret, but I had no idea that such a grand place existed, hidden away! Well, it’s not exactly hidden, but I don’t think anyone walking by on the street past the humble entrance would know what awaits inside.

This is next-door to the QT Sydney (link to previous blog entry about that hotel), where I stayed while I was there. I toured around inside here with Alexia Sinclair, and she’s always been keen to shoot it too in one of her more dramatic pieces. Maybe we’ll see one of these in the future!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney, Travel

A fun world record!

It was such a huge crowd at this event. Here’s a thread about the World Record from that evening!

Daily Photo – Enjoying the Melbourne Skyline

Here’s another photo from our amazing Melbourne photowalk. I really enjoyed walking up and down this area along the river. It felt like one of the most “walkable” and scenic downtown areas I’ve ever encountered. It reminded me a little of Zurich in that way.

I stayed over in The Olsen hotel, which is one of the “Art Series” hotels… a very cool idea where the entire hotel is themed after a certain artist. They have a few different hotels, and next time I might try to stay a little closer in by the location where I took this shot.

Filed under the categories: Australia, Melbourne, Travel

New Prints

I’m always trying out new prints for the home, and I just got a few slick ones from iAcrylic. I’m really impressed with the quality and look of the prints. Because of the reflections around the edge from the acrylic, there is a very interesting border-effect. It’s hard to explain, but I really dig it. One thing I have noticed is they look best if you hang them in a well-lit area.

Which photos did I get from iAcrylic? These two recent ones below which I quite like!

Daily Photo – The QT Sydney

This was my room at the QT Sydney from a few weeks ago… you can see my bags and stuff… probably should have moved them for the picture. Anyway, one of the Coolest things about this hotel is the elevators! They scan to see how many people are inside. If there is just one, then it plays lonely music, like Elvis singing, “Are you lonely tonight?” And then when there are two people, like, embarassingly when I was in there with Tom, it started playing, “Just the two of us.” And when there are like five or more people in there, it starts playing party music like Lady Gaga… anyway, it’s a trip!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney, Travel

Speaking of Sydney…

Many people have been asking for an update in the Sydney Morning Herald situation. There has since been an article on another Australian media outlet by Nic Christensen where he got in contact with the editor of the SMH. Below is a quote from the article in response that they have made an apology to me.

“Perhaps they have placed a handwritten apology in the pouch of a kangaroo and it jumped in the wrong direction, for I have yet to receive it (or any digital facsimile thereof),” said Ratcliff.

Otherwise, I’ve handed everything over to the legal team. This is the same team that dealt with the Time issue and countless others. I’ll give another update later, assuming I’m allowed to.

Daily Photo – Sydney Harbour Under Mountains of Clouds

This might have been the last shot I took with my Nikon D800 before the wind blew it over to destroy it. It turned out that I could not repair it, so I had to buy another D800. Sad Trey. I hope the shot was worth it… many Bothans died to bring you this photo…

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney, Travel