Remote Vision, Ravens, and Glass

Here’s a snippet from the latest tutorial for you. This is the part we filmed when we were up close to the North Korean prison here in New Zealand. I talk a bit about expanded visual consciousness…

Daily Photo – Entering the Dungeons

Here’s the dungeon from under that French chateau that we visited several months ago.

I can’t imagine actually living in a house with a dungeon. I mean, it would be pretty dang awesome, but you would also feel like you’d have to put the place to good use. I guess I have a few enemies that I could capture and put down there, but that seems a bit extreme. Maybe just have parties and stuff. Or maybe a studio for processing down there. It’s hard to say… it all seems a bit dreary.

Maybe when I get some miner-bots, I’ll minecraft up a design under my existing house and send them on their way. I can carve something out down there. Well maybe I better do it beside the house so my bad designs don’t make the whole house collapse.

Filed under the categories: France, New Zealand, Paris, Queenstown, Travel

Reminder on The Stuck in Customs Community on Google+

Last week I mentioned the Private Clubhouse that people can access when they purchase one of the tutorial products. But, also, there is a public Stuck In Customs community where you are welcome to join, share your photos, and see a bunch of other work from fellow community members! It is a fun way to get to know more people from around here!

Daily Photo – The Lonely Chair

This is a nice little object here, yes? I think it’s hard to find things that stand by themselves in the middle of an area that is normally cluttered.

The chair was found in one of the many decrepit and ghostly rooms inside that chateau I mentioned a few days ago. I tried to squeeze my way into every possible room, but some were too full of junk to get around. This one was well lit and ideal!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

The Midnight in Paris Tutorial

I’m afraid I’ve given the recent video series from Paris short shrift with all the emphasis on the New Zealand tutorial. It’s called Midnight in Paris (store link), and I think you will really enjoy it. It’s heavy on the post-processing and the instruction. Plus, you’ll learn all kinds of tricks from Miss Aniela that you never would have learned from me… so it’s like two in one!

Daily Photo – The Dramatic Chateau

I took photos of this side of the chateau twice. Once in the morning when the clouds were heavy, and once again in the afternoon when the clouds parted. I ended up liking this cloudy one better. There was a bit of a natural vignette, but I decided to enhance that a bit in the post processing.

Filed under the categories: France, Paris, Travel

Looking at a new camera or lens?

I am always adding to the Reviews section of the website, which I heartily recommend if you are looking for a new camera or a new lens. I don’t review a ton of things, but I do try to review all the stuff I actually use on a regular basis.

Now, you’ll only see a few lens reviews there on that page. For the rest, just scroll down the right side.

If you’re thinking about the lens I used below, check out the Nikon 16mm Lens Review. I love it! It’s a strange lens because the first time I used it, it didn’t really float my boat. But now, I really enjoy it… I’m using it quite a bit to re-invent a lot of shots and be creative. It’s also come in really handy the past few times when my 14-24 lens has been broken.

Daily Photo – Fun with the Fisheye in Paris

This is a close up of one of the two chandeliers in the entry way of my hotel in Paris. I was still getting used to the fisheye at this point, so it took me about five shots to get this exact one I wanted.

By the way, I like how Paris likes to fill “empty space” with red velvet. It’s like the go-to thing for interior designers there…

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

Amazing Small World Story about Flatbooks.com

Justin Balog wrote an amazing little story on his blog.

Justin is one of the authors over at Flatbooks.com and he was randomly down in Belize. A local named Marvin walked up to him and they started talking about cameras. Marvin then actually mentioned the book that Justin had written! It is a small world!

And, as a bonus, Justin also wrote a story “Why Flatbooks Will Make The World A Better Place” !!

Daily Photo – Frogs in the Paris Opera

Can someone explain this to me? I cannot figure it out. Maybe they are just being quirky.

I took this with a fisheye lens inside the Paris opera. I can’t imagine what the internal bureaucracy is like within the Paris Opera for various art displays inside. And I can’t figure out how this one got through. But maybe there is a major art meme that I missed that includes well-dressed amphibians.

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

Upcoming PhotoWalk!

A TON of people have signed up for it… how fun! See the latest details and prizes for the photowalk here!

Stuck On Earth – Featured in the App Store!

The app is still free – see more at http://stuckonearthapp.com/ And yes, in case you missed it, the Android version is officially under way. It will be ready when it is ready… and, even better, the Android version will use sweet sweet Google Maps!

Handy Pants!

A few months ago I posted about the Search for Pants. I got many good suggestions, and the guy that runs Bluff Works Pants actually sent me some! They are really good… and I recommend them. Very light and wrinkle-free. One thing that is quite surprising is how tiny they roll up when you pack them away in your bag!

