Tripod like a Marine

Have you seen those videos of Marines disassembling and reassembling their gun blindfolded? I can do this with my tripod and camera. It’s not nearly as cool or impressive, and I usually do it while I’m alone. It’s just really from habit, since I’m always opening and closing my system. It’s become more of a meditation than a hassle.

Daily Photo – Driving through Remote China

I took a six hour drive through part of the Hangzhou. At some point, it began to get very hilly and moody. The ride was a little rough, so I would pull over from time to time to take breaks.

One time when I popped out, I thought the road and the scene felt fairly cinematic. I went through the old routine of opening up the tripod for a shot…

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Hangzhou, Lijiang, Travel, Zhangjiajie

October Special close to running out!

The year is going by fast! We haven’t run a sale since Father’s Day so October sounded like a great time do it. You can use the the discount code “Octoberfest20″ to save 20% on all eBooks over at Flatbooks.com and on the Tutorial and Tools at StuckInCustoms.com through October 31st, 2012.

(Note: The discount does not apply to Workshops, Prints or Apps)

Topaz Adjust Reminder

Be sure to check out the Topaz Adjust Review if you want to know one of my most commonly used plugins. I often use that towards the end of my process for a bit of extra sharpening and pop.

Daily Photo – Man on Horse in Lijiang Square

When I arrived into the middle of this opening within the tight city of Lijiang, a fresh rain had just made everything nice and slick. There were a few men walking around the old town square on horses in the midst of all the pedestrian activity.

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang

New York PhotoWalk!

It’s very soon! Thanks for all the feedback when I asked the other day…

See PhotoWalk Details Here – and see you soon! I’m packing now for the trip from New Zealand! It’s a long trip… ! No worries, I have a good book…

Daily Photo – Dark and Light in Lijiang

Here’s a photo that I edited live during the class a few days ago. The motions I went through are also inside of one those “Trey’s Lightroom Presets” I mentioned a few days ago… you can do so much in Lightroom nowadays that it is kind of scary!

This is one of the main streets in the city of Lijiang. During the day, it looks quite traditional, but at night, everything lights up and becomes wonderfully alive.

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Travel

Never to be seen again

I processed this live last night during the Art of Photography class during the Q&A period. Even though we will be selling the videos in the future, none of the live Q&A will be seen again, except for people that registered. During the final session last night, I decided to edit this photo and show everyone the entire process. I had never processed it before, and I was so pleased. I decided to post it today! But, alas, only people that have already registered for the class will get to see the full video…

Did you enjoy the class?

Pop over to the Art of Photography and leave a comment, or maybe record a little YouTube video and give us a link. I’d love to see what you think! Thanks again for joining me – that was fun!

Daily Photo – The Nameless Pagoda Sleeps

Tom and I visited this Pagoda late one evening in Li Jiang. There was zero wind, so the perfect reflection made us happy. The thing that did not make us happy was having to get on the ground with our tripods in the lowest position. I do try to avoid getting on the ground as often as possible… but when the scene is right, I guess I have no choice!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Travel

iPad for Photos

I remember when I was in this spot, I saw two different people using their iPads to take photos.  They were not Americans — they were Chinese people.  And then, after that, I started noticing this more and more.  I think Americans are more “embarrassed” (for lack of a better word) to use their iPads for photography, but this is just anecdotal… I’ll have to look around more to see if this trend is consistant across cultures!

Daily Photo - Along the River in Lijiang

While I walked along one of the many little streams that flowed through the village, restaurants, cafes, shops, and homes lined the sides.  Each one was decorated a little bit differently with unique lanterns, fauna, decor, windows, furniture, and flowers.  You could stop almost anywhere to take a photo!  So, well, I did.

Switching lenses is still a bit of a pain.  The two lenses I used the most there were the 14-24 and the 28-300.  But many shots were kind of right around that 20-35mm zone, which menat I was never really sure of which lens to use… so I would end up swapping back and forth a lot until it felt right!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Travel

New eBook – The Tuesday Composition

Over the next month or so, we’re launching a bunch of new eBooks at Flatbooks.com. We just released The Tuesday Composition by Joe Decker – go check it out!

The Tuesday Composition solves the mystery of why some images just seem more “effective” than others, bringing in ideas from the sciences and the arts. Addressing many popular misconceptions, this beautifully-illustrated 75-page book teaches the craft of creating incredible, compelling photographs, through both a discussion of principles and through in-depth looks at a number of “case studies.”

Getting Visas

Getting Visas for travel feels like a very 18th-century way of getting around the world!  As far as I can tell, the only REAL purpose of having them is as an extra revenue-source for the country.  But the process is always so silly!  Here’s two examples:

• Each time I go to China, I have to fed-ex my passports to Houston where they process the Visas then send them back via fed-ex.  A little hint, btw, is that if you connect in Hong Kong, you can just do it there…
• I connected in Australia and had about 10 hours where I could go explore and take photos.  What?  I can’t leave the airport because I don’t have a Visa?  Australia!  You slay me…  that’s a silly policy.

Daily Photo – Across the Top of the Old Village

The old town of Lijiang has these old rooflines that go forever to the horizon.  Part of the problem getting up above the roofline is, well, getting up above the roofline.  You have to head a bit out of town and walk up a hill to get this perspective.  I found the spot thanks to Stuck On Earth.

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Travel

Time Travel

This is one of the few places in the world where I feel like I’m time traveling…  If you could time-travel, where would you go and when?

Daily Photo - The Village of Lijiang

I tried to get this shot for almost a week!

It turns out there is a hill/mountain that requires significant planning and calories to ascend for this dusky time falls.  And I kept miscalculating the time with Tom.  We always thought the sunset would be a little later than it was.  And then we would start to get up into position, and we realized it was too late — so we went to go do something else instead.

This evening, I would snap a few photos and then sit down with my sketch pad and work on a few drawings.  I’d wait about 10 minutes for the light to change between photos… and it was nice just to listen to music and play around with some sketching-ideas…

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

Patrick Rothfuss, Charity, The Show

So, regular friends around here will know that my inspiration comes from the world outside of photography.  I read like a madman.  And look, I’m not bragging when I say I’m very well-read in Fantasy.  That’s just a fact.  And so, maybe it carries a lot of weight when I say that Patrick Rothfuss is teaching us all.

Now, before I tell you more about that bit, first let me point you to Pat’s charity team at Worldbuilders.  I’ve donated, and you might like to also.  There are all kinds of rare signed books that will be given away as part of the fund-raising effort.

And…. Patrick will be joining me for Trey’s Variety Hour #22 on Monday night.  How cool is that?

What Do You See?

And… which eyes are mine?  Yes, I’ll be back at EG in Monterey this year…

Daily Photo – The Mysterious Creatures Among Us

While in the southern town of Lixiang, I came upon this creature in the evening.  Maybe you know the legend of this…  maybe it is better to make up your own legend than to have me tell you everything about it… or, perhaps one of you intrepid explorers in the community can tell us all what is going on here!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3S, Travel

Amazing New eBook!

Check out FlatBooks.com to see “Photographing the Fourth Dimension – Time” from Jim Goldstein.  I think you’ll love it…  And, I hate to say judge a book by its cover – but – go ahead!

Lijiang is a Photo Holiday!

This turned out to be an amazing place for photos! If you’d like to see all the photos from this area, click on the Lijiang Category here or at the bottom of the post.

Daily Photo – Walking Blind through China

As Tom Anderson and I were leaving the old area of Lijiang one evening, we saw these two coming towards us in the opposite direction. One of them was blind (perhaps both), and one played a small stringed instrument while the other held out a bowl for donations.

I squatted down and waited for them to enter a little pool of light from a nearby shot before I took the photo. And then I walked over and put a little donation in the bowl.

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3S, Travel

Just in! I took a quick photo here... it's still warm!

Running Out of Calendars

It looks like this will be sold out by the end of the year. I suppose that is good timing, since 2012 is pretty soon!

It’s a great gift for you, for your family, and for your friends.  Our little team of elves is standing by to pack everything up for you!

$19.99 (U.S. and Canada)*

Stuck in Customs 2012 Wall Calendar Full calendar with high-quality-saddle-stitched page High-quality glossy one-hundred-pound cover with eighty-pound pages inside 12 beautiful images from around the world

Daily Photo – Ascending to the Temple at Night

There is a temple atop a huge hill in Lijiang that has several “staging areas” for rest along the way. This is one of them.

This is an area where I took a lot of photos of the old town below. That area is kind of behind me here in this photo, although that is hard to tell from this vantage. It is a good resting place to recharge your batteries before finishing the rest of the hike up the stairs to the top. There’s also a little shop here that sells snacks and drinks… To me, a true adventurer never passes up a good snack.

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

Live Hangout Tonight!

Time: Thursday 8 PM PT – Your World Time: http://goo.gl/IFwEf
Topic: We’ll start with how we pack photo stuff, particularly what we’ll be bringing for the Yosemite Google+ PhotoWalk! And then… we’ll let the conversation meander in a hangout-kinda-way…
Where? Watch my Google+ stream for the Live On Air YouTube player.

Camera City

And here is another crazy place from China!

Daily Photo – The Sound that of Clattering Wood in the Breeze

Upon entering the oldest part of this ancient town, I passed by these tiny shingles that hung in the air. They made a delightful sound as the wind went through them, and it kind of set the mood for the rest of the exploration.

This woman was holding an umbrella to shield the sun. It did get a little steamy from time to time… I wish I had one too!

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

Controversial Car Photos

I asked an innocent question about cars… and I got way more responses than expected. See this crazy Google+ thread!

Daily Photo – The Canals of Lijiang at Night

There must be a hundred little canals spread here and there through the old town. There are so many opportunities for photos! This is what we call a target-rich environment.

This is the town I was in with Tom Anderson — every night we explored a new area. It was an amazing time… I can’t wait to go back some day!

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