Daily Photo – Fisheye in the Hotel Banke

I was very happy to experiment with the fisheye lens while I was in Paris. I borrowed Tom’s, and that pushed me over the edge to buying one for myself. Prior to this, I had rented one, but never really liked it very much. I think maybe because I took a lot of people photos, and they were just tooooo artsy and weird for me (which is saying a lot), but I really found using the fisheye on architecture and things like this to be a lot of fun!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

Thanks for all the great feedback

We’re glad people are enjoying the recently released “Midnight in Paris”! It looks like most people are buying the “Bonus” version of it that has all the extra videos for $4 more. Keep the good feedback coming… and if you’ve never bought anything from the store before, no worries. It’s easy, and if you aren’t 100% happy, then you can have all your money back… so no risk at all, and everything to gain!

Daily Photo – La Défense in Paris

The new, modern downtown area of Paris is certainly worth a trip! It’s just 20 minutes through the subway to emerge into this area. I never really wanted to go down here, even though I kept hearing good things about it. To me, it wasn’t really Paris, you know… modern buildings and all. But, once I got down here, I was very excited. There are a ton of cool buildings and a thousand great compositions waiting to be had!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

Paris Tutorial Videos Now Available!

Want to learn more about my post-processing and follow me around on a shoot in Paris? Even better, you get to see the same thing from Miss Aniela! Pop over to the Midnight In Paris video in the new store… I think you’ll love it – especially the post-processing bit. And, as always, if you don’t mega-love it, you can have all your money back – no worries

Daily Photo – The Ceiling of the Paris Opera House

I stole this photo-taking idea from Matt Knisely! At first, I would lay down on my back and try to get the shot. But that was frustrating and bothersome. Then I saw Matt just put his camera on the ground with a timer then run away! So that’s what I did to get this shot… although it took a few takes to get it to line up right…

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

New HDR and Post-processing Video Available!

We finally have everything wrapped up in a neat little package for you! Check it out here! As always, we will give you all your money back if you don’t learn a ton about HDR, post-processing, and creating amazing images. I’ve linked you there to the bonus version, which costs $4 more, but contains all the bonus stuff, in addition to all the standard items below! Tutorial Includes Part 1 – Trey Ratcliff Photoshoot (823 MB) Part 2 – Trey Ratcliff Post-processing (2.7 GB) Part 3 – Miss Aniela Photoshoot (2 GB) Part 4 – Miss Aniela Post-processing (1.2 GB) Bonus Video – Photo Composition (955 MB) Bonus Video – Miss Aniela Tiger Photo (2.7 GB) Sample Working Files Part 1 (640 MB) Sample Working Files Part 2 (811 MB) Sample Working Files Part 3 (645 MB) Access to Private Clubhouse Community

Daily Photo – Afternoon at the Chateau

Here is one of the many images created during the workshop. I decided I liked this slightly off-center version rather than right down the middle. I loved the one right down the middle too, of course, but just was giving the situation a bit of a curve-ball. The tree branches seemed so interesting to me, and I wanted to accentuate them in post processing so they felt like one hundred little arrows, all pointing at the chateau.

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris

Watch me edit this live

I decided to throw in a bonus for Day 2 of the online class that starts this weekend on the Midnight In Paris page! Each day you’ll learn a lot about photography from me and Miss Aniela. You’ll learn landscape, HDR, post-processing tricks, and even the special tricks that Miss Aniela employs with her models.

At the end of the Q&A session for day 2, I’ll be editing this photo below from beginning to end!

Daily Photo – The Colors of the Museum

Right before the in-person Midnight In Paris event, we took the class on a private photowalk to my favorite museum in the world! We ended up spending several hours here. I didn’t even get in trouble for my tripod this time!

I have soooooo many photos of this place. I’m trying to hold back and not post them all, even though I want to! We’ll just both have to wait, I guess…

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

How-to

I have more about the how-to of this photo in the Part 1 of the upcoming Midnight in Paris video! Both Miss Aniela and I are really looking forward to this thing!

Daily Photo – Triangle of Fauna

Sorry for the dumb name of this photo. I was feeling VERY lame when I made it up. Even here, into my third sentence, I still can’t come up with anything better. Either way, I hope you enjoy the photo!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

No Bathroom Selfies

I notice a growing trend online in “Bathrooom Selfies.” You can have some peace in knowing you won’t be seeing any from me in the future. But I do notice that I used the word “Selfie” in the title today. Now that I write that, it feels like the kind of word a female would use when she takes a photo of herself. There should be a male-version of this word. Until then, I guess I’ll just use it in the amorphous manner.

Daily Photo – Shadow Selfie

Out behind the chateau, there was an extremely powerful light. It kept getting in my way, so I decided just to go ahead and use it! I like shadow-photos, but they always make you look a bit bottom-heavy.

BTW, if you want to get strange colors in night photography, try setting your white-balance to “cloudy” — this will do some funky stuff to the coloring! Remember, if you shoot in RAW, you can always change the white balance later!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel